Daily Current Affairs MCQ - February 21, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Union government recently proposed that all seats in a car, including rear-middle seat, must have a y-shaped seatbelt that is considered safer and typically provided for all window seats.

• While the use of rear seatbelts is integral to ensuring safety of all passengers in a vehicle and mandatory under law, lack of awareness and poor enforcement are big impediments.
• In a draft notification issued earlier this month for stakeholder consultations, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has proposed that all front-facing seats in passenger vehicles with up to eight seats should be provided with three-point belts, also known as y-belts.
• Earlier, manufacturers had the option to provide a three-point or two-point (waist strap) belt and most cars already have y-shaped belts for window seats.
• The three-point seat belt have been proven to be safer than the lap belt because it evenly spreads out the energy of a moving body over the chest, shoulders and pelvis at the time of a collision, resulting in fewer injuries.
• Rear seatbelts are mandatory. According to Rule 138 (3) of Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), persons “seated in the front seat or the persons occupying front-facing rear seats” must wear seatbelts while the vehicle is in motion. Failure to do so can result in a fine of ₹1,000.
• According to the World Health Organisation, use of rear seat-belts can prevent death of a rear seat passenger by 25%, and it can also prevent excess injury or death for the front seat passenger.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Prime minister Narendra Modi flagged off 100 Kisan drones in different cities and towns of India to spray pesticides in farms across India.

• He virtually addressed to a group of farmers gathered at Manesar from where the "Drone Kisan Yatra" was flagged off.
• Kisan Drones will be used to boost the agricultural sector in the country. The use of Kisan Drones will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land records and spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
• This step was taken as the government aims to promote chemical-free national farming.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her Budget 2022 speech that "Chemical-free Natural farming will be promoted throughout the country, with focus on farmers' lands in 5-kilometre-wide corridors along the river Ganga in the first stage".

Hence both statements are correct.

The Ministry of Power recently issued the revised consolidated Guidelines and Standards for EV charging infrastructure on January 14, 2022.

Salient Features of these guidelines are:

• To provide an affordable tariff chargeable by public EV charging station operators and owners and Electric Vehicle (EV) owners.
• Enable owners of electric vehicles to charge EVs at their residences or offices using their existing electricity connections.
• A revenue sharing model has been suggested for land use to make a public charging station financially viable from an operational perspective.
• Timelines have been prescribed for providing connectivity to the Public Charging Station (PCS) for faster rollout of EV public charging.
• Technical requirements for public charging stations have been elaborated.

Hence both statements are correct.

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan

• The Government has approved the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) for continuation till 31^st March.2026 or till further review, whichever is earlier.
• It is the centrally sponsored scheme launched in October 2013 that aims at providing strategic funding to higher education institutions throughout the country. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The central funding (in the ratio of 60:40 for general category States, 90:10 for special category states and 100% for union territories) is norm based and outcome dependent.
• The funding flows from the Ministry of Education through the state governments/union territories to the State Higher Education Councils before reaching the identified institutions.
  • The funding to states would be made on the basis of critical appraisal of State Higher Education Plans, which would describe each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in higher education.

New Phase of RUSA

• New phase of RUSA targets to reach out the unserved, underserved areas, remote/ rural areas, difficult geographies, LWE (Left-Wing Extremism) areas, NER (North Eastern Region), Aspirational Districts, tier-2 cities, areas with low GER (Gross enrolment ratio) etc., and to benefit the most disadvantaged areas and SEDGs (Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups).
• The new phase of the scheme has been designed to implement some of the recommendations and aims of the New Education Policy, which suggests some key changes to the current higher education system to revamp and re-energize it and thereby deliver quality higher education, with equity and inclusion.
• State Governments will be supported for Gender inclusion, Equity Initiatives, ICT, Enhancing employability through vocationalisation & skill upgradation.
• States will also be supported for creation of new Model Degree Colleges.
• State Universities will be supported for Multi-Disciplinary Education and Research.
• Grants will be provided for strengthening both accredited and non-accredited Universities and Colleges for undertaking various activities including teaching-learning in Indian languages. Hence statement 2 is correct.

First Information Report (FIR)

• FIR is a written document prepared by the police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offense.
• The term FIR is not defined in the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, or in any other law. Hence. Statement 1 is not correct.
  • However, in police regulations or rules, information recorded under Section 154 of CrPC is known as First Information Report (FIR).
• There are three important elements of an FIR:
  • The information must relate to the commission of a cognizable offense,
  • It should be given in writing or orally to the head of the police station,
  • It must be written down and signed by the informant, and its key points should be recorded in a daily diary.

Zero FIR

• When a police station receives a complaint regarding an alleged offense that has been committed in the jurisdiction of another police station, it registers an FIR, and then transfers it to the concerned police station for further investigation.
  • This is called a Zero FIR.
• No regular FIR number is given. After receiving the Zero FIR, the concerned police station registers a fresh FIR and starts the investigation. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is a kind of free trade pact which covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.
  • It may even consider negotiation on areas such as trade facilitation and customs cooperation, competition, and Intellectual Property Rights.
  • Partnership agreements or cooperation agreements are more comprehensive than Free Trade Agreements. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• CEPA also looks into the regulatory aspect of trade and encompasses an agreement covering the regulatory issues. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• India has signed CEPAs with South Korea and Japan.

The Central Government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, has decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds.

• The Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued in six tranches from 17^th May to September 2021.
• The Bonds will be sold through Scheduled Commercial banks (except Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks), Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited (SHCIL),designated post offices, and recognised stock exchanges viz., National Stock Exchange of India Limited and Bombay Stock Exchange Limited.
• The minimum permissible investment will be one gram of gold.
• Investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50 percent per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.
• The Bonds will be restricted for sale to resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Families, Trusts, Universities and Charitable Institutions.
• The tenor of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option after 5th year to be exercised on the next interest payment dates.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court has thrown open the door to the legislature to “ponder” over the idea of placing convicts under house arrest to avoid overcrowding of prisons.

• A Bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and K.M. Joseph, in a judgment, highlighted the “alarming” statistics of prisons. The suggestion is relevant considering the spread of COVID-19.
• A few days ago, a Bench, led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, issued a series of directions, including the grant of interim bail and parole to prisoners to decongest prisons.
• Justice Joseph said the occupancy rate in prisons had climbed to 118.5% in 2019. The court referred to the National Crime Records Bureau’s figures of 2019 to show that 18,86,092 inmates were admitted in jails.
• The number of undertrial prisoners in 2019 was 3,30,487, which, in fact, constituted 69.05% of the total number of prisoners. Secondly, a very large sum (₹6818.1 crore) was the budget for prisons.
• The “tremendous” overcrowding of prisons and the huge budget were both “relevant in the context of the possibilities that house arrest offers”, the court noted.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana launched a new feature in the Supreme Court’s official website called ‘Indicative Notes’.

• This feature is aimed at providing concise summaries of landmark judgments in an easy-to-understand format.
• This will serve as a useful resource for media persons and the general public who wish to be better informed about the rulings of the court.

Hence both statements are correct.

The COVID Working Group chaired by Dr N K Arora has recommended extension of the gap between the first and second doses of COVISHIELD vaccine to 12-16 weeks. The present gap between the two doses of COVISHIELD vaccine is 6-8 weeks.

• Based on the available real-life evidences, particularly from UK, the COVID-19 Working Group agreed for increasing the dosing interval to 12-16 weeks between two doses of COVISHIELD vaccine. No change in interval of COVAXIN vaccine doses was recommended.
• The COVID Working Group is headed by Dr N K Arora- Director, INCLEN Trust.
• The recommendation of the COVID Working Group was accepted by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), headed by Dr V K Paul, Member (Health) Niti Aayog in its meeting on 12th May 2021.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.