Daily Current Affairs MCQ - February 5, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will make its third venture to the Moon through the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August this year. This was stated by Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

• Chandrayaan-3 is a planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Following Chandrayaan-2, where a last-minute glitch in the soft landing guidance software led to the failure of the lander's soft landing attempt after a successful orbital insertion, another lunar mission for demonstrating soft landing was proposed.
• Chandrayaan-3 will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan-2 but will only include a lander and rover similar to that of Chandrayaan-2. It will not have an orbiter.
• The spacecraft is planned to be launched in August 2022.
• This year is expected to be quite busy for ISRO as major projects such as Gaganyaan and Aditya solar mission are also in the pipeline. ISRO will conduct 19 missions till December this year.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change informed Rajya Sabha about the Definition under State of Forest Report.

As per decision 19/Conference of Parties (CP) 9-Kyoto Protocol, the forest can be defined by any country depending upon the capacities and capabilities of the country as follows:-

• Forest is defined structurally on the basis of
  • Crown cover percentage: Tree crown cover- 10 to 30% (India 10%)
  • Minimum area of stand: area between 0.05 and 1 hectare (India 1.0 hectare) and
  • Minimum height of trees: Potential to reach a minimum height at maturity in situ of 2 to 5 m (India 2m)
• India’s definition of forest has been taken on the basis of above three criteria only and very well accepted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for their reporting/communications.
• The forest cover is defined as ‘all land, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 percent irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such land may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm’.
• The definition of forest cover has clearly been defined in all the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) and in all the International communications of India.
• In ISFR 2021 recently published by the Ministry on 13th January, 2022, the forest cover figures are divided as ‘Inside Recorded Forest Area’ and ‘Outside Recorded Forest Area’.
• At present, there is no plan to change the definition of forest cover and very dense forest. The definition of forest cover in ISFR represents true picture as described.
• Hence both statements are correct.

NASA has announced that the International Space Station (ISS) will cease operations in 2031, after which it will fall out of orbit and plunge into the waters of the South Pacific Ocean.

Point Nemo

• According to NASA’s budget estimates, the ISS’ re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere will take place in January 2031.
• Mission control will first lower its altitude, before the spacecraft begins its descent into the “South Pacific Oceanic Uninhabited Area (SPOUA),” in an area known as Point Nemo.
• Point Nemo has grown to become a sort of space cemetery, where decommissioned space debris is often brought to rest. Located about 2,700 km away from any land, it is named after a character in Jules Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

Achievements of ISS

• Several landmark firsts were recorded onboard the ISS in the last two decades.
• For instance, in 2018, NASA’s Cold Atom Lab became the first facility to produce the fifth state of matter, called a Bose-Einstein condensate, in space. In 2016, a NASA astronaut was able to sequence DNA in space for the first time.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

North Korea has conducted its biggest missile launch since 2017. North Korea has claimed the missile which it test fired recently is extremely powerful and can travel hundreds of miles, It also has the ability to strike the US Northern Pacific command Guam.

• The test was an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which would be the biggest missile tested since November 2017.
• The missile reached an altitude of 2,000km and flew for 30 minutes to a distance of 800km. Finally, it landed in the Sea of Japan.
• North Korea has conducted a record number of seven missile launches in the month of January 2022 alone - which was strongly condemned by the US, South Korea, Japan, and other nations.
• The UN prohibits North Korea from ballistic and nuclear weapons tests, and has imposed strict sanctions, but the East Asian state regularly defies the ban.
• Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean.
• In Oceania, it is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia.
• Guam's capital is Hagåtña.
• People born on Guam are American citizens but have no vote in the United States presidential elections.
• Hence both statements are correct.

To make the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) a success, the government should give Income Tax breaks to attract retail investors into instruments such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), the NITI Aayog has recommended.

• The Centre’s think tank driving the NMP, estimated to raise almost ₹6 lakh crore for the exchequer over four years, has also called for bringing such trusts within the ambit of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to provide greater comfort to investors.
• Bringing in policy and regulatory changes to scale up monetisation instruments such as InvITs and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and expand their investor base have been identified as a critical element for the NMP.
• The government plans to use the InvIT and REIT route to monetise public assets such as highways, gas pipelines, railway tracks and power transmission lines.
• More tax-efficient and user-friendly mechanisms like allowing tax benefits in InvITs as eligible security to invest under Section 54EC of the Income Tax Act, 1961, are important starting points for initiating retail participation in the instruments
• Section 54EC allows taxpayers to offset long-term capital gains from transactions in immoveable properties through investments in bonds issued by some government-backed infrastructure firms.

It aims to unlock value in brownfield projects by engaging the private sector, transferring to them revenue rights and not ownership in the projects, and using the funds so generated for infrastructure creation across the country. The NMP will run co-terminus with the National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 100 lakh crore announced in December 2019. The estimated amount to be raised through monetisation is around 14% of the proposed outlay for the Centre of Rs 43 lakh crore under NIP.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India has assumed Presidency of the UN security council. The presidency of the Council is held by each of the members in turn for one month, following the English alphabetical order of the Member States’ names.

• Prime Minister Modi virtually presided over the Council meeting. He is the first Indian Prime Minister to do so.
• Last year when the UN celebrated the 75th year of its foundation, India was elected to the Council along with Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway. India began its eighth term on January 1, 2021.
• Since all other countries come after India sequentially, it gives India another chance to assume the presidency in December next year.
• India is a founding member of the UN. That India signed the Charter of the United Nations along with 50 other countries in 1945 even before gaining independence is a measure of its credentials—millennial civilisations, multi-faceted diversities and peaceful vocation.
• Vijaya Laxmi Pandit was elected president of the eight-session of the UN General Assembly in 1953, the first woman to head the organisation.
• Since the onset of its peacekeeping mission in 1948, India has sent contingents on 49 occasions, contributed close to 200,000 troops, and in 2007 had the unique distinction of deploying the first all-women peacekeeping force to Liberia.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Reserve Bank of India has permitted authorised card networks to offer card tokenisation services to any token requestor in a bid to make card transactions more safe, secure and convenient for the users.

• In a notification issued, RBI said that it has provided the facility to interested card holders only for their mobile phones and tablets.
• There has been an uptake in the volume of tokenised card transactions during the recent months and on a review of the framework and keeping in view stakeholders feedback, RBI decided to extend the scope of tokenisation to include consumer devices – laptops, desktops, wearables (wrist watches, bands, etc.) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia (IPAR).

• The Memorandum of Understanding between ICAI of India and IPAR of Russia, is expected to give ICAI Members a boost in their quest for professional possibilities in Russia.
• The ICAI will be able to help deepen the partnership with Russia by providing Export of Accountancy Services under the terms of the MoU.
• The Institute of Professional Accountants of Russia (IPAR) is the largest not-for-profit accounting organisation of Russia.
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is a statutory body which was established under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountants in the country.

Hence both statements are correct.

Sports Minister Shri Anurag Singh Thakur launched the Fit India Mobile App on National Sports Day.

• The Fit India App is free and available in English & Hindi on both the Android and the iOS platforms.
• The Fit India Movement was launched on 29th August 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the vision of making India a Fit and Healthy Nation.
• Over the past two years, the Fit India Movement has reached millions of people across the country through its various fitness campaigns such as Fit India School Week, Fit India Freedom Run, Fit India Cyclothon and many others.
• Currently, the Fit India Movement is also conducting Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 in celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Rs. 1,42,084 Crore tied grant to rural local bodies (RLBs)/ panchayats for water and sanitation for the five years 2021–22 to 2025–26, which has been recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, will have a huge impact on ensuring these services in villages and thus on public health and quality of life in rural areas.

• In all, the 15th Finance Commission recommended Rs. 2,36,805 Crore to RLBs/ PRIs for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• Commission also identified ‘water supply and sanitation’ as national priority areas, which determines the quality of life of people living in rural areas.
• It has recommended 60% of the allocation to RLBs/ Panchayats i.e. Rs. 1,42, 084 Crore as a tied grant to be utilized for a.) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling; and b.) sanitation & maintenance of open-defecation free (ODF) status.
• The Dept. of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Govt of India will act as the nodal Department for determining the eligibility of the rural local bodies for the ‘15th FC tied grant for water & sanitation’ and recommend release of tied grant for water & sanitation, to the Dept. of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance for all States.

Hence, option (1) is the correct answer.