Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 21, 2022 - CLAT MCQ

• The Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ or the Circum-Pacific Belt, is an area along the Pacific Ocean that is characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
  • It is home to about 75% of the world’s volcanoes – more than 450 volcanoes. Also, about 90% of the world’s earthquakes occur here. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The Ring of Fire is stretched to approximately 40,000 kilometers tracing boundaries between several tectonic plates including the Pacific, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Indian-Australian, Nazca, North American, and Philippine Plates. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The chain runs up along the western coast of South and North America, crosses over the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, runs down the eastern coast of Asia past New Zealand and into the northern coast of Antarctica. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

International Telecommunication Union

• It is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs.
  • It is the oldest among all the 15 specialized agencies of the UN. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group and has 12 regional and area offices in the world. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Its membership includes 193 Member States and around 800 public and private sector companies and academic institutions as well as international and regional telecommunication entities.
  • Recently, India got elected as a member of ITU Council for another 4-year term - from 2019 to 2022. India has remained a regular member since 1952.

Global Hunger Index

• Annual Report: Jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
  • It was first produced in 2006. It is published every October. The 2021 edition marks the 16^th edition of the GHI.
• Aim: To comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
• Calculation: It is calculated on the basis of four indicators:
  • Undernourishment: Share of the population with insufficient caloric intake.
  • Child Wasting: Share of children under age five who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition.
  • Child Stunting: Share of children under age five who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition.
  • Child Mortality: The mortality rate of children under the age of five.
• India’s Rank: India has slipped to 101st position in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021 of 116 countries, from its 2020 position of 94th. Hence statement 1 is correct.

Press Freedom in India

• Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras, 1950: The Supreme Court in Romesh Thappar v. the State of Madras observed that freedom of the press lay at the foundation of all democratic organizations.
• Fundamental Right Under Article 19: The Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression under Article 19, which deals with ‘Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.
• Implicit Right: Freedom of the press is not expressly protected by the Indian legal system but it is impliedly protected under article 19(1) (a) of the constitution.
• However, Freedom of the press is also not absolute.
• A law could impose only those restrictions on the exercise of this right, it faces certain restrictions under article 19(2), which is as follows:
  • Sovereignty and integrity of India,
  • Security of the State,
  • Friendly relations with foreign States,
  • Public order, decency or morality or in
  • Contempt of court,
  • Defamation
  • Incitement to an offense
• Hence, option D is correct.

Hundreds of thousands of deaths occur today due to previously treatable infections — such as lower respiratory and bloodstream infections — because the bacteria that cause them have become resistant to treatment.

• A comprehensive estimate of the global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), covering 204 countries and territories and published in The Lancet, has found that 1.27 million people died in 2019 as a direct result of AMR, which is now a leading cause of death worldwide, higher than HIV/AIDS or malaria.
• The Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) report used statistical modelling to estimate deaths linked to 23 pathogens and 88 pathogen-drug combinations.
• Apart from 12.7 lakh deaths caused directly by AMR (these would not have occurred had the infections been drug-susceptible), another 49.5 lakh deaths were associated with AMR (a drug-resistant infection was implicated, but resistance itself may or may not have been the direct cause of death).
• HIV/AIDS and malaria were estimated to have caused 8.6 lakh and 6.4 lakh deaths respectively in 2019.
• Of the 23 pathogens studied, drug resistance in six (E coli, S aureus, K pneumoniae, S pneumoniae, A baumannii, and P aeruginosa) led directly to 9.29 lakh deaths and was associated with 3.57 million.
• One pathogen-drug combination – methicillin-resistant S aureus, or MRSA – directly caused more than 1 lakh deaths.
• Resistance to two classes of antibiotics often considered the first line of defence against severe infections – fluoroquinolones and beta-lactam antibiotics – accounted for more than 70% of deaths caused by AMR.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Kumar Jugnauth will jointly inaugurate the India-assisted Social Housing Units project in Mauritius virtually on 20 January, 2022.

• The two dignitaries will also launch the Civil Service College and 8MW Solar PV Farm projects in Mauritius that are being undertaken under India’s development support.
• An Agreement on extending a US$ 190 mn Line of Credit (LoC) from India to Mauritius for the Metro Express Project and other infrastructure projects; and MoU on the implementation of Small Development Projects will also be exchanged.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved the payment of ex-gratia amount of Rs. 973.74 crore pertaining to remaining claims submitted by Lending Institutions (LIs) under Scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan accounts (1.3.2020 to 31.8.2020).

• By granting ex-gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest during the six month moratorium period to distressed/vulnerable category of borrowers, irrespective of whether the borrower had availed of moratorium or not, the scheme would equitably help small borrowers bear the stress on account of the pandemic.
• Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months to borrowers in specified loan accounts (1.3.2020 to 31.8.2020)” was approved by the Cabinet in October, 2020, envisaging therein an outlay of Rs. 5,500 crore.
• Following category of borrowers were eligible for ex-gratia payment under the scheme:
  • MSME loans up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Education loans up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Housing loans up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Consumer durable loans up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Credit card dues up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Auto loans up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Personal loans to professionals up to Rs. 2 crore
  • Consumption loans up to Rs. 2 crore
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

Experts from India and Israel deliberated on widening the scope of India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) at its 8th Governing Body meeting.

• They approved 3 joint R&D projects worth 5.5 million $ and suggested measures to create a broader India-Israel collaborative ecosystem.
• India-Israel Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund (I4F) fund is a cooperation between the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, and the Israel Innovation Authority, Government of Israel.
• It’s objective is to promote, facilitate and support joint industrial R&D projects between companies from India and Israel to address the challenges in the agreed ‘Focus Sectors’.
• I4F is aimed to promote, facilitate and support joint industrial R&D between India & Israel, which would lead to the co-development and commercialization of innovative technologies benefiting both countries.
• Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA) is appointed to implement the I4F program in India, while Israel Innovation Authority is the implementing agency in Israel.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a preferential tariff system which provides tariff reduction on various products. The concept of GSP is very different from the concept of “most favored nation” (MFN). MFN status provides equal treatment in the case of tariff being imposed by a nation but in case of GSP differential tariff could be imposed by a nation on various countries depending upon factors such as whether it is a developed country or a developing country. Both the rules comes under the purview of WTO.

Coal gasification is the process of converting coal into synthesis gas (also called syngas), which is a mixture of hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). The syngas can be used in a variety of applications such as in the production of electricity and making chemical products, such as fertilisers.

According to the International Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP), the coal gasification process holds good potential in the future, with coal being the most abundantly available fossil fuel across the world, and that even low-grade coal can be used in the process.

According to the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, urea is currently produced using pooled natural gas, which comprises of both domestic natural gas and imported LNG. The usage of locally available coal for making fertilisers would help reduce the import of LNG.