Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 8, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has taken a new initiative to introduce its flagship "Liberalised MSME AEO Package" for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

• In order to attract MSMEs to become Authorised Economic Operators (AEOs) and avail the various benefits, the CBIC has relaxed the compliance criteria provided the MSMEs have a valid certificate from their line-Ministry.
• The relaxed requirements allow MSMEs who have filed minimum 10 Customs clearance documents in one year and who have a clean compliance record over 2 years to apply for the scheme.
• CBIC's flagship "Liberalised MSME AEO Package" scheme is a voluntary compliance programme which enables swifter Customs clearance for accredited stakeholders in the global supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistic service providers, custodians etc.
• The approved AEOs derive various benefits such as, inter alia, the facility of Direct Port Delivery (DPD) of imported containers, Direct Port Entry (DPE) of their Export Containers etc.

The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL) in its 60th meeting held on 05th January has approved the advisory for Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) management in the country.

• The advisory makes important prescriptions for the States/ Union Territories to deal with Human-Wildlife conflict situations and seek expedited inter-departmental coordinated and effective actions.
• The advisory envisages empowering gram panchayats in dealing with the problematic wild animals as per the section 11 (1) (b) of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Utilising add-on coverage under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna for crop compensation against crop damage due to HWC and augmenting fodder and water sources within the forest areas are some key steps envisaged to reduce HWC.
• It also calls for Payment of a portion of ex-gratia as interim relief within 24 hours of the incident to the victim/family.
• The advisory also envisages prescribing inter-departmental committees at local/state level, adoption of early warning systems, creation of barriers, dedicated circle wise Control Rooms with toll free hotline numbers which could be operated on 24X7 basis, Identification of hotspots and formulation and implementation of special plans for improved stall-fed farm animal etc.

Union Health Minister released India report on Longitudinal Ageing Study of India (LASI) Wave-1.

• LASI is a full-scale national survey of scientific investigation of India's health, economic, and social determinants and consequences of population ageing.
• In the 2011 census, the 60 plus population accounted for 8.6 per cent of India's population, accounting for 103 million elderly people.
• Growing at around three per cent annually, the number of elderly people will rise to 319 million in 2050.
• About 75 per cent of the elderly people suffer from some chronic diseases.
• About 40 per cent of the elderly people have one or the other disability and 20 per cent have issues related to mental health.
• The National Programme for Health Care of Elderly, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has undertaken the LASI, through International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai in collaboration with Harvard School of Public Health, University of Southern California, USA, United Nations Population Fund and National Institute on Ageing.
• The LASI, Wave - 1 covered a baseline sample of over 72,000 individuals aged 45 and above and their spouses including over 31,000 elderly persons aged 60 and above and over 6,700 oldest-old persons aged 75 and above from all States and Union Territories of the country excluding Sikkim.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the First Advance Estimates (FAE) for the current financial year.
The real GDP at 2011-12 prices in 2020-21 has been estimated to contract by 7.7 per cent and nominal GDP at current prices by 4.2 per cent.
As per quarterly estimates of NSO, real GDP contracted by 15.7 percent in first half of 2020-21.

• On the demand side, real GDP in 2020-21 has been supported by an estimated increase in Government Consumption Expenditure by 5.8 percent.
• On the supply side, agriculture is estimated to register a positive growth of 3.4 percent against 4.0 percent as per the PE of 2019-20.
• In the manufacturing sector, electricity sector is estimated to register a positive growth of 2.7 percent.
• The pandemic and associated public health measures have adversely affected the contact-sensitive services sector where trade, hotels, transport & communication are estimated to contract by 21.4 percent in FY:2020-21.
• For any financial year, the MoSPI provides regular estimates of GDP. The first such instance is through the FAE. The FAE for any particular financial year is typically presented on January 7th.
• Their significance lies in the fact that they are the GDP estimates that the Union Finance Ministry uses to decide its Budget allocations.
• The FAE will be quickly updated as more information becomes available. On February 26th, MoSPI will come out with the Second Advance Estimates of GDP for the current year.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on January 6 that auctions for 4G spectrum in the 700, 800, 900, 1,800, 2,100, 2,300, and 2,500 MHz bands will begin from March 1.

• Devices such as cell-phones and wireline telephones require signals to connect from one end to another. These signals are carried on airwaves, which must be sent at designated frequencies to avoid any kind of interference.
• The Union government owns all the publicly available assets within the country's geographical boundaries, which also include airwaves.
• With the expansion in the number of cell-phone, wireline telephone and internet users, the need to provide more space for the signals arises from time to time.
• To sell these assets to companies willing to set up the required infrastructure to transport these waves from one end to another, the central government through the DoT auctions these airwaves from time to time.
• These airwaves are called spectrum, which is subdivided into bands which have varying frequencies. All these airwaves are sold for a certain period of time, after which their validity lapses, which is generally set at 20 years.
• The last spectrum auctions were held in 2016, when the government offered 2,354.55 MHz at a reserve price of Rs 5.60 lakh crore.

Centre has decided to form a committee to protect the language, culture and land of Ladakh and ensuring citizen's participation in the Union Territory's development.

• The Committee will be headed by the Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy and will include elected representatives from Ladakh, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, central government, and the Ladakh administration.
• The decision to form the Committee came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah met a 10-member delegation from Ladakh who expressed their views about the need to protect Ladakh's unique cultural identity.
   

The Spices Board of India and DBT-SABC Biotech Kisan Hub in collaboration with ICAR-NRCSS, RSAMB and Kota Agriculture University organized the World of Coriander webinar 'Accelerating Quality Production, Post-Harvesting, Value Addition & Export of Coriander from India'.

• The Hadoti region of South-East Rajasthan and Guna district of Madhya Pradesh is known for coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) production and contributes major share coriander export from the country.
• Ramganj APMC Mandi located at Kota district is the largest coriander mandi in Asia, and thus Ramganj is also known as the 'Coriander city'.
• Recently, GOI's Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) has assigned 'Coriander' to the district of Kota in the list of One District One Product (ODOP).
• Coriander is a spice produced from the round, tan-colored seeds of the coriander plant (Coriandrum sativum).
• All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and dried seeds (as a spice) are the most traditionally used parts in cooking.
• It is also known as Chinese parsley, dhania or cilantro.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a scheme for Jammu & Kashmir's industrial development. The scheme is approved with a total outlay of Rs. 28,400 crore upto the year 2037.
• Government of India has formulated New Industrial Development Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir (J&K IDS, 2021) as Central Sector Scheme for the development of Industries in the UT of Jammu &Kashmir.
• Hence statement 2 is correct: The main purpose of the scheme is to generate employment, which directly leads to the area's socio economic development.

The following incentives would be available under the scheme:

• Capital Investment Incentive at the rate of 30% in Zone A and 50% in Zone B on investment made in Plant & Machinery (in manufacturing) or construction of building and other durable physical assets(in service sector) is available.
• Capital Interest subvention: At the annual rate of 6% for maximum 7 years on loan amount up to Rs. 500 crore for investment in plant and machinery (in manufacturing) or construction of building and all other durable physical assets(in service sector).
• GST Linked Incentive: 300% of the eligible value of actual investment made in plant and machinery (in manufacturing) or construction in building and all other durable physical assets(in service sector) for 10 years. The amount of incentive in a financial year will not exceed one-tenth of the total eligible amount of incentive.
• Working Capital Interest Incentive: All existing units at the annual rate of 5% for maximum 5 years. Maximum limit of incentive is Rs 1 crore.

Key Features of the Scheme:

• Scheme is made attractive for both smaller and larger units. Smaller units with an investment in plant & machinery upto Rs. 50 crore will get a capital incentive upto Rs. 7.5 crore and get capital interest subvention at the rate of 6% for maximum 7 years

Hence Statement 1 is correct: The scheme aims to take industrial development to the block level in UT of J&K, which is first time in any Industrial Incentive Scheme of the Government of India.
 

The 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention is being organized on 9th January in virtual format in the backdrop of COVID pandemic.
Hence Statement 2 is incorrect:The theme of the Convention this year is "Contributing to Atma Nirbhar Bharat",
The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will feature a keynote address by the Chief Guest Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname. The winners of the online "Bharat ko Janiye Quiz" for the youth will also be announced. The names of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardees for 2020-21 will also be announced.
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is a celebratory day observed (starting in 2015) on 9 January by the Republic of India to mark the overseas Indian community's contribution towards the development of India.
Hence Statement 1 is correct: The day commemorates Mahatma Gandhi's return from South Africa to Mumbai on 9 January 1915.

• The Standing Committee of National Board of Wildlife (SC-NBWL) in its 60th meeting has approved the inclusion of Caracal into the list of critically endangered species for taking up conservation efforts with financial support under Centrally sponsored Scheme-Development of Wildlife Habitat.
• Caracal is a medium size wild cat found in some parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Now, there are 22 wildlife species under recovery programme for critically endangered species. 
• The Central Government constitutes the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) under Section 5 A of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLPA). 
• The Standing Committee of NBWL considers proposals after a series of scrutiny levels and has recommendations of the State Chief Wildlife Warden, State Government and the State Board for Wildlife.