Daily Current Affairs MCQ - July 15, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

IFSCA, in its endeavour to develop a Longevity Finance Hub in GIFT IFSC has constituted an Expert Committee to recommend approach towards development of Longevity Finance Hub and provide road map for the same.

• The expert committee is being co-chaired by Ms. Kaku Nakhate, President and Country Head (India), Bank of America, and Mr. Gopalan Srinivasan, Ex-CMD, New India Assurance Company Limited.
• The committee members comprise of leaders from the entire longevity finance ecosystem including from areas such as banking, insurance, wealth management, FinTech, legal, compliance and management consultancy.
• International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has been established as a unified regulator to develop and regulate financial products, financial services, and financial institutions in the International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) in India.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Garment exporters will continue to get a rebate on central and state taxes on their outward shipments as the government approved extension of RoSCTL scheme till March 2024.

• The move is aimed at enhancing competitiveness of the labour-intensive textiles sector.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval for continuation of Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) with the same rates as notified by the Ministry of Textiles for exports of apparel/garments and made-ups.
• The scheme will continue till March 31, 2024. It will help boost exports and job creation,.
• The sectors covered under this scheme (apparel/garments and made-ups) would not get benefits under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) scheme.
• However, textiles products which are not covered under the RoSCTL would be eligible to avail the benefits, if any, under RoDTEP along with other products as finalised by the Department of Commerce.
• The scheme will be implemented by the Department of Revenue with end-to-end digitisation for issuance of transferrable Duty Credit Scrip, which will be maintained in an electronic ledger in the customs system.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme from 01-04-2021 to 31-03-2026 with financial implication of Rs. 4607.30 crore (Rs 3,000 crore as Central Share and Rs. 1607.30 crore as State Share).

• The Mission was launched on 15-09-2014.
• Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission is being implemented by Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.
• Its objectives are providing cost effective AYUSH Services, with a universal access through
  • upgrading AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries,
  • co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centers (PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs),
  • strengthening institutional capacity at the State level through upgrading AYUSH educational institutions,
  • setting up of new upto 50 bedded integrated AYUSH Hospital,
  • AYUSH Public Health programmes and
  • operationalization of 12,500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary for further five years from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026 at a total cost of Rs.9000 crore.

• This proposal will help in construction of 3800 court halls and 4000 residential units(both new and ongoing projects) for judicial officers of District and Subordinate Courts, 1450 lawyer halls, 1450 toilets complexes and 3800 digital computer rooms.
• Implementation of the Scheme from 2021 to 2026: Implementation of the following activities for five years from 01.04.2021 to 31.03.2026 at a total cost of Rs.9000 crore, out of which Central share with an approved outlay of Rs.5357 crore including Rs.50 crore allocated for the Gram Nyayalayas Scheme.
• Monitoring of the Scheme:
  • Department of Justice has developed an online monitoring system with technical assistance from ISRO.
  • The upgraded “Nyaya Vikas-2.0” web portal and mobile application is used for monitoring physical and financial progress of CSS judicial infrastructure projects by geo-tagging completed and ongoing projects.

Background

• A Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary has been in operation since 1993-94.
• The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 that came into force from 2 October 2009 was enacted for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas for speedy and easy access to justice system in the rural areas of India.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and dedicate to the nation several key projects of the Railways in Gujarat on 16th July, 2021.

• The Railway projects include the newly redeveloped Gandhinagar Capital Railway station, gauge converted cum electrified Mahesana – Varetha line, and the newly electrified Surendranagar – Pipavav section.
• The Prime Minister will also flag off two new trains i.e Gandhinagar Capital – Varanasi Superfast Express and MEMU service trains between Gandhinagar Capital and Varetha.
• He will also inaugurate the Aquatics and Robotics Gallery, and Nature Park in Gujarat Science City during the event.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Rare Earth Elements or Rare Earth Metals are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table — the 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium, which tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides, and have similar chemical properties.

Despite their classification, most of these elements are not really “rare”. One of the Rare Earths, promethium, is radioactive.

These elements are important in technologies of consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, healthcare, environmental mitigation, and national defence, among others.

Scandium is used in televisions and fluorescent lamps, and yttrium is used in drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

Rare Earth elements are used in space shuttle components, jet engine turbines, and drones. Cerium, the most abundant Rare Earth element, is essential to NASA’s Space Shuttle Programme.

China’s Rare Earths deposits account for 80% of identified global reserves.

BIMSTEC is a sector-driven cooperative organization. Technological and economic cooperation among South Asian and Southeast Asian countries along the coast of the Bay of Bengal is its main objective.

India hosted the 2nd BIMSTEC summit in 2008. Fourth BIMSTEC summit was held in Nepal in 2018.

The labour force participation rate essentially tells us what percentage of people who are within the working-age (15 to 59 years) group want to be part of the workforce. A low labour force participation rate undermines a country’s overall productivity and wellbeing because fewer people are making themselves available for economic activity.

• The ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ initiative, also known as 'Mission Van Dhan', was introduced by the central government in 2021, in line with the Prime Minister's aim to establish a sustainable livelihood for India's tribal population. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Through this mission, TRIFED aims to expand its operation through convergence of various schemes of different ministries and departments and launch various tribal development programmes in mission mode.
• Through this mission, establishment of several Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (VDVKs), haat bazaars, mini TRIFOOD units, common facility centres, TRIFOOD parks, SFRUTI (Scheme of Fund for regeneration of traditional industries) clusters, tribes india retail store, e-commerce platform for trifood and tribes, India brands are being targeted.
• The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has been implementing several noteworthy programmes for the empowerment of the tribals. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) came into existence in 1987.
  • It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
  • The ultimate objective of TRIFED is socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of the tribal products such as metal craft, tribal textiles, pottery, tribal paintings and pottery on which the tribals depend heavily for a major portion of their income.

• India is the highest livestock owner of the world. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • As per the 20^th Livestock Census, the total Livestock population is 535.78 million in the country showing an increase of 4.6% over Livestock Census-2012.
• A large number of farmers depend upon animal husbandry for their livelihood. It supports the livelihood of almost 55% of the rural population.
• As per the Economic Survey-2021, the contribution of Livestock in total agriculture and allied sector Gross Value Added (at Constant Prices) has increased from 24.32% (2014-15) to 28.63% (2018-19). Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The National Livestock Mission (NLM) was launched in the 2014-15 financial year and seeks to ensure quantitative and qualitative improvement in livestock production systems and capacity building of all stakeholders.
  • The scheme is being implemented as a sub scheme of White Revolution - Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana from April 2019. Hence, statement 3 is correct.