Daily Current Affairs MCQ- July 16, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Global Gender Gap Index for 2022 has been released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The index ranks India at 135 out of 146 countries. In 2021, India was ranked 140 out of 156 countries.

• As per the report, it will take another 132 years (compared to 136 years in 2021) to close the gender gap.
• This is due to the continued disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.
• South Asia will take the longest to reach gender parity, which is estimated to be likely in 197 years.

Top performers

• Although no country achieved full gender parity, the top 10 economies closed at least 80% of their gender gaps.
• Iceland (90.8%) is leading the global ranking. It was the only economy to have closed more than 90% of its gender gap.
• Iceland is followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Sweden.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In a bid to develop an overall framework for the Right to Repair, the Department of Consumer Affairs has set up a committee chaired by Additional Secretary Nidhi Khatri.

• The committee includes Anupam Mishra, Joint Secretary DoCA; Justice Paramjeet Singh Dhaliwal; G.S. Bajpai, Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala; Ashok Patil, Chair of Consumer Law and Practice; and representatives from stakeholders including ICEA, SIAM, consumer activists and consumer organisations as members.
• The key sectors identified for this framework include Farming Equipment, Mobile Phones/ Tablets, Consumer Durables and Automobiles & Automobile Equipment.
• The committee also believes that manufacturers encourage a culture of ‘planned obsolescence’. “This is a system whereby the design of any gadget is such that it lasts a particular time only and after that particular period it has to be mandatorily replaced.
• The right to repair has been recognised in many countries, including the US, the UK and the European Union.

Hence both statements are correct.

India will provide “appropriate land” for “food parks” across the country that will be built in collaboration with Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates.

• The plan for the “integrated food parks” was announced in a joint statement after the leaders of the I2U2 grouping — India, Israel, the UAE and the U.S. — held a summit recently.
• The leaders said they would bring in private capital for specific projects in the fields of water, energy, transportation, health, space and food security.
• U.S. and Israeli private sectors will be invited to lend their expertise and offer innovative solutions that contribute to the overall sustainability of the project. These investments will help maximise crop yields which, in turn, will help tackle food insecurity in South Asia and the Middle East. India will “facilitate farmers’ integration into the food parks.
• The food parks aimed at cutting down “food waste and spoilage” are a few of the collaborations that the four countries declared after the summit.
• The UAE will invest $2 billion in India to create the food parks.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

The total horticulture production in 2021-22 is estimated to be 341.63 million tonnes (MT), an increase of about 7.03 MT or 21% over the 2020-21 figure, according to the second advanced estimates of area and production of various horticultural crops released by the Union Agriculture Ministry.

• Last year, the total horticulture cultivation was on 27.48 million hectares and according to the second advanced estimates, in 2021-22, it could be 27.74 million hectares.
• The Centre said that while there could be an increase in the production of fruits, vegetables and honey, the cultivation of spices, flowers, medicinal plants and plantation crops could decrease over previous year.
• The fruit production is estimated at 107.1 MT compared to 102.48 MT in 2020-21. The production of vegetables is estimated to be 204.61 MT, compared to 200.45 MT in 2020-21.
• In the case of onion, the production is estimated to be 31.7 MT against 26.64 MT in 2020-21. Potato production is likely to be 53.58 MT, from 56.17 MT in 2020-21. Tomato yield is expected to be 20.34 MT, from 21.18 MT in 2020-21. Farmers of the three crops had agitated against the drop in prices last year.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• 157.94 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered as on 16th January 2022; 91.39 crore first dose and 66.05 crore second dose.
• With revival of economy, employment indicators bounced back to pre-pandemic levels during last quarter of 2020-21.
• As per the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PFLS) data up to March 2021, employment in urban sector affected by pandemic has recovered almost to the pre-pandemic level.
• According to Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) data, formalization of jobs continued during second COVID wave; adverse impact of COVID on formalization of jobs much lower than during the first COVID wave.
• Expenditure on social services (health, education and others) by Centre and States as a proportion of GDP increased from 6.2 % in 2014-15 to 8.6% in 2021-22 (BE)
• As per the National Family Health Survey-5:
  • Total Fertility Rate (TFR) came down to 2 in 2019-21 from 2.2 in 2015-16
  • Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), under-five mortality rate and institutional births have improved in 2019-21 over year 2015-16
• Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), 83 districts have become ‘Har Ghar Jal’ districts.
• Increased allotment of funds to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) to provide buffer for unorganized labour in rural areas during the pandemic.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• GVA of services crossed pre-pandemic level in July-September quarter of 2021-22; however, GVA of contact intensive sectors like trade, transport, etc. still remain below pre-pandemic level.
• Overall service Sector GVA is expected to grow by 8.2 percent in 2021-22.
• During the first half of 2021-22, service sector received over US$ 16.7 billion FDI – accounting for almost 54 percent of total FDI inflows into India.
• IT-BPM services revenue reached US$ 194 billion in 2020-21, adding 1.38 lakh employees during the same period.
• Major government reforms include, removing telecom regulations in IT-BPO sector and opening up of space sector to private players.
• India has become 3rd largest start-up ecosystem in the world after US and China. Number of new recognized start-ups increased to over 14000 in 2021-22 from 733 in 2016-17.
• 44 Indian start-ups have achieved unicorn status in 2021 taking overall tally of unicorns to 83, most of which are in services sector.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew at 17.4 percent (YoY) during April-November 2021 as compared to (-)15.3 percent in April-November 2020.
• Capital expenditure for the Indian railways has increased to Rs. 155,181 crores in 2020-21 from an average annual of Rs. 45,980 crores during 2009-14 and it has been budgeted to further increase to Rs. 215,058 crores in 2021-22 – a five times increase in comparison to the 2014 level.
• Extent of road construction per day increased substantially in 2020-21 to 36.5 Kms per day from 28 Kms per day in 2019-20 – a rise of 30.4 percent.
• Net profit to sales ratio of large corporates reached an all-time high of 10.6 percent in in July-September quarter of 2021-22 despite the pandemic (RBI Study).
• Introduction of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, major boost provided to infrastructure-both physical as well as digital, along with measures to reduce transaction costs and improve ease of doing business, would support the pace of recovery.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• The Agriculture sector experienced buoyant growth in past two years, accounting for a sizeable 18.8% (2021-22) in Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country registering a growth of 3.6% in 2020-21 and 3.9% in 2021-22.
• Minimum Support Price (MSP) policy is being used to promote crop diversification.
• Net receipts from crop production have increased by 22.6% in the latest Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) compared to SAS Report of 2014.
• Allied sectors including animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries are steadily emerging to be high growth sectors and major drivers of overall growth in agriculture sector.
• The Livestock sector has grown at a CAGR of 8.15% over the last five years ending 2019-20. It has been a stable source of income across groups of agricultural households accounting for about 15% of their average monthly income.
• Government facilitates food processing through various measures of infrastructure development, subsidized transportation and support for formalization of micro food enterprises.
• India runs one of the largest food management programmes in the world.
• Government has further extended the coverage of food security network through schemes like PM Gareeb Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• India’s overall score on the NITI Aayog SDG India Index and Dashboard improved to 66 in 2020-21 from 60 in 2019-20 and 57 in 2018-19.
• Number of Front Runners (scoring 65-99) increased to 22 States and UTs in 2020-21 from 10 in 2019-20.
• In North East India, 64 districts were Front Runners and 39 districts were Performers in the NITI Aayog North-Eastern Region District SDG Index 2021-22.
• India has the tenth largest forest area in the world.
• In 2020, India ranked third globally in increasing its forest area during 2010 to 2020.
• In 2020, the forests covered 24% of India’s total geographical, accounting for 2% of the world’s total forest area.
• In August 2021, the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, was notified which is aimed at phasing out single use plastic by 2022.
• Draft regulation on Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic packaging was notified.
• The Compliance status of Grossly Polluting Industries (GPIs) located in the Ganga main stem and its tributaries improved from 39% in 2017 to 81% in 2020.
• The consequent reduction in effluent discharge has been from 349.13 millions of litres per day (MLD) in 2017 to 280.20 MLD in 2020.
• The Prime Minister, as a part of the national statement delivered at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow in November 2021, announced ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030 to enable further reduction in emissions.
• The need to start the one-word movement ‘LIFE’ (Lifestyle for Environment) urging mindful and deliberate utilization instead of mindless and destructive consumption was underlined.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2021-22 in Parliament.

• The revenue receipts from the Central Government (April to November, 2021) have gone up by 67.2 percent (YoY) as against an expected growth of 9.6 percent in the 2021-22 Budget Estimates (over 2020-21 Provisional Actuals).
• Gross Tax Revenue registers a growth of over 50 percent during April to November, 2021 in YoY terms. This performance is strong compared to pre-pandemic levels of 2019-2020 also.
• During April-November 2021, Capex has grown by 13.5 percent (YoY) with focus on infrastructure-intensive sectors.
• Sustained revenue collection and a targeted expenditure policy has contained the fiscal deficit for April to November, 2021 at 46.2 percent of BE.
• With the enhanced borrowings on account of COVID-19, the Central Government debt has gone up from 49.1 percent of GDP in 2019-20 to 59.3 percent of GDP in 2020-21, but is expected to follow a declining trajectory with the recovery of the economy.

Hence both statements are correct.