Daily Current Affairs MCQ- July 18, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

After funding highway projects with public funds (for a better part of the last decade), the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to return to private investment.

During the current quarter, NHAI intends to offer at least two highway upgradation projects to private players under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT):

• Under this, a private player is granted a concession to finance, build and operate a project for a set period of time (20 or 30 years).
• During the agreed period, the developer recovers its investments through user fees or tolls charged to customers who use the facility.
• After the agreed period, it is taken over by the government.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Education Ministry is planning to create an “Intellectual Heritage in Development” — a dialogue, documentation and research programme on the Government’s initiatives.

The project aims to create an ‘Intellectual Heritage’ in Development, Knowledge Resource and making New India, based on the government’s initiatives.

Under this project, few of the themes based on the initiatives of various Ministries/ Departments of the Government have been identified.

On these themes, dialogues, documentation, research and publication will be planned and organized in various academic institutions.

Key features

• The plan is to hold about 100 conferences across the country on 100 themes during the three months.
• In these conferences, research papers based on secondary data and sources available in ministries or elsewhere will be presented.
• Researchers belonging to reputed Higher Education Institutions will contribute to these papers, which will eventually be published in a book

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Agriculture Ministry announced that Andhra Pradesh has decided to rejoin the crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from the ongoing kharif season.

• Andhra Pradesh was one of six states that have stopped implementation of the scheme over the last four years. The other five, which remain out, are Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Telangana.
• The government had launched PMFBY from kharif 2016. Under the scheme, all farmers including sharecroppers and tenant farmers growing “notified crops” in the “notified areas” are eligible for coverage.
• Initially, the scheme was compulsory for loanee farmers; in February 2020, the Centre revised it to make it optional for all farmers.
• In February 2020, the Centre decided to restrict its premium subsidy to 30% for unirrigated areas and 25% for irrigated areas (from the existing unlimited). Earlier, there was no upper limit for the central subsidy.
• Food crops (cereals, millets and pulses); oilseeds; and annual commercial / annual horticultural crops are covered under the scheme.
• In addition, pilots for coverage can be taken for those perennial horticultural/commercial crops for which standard methodology for yield estimation is available, state the scheme guidelines.

Hence both statements are correct.

Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia-backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping.

• Expanding the group is among the issues that leaders of the grouping are likely to discuss at the SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September.
• China, Russia and four Central Asian states — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — were the founding members of the SCO, while India and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2017 in its first round of expansion.
• Last year’s summit in Dushanbe agreed for Iran to join, while Belarus has also begun the membership process. China and Russia are looking to frame the grouping as a counter to the West — particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• India will host the SCO summit next year, and Varanasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”, a title it will hold next year coinciding with India chairing the grouping.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), is yet again the top higher educational institute in the country followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and IIT Bombay, according to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022.

• Among the universities, IISc, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jadavpur University and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham were among the top five.
• And among the top five colleges in the country are Miranda House, Hindu College, Presidency College, Loyola College and Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
• The top five medical institutes are All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Christian Medical College, Vellore, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, and Banaras Hindu University.
• The top five management institutes are Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, IIM Bengaluru, IIM Kolkata, IIT Delhi and IIM Kozhikode.

Methodology

• This is the seventh consecutive edition of NIRF.
• It ranks colleges, universities and research institutions and also provides an overall ranking of all of them combined. Institutes are also ranked across seven subject domains, namely engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture and dental.
• A total of 4,786 institutions were evaluated on five parameters — teaching, learning and resources (TLR); research and professional practice; graduation outcome; outreach; and inclusivity and perception.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The US House of Representatives approved legislation recommending an India-specific waiver for the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)

• In August 2017, President Donald Trump signed into law which specifically targets Russia, Iran, and North Korea, known as CAATSA.
• The act empowers the US President to impose at least five of 12 listed sanctions — enumerated in Section 235 — on persons engaged in a “significant transaction” with the Russian defence and intelligence sectors.
• Basically, this law was meant to punish countries having deep engagements with Russia, North Korea, and Iran using economic sanctions.

Hence both statements are correct.

The green pit viper may not be more lethal than Russell’s viper, the saw-scaled viper, the spectacled cobra or the common krait. But what it injects from its poison glands often renders the polyvalent antivenom derived from the venom of the other four ineffective.

• The monocled cobra, the banded krait, the lesser black krait, the great black krait, the mountain pit viper and the redneck keelback are among 15 venomous snakes out of 64 recorded so far across Northeast India.
• Most of the snakebite cases in the region involve different species of the green pit viper, making up the other venomous snakes.
• The antivenom derived from the “Big Four” snakes are ineffective on the toxin injected by the green pit viper, or for that matter, most other venomous snakes found in the region.
• Neurotoxin is a poison that acts on the nervous system. Cytotoxins kill the cells in a body.
• World Snake Day is celebrated every July 16 to raise awareness about snakes and their importance in our ecosystem.

Data on snakebites

• There are more than 1.4 million cases resulting in 1,25,000 fatalities annually.
• More than 46,000 people — the highest on earth — die and thrice the number are disabled due to snakebites every year with 77% of the victims dying outside healthcare facilities, indicating that people go for alternative treatment.
• Most snakebite cases in India are reported between June and September and 58% of the victims are farmers and labourers.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Women and Child Development Ministry has issued guidelines for Mission Shakti Scheme.

• This scheme has been launched for the safety, security and empowerment of women.
• It seeks to realize the government’s commitment to women-led development by making them equal partners in nation-building.
• The key objectives of the mission are to provide care, support and assistance to women and to put in place quality mechanisms for the rescue, protection and rehabilitation of women who are victims of crime and violence.
• The scheme is also aimed at improving accessibility to various government services available for women at various levels.

Components

• Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes - Sambal and Samarthya. While the Sambal stresses on safety and security of women, the Samarthya focuses on the empowerment of women.
• The components of the Sambal sub-scheme consist of schemes including One Stop Centre, Women Helpline, Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Nari Adalats.
• The components of the Samarthya sub-scheme consist of schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel.
• In addition, the existing schemes of the National Creche Scheme for children of working mothers and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana have now been included in Samarthya.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Defence Ministry has set up an apex committee with Defence Secretary as Chairman to conduct a Performance and Efficiency Audit into various aspects of its activities.

• This kind of audit is expected to provide valuable inputs to the top management of the Ministry in planning and execution of projects, and suggest systemic improvements in internal controls, soundness of financial procedures and identification of risk factors.
• It is a major shift from the existing transaction-based compliance audit to carry out an outcome-based Performance and Efficiency Audit aimed at enhancing overall efficiency.
• The members of the committee include Vice Chiefs of the three Services, Secretary Defence (Finance), Chief of Integrated Staff Committee, Controller General of Defence Accounts, Director General (Acquisition) and other senior officials of Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• The committee chaired by Defence Secretary will identify specific areas for the conduct of performance and audit by Controller General of Defence Accounts and monitor performance audit reports and action taken thereon.

Hence both statements are correct.

The website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been ranked first under the Central Ministries Portal in National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment.

• Digital Police portal of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) placed at two in the assessment under the Central Ministries Services Portal.
• All Government portals that were evaluated were divided into two main categories, states and Union Territories and Central Ministry service portals.
• There were four main parameters of assessment, Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use and Information Security and Privacy for Central Ministry Portals.
• An additional three parameters were also used for the Central Ministry Services Portals - End Service Delivery, Integrated Service Delivery and Status and Request Tracking.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.