Daily Current Affairs MCQ- July 29, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The word ‘anti-national’ has not been defined in statutes, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) informed the Lok Sabha.

• Ministry of Home said this in response to a question by All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen member Asaduddin Owaisi on whether the government had defined the meaning of ‘anti-national’ under any legislation or 11 rules or any other legal enactment that is enforced in the country.
• It added that ‘anti-national activity’ was inserted in the Constitution during Emergency in 1976 but was removed later.
• The Constitution (Forty–Second Amendment) Act, 1976 inserted in the Constitution Article 31D (during Emergency) which defined ‘anti-national activity’ and this Article 31D was, subsequently, omitted by the Constitution (Forty-third Amendment) Act, 1977.
• The word ‘anti-national’ has not been defined in statutes. However, there are criminal legislation and various judicial pronouncements to sternly deal with unlawful and subversive activities which are detrimental to the unity and integrity of the country.

Value Addition:

• ‘Public Order’ and ‘Police’ were State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and the “data about number of people arrested for indulging in anti-national activities is not maintained centrally”.
• In 2019, when the National Crime Records Bureau released the annual ‘Crime in India’ report for 2017, it included for the first time a chapter on ‘Crime Committed by Anti National Elements’. The chapter listed “North East insurgents, Left Wing Extremists and Terrorists (including Jihadi terrorists)” as the three anti-national elements.

Hence both statements are correct.

NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent with United Nations World Food Program (WFP) on 20th December 2021.

• The partnership focuses on mainstreaming of millets and supporting India in taking lead globally in knowledge exchange using the opportunity of 2023 as an International Year of Millets.
• The Sol focuses on strategic and technical collaboration between NITI Aayog and WFP, to strengthen the climate resilient agriculture for enhanced food and nutrition security in India.

The parties will be working on the following activities:

• Joint development of a compendium of good practices around millets mainstreaming in priority states and development of a scaling up strategy.
• To provide technical support for scaling up of millets mainstreaming through intense engagement in select states with support from state governments, IIMR & other associated institutions.
• To support leveraging of India’s expertise to benefit other developing countries for millets mainstreaming by creation of knowledge management platforms and facilitation of knowledge exchange.

The outcome of this partnership will be achieved in following four phases:

• Phase I: Development of a best practice compendium around millet mainstreaming and a scale-up strategy
• Phase II: Support scale-up of millet mainstreaming through knowledge sharing and intense engagement with select states
• Phase III: Leverage India’s expertise to support developing countries for millet mainstreaming
• Phase IV: Working on building capacities for climate resilient and adaptive livelihood practices

Initiatives for millets

• Recognizing the importance of millets, Government of India observed 2018 as a year of millets to encourage and promote the millet production. Leading this initiative further, GoI spearheaded the UNGA resolution for declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets.
• Numerous steps have been taken to promote millets including establishment of centre for Excellence, Integration of nutri-cereals in National Food Security Act and establishment of Millet Mission in multiple states.

Hence both statements are correct.

Taking the Prime Minister Modi’s unique school visit campaign ahead, Indian wrestler and Tokyo Olympics Bronze Medallist Bajrang Punia will visit Haryana’s Aarohi Model School in Panipat on December 23rd and meet the young students to talk about the importance of Santulit Aahaar (Balanced Diet), Fitness and Sports.

• The unique initiative is part of the government’s ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, and was kicked off by Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in Gujarat this month.
• The special school campaign is jointly being organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• The coming months will see our Olympic and Paralympic heroes visit as many schools across the country as possible.
• During their visit, the athletes will share their own experiences, life lessons, tips on how to be the next great sportsperson and also give an overall inspirational boost to the school children.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Prayagraj and participated in a programme being held to empower women, especially at the grassroot level.

• The Prime Minister transferred an amount of Rs. 1000 crore in the bank account of Self Help Groups (SHGs), benefitting around 16 lakh women members of the SHGs.
• This transfer is being done under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM), with 80,000 SHGs receiving Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs. 1.10 lakh per SHG and 60,000 SHGs receiving Revolving Fund of Rs. 15000 per SHG.
• The programme witnessed the Prime Minister encouraging Business Correspondent-Sakhis (B.C.-Sakhis), by transferring Rs. 4000 as first month's stipend in account of 20,000 B.C.-Sakhis.
• During the programme, the Prime Minister also transferred a total amount of over 20 crore to more than 1 lakh beneficiaries under the Mukhya Mantri Kanya Sumangala Scheme.
• The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of 202 Supplementary Nutrition Manufacturing Units. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the doyen of Hindi literature Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi on his death anniversary.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Agriculture Minister releases Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for use of Drone in Pesticide Application for Crop Protection and for spraying Soil and Crop Nutrients.

• The SOP for drone regulation for pesticide application covers important aspects like statutory provisions, flying permissions, area distance restrictions, weight classification, drone registration, safety insurance, piloting certification, operation plan, air flight zones, weather conditions, SOPs for pre, post and during operation etc.
• The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) commonly known as drones have great potential to revolutionize Indian agriculture and ensure country’s food security.
• The National drone policy has been notified and the Drone Rules 2021 have been made significantly easier for people and companies in the country to now own and operate drones.

Use of drones in Agriculture

• Drones are well-equipped with many features like multi-spectral and photo cameras and can be used in many areas of agriculture sector such as monitoring crop stress, plant growth, predict yields, deliver props like herbicides, fertilizer and water.
• Drones can be used for assessing the health of any vegetation or crop, field areas inflicted by weeds, infections and pests and based on this assessment, the exact amounts of chemicals needed to fight these infestations can be applied thereby optimizing the overall cost for the farmer.
• Drone planting systems have also been developed by many start-ups which allow drones to shoot pods, their seeds and spray vital nutrients into the soil. Thus, this technology increases consistency and efficiency of crop management, besides reducing the cost.
• The Minister informed that the drones were used for the first time in warding off the locust attacks in various states of the country.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The first set of indigenously developed next generation Armoured Engineer Reconnaissance Vehicle was inducted into the Corps of Engineers of Indian Army in a unction attended by Gen MM Naravane, the Chief of Army Staff at Pune.

• The system has been designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and manufactured by Ordnance Factory Medak & Bharat Electronics Limited, Pune.
• The vehicle is capable of carrying out reconnaissance of water obstacles and boggy patches for execution of engineer tasks with capabilities to carry out reconnaissance and provide real time update to force commanders.
• The system will enhance existing engineer reconnaissance capabilities of Indian Army and would be a major game changer in support of mechanised operations in future conflicts.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In continuation of its aggressive programme for exploration and adhering to the prescribed timelines, the Government has launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme(OALP) Bid Round-VII for International Competitive Bidding.

• The bids can be submitted through a dedicated online e-bidding portal till 1200 hrs. on February 15, 2022. Award of these blocks is likely be completed by the end of March 2022.
• Successful award of Round-VII Blocks would add further 15,766 sq. km of exploration acreage and cumulative acreage under OALP will be increased to 207,692 sq. km.
• The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) was approved in March 2016.
• In continuation to its determination for reduction in import dependency of oil and gas and accelerating E&P activities, the Government notified the further policy reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy in February, 2019. The focus was shifted from 'revenue' to 'production' maximization’.
• Since the launch of HELP on 30 March 2016, five rounds of OALP have been concluded for 105 E&P blocks; award of 21 blocks under sixth round of OALP is under progress. These 126 blocks comprise about 191,926 sq.km. of area spread across 18 sedimentary basins.
• The Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP), which adopts the Revenue Sharing Contract model, is a significant step towards improving the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the Indian Exploration and Production (E&P) sector.

Hence both statements are correct.

Kashmir is in a deep freeze as the 40-day harshest spell of winter, locally called ‘chillai kalan’, started on December 21, 2021, with the minimum temperature already sub-zero in the entire Valley.

• Chillai Kalan or Chillia Kalan is a Persian word which literally means forty days of intense cold.
• It is the local name given to 40 day period of harsh winter in Kashmir.
• It is the coldest part of winter, starting from 21 December to January 29 every year.
• Chillai-Kalan is followed by 20-day long Chillai Khurd (small cold) that occurs between January 30 and February 18 and a 10-days long Chillai Bachha (baby cold) which is from February 19 to February 28.
• Impact of Chillai Kalan on daily life of Kashmiris: Use of Pheran (Kashmiri dress) and a traditional firing pot called Kanger increases. Due to subzero temperature, tap water pipelines freeze partially during this period and world-famous Dal Lake also freezes.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The GIS based ‘Automatic Water Supply System’ for citizens of Cantonment Boards, 1st of its kind in the country was recently launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the occasion of Defence Estates Day 2021.

• The module of GIS based Water Supply system for Cantonment Boards has been developed by Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo informatics under the guidance of Defence Secretary and Director General of Defence Estates, Delhi.
• It is completely automated which provides facility to its citizen to identify the location of water supply connection. It automatically determines nearest water pipeline.
• This GIS system is first of its kind in the country. It is based on 'minimum government and maximum governance' concept as there is no manual intervention for clearance or sanction of the water connection.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Reserve Bank of India has extended the implementation date of card-on-file (CoF) tokenisation norms by six months to June 30, 2022.

• In September 2021, the RBI prohibited merchants from storing customer card details on their servers with effect from January 01, 2022, and mandated the adoption of card-on-file (CoF) tokenisation as an alternative to card storage. It applies to domestic, online purchases.
• Tokenisation refers to replacement of actual credit and debit card details with an alternate code called the “token”, which will be unique for a combination of card, token requestor and device.
• A tokenised card transaction is considered safer as the actual card details are not shared with the merchant during transaction processing.

Hence both statements are correct.