Daily Current Affairs MCQ - July 30, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The much-awaited bad bank — National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) — has been incorporated, with the Corporate Affairs Ministry giving legal recognition.

The capital structure will have a component of both equity and debt. Public sector banks led by Canara Bank (which is likely to have 12 per cent stake) are expected to hold controlling stake in NARCL.

The other banks that are expected to pump in capital include State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and IDBI Bank.

The government will not have any direct equity contribution to NARCL.

Southern Ocean is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean.

While the other oceans are defined by the continents that fence them in, the Southern Ocean is defined by a current. 

Scientists estimate that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) was established roughly 34 million years ago, when Antarctica separated from South America.

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is the strongest current system in the world oceans, linking the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific basins.

The ACC flows from west to east around Antarctica, in a broad fluctuating band roughly centered around a latitude of 60 degrees south—the line that is now defined as the northern boundary of the Southern Ocean. Inside the ACC, the waters are colder and slightly less salty than ocean waters to the north.

Extending from the surface to the ocean floor, the ACC transports more water than any other ocean current. It pulls in waters from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, helping drive a global circulation system known as the conveyor belt, which transports heat around the planet.

Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.

Only statement 2 is correct. Statement 1: The Bill seeks to amend the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. Statement 2: The amendments include authorizing District Magistrate including Additional District Magistrate to issue adoption orders to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability. Defining eligibility parameters for the appointment of Child Welfare Committee members and categorizing previously undefined offences as serious offences are some of the other aspects of the Bill. Why in the News? On 28th July 2021, Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill 2021 with Rajya Sabha approving it amid the din.

Vantika Agrawal from Delhi has won the National women online chess title. From 11 rounds she scored 9.5 points. Key Points: With 9 points, Arpita Mukherjee from West Bengal took the 2nd spot. Sreeja Seshadri from Tamil Nadu with 8.5 points took the third spot in this competition. Maharashtra's Soumya Swaminathan and Tamil Nadu’s R Vaishali finished 4th and 5th respectively. This tournament saw past champions Padmini Rout, Bhakti Kulkarni, Tania Sachdev as well as seasoned names like Mary Ann Gomes, Soumya Swaminathan, and Esha Karavade.

Malaysia has registered the world's first affordable as well as an effective new drug called ravidasvir for hepatitis C. This drug gives hope for accessible treatment to people around the world who are suffering from this disease. Key Points: The drug which has been named ravidasvir has been approved for use along with an existing drug named sofosbuvir, in June. This approval came 5 years after the Malaysian government had collaborated with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) to develop the drug. Hepatitis C: It has very few early symptoms and is said to be a silent killer. It is a blood-borne virus that is one of the leading causes of liver cancer and can lead to cirrhosis As per WHO, around 71 million people globally are thought to be living with Hepatitis C.

Every year on July 29, International Tiger Day ( also called Global Tiger DThe theme for the 2021 International Tiger Day celebration is “Their Survival is in our hands”. History of the Day: It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit in Russia to put in place a global system for protecting the natural habitats of tigers and raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues. During the Summit, 13 tiger range countries came together to create Tx2, the global goal to double the number of wild tigers by the year 2022.

The Indore city of Madhya Pradesh has become the only city from the country to be selected for the International Clean Air Catalyst Programme. It is also known as the cleanest city in India. Clean Air Catalyst Programme: It is a new flagship programme launched by The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a global consortium of organisations, led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to combat air pollution in low and middle-income countries by accelerating clean air solutions. The project will be operated for a period of 5 years. It aims to purify the air in the city with the cooperation of Indore Municipal Corporation and Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board.

Puri city of Odisha becomes the first in India to provide a 24×7 ‘safe to drink’ tap water facility. It has become the first city in India to implement the Drink-from-Tap project. The city now offers safe drinking water directly from the tap on a 24 hours basis, through smart water management technology. On July 26, 2021, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the Sujal or ‘Drink From Tap’ mission in Puri. The people of Puri will receive high-quality drinking water directly from the tap. There is no need to store or filter drinking water for cooking and drinking. It will benefit around 2.5 lakh people of Puri along with 2 crore tourists coming to Puri every year.

The State Government of Madhya Pradesh has prepared an Ayush-based economic up-gradation scheme named Devaranya Yojana. It aims at bringing together AYUSH and tourism to boost employment opportunities in tribal areas. It has a dual objective of maximizing Ayurveda benefits in the scheduled tribal areas and enhancing employment and livelihood opportunities in tribal-dominated areas. Medicinal and aromatic plants will be cultivated in the tribal-dominated areas, industries based on them, storage, medicine manufacturing, processing, marketing, rural and health tourism in tribal areas will be promoted.