Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 13, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

• The IIP number measures the industrial production for the period under review, usually a month, as against the reference period.
• There is a lag of six weeks in the publication of the IIP index data after the reference month ends.
• It is currently calculated using 2011-2012 as the base year.
• National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) releases the IIP data.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference will begin from 12th June 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland after a gap of almost five years.

• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will lead the Indian delegation in the Conference.
• The key areas of discussions and negotiations in this year’s conference include WTO’s response to the pandemic, Fisheries subsidies negotiations and Agriculture issues including Public Stockholding for Food security.
• Regarding intellectual property, India seeks: (i) a recognition of the difficulties faced by developing countries and LDCs in utilising TRIPS flexibilities to address the COVID-19 pandemic, and (ii) a reaffirmation of the TRIPS waiver decision under the responses’ declaration.
• India is a founding member of the WTO since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 8 July 1948.

Hence both statements are correct.

In a special gesture towards the people of Mongolia, four Holy Relics of Lord Buddha are being taken from India to Mongolia for an 11-day exposition as part of celebrations of Mongolian Buddha Purnima falling on the 14th of this month.

• The Holy Relics will be displayed at the Batsagaan Temple within the premises of Gandan Monastery. The Holy Buddha relics, currently housed in the National Museum, are known as the ‘Kapilvastu Relics’ since they are from a site in Bihar first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient city of Kapilvastu.
• It is another historic milestone in India-Mongolia relations and will further boost cultural and spiritual relations between the two countries.
• Mr. Modi was the first-ever Prime Minister of India to visit Mongolia in 2015.
• Kapilavastu was an ancient city on the Indian subcontinent which was the capital of the clan of the Shakyas. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) until he left the palace at the age of 29.

Hence both statements are correct.

Radio technical Systems (RTS) of Russia has signed a large-scale contract with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the supply of radio equipment.

• The Russian company will manufacture 34 sets of instrument landing system (ILS) 734 for the modernisation of 24 airports in India. The contract comes amid the war in Ukraine and pressure from the West on India to diversify its dependence for defence needs.
• The domestic manufacturer received the right to conclude a contract based on the results of a global tender, in which, in addition to RTS, the world’s largest suppliers of radio equipment took part.
• According to the contract, the first part of landing systems ILS-734 must be shipped before November. Payments within the transaction will be carried out in national currencies, the statement said, without specifying the contract value.

Hence both statements are correct.

• The United States Geological Survey (USGS) in partnership with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Lunar Planetary Institute has released a new comprehensive map of the Moon, called the ‘Unified Geologic Map of the Moon’. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The map has been created with the help of the information gathered from six Apollo-era regional maps.
• This new map will be the precise roadmap of the Moon's surface geology for future human expeditions. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The map will also assist researchers in learning about the history of the structures found on the Moon's surface.

• Recently, the Ministry of Finance has announced that the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) along with the India Debt Resolution Company (IDRCL) will take over the first set of bad loans/NPA from banks and try to resolve them. These two will act as Bad banks. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The aim of setting up a bad bank is to help ease the burden on banks by taking bad loans off their balance sheets and get them to lend again to customers without constraints.
• An NPA refers to a classification for loans or advances that are in default or are in arrears on scheduled payments of principal or interest.
  • Debt of the bank is classified as non-performing asset, when the loan payments have not been made for a minimum period of 90 days. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Pakistan is hoping for some reprieve as the international watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will begin meetings in Berlin ahead of its plenary session.

• FATF is an inter-governmental decision-making body to develop policies against money laundering.
• It is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
• It was established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris.
• The FATF Secretariat is located at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
• Currently, there are 39 members of the FATF including the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for signing a bilateral MoU between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Cooperation in the field of Industries and Advanced Technologies.

• The MoU envisages cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis in the following areas:
  • Strengthening the Supply Chain Resilience of Industries
  • Renewable & Energy Efficiency
  • Health and life sciences
  • Space Systems
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Industry 4.0 Enabling Technologies
  • Standardization, metrology, conformity assessment, accreditation, and Halal certification.
• The MoU aims at strengthening and developing industries in both nations through investments, technology transfer and the deployment of key technologies in industries.

Hence both statements are correct.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh has approved enhancement of funding under Technology Development Fund (TDF) scheme of Ministry of Defence to Rs 50 crore per project from Rs 10 crore.

• The TDF scheme, executed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), supports indigenous development of components, products, systems and technologies by MSMEs and start-ups.
• The TDF Scheme aims to provide a major fillip to the defence manufacturing sector by encouraging the industry to innovate and develop defence technologies in order to place India on the self-reliance trajectory.
• The scheme facilitates up to 90 per cent of the total project cost and allows industry to work in consortium with another industry/academia. With the enhanced funding, the industry and startups will be able to develop more complex technologies for existing and future weapon systems and platforms.
• It may be recalled that 25 per cent of defence R&D budget was earmarked for private industry, start-ups and academia in Union Budget 2022-23. The enhanced funding is in line with the budget announcement.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved the transfer of 10 in-orbit communication satellites from Government of India (Gol) to New Space India Ltd. (NSIL), a wholly owned Public Sector Enterprise of GOI under the administrative control of the Department of Space.

• The Union Cabinet has also approved increasing the authorized share capital of NSIL from Rs.1000 crore to Rs.7500 crore.
• Transfer of these assets to NSIL will further provide the desired financial autonomy to the company to realize capital intensive programmes/ projects and thereby offering huge employment potential and technology spin-off to other sectors of the economy.
• This approval is expected to trigger domestic economic activity in space sector and increase India's share in the global space market.
• The Space Sector reforms mandated NSIL to undertake end-to-end commercial space activities and function as a full-fledged satellite operator. NSIL functioning as a single-window operator will also facilitate the ease of doing business in space sector.
• NSIL Board will now be empowered to price the transponders as per the market dynamics and global trends in the Satellite Communication sector. NSIL is also authorized to offer and allocate capacity as per its internal policies and guidelines.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.