Daily Current Affairs MCQ - June 25, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The High Court of Andhra Pradesh struck down G.O. Ms. Nos 72 and 74, through which Sanchaita Gajapathi Raju was appointed as the hereditary trustee/chairperson of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Vari Devasthanam at Simhachalam and ordered that P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju be reinstated as its chairman.

• Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha temple, Simhachalam is a Hindu temple situated on the Simhachalam Hill Range, which is 300 metres above the sea level in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped there as Varaha Narasimha. As per the temple's legend, Vishnu manifested in this form (lion's head and human body) after saving his devotee Prahlada from a murder attempt by the latter's father Hiranyakashipu.
• Simhachalam temple resembles a fortress from outside with three outer courtyards and five gateways. The architecture is a mixture of the styles of the Kalinga Architecture, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, and the Cholas.
• The temple faces west instead of east, signifying victory.
• Simhachalam is the second-largest temple, after Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, in terms of income earned.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Indian Army has issued a tender, or a Request For Information (RFI), for the procurement of 1,750 Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs) to replace the Russian-origin infantry vehicles in service.

• This is the Army’s third attempt for the procurement of a new infantry vehicle.
• According to the RFI, the FICVs would be employed for cross-country operations, including amphibious operations in plain and desert terrain along the Western borders and high altitudes, up to 5,000 m, and mountain terrain along the northern borders in eastern Ladakh, the central sector and north Sikkim. They would replace the 1980s vintage Russian-origin BMP-2.
• Based on the responses to the RFI, the Army would finalise the specifications and also decide the procurement category.
• The main operational tasks that would have to performed by the FICV include destroying enemy tanks, armoured personnel carriers, combat vehicles, low-flying helicopters and other ground-based weapon platforms and positions.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Reserve Bank of India has released a Consultative Document on Regulation of Microfinance. It has been released for harmonising the regulatory frameworks for various regulated lenders in the microfinance space.

The key proposals of the Consultative Document are enumerated below:

• A common definition of microfinance loans for all regulated entities.
• Capping the outflow on account of repayment of loan obligations of a household to a percentage of the household income.
• A Board approved policy for household income assessment.
• No pre-payment penalty; no requirement of collateral; and greater flexibility of repayment frequency for all microfinance loans.
• Alignment of pricing guidelines for NBFC-MFIs with guidelines for NBFCs.
• Introduction of a standard simplified fact sheet on pricing of microfinance loans for better transparency.
• Display of minimum, maximum and average interest rates charged on microfinance loans on the websites of regulated entities.

Background

• Taking into consideration the constantly evolving milieu in the financial sector, it is proposed to review the regulatory framework for Non-Banking Financial Company - Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs).
• There is a case for having a framework which is uniformly applicable to all regulated lenders in the microfinance space including scheduled commercial banks, small finance banks and NBFC-Investment and Credit Companies, rather than prescribing these guidelines for NBFC-MFIs alone.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Cabinet gave the nod to the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021.

• It will replace the Inland Vessels Act, 1917.
• The Bill will regulate safety, security and registration of inland vessels.
• A key feature of the Bill is a unified law for the entire country, instead of separate rules framed by the States.
• The Bill provides for a central data base for recording the details of vessel, vessel registration, crew on an electronic portal.
• It requires all mechanically propelled vessels to be mandatorily registered. All non-mechanically propelled vessels will also have to be enrolled at district, taluk or panchayat or village level.
• The certificate of registration granted under the proposed law will be deemed to be valid in all States and Union Territories, and there will be no need to seek separate permissions from the States.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Delhi High Court granted bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University students Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal and Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in connection with the northeast Delhi riots in 2020.

• Notwithstanding the fact that the definition of ‘terrorist act’ in Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) is “wide and even somewhat vague”, the phrase ‘terrorist act’ cannot be permitted to be casually applied to criminal acts that fall squarely within the definition of conventional offences, the Delhi High Court remarked.
• It said the word ‘terrorism’ or ‘terror’ has nowhere been defined in the UAPA. Hence, the court must be careful in employing the definitional words and phrases used in section 15 (of the UAPA that defines ‘terrorist act').

UAPA

• The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was enacted in 1967.
• Section 15 of the UAPA defines “terrorist act” and is punishable with imprisonment for a term of at least five years to life. In case the terrorist act results in death, the punishment is death or imprisonment for life.
• The 2004 amendment was to ban organisations for terrorist activities, under which 34 outfits, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad, were banned.
• The 2019 amendment gave the Home Ministry the power to designate individuals as terrorists.
• In September 2019, the four individuals to be first designated as terrorists were JeM chief Masood Azhar, LeT’s Hafiz Saeed, his deputy Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who planned and executed the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The seven G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

India, the world’s largest exporter of basmati rice, has applied to the European Union for protected geographical indication (PGI) status of basmati rice. Pakistan has opposed this move. 

In India, historically, the long-grained, aromatic rice has been cultivated in Indo-Gangetic plains at the foothills of the Himalayas. In modern India, this region is spread over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir. Basmati has also been grown for centuries in the Kalar tract, which lies between the Ravi and Chenab rivers in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

Though basmati rice is grown in many parts of India, APEDA got the GI tag for seven states located in the Indo-Gangetic plains, including Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, outskirts of Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the original Indian Penal Code, drafted in 1860, provision related to Sedition didn’t even exist (hence, the ‘A’ after Section 124, signifying a later amendment). It was incorporated into the code in the 1870s, as a response to the rising Wahabi movement.

As per a recent study, Colombia is home to the world's largest variety of butterflies. It has 20% of all known species. About the Study: An international team of scientists classified 3,642 species and 2,085 subspecies. They registered the species in a document titled “Checklist of Colombian Butterflies.” About 200 butterfly species are found in Colombia. Colombia: It is a country with a great diversity of natural habitats, located in the extreme northeast of South America. It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, and the Pacific Ocean.

Dr Tadang Minu from Arunachal Pradesh, India has been appointed as a member of the Coaches Committee of the International Boxing Association(AIBA). She is the 1st Indian woman and the only 2nd Indian to be appointed as a member of AIBA. She has been appointed because of her enormous knowledge and experience in the field of boxing. She is the chairman of the Women’s Commission of Boxing Federation of India. She is also the President of the Arunachal Amateur Boxing Association (AABA) and HOD of Physical Education at Rajiv Gandhi University(RGU).