Daily Current Affairs MCQ - March 16, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

More than half of the faculty positions reserved for the OBCs in Central institutions of higher education are vacant while about 40% of those reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes also remain unfilled, Education Minister told the Lok Sabha.

• The situation is particularly acute in the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), where more than 60% of SC and OBC reserved positions are vacant, while almost 80% of positions reserved for the STs have not been filled.

• This means that out of 24 positions reserved for the STs, only five have been filled.

• For the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), data has only been provided for non-faculty positions.

• Both the IITs and the IIMs have been lobbying for exemption from such faculty quota requirements.

• Within the Central Universities, vacancies were higher at the level of professors. Less than 1% of the 1,062 professors in Central universities are from the ST communities.

• Despite the high levels of vacancies, Education Minister claimed that, “After implementation of ‘The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019’, the OBC reservation has been implemented at all levels.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) moved a Bill in the Lok Sabha in which it proposed that the “government” in the National Capital Territory of Delhi meant the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi.

• The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposes to amend Sections 21, 24, 33 and 44 of the 1991 Act.

• Section 44 of the 1991 Act says that all executive actions of the L-G, whether taken on the advice of his Ministers or otherwise, shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the L-G.

• The Bill gives discretionary powers to the L-G even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws.

• The proposed legislation also seeks to ensure that the L-G is “necessarily granted an opportunity” to give her or his opinion before any decision taken by the Council of Ministers (or the Delhi Cabinet) is implemented.

• Delhi is a Union Territory with a legislature and it came into being in 1991 under Article 239AA of the Constitution inserted by the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991.

• As per the existing Act, the Legislative Assembly has the power to make laws in all matters except public order, police and land.

The Congress in Assam has tweaked Bhaona for a political statement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens.

• Bhaona is a traditional form of entertainment, with religious messages, prevalent is Assam.

• It is a creation of Sankardeva, written in the early sixteenth century.

• The plays of bhaona are popularly known as Ankiya Nats and their staging is known as bhaona.

• The bhaonas are written in the Assamese and Brajavali languages.

Guru Chemancheri Kunhiraman Nair, a recipient of Padma Shri, died at the age of 104.

• Chemancheri Kunhiraman Nair, also known as Guru Chemancheri (1916 – 2021) was a noted Indian Kathakali actor. Kathakali is a major form of classical Indian dance from Kerala.

• He also played a significant role in making Bharatanatyam popular in north Kerala.

• He established an institution named Bharateeya Natya Kalalayam at Kannur in 1945. Later, he established another school, Cheliya Kathakali Vidyalayam, in 1983, in Cheliya.

Awards and honors

• 1999 Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi Fellowship of the Academy

• 2017 Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India

• Sangeet Natak Academi Tagore Award for contributions to Kathakali

A pilot project launched in Kodagu, Karnataka entails installing bee boxes along the periphery of the forest and the villages with the belief that the elephants will not venture anywhere close to the bees and thus avoid transgressing into human landscape. This idea stems from the elephants’ proven fear of the bees.

• An initiative of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) intends to create “bee fences” to thwart elephant attacks in human habitations using honeybees.

• The pilot project was launched at four locations around Chelur village in Kodagu district by KVIC. These spots are located on the periphery of the Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve, known conflict zone.

• Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of the KVIC’s National Honey Mission.

• Between 2015 and 2020, nearly 2,500 people have lost their lives in elephant attacks across India, of which 170 human fatalities have been reported in Karnataka alone, says the KVIC.

The Rajya Sabha passed the National Institutes of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019.

• The Bill declares certain institutes of food technology, entrepreneurship, and management as institutions of national importance.

• These institutes are the

  • National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Kundli, in Haryana

  • Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.

• The Bill declares these institutes as National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management.

The Supreme Court asked the Centre and the Election Commission of India to respond to a plea that fresh elections should be conducted in constituencies where the highest number of votes polled are NOTA (None Of The Above).

• The petition said candidates ‘rejected’ by voters should not be fielded again in the fresh polls.

• Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde expressed doubts initially about the feasibility of the petition to arm the electorate with the “right to reject” and nudge political parties to present voters with a better choice of candidates to pick from.

• Chief Justice Bobde said if voters kept rejecting candidates, Parliament/Assembly seats would continue to remain vacant, affecting legislative functioning.

• But the petition argued that “if voters are given the power to reject, political parties will take care to field worthy candidates in the first place.”

• Supreme Court, in the PUCL v Union of India (2013) directed the ECI to introduce NOTA in direct elections to allow voters to register their protest if none of the candidates is acceptable to them.

• NOTA has only symbolic value in a direct election. Regardless of NOTA numbers, candidate polling most votes is elected.

• However, it is a step towards encouraging political parties to field candidates with integrity

Arms imports decreased by 33% between 2011–15 and 2016–20 while India continues to remain the second largest arms importer after Saudi Arabia, according to a report from Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

• The overall drop in arms imports between 2011–15 and 2016–20 was due to complex and lengthy procurement processes, combined with attempts to reduce its dependence on Russian arms by diversifying its network of arms suppliers.

• Russia was the largest arms supplier in both years. However, Russia’s deliveries dropped by 53% between the two periods and its share of Indian arms imports fell from 70 to 49%.

• France and Israel were the second and third largest arms suppliers in 2016–20. India’s arms imports from France increased by 709% while those from Israel rose by 82%.

• The U.S. was the fourth largest supplier in 2016–20.

• Combat aircraft and associated missiles made up more than 50% of arms imports.

• Arms imports by Pakistan between 2011–15 and 2016–20 decreased by 23%.

• China accounted for 61% of its imports in 2011–15 and for 74% in 2016–20.

For the first time ever, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started work on reopening the crucial Baralacha Pass in Himachal Pradesh much before schedule to restore connectivity to Leh in Ladakh.

• Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range, connecting Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh, situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.

• The pass also acts as a water-divide between the Bhaga river and the Yunam river.

• The Bhaga river, a tributary of the Chenab river, originates from Surya taal lake, which is situated a few of kilometers from the pass towards Manali.

The Supreme Court intervened on behalf of the critically endangered Great Indian Bustards over the birds falling dead after colliding with power lines running through their dwindling natural habitats in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

• Black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head. The body is brownish and the wings are marked with black, brown and grey.

• They feed on grass seeds, insects like grasshoppers and beetles, and sometimes even small rodents and reptiles.

• Distribution:

  1. India, effectively the only home of the bustards, now harbours less than 150 individuals in five States.

  2. Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small population also occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

  3. It is the State bird of Rajasthan.

• Habitat:

  1. Bustards generally favour flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and disturbance, therefore adapt well in grasslands.

  2. They avoid grasses taller than themselves and dense scrub like thickets.

• Conservation status:
  1. Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972,
  2. Listed in Appendix I of ITES,
  3. Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Recent development:

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde will examine on a priority basis whether overhead power cables can be replaced with underground ones to save one of the heaviest flying birds on the planet.

The court found further that an alternative mechanism — to install flight bird divertors — to guide the birds away from the power lines would be expensive.