Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 25, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Members of the Ahir community have been sitting on an indefinite protest near Kherki Daula toll plaza in Gurgaon since February 4, demanding the formation of an Ahir regiment in the Indian Army.

• The protests are being organised under the banner of ‘Sanyukt Ahir Regiment Morcha’, a group comprising Ahir community leaders from south Haryana.
• The protesters contend that the Indian Army had several caste-based regiments (for Sikhs, Gorkhas, Jaats, Garhwals, Rajputs).
• Since Ahirs had a large representation in the army, they want a separate regiment for Ahirs along similar lines.
• In the battle of Rezang La in 1962, out of 120 casualties, 114 were Ahirs. It is unfortunate that Ahirs have not got the recognition like other communities. The recruitment to President’s Bodyguard (PBG) is open only for Rajputs, Jats and Sikh regiments.

Ahirs

• Ahir or Aheer is a community in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous.
• The Ahirs are variously described as a caste, a clan, a community, a race and a tribe.
• The traditional occupations of Ahirs are cattle-herding and agriculture.
• They are found throughout India but are particularly concentrated in the northern area.

Hence both statements are correct.

The water quality of the Ganga was clean enough for bathing and capable of supporting the river ecosystem for almost the entire stretch of the river, Ministry of Jal Shakti informed the Rajya Sabha.

• Dissolved oxygen (DO), which is an indicator of river health was within “acceptable limits” of “bathing water quality criteria”.
• A report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2018, pointed out four polluted stretches on the main stem of river Ganga. There are five categories ranked 1 to 5, with 1 the most polluted and 5 the least.
• An updated 2021 report noted that none of the stretches of the Ganga were now in Priority Category I to IV and only two stretches are in Priority Category V with bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), a parameter different from DO, ranging between 3-6 microgram/litre as per CPCB categorisation of polluted stretch.
• The NRCP has so far covered polluted stretches on 34 rivers in 77 towns spread over 16 States with a sanctioned cost of ₹5,961.75 crore. The Namami Gange programme has funded 364 projects, including 160 for sewage treatment.

What is dissolved oxygen?

• Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen that is present in water.
• Water bodies receive oxygen from the atmosphere and from aquatic plants.
• Running water, such as that of a swift moving stream, dissolves more oxygen than the still water of a pond or lake.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Cabinet approved the creation of the National Land Monetisation Corporation (NLMC), the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the Union Budget 2021-22, to carry out monetisation of government and surplus land holdings of public sector undertakings (PSU).

• The National Land Monetisation Corporation will be a firm, fully owned by the government, to carry out the monetisation of government and public sector assets in the form of surplus, unused or underused land assets.
• It will fall under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and will be set up with an initial authorised share capital of ₹5,000 crore and a paid-up capital of ₹150 crore.
• Apart from monetising underutilised or unused land parcels of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), the Corporation will also facilitate the monetisation of assets belonging to PSUs that have ceased operations or are in line for a strategic disinvestment, with the aim of unlocking the value of these land holdings.
• The surplus land and building assets of such enterprises are expected to be transferred to the NLMC, which will then hold, manage and monetise them.
• Besides managing and monetising, the NLMC will act as an advisory body and support other government entities and CPSEs in identifying their surplus non-core assets and monetising them in an efficient and professional manner, maximising the scope of value realisation.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Cabinet cleared a Bill that proposes to unify the three civic bodies in Delhi. The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, is expected to be tabled in Parliament this week.

• The amendment proposes a unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi by subsuming the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. The corporation was trifurcated in 2012.
• According to Government of India, The division of the corporation was uneven in terms of territorial divisions and revenue generation. As a result, there is a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations, vis-à-vis their obligation.
• The gap has widened over time, increasing the financial difficulties of the civic bodies.
• At the moment the precise contours of the unified civic body are yet to emerge — especially in terms of the composition of its legislature and the executive.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel prize for the year 2022 to American Mathematician Dennis Parnell Sullivan.

• The award has been given, “For his ground-breaking contributions to topology in its broadest sense, and in particular its algebraic, geometric and dynamical aspects”.
• Topology is a field of mathematics which was born in the 19th century and has to do with properties of surfaces that do not change when they are deformed.
• Topologically, a circle and a square are the same; similarly, surfaces of a doughnut and a coffee mug with one handle are topologically equivalent, however, the surface of a sphere and a coffee mug are not equivalent.
• The Abel Prize is a prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829).

Hence both statements are correct.

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ramesh Chandra Lahoti died at a hospital here on Wednesday, family sources said. He was 81.

• Ramesh Chandra Lahoti (1940 – 2022) was the 35th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1 June 2004 to 1 November 2005.
• Justice Lahoti upheld a Haryana law that did not allow those with more than two children to contest local body elections. He rejected arguments based on right to privacy and religion.
• He quashed the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act on migrants to Assam.
• He was a former independent director on the board of directors of the Press Trust of India.
• He was appointed arbitrator by the Government of India in the ₹20,000-crore tax dispute case with Vodafone.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla spoke at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting on cooperation between the United Nations (UN) and the League of Arab States (LAS).

• The Arab League, formally the League of Arab States, is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, Eastern Africa, and Western Asia.
• The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 initially with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.
• Currently, the League has 22 members, but Syria's participation has been suspended since November 2011.
• Administrative centre: Cairo, Egypt.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India’s annual goods exports crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time ever, the government announced, buoyed by an increase in shipments of merchandise, including engineering products, apparel and garments, gems and jewellery and petroleum products.

• Marking the “first time ever” development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the manufacturers, farmers and weavers for achieving this target.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal asserted that neither the COVID-19 pandemic nor the global uncertainties following the Ukraine crisis had affected India’s ability to reach its export goals.
• Exports had reached $331.02 billion in the pre-pandemic fiscal year of 2018-19. Shipments have so far increased by $25.19 billion during the month of March and by March 31, the total figure is expected to be $410 billion, the government said.
• The boost in the exports was likely to bolster India’s position in the ongoing negotiations for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with several trade partners.
• The agriculture sector too had recorded its highest-ever export during 2021-22 with the help of export of “rice, marine products, wheat, spices and sugar”.

Hence both statements are correct.

• In 1882, Dr. Robert Koch announced the discovery of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis that causes TB and his discovery opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease.
  • Some of Mycobacteria cause diseases like TB and Leprosy in humans and others infect a wide range of animals. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Presently, the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the sole vaccine available for the prevention of TB. Hence, statement 2 is not correct

Bhagat Singh

• Born as Bhaganwala on the 26^th September, 1907, Bhagat Singh grew up in a petty-bourgeois family of Sandhu Jats settled in the Jullundur Doab district of the Punjab.
• In 1923, Bhagat Singh joined the National College, Lahore which was founded and managed by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bhai Parmanand.
• In 1925, Bhagat Singh returned to Lahore and within the next year he and his colleagues started a militant youth organisation called the Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• In April 1926, Bhagat Singh established contact with Sohan Singh Josh and through him the 'Workers and Peasants Party' which brought out the monthly magazine Kirti in Punjabi.
• In 1928, Bhagat Singh changed the name of Hindustan Republican Association to Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). In 1930, when Azad was shot, the HSRA collapsed. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • Naujawan Bharat Sabha replaced HSRA in Punjab.