Daily Current Affairs MCQ - March 6, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

World leaders at a United Nations conference in Kenya have agreed to work together in the biggest-ever push to stem the flood of plastic pollution.

• The U.N. Environment Assembly has voted to adopt a resolution that paves the way for a legally binding agreement on plastic pollution by 2024.
• The vote was unanimous, with nations agreeing to create an intergovernmental committee to negotiate the terms of the treaty.
• Head of the U.N. Environment Programme, Inger Andersen, said that the plastics treaty would be the most significant environmental pact since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• The details of the final treaty are yet to be negotiated, but could include a ban on producing new plastic, and will take into account all aspects of plastic pollution — including particles in the ocean, soil and food chain.
• The resumed session of fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 5.2) was held from 28^th February 2022 to 2^nd March 2022 in Nairobi.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications and Houlin Zhao, Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) signed the Host Country Agreement (HCA) for the establishment of an Area Office & Innovation Centre of ITU in New Delhi on 3rd March 2022.

• International Telecommunication Union is the United Nations specialised agency for information and communication technologies – ICTs.
• ITU currently has a membership of 193 countries and over 900 private-sector entities and academic institutions.

Area Office and the Innovation Centre

• The Area Office and Innovation Centre of ITU at New Delhi is expected to serve South Asian countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India.
• The Host Country Agreement provides the legal and financial framework for establishment and operations of the Area Office.
• The Area Office and the Innovation Centre is expected to be operational by mid 2022.

World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly-20 (WTSA-20)

• The agreement was signed in a virtual ceremony during the World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly-20 (WTSA-20) being held in Geneva, Switzerland.
• WTSA is a four-yearly global conference of ITU dedicated to standardisation of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs).
• India has proposed to host the next WTSA to be held in 2024.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said it was putting on hold and reviewing all projects in Russia and Belarus.

• The move comes amid sweeping sanctions and other financial measures aimed at Russia from a number of countries over its invasion of Ukraine.
• AIIB is a multilateral development bank that aims to improve economic and social outcomes in Asia. AIIB is headquartered in Beijing, China.
• When was AIIB established? January 16, 2016.
• AIIB has 105 members. China is the AIIB’s largest shareholder with a 26.5% voting share. India is the second-largest, with 7.5%, followed by Russia, which has a 5.97% voting share. Belarus is also a member.
• All powers of the Bank are vested in our Board of Governors, which is the highest decision-making body under its Articles of Agreement.
• The bank is headed by China’s Jin Liqun. Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel is a Vice-President of the bank.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union government will re-establish village defence committees (VDCs) in Jammu to fight militancy, provide hi-tech weapons and ensure equal salary to its members.

• VDCs will be re-established with a changed nomenclature. They will be called ‘village defence groups’ now.
• A formal order is expected soon from the Union Home Ministry.
• The VDCs were constituted in 1995 in 10 districts of the Jammu region to fight militants in far-off places. Around 26,567 locals were recruited into them. Most of the VDCs were disbanded after its members were accused of violence.

Hence both statements are correct.

Iran nuclear deal

• The deal, formally known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
• The JCPOA was the result of prolonged negotiations from 2013 and 2015 between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States + Germany). Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• Under the deal, Iran agreed to significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water, all key components for nuclear weapons. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Iran also agreed to implement a protocol that would allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to access its nuclear sites to ensure Iran would not be able to develop nuclear weapons in secret.
• While the West agreed to lift sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear proliferation, other sanctions addressing alleged abuses of human rights and Iran’s ballistic missile programme remained in place.
• The US committed to lifting sanctions on oil exports, but continued to restrict financial transactions, which have deterred international trade with Iran.
• Nonetheless, Iran’s economy, after suffering years of recessions, currency depreciation, and inflation, stabilised significantly after the deal took effect, and its exports skyrocketed.
• Israel, America’s closest ally in the Middle East, strongly rejected the deal, and other countries like Iran’s great regional rival Saudi Arabia, complained that they were not involved in the negotiations even though Iran’s nuclear programme posed security risks for every country in the region.
• After Trump abandoned the deal and reinstated banking and oil sanctions, Iran ramped up its nuclear programme in earnest, returning to approximately 97% of its pre-2015 nuclear capabilities.

World Wildlife Day

• World Wildlife Day has been celebrated every year on the 3^rd of March since 2013. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The date chosen coincides with the day of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which was signed in 1973.
• The UNGA (General Assembly) resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN (United Nations) calendar.
• 2022 Theme: Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • This theme is chosen as a way to draw attention to the conservation status of some of the most critically endangered species of wild fauna and flora.

Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020

• It enables the notification of a List of Weapons or Platforms that will be banned for import.
  • It focuses on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing and indigenization of the manufacturing prices.
• It also introduces several new ideas such as the need to incorporate artificial intelligence in platforms and systems, use of indigenous software in defence equipment and 'innovation' by Start-ups and MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) as a new category of defence acquisition.
• It includes following procurement categories: Buy (Indian – Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured), Buy (Indian), Buy and Make (Indian), Buy (Global - Manufacture in India) and Buy (Global). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• It increases the Indigenous Content (IC) requirement for all projects from 40% to 50% earlier, depending on the category, to 50% to 60%. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Only under procurement through Buy (Global), foreign vendors can have 30% IC from Indian companies.

Various Instruments of Monetary Policy

• Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF):
  • The LAF consists of overnight as well as term repo auctions.
  • The aim of term repo is to help develop the interbank term money market, which in turn can set market based benchmarks for pricing of loans and deposits, and hence improve transmission of monetary policy.
  • The RBI also conducts variable interest rate reverse repo auctions, as necessitated under the market conditions.
  • Repo Rate:
    • The interest rate at which the Reserve Bank provides overnight liquidity to banks against the collateral of government and other approved securities under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF).
  • Reverse Repo Rate:
    • The interest rate at which the Reserve Bank absorbs liquidity, on an overnight basis, from banks against the collateral of eligible government securities under the LAF.
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF):
  • A facility under which scheduled commercial banks can borrow additional amount of overnight money from the Reserve Bank by dipping into their Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) portfolio up to a limit at a penal rate of interest.
  • This provides a safety valve against unanticipated liquidity shocks to the banking system.
• Open Market Operations (OMOs):
  • These include both, outright purchase and sale of government securities, for injection and absorption of durable liquidity, respectively.
• Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS):
  • This instrument for monetary management was introduced in 2004.
  • Surplus liquidity of a more enduring nature arising from large capital inflows is absorbed through sale of short-dated government securities and treasury bills.
  • The cash so mobilised is held in a separate government account with the RBI.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• When a person gets vaccinated against a disease, their risk of infection is also reduced – so they’re also less likely to transmit the virus or bacteria to others.
• As more people in a community get vaccinated, fewer people remain vulnerable, and there is less possibility for an infected person to pass the pathogen on to another person.
• 'Herd immunity', also known as 'population immunity', is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when immunity develops in a population either through vaccination or through previous infection.
• Herd immunity does not mean unvaccinated or individuals who have not previously been infected are themselves immune.
• Instead, herd immunity exists when individuals who are not immune, but live in a community with a high proportion of immunity, have a reduced risk of disease as compared to non-immune individuals living in a community with a small proportion of immunity.
• In communities with high immunity, the non-immune people have a lower risk of disease than they otherwise would, but their reduced risk results from the immunity of people in the community in which they are living (i.e., herd immunity) not because they are personally immune.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fixed the tenure of MD, CEO and whole-time director (WTD) in a private sector bank at 15 years and prescribed the maximum age of 70 years for such functionaries.

• These directives form part of the instructions issued by the RBI with regard to the chair and meetings of the board, composition of certain committees of the board, age, tenure and remuneration of directors, and appointment of the WTDs.
• The RBI said it would come out with a Master Direction on Corporate Governance in banks in due course.
• The post of the MD & CEO or WTD cannot be held by the same incumbent for more than 15 years.
• Thereafter, the individual will be eligible for re-appointment as MD & CEO or WTD in the same bank, if considered necessary and desirable by the board, after a minimum gap of three years, subject to meeting other conditions.
• It added that during this three-year cooling period, the individual shall not be appointed or associated with the bank or its group entities in any capacity, either directly or indirectly.
• With regard to upper age limit for MD & CEO and WTDs in the private sector banks, the RBI said that no person can continue in such positions beyond the age of 70. The maximum age limit for chairman and non-executive directors has been fixed at 75 years.

Hence both statements are correct.