Daily Current Affairs MCQ - March 7, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Among Indians waiting to be evacuated from Ukraine following the Russian invasion are students of medicine enrolled in colleges located across the country — from Kharkiv in the east to Lviv in the west.

• For about three decades now, Indian students have been heading out to Russia, China, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines to pursue a medical degree.
• The medium of education for these students is English, a language they are comfortable with, and the amount spent on living and the medical degree are far more affordable than paying for an MBBS seat in private medical colleges in the country.

Medical colleges in India

• There are certainly far more MBBS aspirants than there are MBBS seats in India. In NEET 2021, as per a National Testing Agency press release, 16.1 lakh students registered for the exam, 15.4 lakh students appeared for the test, and 8.7 lakh students qualified.
• Union Minister of Health, told the Lok Sabha in December 2021, that as per data from the National Medical Commission (NMC), in 2021-22, there were 596 medical colleges in the country with a total of 88,120 MBBS seats.
• Additionally, these colleges are also not distributed evenly across the country, with States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala having many more colleges.
• The costs of an MBBS degree in a Government college tot up to a few lakhs of rupees for the full course, but in a private medical college, it can go up to ₹1 crore for the five-year course.
• From 2003, the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has been working to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has renewed calls for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite the repeated rejection of the idea by western leaders concerned about triggering a wider war in Europe.

• A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine.
• Western nations imposed such restrictions over parts of Iraq for more than a decade following the 1991 Gulf War, during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993-95, and during the Libyan civil war in 2011.

Why won’t NATO take this step in Ukraine?

• Military analysts say there is no chance that the US, Britain and their European allies will impose a no-fly zone because it could easily escalate the war in Ukraine into a nuclear confrontation between NATO and Russia.
• Declaring a no-fly zone could force NATO pilots to shoot down Russian aircraft.
• In addition to fighter planes, NATO would have to deploy refueling tankers and electronic-surveillance aircraft to support the mission.
• To protect these relatively slow, high-flying planes, NATO would have to destroy surface-to-air missile batteries in Russia and Belarus, again risking a broader conflict.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has made a significant relaxation for students who are unable to complete their MBBS internships because of compelling situations like the Ukraine war or the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Currently, Indian regulations do not allow foreign medical graduates to transfer to an Indian medical college for internships or examinations. The regulations strictly state that the MBBS course, training, and internship should be done in the same foreign medical institution.
• Recent change: Now, however, the NMC has made one relaxation related to internships. The regulator has said that foreign medical graduates with incomplete internships due to the war can apply to complete the remaining part of the internship in India.
• Can any foreign medical student apply in India? No. The NMC has said state medical councils have to ensure the candidates applying for completion of internship in India must have cleared the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) — a licensure examination conducted by the National Board of Examinations in India.
• Benefit: The change is likely to provide some relief for final year medical students returning from Ukraine, and several students who are not able to complete their internships in China due to Covid-19 restrictions that continue to be imposed in the country.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Belarus, the largest landlocked European country bordering the two warring nations has found itself in a precarious position amid its political proximity with Russia.

• The country is now at the receiving end of the West’s economic sanctions, meant to deter the Russian assault on Ukraine. The Belarusian border serves as the site for dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to possibly end the war.
• Historically, Belarus has acted as the site of negotiations between the two nations – two sets of agreements were signed in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in 2014 and 2015 to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Key facts:

• Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.
• Its capital is Minsk.
• After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus became a sovereign nation, and its first presidential elections were held in 1994. 
• Alexander Lukashenko has served as the country's first president since 1994. Belarus has been labelled "Europe's last dictatorship" by some Western journalists, on account of the country's poor human rights record and Lukashenko's self-described authoritarian style of government.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT to extend coverage to all residents of Jammu & Kashmir.

• The scheme will provide a financial cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family for in-patient care and surgical procedures.
• Getting free treatment of up to 5 lakh rupees under this scheme would improve the ease of living. Right now about 6 lakh families of the state are getting the benefit of Ayushman Bharat Scheme. All 21 lakh families will get the same benefit after the SEHAT scheme.
• Another benefit of this scheme would be that treatment is not limited to government and private hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir only. Rather, treatment can be availed from thousands of hospitals empanelled under this scheme in the country.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Home Minister Amit Shah distributed financial grants to 8,000 Namghars (traditional Vaisnavite monasteries of Assam) under the Assam Darshan programme.

• Namghars (literally meaning Prayer House) are places for congregational worship associated with the entire Assamese community and the Ekasarana sect of Hinduism, in particular, that is native to Assam.
• Besides forming the primary structure used for worship, they also function as meeting houses for congregations, as well as theatres for dramatic performances (bhaona).
• The Namghar, also called the kirtanghar, is also the central structure in the Sattras (monasteries of the Ekasarana religion) where the other buildings are positioned around it.
• Namghars were introduced in Assam by the Vaishnavite saints Damodaradeva, Madhavadeva and Sankaradeva for Assamese people where they can culture and practice naam (devotional songs) and Bhakti of God (devotion).

Hence both statements are correct.

Indian Railways’ PSU, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) commissioned Marathwada Rail Coach Factory in Latur, Maharashtra with production of the first coach shell.

• Marathwada Rail Coach Factory is going to contribute in overall development of this region of Maharashtra.
• This factory has been designed with an initial capacity of manufacturing 250 MEMU / EMU / LHB / trainset type advanced coaches per annum.
• A 5 km long rail connectivity has been provided for movement of coaches from the factory to a new electronically interlocked Harangul railway station, which earlier used to be only a halt station.

Hence both statements are correct.

The giant Antarctic iceberg A68a has become a cause for concern for South Georgia Island.

• The giant iceberg A68, the biggest block of free-floating ice from Antarctica with an area of about 5,800 sq. km, has been drifting in the Atlantic Ocean since 2017.
• This year, due to an ocean current, the iceberg was propelled into the South Atlantic Ocean and since then it has been drifting towards the remote sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, which is a British Overseas Territory (BOT).
• This has prompted fears about the impact the iceberg could have on the island’s abundant wildlife.
• Icebergs travel with ocean currents and either get caught up in shallow waters or ground themselves.
• Recently, US National Ice Center (USNIC) confirmed that two new icebergs calved from A68a and were large enough to be named and tracked. They are called A68E and A68F.
• South Georgia is an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (SGSSI). The main settlement is Grytviken.
• The US National Ice Center (USNIC) (USNIC is responsible for naming icebergs, which are named according to the Antarctic quadrant in which they are spotted)

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Kerala Governor has turned down a request by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to summon a special sitting of the Assembly to debate the new three central farm laws. This raises questions on the role of a Governor and the contours of the powers he or she has under the Constitution.

• According to Article 174 of the Constitution “The Governor shall from time to time summon the House or each House of the Legislature of the State to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit” .
• The provision also puts on the Governor the responsibility of ensuring that the House is summoned at least once every six months.
• Although it is the Governor’s prerogative to summon the House, according to Article 163, the Governor is required to act on the “aid and advice” of the Cabinet.
• So when the Governor summons the House under Article 174, this is not of his or her own will but on the aid and advice of the Cabinet.
• There are a few instances where the Governor can summon the House despite the refusal of the Chief Minister who heads the Cabinet.
• When the Chief Minister appears to have lost the majority and the legislative members of the House propose a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister, then the Governor can decide on his or her own on summoning the House.
• But the actions of the Governor, when using his discretionary powers can be challenged in court.
• A number of rulings by the Supreme Court has settled the position that the Governor cannot refuse the request of a Cabinet that enjoys majority in the House unless it is patently unconstitutional.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The government has introduced mandatory physical verification of business premises for the purposes of obtaining GST registration.

• The GST Council Secretariat said that the move, aimed at controlling the menace of GST fake invoice frauds, was recommended by the Council’s law committee.
• Separately, a new rule has been introduced by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs that mandates businesses with monthly turnover of over ₹50 lakh to pay at least 1% of their GST liability in cash instead of using input tax credits to discharge their entire liability.
• The validity of e-way bills has also been tweaked, doubling the distance to be covered for each day of validity, effective January 1. Till now, an e-way bill for transporting goods under GST allowed transporters to cover 100 km in one day. Now, that distance for each day of validity has been increased to 200 km.

Hence both statements are correct.