Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 17, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is looking at various opportunities for further tie-ups with global financial service entities to make RuPay cards at par with Visa or Mastercard.

About National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI):

• It is an umbrella organisation for operating retail payments and settlement systems in India.
• It is an initiative of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, to create a robust Payment & Settlement Infrastructure in India.
• It has been incorporated as a “Not for Profit” Company under the provisions of Section 25 of the Companies Act 1956 (now Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013).
• The Company is focused on bringing innovations in the retail payment systems through the use of technology for achieving greater efficiency in operations and widening the reach of payment.
• NPCI is promoted by ten major banks, including the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Citibank, Bank of Baroda, and HSBC.
• The regulatory board of the NPCI, headquartered in Mumbai, includes nominees from the RBI along with nominees from ten core promoter banks. 
• Payment systems that the NPCI can operate include National Financial Switch (NFS), Immediate Payment System (IMPS), Aadhaar-enabled Payments System (AEPS) and National Automated Clearing House (NACH).
• Services Offered by NPCI:
• Bharat Bill Payment Interface (BBPI): It was developed by the NPCI to help the retail payments sector. With the introduction of the BBPI, a single platform has been made for aggregators and 0billpayers. 
• Immediate Payment Service (IMPS): It gives you the option to transfer funds immediately. The facility is available at any given time. The beneficiary details must be added to transfer funds via IMPS. You can add the IFSC code and the account number to transfer funds via IMPS. 
• RuPay: NPCI introduced RuPay so that average citizens can make financial decisions. RuPay is an affordable card and can be issued as credit cards, debit cards, and prepaid cards. More than 300 million RuPay cards are in India. 
• USSD Services: Unstructured Supplementary Service Date (USSD) was introduced by the NPCI to allow individuals to make banking solutions without the need for the internet or smartphones. 
• BHIM: BHIM uses UPI to complete payment transfers. You can make payments via BHIM by entering the Virtual Payment Address (VPA) or the registered mobile number. No smartphone is required to transfer funds via BHIM. 
• UPI: United Payments Interface (UPI) allows you to transfer funds from your smartphone. However, you will need to link your bank account to complete payments via UPI. Money is transferred directly from one bank to another.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of Culture recently said that the ministry is likely to launch a revamped ‘Adopt a Heritage’ or ‘Monument Mitra’ scheme.

About Adopt a Heritage Scheme:

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.
• It was launched in September 2017 on World Tourism Day.
• Under it, the government invites entities, including public sector companies, private sector firms, as well as individuals, to develop selected monuments and heritage and tourist sites across India.  
• The project aims to encourage these entities to become ‘Monument Mitras’ and take up the responsibility of developing and upgrading the basic and advanced tourist amenities at these sites.
• The Monument Mitras are selected by the ‘oversight and vision committee,’ co-chaired by the Tourism Secretary and the Culture Secretary, on the basis of the bidder’s ‘vision’ for the development of all amenities at the heritage site. 
• The oversight committee also has the power to terminate a memorandum of understanding in case of non-compliance or non-performance.
• The corporate sector is expected to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the upkeep of the site.
• The Monument Mitras, in turn, will get limited visibility on the site premises and on the Incredible India website.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, The Central Consumer Protection Authority has issued order against five e-commerce platforms for selling seat belt alarm stopper clips.

• CCPA passed orders against the five e-commerce players for violation of consumer rights and unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

About CCPA:

• It has been established in 2020 under section 10 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 that replaced Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
• It consists of the following members appointed by the Central Government-
• Chief Commissioner.
• Two Commissioners. 
• One commissioner each will represent goods and services.
• Objective- To promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers as a class.
• It will be empowered-
• To conduct investigations into violation of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution,
• Order recall of unsafe goods and services,
• Order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements,
• Impose penalties on manufacturers/ endorsers/ publishers of misleading advertisements.
• Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The WPI inflation has fallen into negative for the first time since July 2020.

• According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, INFLATION RATE based on Wholesale Price Index (WPI) fell to a near three-year low of (-) 0.92 % in April, slipping into negative territory for the first time in 33 months.
• Causes:
• A high base effect along with moderation in global commodity prices reflected in easing of food, fuel and other input costs.
• The decline in the WPI inflation rate in April 2023 was primarily contributed by fall in prices of basic metals, food products, mineral oils, textiles, non-food articles etc.

What Is a Wholesale Price Index (WPI)?

• Wholesale Price Index (WPI) represents the price of goods at a wholesale stage i.e. goods that are sold in bulk and traded between organizations instead of consumers.

The index has a total of 697 items, including Primary Articles (117), fuel and power (16), and Manufactured Products (564).

• The percentage increase in WPI over a year gives the rate of inflation for that year.
• Currently, the base year of WPI is 2011-12.
• WPI is used as an important measure of inflation in India.

What is a Base Effect?

• The base effect refers to the effect that the choice of a basis of comparison or reference can have on the result of the comparison between data points.
• It often involves the use of some kind of ratio or index value between two points in a time-series data set and can also apply to cross-sectional or other types of data.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Central government recently issued a warning to doctors at the government-run hospitals and CGHS wellness centres to follow the prescribed rules for issuing generic medicines.

About Generic Drug:

• It is a medication that has exactly the same active ingredient as the brand-name drug and yields the same therapeutic effect.
• It is the same in dosing, safety, strength, quality, the way it works, the way it is taken, and the way it should be used.
• These similarities help to demonstrate bioequivalence, which means that a generic medicine works in the same way and provides the same clinical benefit as the brand-name medicine.
• They also have the same risks and benefits as their brand-name counterparts.
• Generic drugs do not need to contain the same inactive ingredients as the brand-name product.
• A generic drug can only be marketed after the brand name drug's patent has expired.
• Generic drugs are usually much less expensive than brand-name drugs.

Hence both statements are correct.

Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) recently reached a milestone with the signing of the 250th contract, the first one under the Mission DefSpace.

About iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence):

• It is the flagship initiative of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), launched in April 2018.
• Aim: To achieve self-reliance and foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging Industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes and academia.
• iDEX has partnered with leading incubators in the country to provide handholding, technical support and guidance to the winners of iDEX challenges.
• iDEX will be funded and managed by a ‘Defence Innovation Organization (DIO)’ which has been formed as a ‘not for profit company as per Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 by the two founder members, i.e. Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) - HAL & BEL.
• iDEX will function as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities, while DIO will provide high-level policy guidance to iDEX. 
• Under iDEX, financial support is provided to Start-ups/MSMEs/individual innovators and Partner Incubators through DIO.

What is Mission DefSpace?

• It was launched by the Prime Minister during DefExpo in October 2022.
• The goal of Mission DefSpace is to make India Atmanirbhar in defence technologies in the space domain.
• It will encourage technology development in space for defence applications by startups and young entrepreneurs through 75 Defence Space Challenges launched across various Department for Defence Production (DDP) initiatives viz iDEX, ‘Make 1’, and ‘Make 2’.  
• The challenges are classified into five buckets, viz. Launch System, Satellite System, Communication & Payload System, Ground System and Software System provide a holistic 3600 overview of space.

Hence both statements are correct.

The government plans to introduce a new mechanism whereby companies and individuals accused of economic offences will be assigned a unique code called the ‘Unique Economic Offender Code’.

About Unique Economic Offender Code:

• The code will be alpha-numeric and system-generated.
• It will be issued once the police or central investigative agency sends the data about an offender to the National Economic Offence Records (NEOR).
• It will be specific to each offender and will be linked with his/her Aadhaar number in the case of an individual or PAN in the case of a company.
• With this mechanism, multi-agency probes will be launched against individuals or companies swiftly, and authorities won't have to wait for chargesheets to be filed before starting a probe.
• Under NEOR, this codification will provide a 360-degree profile of the economic offender and their record.

What is National Economic Offence Records (NEOR)?

• NEOR is a central repository of all economic offences that will share data related to each economic offender with all central and state intelligence and enforcement agencies.
• The Central Economic Intelligence Bureau has been given the task of coordinating and completing the project with the NEOR project with the help of the National Informatics Centre.
• Once completed, all data from central and state agencies will be migrated to the national repository using the API (application programming interface) software, reducing any scope for manual interference.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Government recently launched the "Meri LiFE" (My Life) mobile application to empower young people and encourage their participation in tackling climate change.

About “Meri LiFE” app:

• The app is inspired by the concept of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), which was envisioned by the Prime Minister at COP 26. 
• Aim: To promote mindful utilisation instead of wasteful consumption.
• The application will foster a nationwide movement for LiFE, demonstrating the power of citizens in saving the environment.
• Through this app, the impacts of simple actions in daily life can be understood, which can have a larger climate impact.
• Meri LiFE is a marketplace where young people can explore their interests, find Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability focused opportunities that match their interests, and sign up to act on issues that matter the most to them.

What is Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment)?

• It was launched by the Prime Minister on 20 October 2022 at Kevadia, Gujarat.
• The mission focuses on bringing about behaviour changes in individuals through simple and easy-to-do actions.
• It is envisioned as an India-led global mass movement that will nudge individual and collective action to protect and preserve the environment.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry for national-level coordination and implementation of Mission LiFE.
• The global movement will showcase sustainable goals and climate actions taken by countries and individuals around the world.
• To monitor the progress of LiFE, the Ministry has developed two dedicated portals.
• The Mission LiFE Portal (missionlife-moefcc.nic.in): Allows open access to download over 100 creatives, videos, and knowledge materials created by the Ministry for LiFE.
• The Meri LiFE Portal (merilife.org): Enables ministries and institutions to upload event reports and track the progress of the mass mobilization drive.

Hence both statements are correct.

A gamma-ray burst that recently hit our solar system was so bright, it temporarily blinded gamma-ray instruments in space, according to a NASA release.

About Gamma Ray Burst (GRB):

• GRBs are short-lived bursts of gamma-ray light, the most energetic form of light.
• GRB emits more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will emit in its lifetime and has two distinct emission phases:
• the short-lived prompt emission (the initial burst phase that emits gamma-rays), followed by a long-lived multi-wavelength afterglow phase.
• The shortest GRBs likely mark the collision of two compact stellar remnants called neutron stars, and the longest bursts are thought to arise when a massive, rapidly spinning star collapses to form a black hole.
• When a GRB erupts, it is briefly the brightest source of cosmic gamma-ray photons in the observable Universe.

What are Gamma Rays?

• Gamma rays have the smallest wavelengths and the most energy of any wave in the electromagnetic spectrum.
• They are produced by the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe, such as neutron stars and pulsars, supernova explosions, and regions around black holes.
• On Earth, gamma waves are generated by nuclear explosions, lightning, and the less dramatic activity of radioactive decay.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Odisha state government recently extended another round of funds to Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) for undertaking kharif operation.

About KALIA Scheme:

• It was launched by the Odisha Government in December 2018, to reduce poverty and accelerate agricultural prosperity.
• The KALIA scheme supports cultivators, small farmers and landless agricultural labourers.
• It provides payments to farmers to encourage cultivation and associated activities.
• Benefits:

Assistance for cultivation:

It gives financial assistance of Rs.25,000 for a farm family (small and marginal farmers) over five seasons to purchase inputs like fertilisers, seeds and pesticides.

• The farm family can also use the financial assistance towards labour and other investments.

Assistance for livelihood:

• The assistance for livelihood provides financial assistance of Rs.12,500 to all landless agricultural households for allied agricultural activities like mini-layer units, small goat rearing units, duckery units, mushroom cultivation, fishery kits for fisherman and bee-keeping, etc.

Assistance for vulnerable agricultural household:

• The vulnerable cultivators or landless agricultural labourers will get financial assistance of Rs.10,000 per family every year to enable them to take care of their sustenance.

Life insurance for cultivators and landless agricultural labourers:

• It provides a life insurance cover of Rs.2 lakh to cultivators and landless agricultural labourers between 18-50 years.
• It also provides a personal accident cover of Rs.2 lakh.

Interest-free crop loan:

• The KALIA scheme will provide crop loans up to Rs.50,000 at 0% interest for the vulnerable landless labourers, sharecroppers, cultivators, and agricultural families identified by Gram Panchayats.

Hence both statements are correct.