Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 19, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

INS Viraat, the Navy’s decommissioned aircraft carrier, has become the “private property” of a ship-breaker who has already torn down 40% of its body, chiefly for scrap, the Supreme Court told a private company, that wants to turn the vessel into a maritime museum-cum-adventure centre.

• On February 10, the court had ordered a stay on the process of dismantling the ship.
• The carrier was bought by the Gujarat-based Shree Ram Group, a ship-breaking firm, in a bid. The 67-year-old iconic warship was towed to the breaking yard after over three decades’ service in the Navy.
• INS Viraat was a Centaur-class aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy.
• INS Viraat was the flagship of the Indian Navy before INS Vikramaditya was commissioned in 2013.
• The ship was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's HMS Hermes, and decommissioned in 1984. It was sold to India in 1987. INS Viraat was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 served till 2016 when it was decommissioned.

Hence both statements are correct.

The President of India has promulgated the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, by which the appellate authorities under nine Acts have been done away with and the right to hear appeals under the statute has been conferred to High Courts.

• Section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 has been amended to empower the Central Government to make rules for qualifications, appointment, term of office, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and other terms and conditions of service of Members of Tribunals.
• The Ordinance omits following Tribunals/ Appellate Authorities from the purview of Finance Act:
  • Airport Appellate Tribunal established under the Airport Authority of India Act, 1994
  • Appellate Board established under the Trade Marks Act, 1999
  • Authority for Advance Ruling established under the Income Tax Act, 1961
  • Film Certification Appellate Tribunal established under the Cinematograph Act, 1952
• Further, it substitutes the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the erstwhile Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with a National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court told the government that interim appointments to the post of CBI Director cannot go on.

• The remark came during the hearing of a petition filed by Common Cause, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, objecting to the appointment of Praveen Sinha as interim CBI Director following the retirement of Rishi Kumar Shukla on February 2.
• The petition said the government had failed to appoint a regular Director through the high-power selection committee of the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and Leader of Opposition.
• The Common Cause has argued that an interim appointment through an executive order was not envisaged in the statutory scheme of the 1946 Act.
• The agency should function independently outside the pale of the Executive or political powers. This was exactly why a high-powered committee selects the CBI Director.
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India.
• It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• (India), Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmental corruption, in 1965 it received expanded jurisdiction to investigate breaches of central laws enforceable by the Government of India, multi-state organised crime, multi-agency or international cases.
• The CBI headquarter is located in New Delhi.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Minister of Health, Harsh Vardhan launched the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).

• The Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) is the next generation highly refined version of the presently used Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
• According to the minister, India is the first country in the world to adopt such an advanced disease surveillance system.
• The new version of IHIP will house the data entry and management for India’s disease surveillance program.
• In addition to tracking 33 diseases now as compared to the earlier 18 diseases, it shall ensure near-real-time data in digital mode, having done away with the paper-mode of working.
• Terming this as the world's biggest online disease surveillance platform, he stated that it is in sync with the National Digital Health Mission.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Advanced Chaff Technology to safeguard the naval ships against enemy missile attack.

• Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (DLJ), a DRDO laboratory, has indigenously developed three variants of this technology namely Short Range Chaff Rocket (SRCR), Medium Range Chaff Rocket (MRCR) and Long Range Chaff Rocket (LRCR) meeting Indian Navy’s requirements.
• Chaff is a passive expendable electronic countermeasure technology used worldwide to protect naval ships from enemy’s radar and Radio Frequency (RF) missile seekers.
• The importance of this development lies in the fact that very less quantity of chaff material deployed in the air acts as decoy to deflect enemy’s missiles for safety of the ships.

Hence both statements are correct.

Indian Navy Ships INS Satpura and INS Kiltan along with P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft are participating, for the first time; in multi-lateral maritime exercise La Pérouse, being conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region from 05 to 07 April 2021.

• The Indian Navy ships and aircraft will exercise at sea with ships and aircraft of French Navy (FN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) and United States Navy (USN) during the three day exercise at sea.
• The exercise La Pérouse is led by French Navy.
• Exercise La Pérouse will witness complex and advanced naval operations including surface warfare, anti-air warfare and air defence exercises, weapon firing exercises, cross deck flying operations, tactical manoeuvres and seamanship evolutions such as replenishment at sea.

Hence both statements are correct.

Spices Board India and UNDP India’s Accelerator Lab signed a MoU, with the aim to build a blockchain based traceability interface for Indian spices to enhance transparency in supply chain and trade.

• The project will be piloted with over 3,000 farmers engaged in chilli and turmeric farming in select Districts of Andhra Pradesh.
• Blockchain is a decentralized process of recording transactions on an open and shared electronic ledger. This allows for ease and transparency in data management across a complex network, including, farmers, brokers, distributors, retailers and consumers, thus simplifying the supply chain.
• Spices Board is one of the five Commodity Boards functioning under the Ministry of Commerce &Industry.
• It is an autonomous body responsible for the export promotion of the 52 scheduled spices and development of Cardamom (Small & Large).

Hence both statements are correct.

The Government of India by an ordinance abolished the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which heard appeals by filmmakers seeking certification for their films.

• The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, which came into effect on April 4, amends the Cinematograph Act, 1952 by omitting some sections and replacing the word “Tribunal” with “High Court” in other sections.
• The abolition of FCAT means filmmakers will now have to approach the High Court whenever they want to challenge a CBFC certification, or lack of it. The sudden move has upset many filmmakers.

Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was a statutory body constituted set up by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in 1983, under Section 5D of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

• Its main job was to hear appeals filed under Section 5C of the Cinematograph Act, by applicants for certification aggrieved by the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
• The tribunal was headed by a chairperson and had four other members, including a Secretary appointed by the Government of India to handle.
• The Tribunal was headquartered in New Delhi.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

John Kerry, the US President’s Special Envoy on Climate, is currently on a three-day visit to India. One of the objectives of Kerry’s visit is to explore whether India can agree to the possibility of pledging itself to a 2050 net-zero goal.

• Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
• Rather, net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
• Absorption of the emissions can be increased by creating more carbon sinks such as forests, while removal of gases from the atmosphere requires futuristic technologies such as carbon capture and storage.
• This way, it is even possible for a country to have negative emissions, if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions. A good example is Bhutan which is often described as carbon-negative because it absorbs more than it emits.

Significance of net-zero goal for 2050

• A very active campaign has been going on for the last two years to get every country to sign on to a net-zero goal for 2050.
• It is being argued that global carbon neutrality by 2050 is the only way to achieve the Paris Agreement target of keeping the planet’s temperature from rising beyond 2°C compared to pre-industrial times.
• Current policies and actions being taken to reduce emissions would not even be able to prevent a 3–4°C rise by the turn of the century.
• India, the world’s third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, after the US and China, is the only one opposing this target because it is likely to be the most impacted by it.
• Over the next two to three decades, India’s emissions are likely to grow at the fastest pace in the world, as it presses for higher growth to pull hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
• No amount of afforestation or reforestation would be able to compensate for the increased emissions. Most of the carbon removal technologies right now are either unreliable or very expensive.
• India also argues that the net-zero goal does not figure in the 2015 Paris Agreement, the new global architecture to fight climate change. The Paris Agreement only requires every signatory to take the best climate action it can.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

From being lauded for their work during the pandemic to facing allegations of high-handedness, the role of the civil defence volunteers in the national capital has come under intense scrutiny in the recent past.

• Due to their identical khaki uniform, it often becomes difficult for people to distinguish between police and civil defence personnel, leading to arguments.
• The Delhi Police also issued a statement, pointing out that civil defence personnel, also known as Delhi Civil Defence (DCD) volunteers, have no power to stop people using police barricades and prosecute them for violation of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour such as not wearing masks.
• In Delhi, these are men and women who work under the command of the district magistrates.
• The overall command lies with the divisional commissioner, to which the DMs report.
• These volunteers are governed by the Civil Defence Act, 1968 which was last amended in 2010, when disaster management was added as one of their roles.
• With the Centre invoking the Disaster Management Act in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, the role of these volunteers came under the spotlight.
• According to the Civil Defence Act, 1968, civil defence is defined as any measure “not amounting to actual combat, that protects persons, property and places in India from hostile attack”. The 2010 amendment expanded the definition by including disaster management as one of the responsibilities.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.