Daily Current Affairs MCQ - May 28, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the apex body of broadcasters, is expanding its purview to cover digital streaming platforms and will be renamed the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF).

• The move would bring broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, which have seen a substantial jump in their viewership base after the pandemic, under one roof.
• For this, the IBDF was in the process of forming a new wholly-owned subsidiary to handle all matters of digital media.
• The IBDF would also form a self-regulatory body, the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC), for digital OTT platforms.
• The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) was founded in the year 1999.
• The IBF is the parent organisation of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) which was set up in the year 2011. The BCCC examines content-related complaints relating to all non-news general entertainment channels in India.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Bangladesh’s central bank has approved a $200 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka, , which will help Colombo tide over its foreign exchange crisis.

• A currency swap is effectively a loan that Bangladesh will give to Sri Lanka in dollars, with an agreement that the debt will be repaid with interest in Sri Lankan rupees. For Sri Lanka, this is cheaper than borrowing from the market, and a lifeline as is it struggles to maintain adequate forex reserves even as repayment of its external debts looms. The period of the currency swap will be specified in the agreement.
• This may be the first time that Bangladesh is extending a helping hand to another country, so this is a landmark of sorts.
• It is also the first time that Sri Lanka is borrowing from a SAARC country other than India.
• India-Sri Lanka relations have been tense over Colombo’s decision to cancel a valued container terminal project at Colombo Port.
• Last July, the Reserve Bank of India did extend a $400 million credit swap facility to Sri Lanka, which Central Bank of Sri Lanka settled in February. The arrangement was not extended.
• RBI has a framework under which it can offer credit swap facilities to SAARC countries within an overall corpus of $2 billion. the SAARC currency swap facility came into operation in November 2012.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Switzerland said goodbye to years of negotiations with the European Union over a proposed overarching agreement that would have upgraded its relations with the bloc – which are currently governed by a patchwork of more than 120 bilateral deals.

• The talks failed after the two sides could not agree over issues such as full access for EU citizens to the Swiss labour market, and the collapse is expected to hamper future ties as the multiple existing agreements become outdated or lapse.
• Switzerland is the EU’s fourth-largest trading partner, and is surrounded by EU countries.
• Relations between the two partners rest on the foundation of over 120 separate treaties, something which has frustrated the EU for a long time. Unlike the UK, Switzerland has access to the EU single market and maintains open borders.
• For years, the EU had been pushing for an “institutional framework agreement” with Switzerland, suggesting that the lack of an overarching agreement could also hamper cooperation in the labour market, the health sector, education and research.
• Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
• It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably not part of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the Eurozone. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties.
• Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage, also called the Energy Frontier award.

• The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems, including graphene, boron-nitrogen-carbon hybrid materials, and molybdenum sulfide (Molybdenite - MoS2) for energy applications and green hydrogen production.
• The Eni Awards 2020 will be presented on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, attended by the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
• The award, which has become internationally recognized over the years in the field of energy and environmental research, aims to promote better use of energy sources and encourage new generations of researchers in their work.
• This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
• It includes a cash prize and a specially minted gold medal.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh launched ‘Services e-Health Assistance & Tele-consultation (SeHAT) OPD portal through video conferencing on May 27, 2021.

• The portal provides tele-medicine services to the serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families. The services can be availed by registering on the website https://sehatopd.in/.
• This is the final version of the SeHAT OPD portal with advanced safety features. The trial version was made functional in August 2020.
• Department of Military Affairs (DMA), Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and Centre for Development of Artificial Computing (C-DAC) Mohali are involved in the development of the portal.
• The portal will help reduce the load on hospitals and patients will be able to get contactless consultations in an easy and effective manner.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Opec+ refers to the alliance of crude producers, who have been undertaking corrections in supply in the oil markets since 2017.

India is the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, shipping in about 84% of its crude needs, and relies heavily on the Middle East.

Iraq continued to be the top oil seller to India.

India is the second largest onion growing country in the world after China.

The Major Onion producing states area Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Telangana.

The prices hit a peak between August and October after hitting rock-bottom in April. This is easily explained: the rabi crop, which accounts for 70 per cent of the onion output of 22 million tonnes, runs out by August or September, whereas the kharif crop arrives between October and December, leaving a two-month vacuum.

Inner Line Permit (ILP) is a document required by non- natives to visit or stay in a state that is protected under the ILP system.

At present, four North-eastern states are covered, namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.

• Both the duration of stay and the areas allowed to be accessed for any non-native are determined by the ILP.
• The ILP is issued by the concerned state government and can be availed both by applying online or in person.

Every year, on May 25, World Thyroid Day is observed for promoting awareness and understanding of thyroid health and the advances made in treating thyroid diseases. In 2008, World Thyroid Day was established by the European Thyroid Association and the American Thyroid Association.

Australia has declared it will close its embassy in Afghanistan, expressing fears over the “increasingly uncertain security environment” in Kabul in the wake of the US choice to pull out its soldiers from the conflict torn country. The surprise decision comes a month after Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared the pullout of Australia’s 80 soldiers deployed as part of NATO’s Resolute Support mission, which is associated with training and assisting the Afghan forces. The nation ended its combat mission in 2013.