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

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had recently proposed to introduce ‘Health Start Rating’ (HSR) to check how healthy the packaged food items are.

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a statutory body under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
• Objectives:
  • To lay down science-based standards for articles of food
  • To regulate manufacture, storage, distribution, import and sale of food
  • To facilitate safety of food
• Composition:
  • The FSSAI comprises of a Chairperson and twenty-two members out of which one – third are to be women.
  • The Chairperson of FSSAI is appointed by the Central Government.
  • The Food Authority is assisted by Scientific Committees and Panels in setting standards and the Central Advisory Committee in coordinating with enforcement agencies.
  • Concerned Ministry: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Punjab government recently announced Rs 1,500 incentive per acre for farmers opting for Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR), which is known for saving water.

• With DSR, paddy seeds are sown directly with machine.
• With DSR technique, which is called ‘tar-wattar DSR’ (good soil moisture), farmers must sow paddy only after pre-sowing (rauni) irrigation and not in dry fields. Further, the field should be laser levelled.

Benefits:

• DSR technique can help save 15% to 20% water.
• DSR offers avenues for ground water recharge as it prevent the development of hard crust just beneath the plough layer due to puddled transplanting and it matures 7-10 days earlier than puddle transplanted crop, therefore giving more time for management of paddy straw.
• DSR can solve labour shortage problem because as like the traditional method it does not require a paddy nursery and transplantion of 30 days old paddy nursery into the main puddled field.

Concerns:

• Suitability of soil is the most important factor as farmers must not sow it in the light textured soil as this technique is suitable for medium to heavy textured soils including sandy loam, loam, clay loam, and silt loam which accounts for around 80% area of the state.
• It should not be cultivated in sandy and loamy sand as these soils suffer from severe iron deficiency, and there is higher weed problem in it.
• Also, avoid direct seeding of rice in fields which are under crops others than rice (like cotton, maize, sugarcane) in previous years as DSR in these soils is likely to suffer more from iron deficiency and weed problems.

Hence both statements are correct.

The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) has said that it is in discussions with India on procurement of wheat as several countries face food security challenges amid the Ukraine war.

• India’s wheat production stood at 109.59 million tonnes in the 2020-21 crop year (July-June).
• The World Food Programme launched the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises recently in which UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that the war in Ukraine is “supercharging” a three-dimensional crisis – food, energy and finance — with devastating impacts on the world’s most vulnerable people, countries and economies.
• What is it? The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security.
• HQ: Rome. 
• History: The WFP was formally established in 1963 by the FAO and the United Nations General Assembly. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya released the National Report of the fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).

Key results from NFHS-5 National Report:

• The Total Fertility Rates (TFR), an average number of children per women, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between NFHS-4 & 5.
• There are only five States in India, which are above replacement level of fertility of 2.1. They are Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17).
• Overall Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has increased substantially from 54% to 67% in the country.
• Institutional Births have increased substantially from 79 percent to 89 percent in India.
• The level of stunting among children under 5 years has marginally declined from 38 to 36 percent for India since the last four years.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting announced that the World’s largest film restoration project under National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM) with a budget of Rs. 363 crores is awarded on 4th May 2022 by the Ministry.

• The restoration project now awarded is set to commence in full swing at National Film Archive of India (NFAI). The Minister was in Pune to attend the review meeting of the organization.
• Under National Film Heritage Mission, approximately 2,200 films will undergo restoration.
• The titles have been shortlisted by language wise committees consisting of filmmakers, documentary filmmakers, film historians, producers etc.
• Eminent film personalities such as Aparna Sen, Shriram Raghavan, Anjali Menon and Vetrimaaran were part of the committees.

Restoration Process

• The process involves frame-to-frame digital and semi-automated manual picture and sound restoration from the best surviving source material.
• The source negative/print will be scanned at 4K to .dpx files, which will be then digitally restored.
• The damages including scratches, dirt and abrasions in every frame of the picture negative will be cleaned during the restoration process.

Hence both statements are correct.

• The Registrar General of India was founded in 1961 by the Government of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• It arranges, conducts and analyses the results of the demographic surveys of India including the Census of India and Linguistic Survey of India. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The position of Registrar is usually held by a civil servant holding the rank of Joint Secretary.
• Civil Registration System (CRS) in India is the unified process of continuous, permanent, compulsory, and universal recording of the vital events (births, deaths, stillbirths) and characteristics thereof. The data generated through a complete and up-to-date CRS is essential for socio-economic planning.

• Shigella is a genus of bacteria that causes an infection called shigellosis. It is the second leading cause of diarrhea (after Rotavirus) worldwide and the third leading cause of death in children less than 5 years old. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The annual number of shigellosis episodes throughout the world is estimated to be 164.7 million.
  • The symptoms include diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps which can last for seven days.
• Shigellosis is primarily a disease of poor and crowded communities that do not have adequate sanitation or safe water.
• Currently, there are no vaccines available for shigellosis. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Due to the increasing rate of multidrug resistance, in particular resistance to fluoroquinolone in Asian and African regions, this has been classified as a medium priority for research and development of new and effective antibiotic treatments by the WHO Priority Pathogens List of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Purchasing Managers Index

• It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of key business variables as compared with the previous month. It is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
• It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is also constructed.
• It is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
• It is compiled by IHS Markit for more than 40 economies worldwide. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • IHS Markit is a global leader in information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. IHS Markit is part of S&P Global.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana

• PMGKAY is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against Covid-19.
• Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• It was initially announced for a three-month period (April, May and June 2020), covering 80 crore ration cardholders. Later it was extended till November 2020.
• The scheme is aimed at providing each person who is covered under the NFSA (National Food Security Act 2013) with an additional 5 kg grains (wheat or rice) for free, in addition to the 5 kg of subsidized food grain already provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS). Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The new version of the PMGKAY lacks one of its important components which was there in 2020 PMGKAY i:e free-of-cost 1 kg pulses per month to each household covered under the NFSA.

Abortion Laws in India

• Under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, abortion remains a criminal offence under Section 312. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• However, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP) and its amendment simply provides an exception to the criminalization. The MTP Act, 1971 allows abortion until 20 weeks of pregnancy.
  • Through an amendment in 2021, the ceiling for abortions was raised to 24 weeks, but only for special categories of pregnant women such as rape or incest survivors, that too, with the approval of two registered doctors. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• In the case of fetal disability, there is no limit to the timeline for abortion, but that is allowed by a medical board of specialist doctors set up by the governments of states and union territories. Hence, statement 3 is correct.