Daily Current Affairs MCQ - November 1, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The 7th Indian Navy Frigate of P1135.6 class was launched on 28 Oct 2021 at Yantar Shipyard, Kaliningrad, Russia.

• During the ceremony, the ship was formally named as ‘Tushil’. Tushil is a Sanskrit word meaning Protector Shield.
• Based on an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) between the Government of Republic of India and Government of Russian Federation for construction of two ships of Project 1135.6 ships in Russia and two ships in India at M/s Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), the contract for construction of two ships was signed between India and Russia in Oct 18.
• The construction of these ships is based on Indian Navy’s specific requirements to meet the entire spectrum of naval warfare in all three dimensions of Air, Surface and Sub-surface.
• These ships are being equipped with major Indian supplied equipment such as Surface to Surface Missiles, Sonar system, Surface Surveillance Radar, Communication Suite and ASW system along with Russian Surface to Air Missiles and gun mounts.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) demonstrated the CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur developed indigenous Mechanized Scavenging System successfully at the premises of the CSIR-National Physical Laboratory.

• The developed system is benchmarked with the market available system in India, and a number of features have been added which makes it first of its kind in India.
• The developed system is "very economic" and an important vehicle in Swachh Bharat Mission.
• The developed System will help the "Manual Scavengers" Skilling themselves on the latest technological advancements in Sewerage Maintenance Systems as well as enhance their efficiency, performance and safeguard them against intrusive pathogens.
• This will remove the Indignity from the Profession of Scavenging.
• The CSIR-CMERI developed machine is designed for up to 5000 people density i.e. best suitable up to 300 mm diameter and up to 100-meter length of sewer system.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

NITI Aayog released a comprehensive report titled Health Insurance for India’s Missing Middle, which brings out the gaps in the health insurance coverage across the Indian population and offers solutions to address the situation.

• The Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana—a flagship scheme towards Universal Health Coverage, and State Government extension schemes—provides comprehensive hospitalization cover to the bottom 50% of the population.
• Around 20% of the population is covered through social health insurance, and private voluntary health insurance primarily designed for high-income groups.
• The remaining 30% of the population, devoid of health insurance, is termed as the “missing middle”. The missing middle contains multiple groups across all expenditure quintiles and is spread across both urban and rural areas.
• The report highlights the need for designing a low-cost comprehensive health insurance product for the missing middle.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Insulate Britain, an environmental campaign group demanding insulation of all social housing in Britain to cut carbon emissions, blocked two busy roads in London.

• According to Insulate Britain’s website, the group is made up of “ordinary British citizens” who are only demanding that the government insulate Britain.
• "The UK government must immediately promise to fully fund and take responsibility for the insulation of all social housing in Britain." says the group’s website.
• The group’s first demand is that the UK government makes a promise to completely fund and take responsibility for insulating all social housing in Britain by 2025.
• Secondly, the group asks the UK government to promise to draw, within four months, a legally binding plan to fund and take responsibility for “a full low-energy and low-carbon whole-house retrofit, with no externalised costs, of all homes in Britain by 2030 as part of a just transition to full decarbonisation of all parts of society and the economy”.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

On September 21, the Karnataka legislature passed a legislation to amend the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, making all forms of gambling, including online, a cognisable and non-bailable offence. The Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act , 2021 was notified and came into force on October 5.

• It was passed in Karnataka despite similar laws introduced in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana having faced legal challenges for broadening the scope of gambling beyond what has been defined by law.
• On August 3, the Madras High Court struck down the Tamil Nadu Gambling and Police Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 as being ultra vires.
• And on September 27, the Kerala High Court, relying on the Madras HC order, struck down an amendment to the Kerala Gaming Act, 1960 which imposed a ban on online rummy.

What are the legal issues raised by these amended laws?

• One of the primary grounds on which the new gaming laws in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu has been challenged is that games of skill have been clubbed along with games of chance in the definition of gaming, if the games of skill are played for prizes or bets.
• Gaming companies have argued — successfully in Tamil Nadu and Kerala — that as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court in as 1957 (Chamarbaugwala cases) — competitive games of skill are business activities protected under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.
• Hence both statements are correct.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) team and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight-tested the country’s first indigenously developed long-range bomb (LRB) from a fighter jet over Balasore in Odisha.

• The bomb is part of the class of weapons with a range of 50 to 150 km.
• The bomb has been designed and developed by DRDO’s Research Centre Imarat (RCI) laboratory in Hyderabad, in coordination with other DRDO laboratories.
• The Long-Range Bomb after release from the IAF fighter aircraft, guided to a land-based target at a long range with accuracy within specified limits. All the mission objectives were successfully met.
• Successful flight test of Long-Range Bomb has marked an important milestone in indigenous development of this class of systems.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

His Holiness Pope Francis received Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican on Saturday, 30 October 2021.

• This was the first meeting between an Indian Prime Minister and the Pope in more than two decades.
• In June 2000, Late Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had last visited the Vatican and met the then Pope, His Holiness John Paul II.
• India and The Holy See have friendly relations dating back to the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1948.
• India is home to the second largest Catholic population in Asia.
• Prime Minster extended an invitation to His Holiness Pope Francis to visit India at an early date, which was accepted with pleasure.
• Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State is a landlocked and independent city state and enclave located within Rome, Italy.
• The Vatican City State, also known simply as the Vatican, became independent from Italy with the Lateran Treaty (1929).
• it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity of international law, which maintains the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence.
• With an area of 49 hectares and a population of about 825, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Amidst the growing energy needs and changing global climate landscape, the Government of India has identified new areas to achieve higher levels of penetration of Renewable energy by proposing certain Amendments to Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

• The objective will be to enhance demand for renewable energy at the end- use sectors such as Industry, buildings, transport etc.
• The proposal includes defining minimum share of renewable energy in the overall consumption by the industrial units or any establishment. There will be provision to incentivise efforts on using clean energy sources by means of carbon saving certificate.
• The proposed amendments would facilitate development of Carbon market in India and prescribe minimum consumption of renewable energy either as direct consumption or indirect use through grid. This will help in reduction of fossil fuel based energy consumption and carbon emission to the atmosphere.
• The proposed changes to the EC Act will boost the adoption of clean technologies in various sectors of economy. The provisions would facilitate promotion of green Hydrogen as an alternate to the existing fossil fuels used by the Industries.
• The additional incentives in the form of Carbon credits against deployment of clean technologies will result in private sector involvement in climate actions. The proposal also includes expanding the scope of Act to include larger Residential buildings, with an aim to promote Sustainable Habitat.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Government of India is committed to release funds for wage and material payments for proper implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA scheme.

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (Mahatma Gandhi NREGA) provides the guarantee of at least 100 days of wage employment against the demand made by a household in a rural area.
• Fund release towards wage and material is a continuous process. There has been increasing of more than 18% of funds allocation for the current financial year in comparison to the previous financial year as a budget estimate.
• Whenever additional fund is required, the Ministry of Finance is requested to provide the funds. In the previous financial year, the Ministry of Finance allocated Rs.50,000 crore additional funds for the scheme over and above that of BE.
• The provision for unemployment allowances is applicable for the beneficiary who has demanded work and could not be offered the work within 15 days from the date of demand for work.
• All other demands for work where the beneficiary has already completed 100 days in the current financial year or the beneficiary who has demanded the work but died before 15 days of the date of the demand of work shall not be eligible for unemployment allowances.
• The category wise (SC, ST and Others) wage payment system, as made applicable from this current financial year, has been introduced to accurately reflect on the ground flow of funds to various population groups. Its further streamlining is being undertaken.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Mario Draghi, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted by Italy in Rome on October 30-31, 2021.

In order to promote their partnership in energy transition, Italy and India will:

• Task the "Joint Working Group” established by the MoU on Cooperation in the field of Energy, signed in Delhi on October 30, 2017, to explore cooperation in areas such as: Smart Cities; mobility; smart-grids, electricity distribution and storage solutions.
• Initiate a dialogue to support the development and deployment of green hydrogen and related technologies in India.
• Consider working together to support a large size green corridor project in India to capitalize on India’s target to produce and integrate 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
• Encourage joint investments of Indian and Italian companies in energy transition-related fields.
• Hence both statements are correct.