Daily Current Affairs MCQ - November 20, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that the three contentious farm laws passed last year would be repealed. He also said that the process of repealing the laws — which are currently stayed by the Supreme Court — will take place in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament.

• Repealing a law is one of the ways to nullify a law. A law is reversed when Parliament thinks there is no longer a need for the law to exist. Legislation can also have a “sunset” clause, a particular date after which they cease to exist.
• For example, the anti-terror legislation Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act 1987, commonly known as TADA, had a sunset clause, and was allowed to lapse in 1995.
• For laws that do not have a sunset clause, Parliament has to pass another legislation to repeal the law.
• Article 245 of the Constitution gives Parliament the power to make laws for the whole or any part of India, and state legislatures the power to make laws for the state. Parliament draws its power to repeal a law from the same provision.
• A law can be repealed either in its entirety, in part, or even just to the extent that it is in contravention of other laws
• Laws can be repealed in two ways — either through an ordinance, or through legislation.
• The Narendra Modi government has passed six Repealing and Amendment Acts since it came to power in 2014, in order to repeal over 1,428 statutes that are obsolete.
• Hence both statements are correct.

World Toilet Day was observed on November 19, 2021.

• World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
• The day highlights the importance of sanitation and hygiene in driving improvements in public health, gender equality, education, economic development and environmental protection.
• This year's theme 'Valuing toilets' reminds people of the adverse impact of poor sanitation on health, environment, economy and dignity of individuals.
• Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". In particular, target 6.2 is to "End open defecation and provide access to sanitation and hygiene".
• The UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013, after Singapore had tabled the resolution.Prior to that, World Toilet Day had been established unofficially by the World Toilet Organization (a Singapore-based NGO) in 2001.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Ministry of Rural Development has reached an important milestone with the completion of Geographical Information System (GIS) plans for two lakh Gram Panchayats out of 2.69 lakh GPs.

• GIS-based planning under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, is an initiative of the Ministry which helps the Gram Panchayat to ensure a scientific and holistic approach for planning at the Gram Panchayat level. It is an important tool to ensure participatory planning at the implementation level.
• Contributions of Mahatma Gandhi NREGS has enhanced significantly by using the GIS-Based Planning approach and impacts of which is visible at ground level.
• The development of quality assets at the Gram Panchayat level has been taking place through proper planning and decision-making.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the concluding ceremony of the Rashtra Raksha Samparpan Parv which culminated in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh where he dedicated to the nation multiple initiatives in the Defence sector.

• PM Modi handed over indigenously designed and developed equipment to the Armed Forces.
• These equipment include Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) designed and developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH); drones/UAVs designed and developed by Indian start-ups; and DRDO designed and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) manufactured Advanced Electronic Warfare suite for naval ships.
• The LCH incorporates advanced technologies and stealth features for effective combat roles.
• The deployment of Indian UAVs by Indian Armed Forces is also a proof of the growing maturity of the Indian drone industry ecosystem.
• The advanced EW suite will be used in different naval ships including destroyers and frigates.
• During the event, Mr. Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 400-crore rupee project at Jhansi node of UP Defence Industrial Corridor. The project is being executed by Bharat Dynamics Ltd for setting up a plant to produce propulsion systems for Anti-Tank Guided Missiles.
• NCC Alumni Association was also launched with the objective to provide a formal platform to enable NCC Alumni to reconnect with NCC. The Prime Minister was registered as the first member of the association.
• The association will further the aims of NCC and assist in nation-building. It witnessed enrolling of the Prime Minister, a former NCC cadet, as the first member of the Association.
• The Prime Minister started the National programme of Simulation Training for NCC cadets with the aim to scale up simulation training facilities for all the three wings of NCC.
• It includes setting up of Rifle Firing Simulators for the Army Wing of NCC, Microlight flying simulators for Air Wing and Rowing simulators for Naval wing. Powered Electronic kiosks at the National War Memorial which will enable visitors to pay floral homage to martyrs through the simple click of the button.
• The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of 600 MW Ultra-Mega Solar Power Park at Garautha in Jhansi.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Government has decided to repeal all three farm laws.

• The laws will be repealed in the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament. He said, the three laws were for farmers' benefit but the Government couldn't convince a section of farmers despite best efforts.
• The journey of the three farm laws — The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 — began on June 5, 2020, when the President of India promulgated three ordinances­ that were the precursors to these Acts.
• These three ordinances — The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020; The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 — were replaced the aforementioned Acts that were passed by Parliament in September 2020.
• The implementation of these laws was stayed by the Supreme Court on January 12, 2021. So, these laws were in effect for only 221 days.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Changes in sovereign credit ratings significantly affect bond and stock markets.

Donors’ as well as recipients’ credit ratings impact FDI flows. Countries in high rated regions may receive more FDI.

Ratings affect own-country exchange rates as well as have strong regional spill over effect on exchange rates.

It is true that the right to protest is not a separate right in the Indian Constitution. It is implicit in Article 19(1)(a), which guarantees the freedom of speech and expression, and in Article 19(1)(b), the right to assemble peacefully. It is integral to the right to protection of life and personal liberty enshrined in Article 21.

The WGEEP report, popular as Gadgil report, had designated the entire hill range as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). It had classified the 142 taluks in the Western Ghats boundary into three Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZs). The panel, which was appointed in 2010 recommended that “no new dams based on large-scale storage be permitted in the Ecologically Sensitive Zone 1”. It suggested that development activity needs to be decided through a participatory process involving the gram sabhas in these zones.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended the authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccine booster doses for all adults aged 18 and older.

• Earlier, booster shots were allowed for people aged over 65 or for those at high risk of severe disease.
• The decision will help to provide continued protection against Covid-19, including the serious consequences that can occur, such as hospitalization and death.
• The COVID-19 cases are on a surge in the United States with around 88 thousand new infections being reported per day on average as the country enters its fifth wave. America is officially the hardest-hit nation with the pandemic claiming over seven lakh sixty thousand lives.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a committee to promote zero budgeting-based agriculture, to change crop patterns as per the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent.

Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.

It was originally promoted by Maharashtrian agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar, who developed it in the mid-1990s as an alternative to the Green Revolution’s methods driven by chemical fertilizers and pesticides and intensive irrigation. 

The ZBNF method also promotes soil aeration, minimal watering, intercropping, bunds and topsoil mulching and discourages intensive irrigation and deep ploughing.

Hence both statements are correct.