Daily Current Affairs MCQ - November 26, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

To promote and attract tourism business, the Indian Railways Tuesday launched Bharat Gaurav trains that will be operated by private players and run on theme-based circuits.

• Through this policy, which offers operators the “Right of Use” of its rakes and infrastructure, the Railways has liberalised and simplified a part of operations that was otherwise carried out mostly by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
• While any entity can run these trains, including state governments, it is implied that the policy is targeted at tour operators.
• According to the Bharat Gaurav policy, any operator or service provider, or virtually anyone, can lease trains from Indian Railways to run on a theme-based circuit as a special tourism package.
• The tenure of the arrangement is a minimum of two years and maximum of the codal life of the coach. The operator has the freedom to decide the route, the halts, the services provided, and, most importantly, the tariff.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Government has constituted a "Group of Food Secretaries" from States along with Senior officers of Central Govt to deliberate on the framework of the Community Kitchens Scheme.

• The Group of Food Secretaries include Food Secretaries from 8 states of Kerala, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The Food Secretary of Madhya Pradesh will be heading the Group.
• While announcing the Constitution of ‘Group of Secretaries’ Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution affirmed that Community Kitchens scheme needs to be prepared- which is simple, transparent and in the benefit of people.
• Community Kitchen will be of the community, run by the community & for the welfare of the community. it needs to be built on 4 pillars of Quality, Hygiene, Reliability & Spirit of Service. It will help us realize the goal that no one Sleeps Hungry.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation Stone of Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh.

• He said that Noida International Airport will become the logistics gateway for northern India and will turn the region into an export-centre where even MSMEs will have easier access to overseas markets. The first phase of the airport will be ready by October 2024.
• It will have a single runway and a passenger terminal building with a capacity to handle 1.2 crore passengers per annum by then. It will be developed over four phases until 2040, by when it will have the capacity to handle seven crore passengers per annum.
• It was proposed with the aim to decongest Delhi airport which will reach its structural capacity of 11 crore passengers by 2024.
• The airport in Jewar is being developed by Switzerland’s Zurich Airport International AG.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs alongwith Transport Minister for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi virtually inaugurated the Unattended Train Operations (UTO) on the Pink Line of the Delhi Metro.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first driverless train operations of the Delhi Metro in December 2020, when he flagged off the Magenta Line’s driverless operations.
• Driverless Train Operations (DTO) has been launched on the 59 kilometre long Pink Line (Majlis Park to Shiv Vihar) of Delhi Metro. With this, the Delhi Metro’s fully automated network will grow to about 97 kilometres, which is 4th largest in the world and the only DTO network in India. The DTO facility was launched on the Magenta Line in 2020 with which the Delhi Metro had entered the elite league of world’s 7% Metros in the world which operate fully automated metro networks.
• The Driverless Train Operation will bring more flexibility in train operations, reduce human interventions and human errors. It will also help in improving the availability of coaches for service. The Driverless Trains will eliminate the manual process of checking done before induction, subsequently reducing burden on train operators. The parking on stabling line in depots will also be done automatically.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Government can rationalise the GST rate structure without losing revenues by rejigging the four major rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% with a three-rate framework of 8%, 15% and 30%, as per a National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) study.

• The findings of the NIPFP, an autonomous think tank backed by the Finance Ministry, assume significance as the GST Council has tasked a Group of Ministers, headed by Karnataka CM Basavaraj S. Bommai, to propose a rationalisation of tax rates and a possible merger of different tax slabs by December to shore up revenues.
• Multiple rate changes since the introduction of the GST regime in July 2017 have brought the effective GST rate to 11.6% from the original revenue neutral rate of 15.5%, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman pointed out at the last Council meeting in September.
• Merging the 12% and 18% GST rates into any tax rate lower than 18% may result in revenue loss. Our study proposes that the GST Council may consider a three-rate structure by adopting 8%, 15% and 30% for revenue neutrality.
• Hence both statements are correct.

• India is one of the highly earthquake affected countries because of the presence of technically active young fold mountains - Himalaya. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• India has been divided into four seismic zones (II, III, IV, and V) based on scientific inputs relating to seismicity, earthquakes that occurred in the past and tectonic setup of the region.
• Previously, earthquake zones were divided into five zones with respect to the severity of the earthquakes but the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) grouped the country into four seismic zones by unifying the first two zones. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • BIS is the official agency for publishing the seismic hazard maps and codes.

Microwave Weapons

• Direct Energy Weapon (DEW): They are a type of direct energy weapons, which aim highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
  • They release electromagnetic radiation which causes sensations in the human body..
• A number of countries are thought to have developed these weapons to target both humans and electronic systems.
  • China had first put on display its microwave weapon, called Poly WB-1, at an air show in 2014.
  • The US has also developed a prototype microwave-style weapon, which it calls the “Active Denial System”, which is the first non-lethal, directed-energy, counter-personnel system with an extended range greater than currently fielded non-lethal weapons. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Recently, the DRDO has also announced its plans to develop DEWs using high-energy lasers and microwaves.
• These weapons are a cause of concern as they can affect both machines and human beings. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • They can cause long-term damages without leaving a single mark on the human body.

Digital Services Taxes (DSTs)

• These are the adopted taxes on revenues that certain companies generate from providing certain digital services. E.g. digital multinationals like Google, Amazon and Apple etc. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The OECD is currently hosting negotiations with over 130 countries that aim to adapt the international tax system. One goal is to address the tax challenges of the digitalization of the economy.
• India's Tax on Digital Companies: The government had moved an amendment in the Finance Bill 2020-21 imposing a 2% Digital Service Tax (DST) on trade and services by non-resident e-commerce operators with a turnover of over Rs. 2 crores. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

The Union Government informed the Supreme Court that it had taken a “considered decision” to revisit the “criteria” for determining Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to provide them reservation in terms of the provisions of the Explanation to Article 15 of the Constitution inserted by the Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act 2019.

• The Government, represented by Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, said it would take four weeks for the exercise.
• The submission follows rounds of grilling from the court during past hearings to reveal the logic and study before zeroing in on the “exact figure” of ₹8 lakh as the annual income limit to identify the EWS.
• The court was hearing a case filed by NEET aspirants challenging a July 29 notification announcing 27% quota to OBCs and 10% reservation to the EWS in the All India Quota (AIQ) category.
• The Government assured the court that the NEET counselling would be deferred for four weeks till a decision was taken on the EWS quota.
• The EWS quota was meant for persons who earned less than ₹8 lakh annually and did not benefit from any other existing reservation.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Finance Ministry has allocated additional funds of ₹10,000 crore as an interim measure for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) after it ran out of funds allocated in the budget, according to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).

• More funds may be forthcoming based on the “assessment of demand,” added the Ministry.
• The extra money was allocated on November 5. However, the scheme’s financial statement on November 25 still reflects a negative net balance of ₹9,888 crore.
• Despite the additional allocations, the funds available for the scheme stand at ₹76,340 crore, well below the ₹86,229 crore which have been incurred as expenditure, including payments due for wages and materials.
• Meanwhile, more than ₹1,170 crore worth of wage payments for MGNREGS workers are still pending.
• Lack of funds results in suppression of demand for work and delayed payment of wages to workers. These are violations of the Act; they also constrain economic recovery, said an open letter from more than 70 economists to the Prime Minister.

The act was passed in 23 August 2005 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.