Daily Current Affairs MCQ- November 3, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)

• The ECLGS was unveiled as part of the comprehensive package announced by Finance Ministry.
  • ECLGS was launched in different phases - ECLGS 1.0, ECLGS 2.0, ECLGS 3.0, ECLGS 4.0.
• This scheme was launched to aid Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in view of the economic distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In different phases, the scope of this scheme was increased to include multiple sectors.
• The scheme is under the operational domain of Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services (DFS).
  • National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) has been set up as a company by the Union Ministry of Finance to manage and provide guarantees to these loans.

Hence both statements are correct.

PM Gati Shakti

• The Prime Minister Gati Shakti – National Master Plan was announced in 2021..
• It is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
• The multi-modal connectivity will provide integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services from one mode of transport to another.
• It will facilitate the last mile connectivity of infrastructure and also reduce travel time for people.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Environment Ministry has for the third time extended the deadline by which coal plants must install pollution-control technologies to reduce emissions, drawing criticism from environment and clean-energy activists.

• The Ministry first specified emission norms for the control of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and mercury (Hg) from coal-fired power plants.
• However, non-compliance and limited progress by the plants led to a new extension following the recent notification pushing it to 2025.
• According to the latest notification, power plants within a 10-km radius of the NCR and in the vicinity of cities with a population of more than one million have until December 31, 2024, to meet the deadline.
• For power plants within a 10-km radius of “critically polluted” areas (as designated by the Environment Ministry), the deadline has been extended to December 31, 2025. Finally, for all other power plants across the country, the deadline stands at December 31, 2026.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

India and Bangladesh welcomed the establishment of a joint technical committee to study the use of Ganga waters in Bangladesh, a joint statement issued on the third day of the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said.

• The Ganga technical committee is one of the several initiatives, including several major connectivity and energy initiatives, that the two sides have announced.
• The leaders welcomed the formation of a joint technical committee to conduct a study for optimum utilisation of water received by Bangladesh under the provisions of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, 1996.
• The Ganga Water Sharing Treaty is a 30-year agreement which is expected to be reviewed or renewed in 2026.
• The Indian side also raised the “urgent” irrigation-related requirements in Tripura which can be addressed with the waters of the Feni, and urged Bangladesh for “early signing of the interim water sharing agreement” on the river.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Finance Ministry was scheduled to meet with stakeholders including banks and the Ministries of External Affairs and Commerce to discuss ways to promote international trade in rupee instead of the United States dollar.

• On July 11 this year, the RBI issued a circular saying it had decided “to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports/ imports in INR”.
• The idea, the RBI said, was to “promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in INR”.
• While the move to allow trade settlements between India and other countries in rupees was seen to primarily benefit trading with Russia, it was also expected to help check dollar outflow and slow the depreciation of the rupee to a “very limited extent”.

Way it would work

• To settle trade transactions with any country, banks in India would open Vostro accounts of correspondent bank/s of the partner country for trading. Indian importers can pay for their imports in INR into these accounts.
• These earnings from imports can then be used to pay Indian exporters in INR.
• A Vostro account is an account that a correspondent bank holds on behalf of another bank — for example, HSBC Vostro account is held by SBI in India.

Hence both statements are correct.

China’s first fully solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle has successfully completed its maiden test flight with all onboard systems functioning optimally.

• With a wingspan of 164-ft, the drone is a large machine powered entirely by solar panels.
• The high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAV can stay airborne for long durations.
• Named the Qimingxing-50, or Morning Star-50, this drone flies above 20-km altitude where there is stable airflow with no clouds.
• This helps these drones to make the maximum use of solar equipment to stay functional for extended durations.
• The fact that the drone can operate in near-space – 20 km to 100 km above the Earth’s surface – makes it capable of carrying out satellite-like functions.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Plenary Session of 7th Eastern Economic Forum being held in Vladivostok through video conferencing.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India is keen to strengthen its partnership with Russia on Arctic subjects. 
• He said, along with energy, India has also made significant investments in the Russian Far East in the fields of pharma and diamonds.
• The Prime Minister said, in 2019, he had a chance to participate in this forum face-to-face and at that time he had announced the Act Far-East policy of India.
• Eastern Economic Forum is an international forum held each year in Vladivostok, Russia, for the purpose of encouraging foreign investment in the Russian Far East.
• It is held each year since 2015 in September, at the Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, Russia.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India-US 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting was held in New Delhi where the senior officials vowed to further strengthen the strategic partnership between both nations.

• The officials also reviewed the outcomes of the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue which was held in April 2022. The India-US 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting was led by senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence and the US Departments of State and Defence.
• This is the sixth India-US 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue.
• Through these dialogues, the United States and India will advance an ambitious set of initiatives across the defence partnership ahead of the 2+2 ministerial next year, including in support of information-sharing, logistics, technology, and high-end navy cooperation.
• Notably, India is the centrepiece of the Joe Biden administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy – Indian Foreign and Defence Ministers recently held the ‘2+2’ meeting with their American counterparts.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved policy on long term leasing of Railway Land for implementing PM Gati Shakti framework.

• The revised policy for railway land will allow leasing of such land for cargo use for longer periods at lower costs.
• The move is expected to enable integrated development of infrastructure and more cargo terminals, helping improve revenues for the Railways.
• As per the new policy, the land can be now leased for cargo-related activities for up to 35 years (as against five years earlier) at 1.5% of market value of land per annum, down from 6% earlier.
• Additionally, 300 cargo terminals would be developed over next five years and about 1.2 lakh employment would be generated.
• The existing entities using railway land for cargo terminals will have the option to switch to the new policy regime after transparent and competitive bidding process.

Hence both statements are correct.

According to a declaration released by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) conference, Climate observing system remains fragile and needs financing for strengthening and sustaining it.

• The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) is a co-sponsored programme which regularly assesses the status of global climate observations and produces guidance for its improvement.  
• It is co-sponsored by the
  • World Meteorological Organization (WMO),
  • Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO),
  • United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), and
  • International Science Council (ISC).
• GCOS expert panels maintain definitions of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) which are required to systematically observe Earth`s changing climate.
• The observations supported by GCOS contribute to solving challenges in climate research and also underpin climate services and adaptation measures.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.