Daily Current Affairs MCQ - October 29, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

A three-member committee has been appointed by the Supreme Court to look into allegations of unauthorised surveillance using Pegasus, a spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group.

• The committee members are Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Dean of National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar; Dr Prabaharan P, Professor at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Kerala; and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
• It will be supervised by retired judge Justice R V Raveendran. The former Supreme Court Justice is a highly-respected member of the law community, and was recently referred by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana as “one of the legends who have increased the prestige of the Supreme Court of India”.
• Justice Raveendran served as judge of the Supreme Court from September 9, 2005 to October 15, 2011. Before that, he was Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
• Justice Raveendran was part of the R M Lodha Committee appointed by the SC in 2015 to reform the BCCI.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said it has fixed the ceiling prices for 12 anti-diabetic generic medicines, including glimepiride tablets, glucose injection and intermediate acting insulin solution.

To make it possible for every Indian to afford medical treatment, NPPA has fixed the ceiling prices of 12 anti-diabetic generic medicines. These include glimepiride tablet of strength 1 mg, with ceiling price at ₹3.6 per tablet, while that for 2 mg is ₹5.72 per tablet. The ceiling price of 1 ml glucose injection of 25% strength has been fixed at 17 paise, while that of 1ml of insulin (soluble) injection of strength 40IU/ml is ₹15.09. Similarly, 1 ml of intermediate acting (NPH) solution insulin injection of strength 40 IU/ml has a ceiling price of ₹15.09.

Ceiling price means a price fixed by the Government for Scheduled formulations in accordance with the provisions of DPCO 2013.

Hence both statements are correct.

Members of Sudan’s cabinet and a large number of pro-government party leaders were arrested in an apparent coup after weeks of tension between the military and a civilian government.

• Sudan began a transition to democracy after a popular uprising and the ouster in April 2019 of President Omar al-Bashir, an Islamist shunned by the West who had presided over the country for nearly three decades.
• Under an August 2019 agreement, the military is sharing power with officials appointed by civilian political groups in a ruling body known as the Sovereign Council, meant to lead the country to elections by the end of 2023.
• Although the military’s role is supposed to be largely honorary, civilians have repeatedly complained of military overreach in foreign policy and peace negotiations.
• The military has accused civilian parties of mismanagement and monopolising power.
• A coalition of rebel groups and political parties have aligned themselves with the armed forces and have sought to dissolve the civilian cabinet.
• One point of tension is the pursuit of justice over allegations of war crimes by the military and its allies in the conflict in Darfur from 2003. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking trials for Bashir and other Sudanese suspects.
• Sudan is in a volatile region, bordering the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.
• Several of its neighbours, including Ethiopia, Chad and South Sudan have been affected by political upheavals and conflict.
• Since late last year, conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has pushed tens of thousands of refugees into eastern Sudan and caused military tensions in disputed agricultural lands along the border.
• Sudan is pushing, with Egypt, for a binding deal over the operation of a giant hydropower dam that Ethiopia is building near the Sudanese border.
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

China placed a Lanzhou – the capital of Gansu province in the country's northwest – under lockdown, ordering them not to leave home except in emergencies, in a bid to eradicate a Covid cluster of just a few dozen confirmed cases.

• Fresh restrictions came as China reported 29 new domestic infections -- including six in Lanzhou. The latest outbreak has been linked to the highly contagious Delta variant, with the tally hitting 198 cases since October 17.
• Lanzhou is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China.
• Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub.
• The city is also a center for heavy industry and petrochemical industry.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Telangana government has decided to move landless, non-tribal farmers engaged in shifting cultivation inside forests to peripheral areas as it looks to combat deforestation.

• Telangana government has red-flagged encroachment of forests by non-tribals, who are indulging in the practice of shifting agriculture (podu).
• Several political leaders have raised the issues of shifting agriculture and deforestation wherein encroachers clear a portion of land to raise crops one season and move to a different location next season, thereby clearing large areas of forests.
• The government now wants to shift out all farmers from the forests to the periphery by allotting lands to them for cultivation.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

India-Russia’s Military Relations:

• Indian Dependence: According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), since 2010, Russia has been the source of nearly two-thirds (62%) of all Indian arms imports. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • Further, India has been the largest Russian arms importer, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all Russian arms exports.
• Favourable Russian Military Exports to India: Much of Russia’s influence in India comes through its willingness to provide weapons systems and technologies that no other country will export to India.
  • The US only provides non-lethal defence technology like C-130j Super Hercules, C-13 Globemaster, P-8i Poseidon etc, while Russia provides high-end technology like Brahmos supersonic missile, S-400 anti-missile system. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • Russia also continues to offer advanced weapons platforms at relatively attractive rates.

• About Vajra Prahar:
  • The joint exercise by the Military Special Forces of both the countries is conducted alternatively between India and the United States.
    • Special Forces are the units of a country's armed forces that undertake covert, counterterrorist, and other specialized operations.
  • In 2021 11^th edition of the exercise was conducted at Special Forces Training School located at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• The Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar rivers in Kerala’s Idukki district. The reservoir is within the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
• It is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu for meeting the drinking water and irrigation requirements of five of its southern districts.
  • According to a 999-year lease agreement made during British rule the operational rights were handed over to Tamil Nadu.
• The water diverted from the reservoir is first used for power generation in lower Periyar (by Tamil Nadu) before flowing into the Suruliyar, a tributary of Vaigai river, and then for irrigating nearly 2.08 lakh hectares in Theni and four other districts farther away.
• Hence, option B is correct.

• Recently, a report named G20 Climate Risk Atlas from the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) has said that G20 (Group of 20) countries including the wealthiest like the US, European countries, and Australia will bear extreme impacts of climate change over the coming years.
• Impact on G20 Countries:
  • Heatwaves: Heatwaves could last at least ten times longer in all G20 countries, with heatwaves in Argentina, Brazil and Indonesia lasting over 60 times longer by 2050. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • GDP Loss: GDP losses due to climate damage in G20 countries increase each year, rising to at least 4% annually by 2050. This can reach over 8% by 2100, equivalent to twice the bloc’s economic losses from Covid-19.
• Impact on India:
  • Emission Scenarios:
    • Low Emission (emissions lower than in present): Projected temperature variations will remain contained under 1.5 degree celsius , both by 2050 and 2100.
    • Medium Emission (same as present): Between 2036 and 2065, the maximum temperature of the warmest month in India could rise by at least 1.2? in a medium emission pathway. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
    • High Emission (higher than present): By 2050 under a high emission scenario average temperature could rise to 2 degree celsius.
  • Rainfall: Annual rainfall is likely to record a steep increase by 2050 with an 8% to 19.3% increase in all emission scenarios. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• The Periyar River is the longest river in the state of Kerala with a length of 244 km.
  • It is also known as the ‘Lifeline of Kerala’ as it is one of the few perennial rivers in the state.
• Periyar River originates from the Sivagiri hills of Western Ghats, in Tamil Nadu and flows through the Periyar National Park.
  • The main tributaries of Periyar are Muthirapuzha, Mullayar, Cheruthoni, Perinjankutti.
• It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.
  • Mullaperiyar Dam is located on the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar rivers in Kerala’s Idukki district.
• Hence, option A is correct.