Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 2, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

From September 1, 2021, China’s new maritime rules designed to control the entry of foreign vessels in what Beijing calls “Chinese territorial waters” take effect.

• Foreign vessels, both military and commercial, will be henceforth required to submit to Chinese supervision in “Chinese territorial waters,” as per the new law.
• The move is expected to have far-reaching consequences for passage of vessels, both commercial and military, in the disputed South China Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait, and is likely to escalate the existing tension with the US and its neighbours in the region.

South China Sea

• The South China Sea, which lies between China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, is of great economic importance globally.
• The waters around China are hotly contested. Under a “nine-dash line” map, China claims most of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory. This claim is contested by its neighbours in the region and by the United States, which, though it has no claim in the Sea, backs the smaller nations in the fight against Chinese overreach.
• Currently, international maritime activities are governed by an international agreement called the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of which China, India and over a hundred other countries are signatories (the US, significantly, is not).
• Accordingly, states have the right to implement territorial rights up to 12 nautical miles into the sea. The UNCLOS also states that all vessels have the right of “innocent passage” through this region – China’s new law violates this.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The government has decided to split existing Provident Fund (PF) accounts into two separate accounts in order to operationalise the new tax on PF income arising out of employee contributions exceeding ₹2.5 lakh a year.

• The Finance Ministry notified new Income Tax rules to this effect, but experts said this could prove to be an administrative nightmare for the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and a few thousand employers who manage their workers’ EPF savings in-house.
• For the purpose of calculation of taxable interest, separate accounts within the provident fund account shall be maintained during the previous year 2021-2022 and all subsequent previous years for taxable contribution and non-taxable contribution made by a person,” as per the Income-Tax (25th Amendment) Rules, 2021.
• Accordingly, all EPF accounts will have to be bifurcated into a taxable and non-taxable contribution account, with the latter including their closing account balance as on March 31, 2021, any contributions made thereafter that are “not included in the taxable contribution account” and annual interest accrued on these two components.
• The EPFO had 24.77 crore members with EPF accounts, of which 14.36 crore members had been allotted Unique Account Numbers (UAN) as of March 31, 2020. About 5 crore of these members were active contributors into their EPF accounts during 2019-20.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

With uncertainty hanging over the international representation of Afghanistan under the Taliban, a question has risen over its membership in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which is scheduled to meet next in Islamabad.

• The fate of Afghanistan’s membership, and even the future of SAARC to some extent, depends on the Taliban creating an inclusive government.
• SAARC comprises of eight Member States: (1) Afghanistan, (2) Bangladesh, (3) Bhutan, (4) India, (5) Maldives, (6) Nepal, (7) Pakistan and (8) Sri Lanka.
• Afghanistan was admitted into the SAARC as the eighth member in 2007 when the country was led by President Hamid Karzai.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

Parasaram Pattabhi Kesava Ramacharyulu, 63, is the new Secretary-General of the Rajya Sabha. He is the first insider to rise from the ranks of the Secretariat as its head in about 70 years since it came into being in 1952.

• The Secretariat of Rajya Sabha was set up pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 98 of the Constitution which is headed by a Secretary-General.
• The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha is assisted by the Secretary-Generalin the discharge of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities.
• Secretary-General holds the rank equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

China opens its first road-rail transport link to Indian Ocean named China-Myanmar New Passage. The route is “the first to link western China with the Indian Ocean”.

• The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in  southwest region of China, that provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean.
• This passage connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar and China.
• The railway line currently ends in Lincang on the Chinese side opposite the Myanmar border trade town of Chin Shwe Haw. Plans are underway to develop Chin Shwe Haw as a “border economic cooperation zone” under the Belt and Road Initiative.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The first-ever International Day for People of African Descent was celebrated on August 31, 2021, by the United Nations. The day aims to promote the extraordinary contributions of the African diaspora around the world and to eradicate all forms of discrimination against indigenous Africans. Last December, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that established International Day.

Under the Ministry of Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, Union Home Minister, launched nutritious a ‘Laddu Distribution Scheme’ for pregnant women in his Parliamentary constituency Gandhinagar. In the Gandhinagar area, around 7,000 pregnant women will be given 15 nutritious laddus each, free of cost, till the birth of their child, through NGOs. He mentioned that there will be no expenditure by the Government, as the responsibility for this will be borne by the NGOs.

Devendra Jhajharia from India has won the Silver medal in Javelin with a throw of 64.35 at the Paralympics Games in Tokyo. This is Jhajharia's third Paralympic medal, having won gold at Athens 2004 and Rio 2016. Sundar Singh Gurjar has won the Bronze medal in Javelin with a throw of 62.58. Dinesh Priyan Herath Mudiyanselage of Sri Lanka bagged gold by shattering the World Record with his monstrous throw of 67.79m. Devendra Jhajharia: He is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics.

According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India ended the month of August with a 24% shortfall, which is far from the forecast of a “normal” monsoon.

• This brings India’s overall monsoon rainfall deficit to 9%, just a percentage-point shy of what would be considered “deficient” rainfall.
• Because of the shortfall in August, India could well end up with “below normal” rainfall, which is characterised by rainfall between 90% and 96% of the long period average of 88 cm.
• In June, the IMD said that rainfall in northwest, south, east and central India would be “normal” or within an 8% error window of their historical average. This forecast too has been significantly off the mark, with northwest India and central India registering a 14% shortfall.
• Hence both statements are correct.

This year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award — regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize — were announced.

• The winners are:
  • Indonesian torch bearer for investigative journalism, Watchdoc.
  • Muhammad Amjad Saqib, a microfinance pioneer from Pakistan,
  • Filipino fisher and community environmentalist Roberto Ballon,
  • American Steven Muncy for humanitarian work and refugee assistance and
  • Dr. Firdausi Qadri, a Bangladeshi vaccine scientist,
• Ramon Magsaysay award is named after Ramon Magsaysay, the third president (1953-57) of Philippines.
• It is given to individuals and organizations in Asia regardless of race, creed, sex, or nationality, who have achieved distinction in their respective fields. (There are some instances where the winners came from Non-Asian countries, but accomplished something in Asia).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.