Test: June 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

• Wholesale inflation “does not capture price movements in non-commodity producing sectors like services, which constitute close to two-thirds of economic activity in India”.
• Wholesale inflation “does not generally reflect price movements in all wholesale markets”. This happens because price quotations for some important commodities such as milk, LPG etc. are taken from retail markets.
• Movements in WPI often reflect large external shocks and as such, the wholesale inflation rate is often subject to large revisions.

Birds of prey or raptors are often apex predators, sitting at the top of the food chain. As such, they can act as an “ecological baraometer”, helping us gauge the health of the environment. In addition to their value as indicator species, they provide valuable ecosystem services, controlling pest animals such as rodents and removing carrion from the environment, potentially reducing the spread of disease.

The annual Group of Seven (G7) Summit, hosted by Japan, took place in Hiroshima on May 19-21, 2023. Among other matters, the G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué initiated the Hiroshima AI Process (HAP) – an effort by this bloc to determine a way forward to regulate artificial intelligence (AI).

• Statement 1 and 3 are correct.
• The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Act, 2021 received the assent of the President on March 28, 2021 and has come into force w.e.f. April 19, 2021. Accordingly, NaBFID has been set up as a Development Financial Institution (DFI) to support the development of long-term infrastructure financing in India.
• NaBFID shall be regulated and supervised as an All India Financial Institution (AIFI) by the Reserve Bank under Sections 45L and 45N of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.
• NaBFID was set up in 2021, by an Act of the Parliament (The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Act, 2021), with the essential objectives of addressing the gaps in long-term non-recourse finance for infrastructure development, strengthening the development of bonds and derivatives markets in India, and sustainably boosting the country’s economy.
• The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) said it has raised ₹10,000 crore by issuance of listed bonds in its maiden issuance.

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit end of this year will adopt a Bangkok vision 2030 which would be overarching kind of document and give direction to the organisation.
• Thailand has put forth the Bangkok vision 2030 which seeks to propel BIMSETC towards a region that is prosperous, resilient and open… moving us in a forward-looking trajectory for sustainable and balanced growth.
• The grouping comprises Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In 2022, the BIMSTEC charter was adopted which lays the foundation for it to function as a full-fledged organisation.

• Statement 2 is incorrect.
• Approximately 80 more castes in six States are now likely to be added to the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the coming months, with the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) already processing the approval for most of them.
• As per the Procedure for Addition prescribed in the NCBC Act, 1993, the Commission is mandated to constitute a Bench to examine such proposals and then forward their decision to the Union government (with dissent, where applicable). The Cabinet then needs to approve the additions and bring legislation to this effect, following which the President is empowered to notify the change.
• Unlike the procedure to add communities to the SC or ST List, additions to the Central OBC list do not have to rely on the concurrence of the Office of the Registrar General of India or any other authority other than the Commission.
• The Commission, as per its guidelines, considers additions to the Central OBC list based on social, educational and economic indicators suggested by the Mandal Commission established in 1979.

• Only statement 2 is correct.
• The Artemis Accords is a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the United States government and other world governments participating in the Artemis program. As of June 23, 2023, 27 countries and one territory have signed the accords, including ten in Europe, eight in Asia, three in North America, two in Oceania, two in Africa, and two in South America.
• Drafted by NASA and the U.S. Department of State, the Accords establish a framework for cooperation in the civil exploration and peaceful use of the Moon, Mars, and other astronomical objects.
• Latest accords were signed between India & USA On 22 June 2023.

• Statement 1 and 3 are correct.
• The NFHS is a large survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India which started in 1992-93 and is repeated at an interval of about four to five years. It is the Indian version of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), as it is known in other countries.
• The primary focus of NFHS is maternal and child health, the Department of Health and Family Welfare (Statistics Division) said.
• The NFHS is not the only survey that the Health Ministry conducts. In the last five years, it has conducted the National NCD Monitoring Survey (NNMS), the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), the alcohol survey, the Comprehensive National. Nutrition Survey (CNNS) and many others.

• In Tibet the river carries a smaller volume of water and less silt as it is a cold and a dry area. In India it passes through a region of high rainfall. Here the river carries a large volume of water and considerable amount of silt.
• Every year during the rainy season, the river overflows its banks, causing widespread devastation due to floods in Assam and Bangladesh. Unlike other north Indian rivers the Brahmaputra is marked by huge deposits of silt on its bed causing the river bed to rise. The river also shifts its channel frequently.

India has climbed eight places in the annual Gender Gap Report, 2023, and is ranked 127 out of 146 countries in terms of gender parity, from 135 last year. But this improved statistic, closing 64.3% of the overall gender gap, is hardly a cause for cheer. On the four key markers of the index – economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

Statement 2 and 3 are correct.

The Food Corporation of India is an organization created and run by the Government of India. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.

Objectives:

• Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interests of the poor farmers
• Distribution of food grains throughout the country for Public Distribution System (PDS)
• Maintaining a satisfactory level of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security
• Regulate market price to provide food grains to consumers at a reliable price.
• It has primary duty to undertake purchase, store, and move/transport, distribute and sell food grains and other foodstuffs.

The procurement system decentralization was started in 1997 where states play a very important role in the supply chain. Not all procurements are done by FCI. State cooperative agencies and other state-level distribution agencies also play a crucial role.

• Only statement 1 is correct.
• Unlike the SCO, BRICS and even NATO, the Quad does not have a Secretariat.
• RATS is a permanent body of the Sanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

• The Nehru-Liaquat Pact, also known as the Delhi Pact, was a bilateral agreement signed between India and Pakistan in order to provide a framework for the treatment of minorities in the two countries. It was signed by the two country’s prime ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan.
• The need for such a pact was felt by minorities in both countries following Partition, which was accompanied by massive communal rioting.

If external aid is a grant or coming without interest, no better way to finance the deficit, if we ignore their inflationary effects.

When the domestic market has limited amount of funds, and if the government desires to borrow a large share of it to finance the fiscal deficit, it tends to raise the demand for funds in the market. This shoots the market interest rate for the funds and causes problems to the domestic investors who now have to pay a higher interest rate to avail the same loan.

If the same money is borrowed from abroad, the crowing out effect doesn’t occur.

Recently, the European Union (EU) has put forward a proposal, called the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The US, Canada and Japan are planning similar measures. This involves imposing tariffs on imports from other countries that are seen to be using carbon-intensive methods of production. It is argued that the stringent environmental regulation in the EU makes the production of polluting industries move to countries with relatively lax regulation.

Critical Minerals Partnership: India has become the newest partner of the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) that has been established to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable critical energy minerals supply chains globally. The MSP, which started in june 2022, has 12 other partner countries, plus the European Union. India’s Epsilon Carbon Limited will invest $650 million in a greenfield electric vehicle battery component factory, which will be the largest ever Indian investment in the US electric vehicle battery industry.

• Only statement 2 is correct.
• Earth’s crust is made up of tectonic plates that are slowly moving, at about the same speed as a fingernail grows. Volcanoes typically occur where these plates either move away from each other or where one pushes beneath another. But volcanoes can also be in the middle of plates, as Hawaii’s volcanoes are in the Pacific Plate.
• The crust and mantle that comprise the Pacific Plate cracks at different places as it moves northwestward. Beneath Hawaii, magma can move upward through the cracks to feed different volcanoes on the surface. The same thing happens at Haleakala, on Maui, which last erupted about 250 years ago.
• Scientists hypothesize that the mantle is not made of uniform rock. Instead, differences in the type of mantle rock make it melt at different temperatures. Mantle rock is solid at some places, while it starts to melt at other places.
• Hawaii is in the middle of an oceanic plate. In fact, it is the most isolated volcanic hot spot on Earth, far away from any plate boundary.
• Oceanic magma is very different from continental magma. It has a different chemical composition and flows much more easily. So, the magma is less prone to clog volcanic vents on its ascent, which would ultimately lead to more explosive volcanism.

• Only statement 2 is correct.
• Universal (childhood) Immunisation Programme (UIP) covers only those up to five years.
• MR elimination is defined as zero transmission of measles and rubella viruses, evidenced by zero clinical disease, sustained over three years.
• The rubella virus is a slower transmitter and the risk of rubella is extended from childhood through adolescence into the reproductive age range.

The Arctic sea ice is crucial to polar bears’ survival as they use it not only to hunt seals — their chief food — but also for travelling, mating and resting. However, with rising global temperatures, the sea ice is breaking earlier in summer and refreezing later in winter, due to which polar bears get less time to hunt and have to stay hungry for longer and travel greater distances.

This extra need for energy coupled with a lack of food can result in body deterioration and a drop in the average weight of adult bears.

Importance of polar bears

• Polar bears are one of the most significant predators in the Arctic region and they keep biological populations in balance. The big kills made by them serve as a food resource for scavengers like Arctic foxes and Arctic birds. If polar bears aren’t able to hunt animals like seals, it can severely impact the food chain and health of the ecosystem.
• Researchers have also found that once polar bears can’t find seals to eat, they would quickly move to kill and survive on other creatures in the Arctic region. This would threaten the existence of species like the Arctic fox or the walrus. Moreover, it might also cause the overpopulation of seals, which could endanger the existence of crustaceans and fish that are an important food source for local human populations as well as other Arctic wildlife.

Bank balance sheets have become healthier over the past few years thanks to the central bank’s asset quality reviews, mandates for stressed assets recognition and write-offs by commercial banks, as well as loan recoveries under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. 

• Statement 1 is incorrect.
• Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) involves the use of traditional / herbal preparations in treating diseases of cattle.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a One Health issue. It accelerates due to the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in human health, animal health, food-animal production, aquaculture and crop production.
• Waste from farms, factories, community and healthcare settings contributes to the emergence and spread of AMR through environmental routes.
• Prevention implies the adoption of strategies and approaches that can reduce the need for antimicrobials. For example, in human health sector, better sanitation, access to clean water and appropriate hand hygiene can reduce chances of infection and need for antimicrobials.
• Similarly, better biosecurity, timely vaccinations, use of alternatives and appropriate waste management can prevent infectious diseases in food-animal production systems.

• The Law Commission of India in its 279th report, has recommended retaining Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on ‘sedition’. The Commission also felt that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, does not cover all elements of the offence envisaged under Section 124A IPC. 
• ‘Unlawful activity’ defined under Section 2(1)(o) of the UAPA includes ‘any action taken by such individual or association which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India’. The punishment prescribed is imprisonment for up to seven years and a fine. The only difference between Section 124A IPC and this provision of the UAPA is that in place of the words ‘Government established by law in India’, the word ‘India’ is used in the UAPA.

Statement 1 is incorrect.
About NCPCR:

• Set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.
• It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.
• The Commission’s Mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies, Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Commission shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:

• Examine and review the safeguards provided by or under any law for the time being in force for the protection of child rights and recommend measures for their effective implementation.
• Present to the central government, annually and at such other intervals, as the commission may deem fit, reports upon working of those safeguards;
• Inquire into violation of child rights and recommend initiation of proceedings in such cases;
• Examine all factors that inhibit the enjoyment of rights of children affected by terrorism, communal violence, riots, natural disaster, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, maltreatment, torture and exploitation, pornography and prostitution and recommend appropriate remedial measures;

• A barrier to trade is a government-imposed restraint on the flow of international goods or services. The most common barrier to trade is a tariff—a tax on imports. Tariffs raise the price of imported goods relative to domestic goods (goods produced at home).
• An import quota is a type of protectionist trade restriction that sets a physical limit on the quantity of a good that can be imported into a country in a given period of time.
• FDI is related to the capital sector and overall investment policy of the nation. FDI is not considered a trade component. 

• Statement 2 is incorrect.
• An old pension scheme (OPS), commonly known as the PAYG scheme, is defined as an unfunded pension scheme where current revenues fund pension benefits. Under this scheme, the contribution of the current generation of workers was explicitly used to pay the pensions of existing pensioners. OPS involved a direct transfer of resources from the current generation of taxpayers to fund the pensioners.
• NPS is a defined contribution pension scheme. NPS enables an individual to undertake retirement planning while in employment. With systematic savings and investments,
• NPS facilitates the accumulation of a pension corpus during their working life. NPS is designed to deliver a sustainable solution of having adequate retirement income in old age or upon superannuation.
• The current National Pension Scheme requires employees to contribute 10% of their basic salary and the government 14%. The eventual payout depends on the market returns on that corpus, which is mostly invested in federal debt.
• In contrast, the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) guarantees a fixed pension of 50% of an employee’s last drawn salary, without requiring them to contribute anything during their working life.
• NPS is mandatory for central government employees joining services on or after January 1, 2004, and almost all state governments have adopted it for their employees. NPS is regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).