Daily Current Affairs MCQ- November 4, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Negotiations involving 168 countries, including the European Union, to agree on a UN treaty for protecting oceans failed on August 27.

• Also referred to as the ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean’, the treaty to deal with Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction has been under discussion for several years.
• The proposed treaty concerns the ocean existing beyond the Exclusive Economic Zones that lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles or 370 km into the sea, till where it has special rights for exploration. Waters beyond that are known as open seas or high seas.
• The treaty was to be negotiated under the United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 which governs the rights of countries regarding marine resources.
• As there is no treaty for conserving the health of vast swathes of the earth’s oceans, a UN resolution in 2017 had decided to rectify this while setting 2022 as the deadline.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India’s largest telecom company Reliance Jio announced the launch of its 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai by Diwali this year, with an aim to expand and cover the entire country by December 2023.

• The company said it will launch its 5G services on a “standalone” 5G architecture, against the “non-standalone” approach that other operators are betting on.
• 5G networks are deployed mainly on two modes: standalone and non-standalone.
• In the standalone mode, which Jio has chosen, the 5G network operates with dedicated equipment, and runs parallel to the existing 4G network, while in the non-standalone mode, the 5G network is supported by the 4G core infrastructure.
• The standalone mode provides access to full 5G capabilities and new network functionalities such as slicing that provides greater flexibility to operators to efficiently use their spectrum holdings.
• Non-standalone networks are generally considered to be a stepping stone, and global precedent suggests operators that have launched non-standalone 5G networks eventually transition to standalone networks. The non-standalone mode, however, lets operators maximise the utilisation of their existing network infrastructure with relatively lower investment.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

President Droupadi Murmu discussed the various aspects of bilateral relation between India and the Netherlands with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

• During the discussion, the two leaders discussed the universal financial inclusion initiatives. Queen Máxima appreciated the progress made in India in this direction in the last few years.
• President Droupadi Murmu noted that the ‘Strategic Partnership on Water’ launched during the India-Netherlands virtual Summit in last year and other dimensions of bilateral relations have witnessed improvement in recent years. Queen Máxima is on a three day visit to India.
• The Netherlands is a country located in Northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean.
• It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• The Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a notification on 26 August 2022 for greater facilitation of citizens in the issue of International Driving Permit (IDP) across the country.

• India, being a signatory to Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 (Geneva Convention), is required to issue IDP as provided under this Convention, for the acceptance of the same on reciprocal basis with other countries.
• Currently, the format, size, pattern, colour etc. of the IDP being issued was differing across States in India. Due to this, many citizens were facing difficulties with their respective IDP in foreign countries.
• Now, through this amendment, the format, size, colour etc. for IDP has been standardized for issuance across India, and in adherence to the Geneva Convention.
• A comparison of vehicle categories across various Conventions and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 has also been added for facilitation of regulatory authorities. Helpline numbers and email have also been provided.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A Workshop on Development of Enterprises and Services Hub (DESH) Bill, 2022 was organized by Department of Commerce. The workshop was organised in partnership with Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs (EPCES).

• The government plans to facilitate easier financing norms to activities pertaining to the manufacturing and services hubs envisaged under the proposed revamped law for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), also known as Development (Enterprise and Services) Hub Bill, 2022.
• This will be done by giving them infrastructure status, at par with sectors such as road, rail waterways, airports, to improve access to finance and enable long-term borrowing from lenders at easier terms.

Hence both statements are correct.

Extending “heartfelt condolences” to victims of the floods in Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the crisis, in a rare outreach to the neighbouring country on a day Pakistan’s Finance Minister said he could consider reopening trade routes with India.

• While Europe, China and some other regions of the world are experiencing a severe drought, Pakistan is facing one of the worst floods in its recent history.
• Reports say about 110 of the 150 districts in the country are affected by the flooding. Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Sunday that over 1,000 people were confirmed dead in the floods so far.
• The flooding, the result of an unusually wet monsoon season in Pakistan this year, started in July, but has worsened over the last couple of weeks.
• The same southwest monsoon that brings the bulk of India’s annual rainfall causes rain in Pakistan as well.
• The monsoon season in Pakistan, however, is a little shorter than in India. That is because the rain-bearing monsoon winds take time to travel northward from India into Pakistan.

Hence both statements are correct.

Violent crimes such as rape, kidnapping, atrocities against children, and robberies registered across India increased in 2021, after the pandemic-related restrictions led to a decline in these severe offences in 2020.

• Murders, which did not come down even in 2020, continued to increase in 2021 too, according to data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s 2021 report.
• The number of registered rape cases increased from 28,046 in 2020 to 31,677 in 2021, closer to the 2019 figure of 32,032. Cases related to kidnapping and abduction fell to 84,805 in 2020 from 1,05,036 cases in 2019, but again rose to 1,01,707 in 2021.
• On the other hand, murder cases continued their consistent increase with 29,272 cases in 2021, up from 29,193 in 2020 and 28,915 in 2019.
• However, the number of overall registered cognisable crimes decreased from 66 lakh in 2020 to 60.9 lakh in 2021, a 7.6% fall.
• The crime rate (crimes per 1 lakh people) also decreased from 487.8 in 2020 to 445.9 in 2021.
• The decline in overall crimes in 2021 can be attributed to a sharp decrease in cases registered under ‘disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant (Section 188 of the IPC).

Hence both statements are correct.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to formally raise its first unit of indigenous Light Combat Helicopters (LCHs) in Jodhpur in the first week of October coinciding with Air Force Day on October 8.

• Ten LCHs will be inducted in the first batch completing one unit.
• The IAF is still working out the total number of LCHs to be acquired, the official stated.
• The IAF operates the older Russian Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, of which one squadron has been phased out following the induction of 22 Boeing AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
• The existing Mi-35 squadron is in the process of being sent for overhaul which will extend its life by many years.
• The Army had already raised its first LCH squadron on June 1 in Bengaluru. The unit will move to the Eastern Command along the Line of Actual Control (LCH) on completion of the raising next year.
• The Army plans to acquire 95 LCHs of which seven units, each having 10 helicopters, are planned to be deployed for combat role in the mountains.
• The LCH is the first dedicated attack helicopter of the Army, which otherwise operates 75 Rudra helicopters, the weaponised variant of the indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Social Justice Ministry received 402 applications online from across the country for benefits under the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic (SEED) Tribes.

• More than 10 crore Indians from 1,400 communities belong to these groups, show the latest estimates available with the government.
• The scheme aims to provide free competitive exam coaching to students, health insurance and financial assistance for housing and uplift clusters of these communities through livelihood initiatives.
• The Ministry has been allocated ₹200 crore for this scheme to be spent over five financial years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• At the time of the launch, the Ministry announced that the scheme would be implemented through an online portal that would issue a unique ID to each applicant to apply and track the status of the application online.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Reserve Bank is considering setting up a fraud registry to create a database of fraudulent websites, phones and various modus operandi used for digital fraud.

• Such a database would help prevent fraudsters from repeating the offence as the websites or phone numbers would be blacklisted, RBI executive director Anil Kumar Sharma said on Monday.
• There is no definite timeline for setting up of the fraud registry.
• Payment system participants would be provided access to this registry for near-real time fraud monitoring. The aggregated fraud data would be published to educate customers on emerging risks.
• Mr. Sharma also said that the customers of the Credit Investment Company (CIC) would come under the Reserve Bank — Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS), 2021.

Hence both statements are correct.