Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 16, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Particulate Matter:

• Particulate matter is the sum of all solid and liquid particles suspended in air many of which are hazardous.
• This complex mixture includes both organic and inorganic particles, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets.
• These particles vary greatly in size, composition, and origin.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Health Ministry is planning to launch a nationwide, mega voluntary blood donation drive, called the Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav, on September 17, with an aim to collect one lakh units of blood.

• The drive hopes to create a database of donors who can be called upon at times of emergency.
• The Ministry has sent a letter to all the States and the Union Territories, stating that the drive would continue till October 1, the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day (NVBDD).
• Registrations for blood donation can be done on the Aarogya Setu portal under Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav which calls people to donate blood and be a part of Prime Minister’s mission for humanity.
• A live dashboard will be operationalised on the e-RaktKosh web portal for tracking the number of blood units donated/collected in each State and Union Territory.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court did not entertain a plea advocating a link between watching Internet porn and sex crimes, including child abuse.

• It said child sex abuse was a crime by itself. Investigation into individual cases by the police would reveal whether or not viewing of pornography had triggered the crime. That aspect would be part of evidence of each individual case.
• “Seeking a judicial declaration from the Supreme Court that porn on the Internet has led to child sex crimes would be equal to giving a go-ahead to online surveillance,” it said.
• The selling and distribution of pornographic material is illegal in India under section 292 of IPC.
• Child pornography is illegal and strictly prohibited across the country under section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• however, viewing sexually explicit material in private spaces is not illegal. The Supreme Court had also orally remarked back in July 2015 that it cannot stop an adult from exercising his fundamental right to personal liberty to watch porn within the privacy of his room.

Hence both statements are correct.

India’s retail inflation resurged to 7% in August from 6.71% in July, fuelled by a 7.62% uptick in food prices paid by consumers, even as industrial output growth in July dropped to the lowest level since April at just 2.4%, with output levels dropping 2.75% month on month.

• This is the eighth successive month that retail inflation has stayed above the central bank’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% inflation for the economy, and constitutes a setback to households’ spending power among the poorer sections.
• Rural inflation that was at 6.8% in July, saw a sharper rise than urban inflation in August, rising to 7.15%. Urban consumers’ inflation rate moved up from 6.49% in July to 6.72%.
• The uptick in inflation was largely driven by “a broad-based rise across the food segment”, with a higher inflation in cereals, pulses, milk, fruits, vegetables and prepared meals and snacks.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court will examine whether The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, which introduced a 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in government jobs and admissions, violates the basic structure of the Constitution.

• A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) U U Lalit decided to examine the following three key issues to ascertain the validity of the amendment:
  • “Whether the 103rd Constitution Amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution by permitting the state to make special provisions, including reservation, based on economic criteria”;
  • “Whether it (the amendment) can be said to breach the basic structure…by permitting the state to make special provisions in relation to admission to private unaided institutions”;
  • “Whether the basic structure is violated by “excluding the SEBCs (Socially and Educationally Backward Classes)/ OBCs (Other Backward Classes)/ SCs (Scheduled Castes)/ STs (Scheduled Tribes) from the scope of EWS reservation”.
• The 103rd Amendment inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) in the Constitution to provide up to 10 per cent reservation to EWS other than backward classes, SCs, and STs in higher educational institutions and initial recruitment in government jobs.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Cheetah (a carnivore) is the world’s fastest land animal historically ranging throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and extending eastward to India.

The Cheetah plays an important part in the ecosystem. They maintain prey species healthy (by killing the weak and old) and control the population of prey, helping plants-life by preventing overgrazing.

Today, Cheetahs are found in only 9% of their historic range, occurring in a variety of habitats such as savannahs in the Serengeti, arid mountain ranges in the Sahara and hilly desert terrain in Iran.

Namibia has the largest population of Cheetahs in the world, earning it the title "The Cheetah Capital of the World."

Currently, Cheetahs (African) are listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, as there are fewer than 7,100 adult and adolescent Cheetahs in the wild.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Railways, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the Chief Guest at Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) Annual Flagship Event 2022.

• The Minister of State for Communications, Shri Devusinh Chauhan will be the Guest of Honour.
• DIPA, an apex industry body of digital infrastructure providers is all set to host its Annual Flagship Event with new theme for this year, “Gati Shakti vision for 5G & Beyond”.
• The event is said to be the biggest event of Telecom industry of year 2022.
• The event’s theme is “Gati Shakti vision for 5G & Beyond”, is fully in line with PM Modi’s Gati Shakti National Master Plan which has helped country’s telecom infrastructure to be more stable.
• DIPA acknowledges Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as the supporting partner of DIPA’s Annual Flagship Event 2022.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, launched National Lists of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2022.

• 384 drugs have been included in this list with addition of 34 drugs, while 26 from the previous list have been dropped. The medicines have been categorized into 27 therapeutic categories.
• The following criteria are followed for inclusion in NLEM:
  • be useful in diseases which is a public health problem in India
  • be licensed/ approved Drugs Controller General (India) (DCGI)
  • have proven efficacy and safety profile based on scientific evidence
  • be comparatively cost effective
  • be aligned with the current treatment guidelines
  • recommended under National Health Programs of India. (e.g. Ivermectin part of Accelerated Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis 2018).
  • when more than one medicine are available from the same therapeutic class, one prototype/ medically best suited medicine of that class to be included.
  • price of total treatment is considered and not the unit price of a medicine
  • fixed dose combinations are usually not included
  • vaccines as and when are included in Universal Immunization Program (e.g. Rotavirus vaccine).

Hence both statements are correct.

The recently-released Malayalam film Pathonpatham Noottandu (‘Nineteenth Century’), directed by Vinayan, has earned both critical acclaim and audience approval.

• It is based on the life of Arattupuzha Velayudha Panicker, a social reformer from the Ezhava community in Kerala who lived in the 19th century.
• Born into a well-off family of merchants in Kerala’s Alappuzha district, Panicker was one of the most influential figures in the reformation movement in the state.
• He challenged the domination of upper castes or ‘Savarnas’ and brought about changes in the lives of both men and women.
• The social reform movement in Kerala in the 19th century led to the large-scale subversion of the existing caste hierarchy and social order in the state.
• Panicker is credited with building two temples dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, in which members of all castes and religions were allowed entry.
• In 1858, he led the Achippudava Samaram strike at Kayamkulam in Alappuzha. This strike aimed to earn women belonging to oppressed groups the right to wear a lower garment that extended beyond the knees.
• In 1859, this was extended into the Ethappu Samaram, the struggle for the right to wear an upper body cloth by women belonging to backward castes.

Hence both statements are correct.

Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is in Moscow to unveil the statue of Lok Shahir (balladeer) Annabhau Sathe at the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature. An oil painting of Sathe, who passed away in 1969, will also be unveiled at the Moscow’s Indian consulate.

• Sathe’s work was immensely inspired by the Russian revolution and the Communist ideology. He was a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), and featured among the selected authors from India whose work was translated in Russian.
• Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe, who later came to be known as Annabhau Sathe, was born in a Dalit family on August 1, 1920 in Maharashtra’s Wategaon village in Satara district.
• Sathe belonged to the Matang community among Dalits.
• He formed Dalit Yuvak Sangh, a cultural group and started writing poems on workers’ protests, agitations.
• In 1939, he wrote his first ballad ‘Spanish Povada’.
• In 1943, he along with Amar Sheikh and Datta Gavhankar, formed the Lal Bawta Kala Pathak.

Hence both statements are correct.