Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 27, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Union Minister of Ayush inaugurated the international conference on Consciousness with the theme, “Exploring Consciousness- From Non- Locality to Non- Duality: The Man- Machine Debate” at NIMHANS, Bengaluru.

• The conference is organized by India Foundation and NIMHANS and supported by Ministry of Ayush.
• The conference will bring together some of the most eminent researchers and inventors in the areas of physics, biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, quantum computing and allied fields as well as scholars and spiritual teachers of the major Indic Spiritual and psychological disciplines and doctrines.

Ayurswasthya Yojana

• The Minister also inaugurated the Centre of Excellence project in the Department of Integrative Medicine, NIMHANS, Bengaluru as part of “AYURSWASTHYA YOJANA”, a flagship programme under Ministry of Ayush.
• The Centre of Excellence (CoE) will strengthen competencies of Ayush professionals in Education technology, Research & innovation and others.
• Main objectives of the CoE project at NIMHANS is to conduct clinical trials in four neuro-psychiatric disorders to establish efficacy, safety and proposed mechanism of Integrated Yoga and Ayurveda treatment approaches.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Supreme Court appointed former apex court judge Justice L Nageswara Rao for amending constitution of Indian Olympic Association and preparing electoral college.

• A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud said the ex-top court judge would ensure a fair and development-oriented approach for the future of the Olympics in the country.
• The apex court asked Justice Rao to prepare a road map for amending the constitution and holding elections by 15^th December 2022.
• The Apex Court also gave its permission to Rajeev Mehta, who is currently the secretary general of IOA, and Adille Sumariwalla, vice president of IOA, to participate in the forthcoming meeting with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to be held on27th September.
• The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 8th September issued a final warning to IOA to resolve its governance issues and hold elections by December, failing which the world sports body will ban India.
• The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets.

Hence both statements are correct.

Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar, inaugurated the third edition of the Lok Manthan programme in Guwahati.

• The theme of this year’s biennale is Lokparampara (Lok traditions) - and how lok traditions have kept our cultural consciousness intact and strengthened our feeling of National Selfhood.
• Lokmanthan is an event where artists, intellectuals, and academicians are drawn from different parts of the country converge and brainstorm on the questions that haunt the society.
• Besides, the three-day event will have discussions, seminars, cultural events and exhibitions which showcase the rich diversity of the nation.

Hence both statements are correct.

In a bid to do away with British-era laws governing the telecom sector, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022.

• Through the Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, the Centre aims to consolidate and amend the existing laws governing the provision, development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services, telecom networks and infrastructure, in addition to assignment of spectrum.
• The draft Bill consolidates three separate acts that govern the telecommunications sector — Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, and The Telegraph Wires, (Unlawful Protection) Act 1950.
• One of the key changes is inclusion of new-age over-the-top communication services like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram in the definition of telecommunication services.
• As per the draft law, providers of telecommunication services will be covered under the licensing regime, and will be subjected to similar rules as other telecom operators.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Beginning October 1, the new account settlement system for the stock broking industry will kick in.

• Under the new guidelines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in July and effective from October 1, the trading members will have to settle the accounts on a monthly or quarterly basis on the first Friday of the month or quarter.
• The market regulator mandates stockbrokers to settle i.e., transfer the available credit balance from trading account to bank account, at least once in a quarter (90 days) or 30 days.
• The process of transferring the unutilised funds back into the bank account is called ‘Running Account Settlement’ or ‘Quarterly Settlement of Funds’ and the funds are transferred back to the primary bank account of the customer that is linked to the trading account.
• As per the latest guidelines, the settlement will now be done on the first Friday of the quarter or the month depending upon the option selected by the customer.

Hence both statements are correct.

In a significant milestone, India has achieved landmark achievement in further reduction of child mortality rates.

• As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report 2020 released on 22nd September 2022 by Registrar General of India (RGI), the country has been witnessing a progressive reduction in IMR, U5MR and NMR since 2014 towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets by 2030.
• Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) for the country has shown significant decline of 3 points (Annual Decline Rate: 8.6%) from 2019 (32 per 1000 live births in 2020 against 35 per 1000 live births in 2019). It varies from 36 in rural areas to 21 in urban areas.
• Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has also registered 2-point decline to 28 per 1000 live births in 2020 from 30 per 1000 live births in 2019 (Annual Decline Rate: 6.7%). The Rural-Urban difference has narrowed to 12 points (Urban 19, Rural-31).
• Neonatal Mortality Rate has also declined by 2 points from 22 per 1000 live births in 2019 to 20 per 1000 live births in 2020 (Annual Decline Rate: 9.1%). It ranges from 12 in urban areas to 23 in rural areas.

Hence both statements are correct.

Foreign Ministers of the Quad group of countries – India, the U.S., Australia, and Japan – met on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to sign a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) partnership into effect.

• The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), commonly known as the Quad, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States that is maintained by talks between member countries.
• In a joint statement in March 2021, "The Spirit of the Quad," the Quad members described "a shared vision for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific”.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

The last date for registration in the Mehar Baba Competition -II is 02 October 2022.

• To provide a boost to the growing indigenous drone industry, Raksha Mantri had launched the "MEHAR BABA COMPETITION-II" on 06 April 2022 at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan).
• The competition is aimed at developing technology for a "Swarm Drone Based System to Detect Foreign Objects on Aircraft Operating Surfaces".
• The competition is named after the legendary Air Commodore Mehar Singh, MVC, DSO - affectionately also known as Mehar Baba.
• The first edition of the competition was launched in October 2018 and had culminated in October 2021.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Supreme Court (SC) said it will examine whether the excommunication of the Dawoodi Bohra community’s members can be continued.

• The Dawoodi Bohras are members of the Muslim community’s Shia sect.
• Their leader is known as the Al-Dai-Al-Mutlaq. For over 400 years, the leader has been based out of India, including the current and the 53rd leader, His Holiness Dr Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin.
• Around 1 million members of the community are spread across the world.
• The leader of the community is recognised by the members as having the right to excommunicate its members. In practice, being excommunicated includes not being allowed to access a mosque belonging to the community or a burial dedicated to the community.

Bombay Prevention of Excommunication Act, 1949

• It was enacted to stop the practice of excommunication prevalent in certain communities, as it led to the deprivation of legitimate rights and privileges of its members and in “keeping with the spirit of changing times and in public interest”.
• The 51st leader of the community challenged the constitutional validity of the act in 1962, stating it violated fundamental rights guaranteed in Constitution under Article 25 and Article 26.
• The SC held in 1962 held that the power to excommunicate is is an essential part of the community. It's objective is to enforce discipline and preserve the denomination, not to punish.

Hence both statements are correct.

For the first time since May 2019, the banking system liquidity situation turned into a deficit mode of Rs 21,873.4 crore on September 20, 2022.

• Liquidity in the banking system refers to readily available cash that banks need to meet short-term business and financial needs.
• On a given day, if the banking system is a net borrower from the RBI under Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), the system liquidity can be said to be in deficit and if the banking system is a net lender to the RBI, the system liquidity can be said to be in surplus.
• The LAF refers to the RBI’s operations through which it injects or absorbs liquidity into or from the banking system.

What has triggered this deficit?

• Economists say that there are various factors over the last few months that have led to the current situation. If an improvement in demand for credit has led to the same, the recent advance tax outflow, which is a quarterly phenomenon, has further aggravated the situation.
• Besides, there is the continuous intervention of the RBI to stem the fall in the rupee against the US dollar.

Hence both statements are correct.