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

AFSPA:

- BP Jeevan Reddy committee: This committee recommended the repeal of the AFSPA Act.
- Justice Verma Committee: This committee also addressed issues related to the AFSPA.
- N.K. Singh Committee: This committee did not specifically address issues related to the AFSPA.
- Second Administrative Reforms Commission: This commission did not specifically address issues related to the AFSPA.
 

• One of the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) mentions that “in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.” While DPSPs are not in themselves legally enforceable, they set goals that the state should aspire towards to establish conditions under which citizens can lead a good life. Thus, alcohol is seen by the Constitution and by extension, the Indian state, as an undesirable evil that needs to be regulated.
• However, according to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, alcohol is a state subject, i.e. state legislatures have the right and responsibility to draft laws regarding it, including “the production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors.” Thus, laws regarding alcohol differ from state to state, falling in the whole spectrum between prohibition and private sale.

Key indicators impacting population growth, such as life expectancy (the number of years a person is expected to live on average), the Crude Death Rate (the number of deaths in a population per 1,000 people) and Total Fertility Rate or TFR (the number of children a woman, on average, is expected to bear in her lifetime).

• Statement 1 and 2 are correct.
• Zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without prior land preparation and disturbing the soil where previous crop stubbles are present.
• Zero tillage not only reduce the cost of cultivation it also reduces the soil erosion, crop duration and irrigation requirement and weed effect which is better than tillage. Zero Tillage (ZT) also called No Tillage or Nil Tillage.
• Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both the growing of crops as well as the raising of livestock.
• Intercropping is a multiple cropping practice involving growing two or more crops in proximity. 
• Vertical farming is the practice of growing produce in vertically stacked layers. The practice can use soil, hydroponic or aeroponic growing methods. Vertical farms attempt to produce food in challenging environments, like where arable land is rare or unavailable.

• Statement 1 is incorrect.
• All South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations are members of the Group of 77 Developing countries.
• The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
• Regional trade now makes up for more than half of global trading, and agreements such as United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR for its Spanish initials), the European Union, Eurasian Economic Union, the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) are further boosting this trend.
• Mercosur is a South American trade bloc.

Only statement 1 is correct.

• Recirculatory Aquaculture System (RAS) is a technology where water is recycled and reused after mechanical and biological filtration and removal of suspended matter and metabolites.
• This method is used for high- density culture of various species of fish, utilizing minimum land area and water.
• It is an intensive high-density fish culture unlike other aquaculture production systems.
• Instead of the traditional method of growing fish outdoors in open ponds and raceways, in this system fish are typically reared in indoor/outdoor tanks in a controlled environmen
• The technology is based on the use of mechanical and biological filters and the method can be used for any species grown in aquaculture.

A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. In fact, the word “bacteriophage” literally means “bacteria eater,” because bacteriophages destroy their host cells. All bacteriophages are composed of a nucleic acid molecule that is surrounded by a protein structure. In other words, they are comprised of a protein capsule around an RNA or DNA genome.

• In January 2014, an expert committee of the RBI submitted its report on the ways to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework in India, it chose to target retail inflation.
• Here’s why.
• Firstly, the committee pointed out that 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”.
• Secondly, it pointed out that 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.
• Thirdly, movements in WPI often reflect large external shocks and as such, the wholesale inflation rate is often subject to large revisions.

The Opium Wars were two conflicts waged between China and Western powers during the mid-19th century. The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and the United Kingdom, and was triggered by the Chinese government’s campaign to enforce its prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants. The Second Opium War was waged by Britain and France against China from 1856 to 1860. In each war, the superior military advantages enjoyed by European forces led to several easy victories over the Chinese military, with the consequence that China was compelled to sign unequal treaties to grant favourable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations and territory to Western powers.

• Statement 3 is incorrect.
• The RBI defines prepaid payment instruments (PPIs) as payment instruments that facilitate the buying of goods and services, including the transfer of funds, financial services, and remittances, against the value stored within or on the instrument.
• PPIs are in the form of payment wallets, smart cards, mobile wallets, magnetic chips, vouchers, etc.
• As per the regulations, banks and NBFCs can issue PPIs.

There are three important elements of an FIR: (1) the information must relate to the commission of a cognizable offence, (2) it should be given in writing or orally to the head of the police station and, (3) it must be written down and signed by the informant, and its key points should be recorded in a daily diary.

• Founded in 1997, the seven-member BIMSTEC, which includes the littoral states of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Thailand is a member too) and the land-locked states of Nepal and Bhutan, has identified 14 pillars for special focus. These are trade and investment, transport and communication, energy, tourism, technology, fisheries, agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter terrorism and transnational crime, environment and disaster management, people-to-people contact, cultural cooperation and climate change.
• A Bay of Bengal Maritime Dialogue (BOBMD) organised by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the Pathfinder Foundation brought together government officials, maritime experts, and representatives of prominent think tanks from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia.

• The Clarion Clipperton Zone, or CCZ, in the eastern Pacific is the most studied area of commercial interest for deep sea mining. Situated at depths between 3,500 and 5,500 metres, this one zone contains more nickel, manganese and cobalt than all terrestrial resources combined.
• CCZ falls outside national jurisdictions, and hence is regulated by the ISA.

Statement 1 and 2 are correct.

• The CBD is not just about the conservation and restoration of ecosystems. It is also about sustainable use of natural resources, and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of these resources. For example, if a European pharmaceutical company wants to make use of some medicinal properties of plants grown in Tamil Nadu, the benefits of such use, monetary or otherwise, must be equitably shared among all stakeholders, including the indigenous populations that are custodians of that specific biological resource.

Cartagena and Nagoya

• The CBD has given rise to two ‘supplementary’ agreements — the Cartagena Protocol of 2003 and the Nagoya Protocol of 2014. Both agreements take their names from the places where they were negotiated.
• The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety seeks to protect biodiversity from genetically modified organisms by ensuring their safe handling, transport and use. Genetically modified crops, for example, can interfere with natural ecosystems in ways that might not yet be fully understood. That is the reason why GM crops are cultivated on segregated farms.
• The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing deals with the commercial utilisation of biological and genetic resources, for example, by pharma companies. It asks the host countries to provide access to its genetic resources in a legal, fair and non-arbitrary manner and, as mentioned above, offers them a fair and equitable share of benefits arising out of the utilisation of those resources.

Engel’s Law, which suggests that as income rises, the proportion of income spent on food falls, even if the absolute expenditure on food rises.

A credit line is a preset borrowing limit that allows an individual or a business access to credit at any time, as per need. It can be tapped into by the customer till the limit offered is not exceeded. It is like a flexible loan as against a lump-sum loan where a fixed amount is borrowed.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• 2G bioethanol technology produces bioethanol from waste feedstock such as crop residues and municipal solid waste that would otherwise have no value. Additionally, India has also made it mandatory for coal-burning thermal power plants to use a 5% blend of biomass pellets along with coal.
• The Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR) Dhan scheme was launched by the Government of India to convert cattle dung and other organic waste into compost, biogas, and biofuels to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce pollution. With over 500 functional biogas plants, the scheme has also helped create rural livelihoods and ensured improved sanitation.
• The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) Scheme, launched in 2018 to promote the use of Compressed BioGas (CBG) as an alternative green transportation fuel, has aided the bioenergy sector by accelerating the development of infrastructure for the production, storage and distribution of CBG.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• MHWs also fuel the growth of invasive alien species, which can be destructive to marine food webs. Additionally, they force species to change their behaviour in a way that puts wildlife at increased risk of harm — MHWs have been linked to whale entanglements in fishing gear, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
• Higher ocean temperatures, which are associated with MHWs, can make storms like hurricanes and tropical cyclones stronger. With warmer temperatures, the rate of evaporation escalates and so does the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air. When storms travel across hot oceans, they gather more water vapour and heat. This results in more powerful winds, heavier rainfall and more flooding when storms reach the land — meaning heightened devastation for humans.

• In the Menaka case (1978), the Supreme Court overruled its judgement in the Gopalan case by taking a wider interpretation of the Article 21. Therefore, it ruled that the right to life and personal liberty of a person can be deprived by a law provided the procedure prescribed by that law is reasonable, fair and just.
• In other words, it has introduced the American expression ‘due process of law’. In effect, the protection under Article 21 should be available not only against arbitrary executive action but also against arbitrary legislative action.
• Further, the court held that the ‘right to life’ as embodied in Article 21 is not merely confined to animal existence or survival but it includes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity and all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.
• It also ruled that the expression ‘Personal Liberty’ in Article 21 is of the widest amplitude and it covers a variety of rights that go to constitute the personal liberties of a man.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• The World Economic Forum, mostly known for its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, is a non-governmental lobbying organisation founded by economist Klaus Scwab. According to the WEF website, “The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance.”
• As WEF’s annual summit kicks off in the Alpine haven of Davos.
• The WEF is largely funded by its partnering corporations. These are generally global enterprises with annual turnover greater than $ 5 billion.
• WEF also partners with public subsidies.

• Contract Farming can be carried out based on a pre-harvest agreement between buyers and producers. It is defined under Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule of constitution; however, Agriculture is under State list. 
• 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in the food-processing sector.

Statement 2 is incorrect.
Aerosols:

• Aerosols are defined as a combination of liquid or solid particles suspended in a gaseous or liquid
• In the atmosphere, these particles are mainly situated in the low layers of the atmosphere (< 1.5 km) since aerosol sources are located on the terrestrial surface.
• certain aerosols can still be found in the stratosphere, especially volcanic aerosols ejected into the high-altitude layers.
• The origin of atmospheric aerosols is either natural or the result of anthropogenic activities

Effects of aerosols:

• They affect the atmospheric chemical composition.
• They can reduce visibility.
• They have important impacts on air quality and human health (e.g., aerosols can cause damage to heart and lungs).
• They serve as nuclei for cloud droplets or ice crystals in ice clouds.

• Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not a source of energy. Hydrogen fuel must be transformed into electricity by a device called a fuel cell stack before it can be used to power a car or truck.
• A fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy using oxidising agents through an oxidation-reduction reaction. Fuel cell-based vehicles most commonly combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity to power the electric motor on board. Since fuel cell vehicles use electricity to run, they are considered electric vehicles (EVs).
• Hydrogen fuel cell cars have a near-zero carbon footprint. Hydrogen is about 2-3 times as efficient as burning petrol, because an electric chemical reaction is much more efficient than combustion.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Most of the universe is made up of dark energy, a mysterious force that drives the accelerating expansion of the universe.
• The next largest ingredient is dark matter, which only interacts with the rest of the universe through its gravity.
• Normal matter, including all the visible stars, planets and galaxies, makes up less than 5 percent of the total mass of the universe.
• Dark Energy constitutes roughly 68% of the universe. Dark matter makes up about 27%.

• Ozone (chemically, a molecule having three Oxygen atoms, or O3) is found mainly in the upper atmosphere, an area called stratosphere, between 10 and 50 km from the Earth’s surface. It is critical for planetary life, since it absorbs ultraviolet rays coming from the Sun. UV rays are known to cause skin cancer and many other diseases and deformities in plants and animals.
• Montreal Protocol was amended in 2016 to extend its mandate over hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, that have replaced the CFCs in industrial use. HFCs do not cause much damage to the ozone layer — the reason they were not originally banned — but are very powerful greenhouse gases. The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol seeks to eliminate 80-90 per cent of the HFCs currently in use by the year 2050.