Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 18, 2022 - CLAT MCQ

Data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed GDP in the April-June quarter of 2020-21 slumped 23.9% compared with growth of 3.1% in the previous (January-March) quarter.

• Among major economies, India’s contraction was the sharpest. China, after posting a contraction in the January-March quarter has recovered with 3.2% growth in the April-June quarter. Globally, India is close to UK’s contraction of 20.4% in the second quarter.
• Asia’s third largest economy was already faltering when the pandemic struck. In April-June, it suffered a contraction for the first time since India began maintaining quarterly records in 1996.
• Agriculture was the only bright spot. The sector, which has benefited from a robust monsoon, rose an annual 3.4% in the June quarter compared with a growth of 3% in the June quarter of 2019-20.
• On a quarterly basis, recession deepened in the manufacturing sector as it posted four consecutive quarters of contraction while the construction sector declined for the third quarter in a row. Economists define recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
• The manufacturing sector, which has been in the grip of a sharp slowdown, fell 39.3% in the June quarter while construction slumped 50.3% during the three-month period.
• Trade, hotels, transport and communications sector posted the second highest contraction, declining 47% in the June quarter.
• The services sector, which accounts for nearly 60% of the economy, slumped 20.6% in the June quarter, compared to a 4.4% growth in the previous. Services such as hotels, restaurants, hospitality and airlines, have borne the maximum brunt.
• Private consumption, a key driver of the economy witnessed a sharp decline of 24.5% in the first quarter from 8.5% increase in the year ago period.
• However, government consumption saw a 20.2% increase in the June quarter compared with the 9.5% growth in the same quarter of the previous year. This highlights the role of government spending in supporting the economy.

Hence both statements are correct.

Japan has committed an official Development Assistance loan of 3,500 crore rupees for the COVID-19 Crisis Emergency Response Support to India.

• Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA is a governmental agency that coordinates Official Development Assistance for the Government of Japan.
• This programme loan aims to support India’s efforts in fighting COVID-19 and to prepare the health system to manage future epidemics.
• India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. The recent step further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the passing away of former President Bharat Ratna Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

• Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (1935 – 2020) was an Indian politician who served as the 13th President of India from 2012 until 2017.
• He was a senior leader in the Indian National Congress and occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. He first served as Finance Minister of India in 1982–84. He was also the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1985.
• He was appointed head of Planning Commission in 1991 and foreign minister in 1995.
• From 2004 until his resignation in 2012, Mukherjee held a number of key cabinet portfolios in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government – Defence (2004–06), External Affairs (2006–09) and Finance (2009–12) – apart from being Leader of the House in the Lok Sabha.
• He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2019.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Government has also approved an MoU between India and Finland for cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources.

• The MoU facilitates cooperation in the field of geology, training, mineral prognostication and suitability analysis with the intent of reinforcing and strengthening scientific links.
• It was signed between Geological Survey of India (GSI), Ministry of Mines and Geological Survey of Finland, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Government of Finland. GSI is a premier geo-scientific organisation of the Government of India for creation and updation of national geoscientific information and mineral resource assessment.
• Union Cabinet has also approved the signing of a MoU between India and Japan for improving quality and testing of Indian textiles and clothing for the Japanese market.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the introduction in Parliament of the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020 in which five languages will be official languages.

• These are Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi and English.
• Inclusion of Dogri, Hindi and Kashmiri as official languages in Jammu and Kashmir is not only a fulfillment of a long-pending public demand but is also in keeping with the spirit of equality.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

A brochure featuring Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) under the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI) programme was launched by Department of Science & Technology (DST) Secretary.

• The brochure brought out by Venture Center, details what the EIRs are working on and some highlights about them. It is also meant to be a directory of all EIRs. All contributing project execution partners are also featured in the brochure.
• Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR) Programme is under National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing innovations (NIDHI) of Department of Science and Technology.
• It supports aspiring entrepreneur for pursuing a promising technology business idea over a period up to 18 months with a subsistence grant up to Rs 30000 per month with a maximum cap for total support of Rs 3.6 lakh to each EIR over a maximum of 18 months.
• The NIDHI-EIR programme provides tremendous opportunities for innovative entrepreneurs to expand their networks and get critical feedback on their ventures in order to promote their entrepreneurial career goals and aspirations.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved launching of "Mission Karmayogi"- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB). NPCSCB has been designed to lay the foundations for capacity building for Civil Servants so that they remain entrenched in Indian Culture and sensibilities and remain connected, with their roots, while they learn from the best institutions and practices across the world. The Programme will be delivered by setting up an Integrated Government Online Training-iGOT Karmayogi Platform. To cover around 46 lakh Central employees, a sum of Rs.510.86 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of USD 50 million.

It comprises the following institutional framework:

• A Public Human Resources Council comprising of select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent public HR practitioners, thinkers, global thought leaders and Public Service functionaries under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister will serve as the apex body for providing strategic direction to the task of Civil Services Reform and capacity building.
• It is also proposed to set up a Capacity Building Commission, with a view to ensure a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on collaborative and co-sharing basis.
• Special Purpose Vehicle for owning and operating the digital assets and the technological platform for online training,
• Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Hence both statements are correct.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Super Energy Service Company (ESCO) under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, Government of India, will procure 250 electric vehicles from Tata Motors and Hyundai Motor India.

• Tata Motors Limited and Hyundai Motor India Limited won the tender and now will supply 150 Nexon electric compact SUVs & 100 Kona electric premium SUVs respectively for government use.
• This procurement will utilize 5 Million USD from the recent grant provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). EESL has received financing from ADB towards the cost of scaling up and financing high priority areas like Demand Side Energy Efficiency Sector Projects.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on accidental deaths and suicides, 42,480 farmers and daily wagers committed suicide in 2019, an increase of about 6 % from the previous year, as the number of farmers committing suicide fell marginally while that of daily wagers increased 8 %.

• 10,281 farmers committed suicide in 2019, down from 10,357 in 2018, whereas the figure for daily wagers went up to 32,559 from 30,132.
• The suicide rate in the deeply stressed farming sector accounted for 7.4 % of the total suicides in the country, resulting in deaths of 5,957 farmers and 4,324 agricultural labourers.
• The total number of suicides in the country increased to 139,123 in 2019 from 1,34,516 in 2018.
• States and UTs which reported increase in suicides in 2019 over 2018 were Bihar (44.7%), Punjab (37.5%), Daman & Diu (31.4%), Jharkhand (25.0%), Uttarakhand (22.6%) and Andhra Pradesh (21.5%).
• Among cities, the suicide rate (13.9) was higher than the national rate (10.4), with Kollam in Kerala and Asansol in West Bengal reporting the highest suicides rate of 41.2 and 37.8 respectively.
• Out of the mega cities, the four metropolitan cities – Chennai (2,461), Delhi (2,423), Bengaluru (2,081) and Mumbai (1,229) have reported higher numbers of suicides. These four cities together have reported almost 36.6 % of the total suicides reported from 53 mega cities.
• The highest proportion of suicide victims (23.3 %) were educated up to matriculation while only 3.7 % were graduates and above, said the report.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Government said that it is ready to reply to unstarred questions during Monsoon Session of Parliament.

Members have a right to ask questions to elicit information on matters of public importance within the special cognizance of the Ministers concerned. The questions are of four types:

1. Starred Questions: A Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer from the Minister in the House and is required to be distinguished by him/her with an asterisk. Answer to such a question may be followed by supplementary questions by members.
2. Unstarred Questions: An Unstarred Question is one to which written answer is desired by the member and is deemed to be laid on the Table of the House by Minister. Thus it is not called for oral answer in the House and no supplementary question can be asked thereon.
3. Short Notice Questions: A member may give a notice of question on a matter of public importance and of urgent character for oral answer at a notice less than 10 days prescribed as the minimum period of notice for asking a question in ordinary course. Such a question is known as ‘Short Notice Question’.
4. Questions to Private Members: A Question may also be addressed to a Private Member (Under Rule 40 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha), provided that the subject matter of the question relates to some Bill, Resolution or other matter connected with the business of the House for which that Member is responsible.

Hence both statements are correct.