Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 12, 2022 - CLAT MCQ

Guru Gobind Singh

• The last of the ten Sikh Gurus, Guru Gobind Singh was born on 22nd December 1666 in Patna, Bihar. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• His birth anniversary is based on the Nanakshahi calendar.
• He became the Sikh guru at the age of nine, following the demise of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru. He was assassinated in 1708.
• He is known for his significant contributions to the Sikh religion, including the introduction of the turban to cover hair.
• He also founded the principles of Khalsa or the Five ‘K’s.
  • The Five K’s are kesh (uncut hair), kanga (wooden comb), kara (iron or steel bracelet), kirpan (dagger) and kachera (short breeches). Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • These were the five articles of faith that a Khalsa must always adorn.
• He also laid down many other rules for the Khalsa warriors to follow like abstaining from tobacco, alcohol, halal meat, etc. The Khalsa warrior was also duty-bound to protect innocent people from persecution.
• He named Guru Granth Sahib, the religious text of the Khalsas and the Sikhs, as the next Guru of the two communities.

• There are no World Trade Organisation (WTO) definitions of “developed” and “developing” countries. Members announce for themselves whether they are “developed” or “developing” countries.
  • The World Bank assigns the world’s economies to four income groups—low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries.
  • The classifications are updated each year on 1^st July and are based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in current USD of the previous year. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Developing country status in the WTO brings certain rights.
  • There are some WTO Agreements which provide developing countries with longer transition periods before they are required to fully implement the agreement and developing countries can receive technical assistance.
• That a WTO member announces itself as a developing country does not automatically mean that it will benefit from the unilateral preference schemes of some of the developed country members such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).
  • In practice, it is the preference giving country which decides the list of developing countries that will benefit from the preferences
  • Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna of the Supreme Court recused themselves from hearing a dispute among the States of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka on the allocation of the Krishna river water.

• When there is a conflict of interest, a judge can withdraw from hearing a case to prevent creating a perception that she carried a bias while deciding the case.
• The conflict of interest can be in many ways — from holding shares in a company that is a litigant to having a prior or personal association with a party involved in the case.
• Another instance for recusal is when an appeal is filed in the Supreme Court against a judgement of a High Court that may have been delivered by the SC judge when she was in the HC.
• Reasoning
• The practice stems from the cardinal principle of due process of law that nobody can be a judge in her own case.

Do judges record reasons for recusal?

• Since there are no formal rules governing the process, it is often left to individual judges to record reasons for recusal. Some judges disclose the reasons in open court; in some cases, the reasons are apparent.

What is the process for recusal?

• The decision to recuse generally comes from the judge herself as it rests on the conscience and discretion of the judge to disclose any potential conflict of interest.
• In some circumstances, lawyers or parties in the case bring it up before the judge. If a judge recuses, the case is listed before the Chief Justice for allotment to a fresh Bench.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Labour and Employment Ministry released July-Sept. 2021 employment figures under the second round of the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES).

• Nine sectors that account for about 85% of total employment in establishments with 10 or more workers hired two lakh more people in July-September 2021 compared to April-June 2021,
• The estimated total employment in the nine selected sectors from the second round of QES (July-September, 2021) came out as 3.10 crore approximately, which is 2 lakh higher than the estimated employment (3.08 crore) from the first round of QES (April 1, 2021).
• The report covers manufacturing, construction, trade, transport, education, health, accommodation and restaurants, IT/BPOs and financial services sectors.
• The second QES report that covered 11,503 establishments said nearly 90% of the establishments had less than 100 workers, while 30% of the IT/BPO establishments had at least 100 workers.
• The overall percentage of female workers stood at 32.1%, higher than 29.3% reported during the first round of QES.
• Regular workers constitute 87% of the estimated workforce in the nine selected sectors, with only 2% being casual workers.
• However, in the construction sector, 20% of the workers were contractual and 6.4% were casual workers.
• It also said 5.6% of the total establishments had reported vacancies, a total of 4.3 lakh. While most of the vacancies (65.8%) were for unspecified reasons, 23% were due to resignation and 11.7% due to retirement of employees.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate 11 New Government Medical Colleges across Tamil Nadu on 12th January, 2022.

• The new medical colleges, with cumulative capacity of 1450 seats, are being established under the Centrally Sponsored scheme of ’Establishing of New Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospital’.
• Under the scheme, medical colleges are established in districts, which do not have either a government or private medical college.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Visually challenged students from all over the country will have the access soon to Braille Maps designed and developed using Digital Embossing Technology, enabling them for ease of use, user friendly, better feeling and durable in terms of quality.

• The digital embossing technology is a technology which eliminates the need for printing plates, moulds, chemicals, and solvents, emitting no pollutants or waste and reduces overall energy usage.
• This innovative technology has been introduced, designed and implemented first time in India by National Atlas & Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO) functioning as the Attached Office of the Department of Science & Technology.
• The maps produced using this technology is not only useful for high-speed production of the maps but can also produce Braille Maps that can be used by more people for years together.
• NATMO started the journey in the year 1997, however, it has become popularized with the publication of Braille Atlas for Visually Impaired (India), edition 2017 in English Braille Script which received a huge response from the visually impaired community.
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conferred National Award on “Science & Technology Intervention for Physically Challenged” to NATMO for this publication which was officially released on 10th February 2017 at New Delhi.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The greater calculation power of quantum computers could find applications in the following areas.

Simulating complex molecules is one of the ground breaking applications of quantum computing. Today’s supercomputers at best can simulate simple molecules. With simulation of complex molecular simulation, the most stable configuration of compounds can be determined. This application is crucial in development of novel drugs and better batteries.

Further better calculating powers help in predicting and managing the flow of vehicles, thereby optimising traffic management.

While the GDP maps the economy from the expenditure (or demand) side — that is by adding up all the expenditures, the GVA provides a picture of the economy from the supply side. GVA maps the “value-added” by different sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry and services.

Real GDP, which is the GDP after taking away the effect of inflation, is a derived metric. All Budget calculations start with the nominal GDP.

Real GDP = Nominal GDP — Inflation Rate

However, from the perspective of the common people, real GDP is what matters. The difference between the real and nominal GDP shows the levels of inflation in the year.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the First Advance Estimates (FAE) for the current financial year (2021-22 or FY22).

The FAE, which were first introduced in 2016-17, are typically published at the end of the first week of January. They are the “first” official estimates of how GDP is expected to grow in that financial year. But they are also the “advance” estimates because they are published long before the financial year (April to March) is over.

It is important to note that even though the FAE are published soon after the end of the third quarter (October, November, December), they do not include the formal Q3 GDP data, which is published at the end of February as part of the Second Advance Estimates (SAE).

The main significance of FAE lies in the fact that they are the GDP estimates that the Union Finance Ministry uses to decide the next financial year’s budget allocations.