MCQ - Current Affairs (October - 2019) - UPSC MCQ

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have retained their places as the best states in terms of school education in the country. The revelation came in the Niti Aayog’s School Education Quality Index (SEQI) for the year 2016-17 which was released recently. According to the SEQI report, Kerala topped the list of large states in India in the Overall Performance and Rank in school education for the year 2016-17 with a total evaluation point of 82.2% while Tamil Nadu retained the second spot with 73.4% points. Both the states have recorded an incremental performance of 4.6% and 10.2% respectively. Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the top two performing states at the national level in the academic year 2015-16 as well.

The State of Global Air report brings into one place the latest information on air quality and health for countries around the globe. It is produced annually by the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project as an objective, peer-reviewed source of air quality and health impact patterns and trends for countries around the world.

Rapidly-moving Typhoon ‘Mitag’ is bearing down on northern Taiwan, where it is expected to bring high winds and heavy rain. With the worst of the weather expected to arrive in the island country, the warnings have been issued for parts of island’s east and north, including the capital, Taipei. The Taiwan’s weather bureau has categorized Typhoon Mitag been as at the second-strongest typhoon level.
Typhoon is the regional names for Tropical Cyclones that occurs in Western Pacific and South China Sea i.e. in Philippines islands, eastern China and Japan the tropical cyclones are called typhoons. A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° (or 180th meridian or antimeridian is meridian 180° both east and west of Prime Meridian) and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as Northwestern Pacific Basin which is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth. This region accounts for almost one-third (33%) of the world’s annual tropical cyclones.

The International Day of Older Persons (IDOP) is an occasion to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the issues and challenges of ageing in today’s world. On 14th December 1990, the United Nations General Assembly designated 1st October the International Day of Older Persons.
The Theme for 2019 was “The Journey to Age Equality”. The 2019 theme is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10) and focuses on pathways of coping with existing and preventing future old age inequalities. Often, disparities in old age reflect an accumulated disadvantage characterized by factors such as: location, gender, socio‐economic status, health and income. Between 2015 and 2030, the number of people aged 60 and over is expected to increase from 901 million to 1.4 billion. In this regard, trends of ageing and economic inequality interact across generations and rapid population ageing, demographic and societal or structural changes alone, can exacerbate older age inequalities, thereby limiting economic growth and social cohesion.
The 2019 theme aims to:
• Draw attention to the existence of old age inequalities and how this often results from a cumulation of disadvantages throughout life, and highlight intergenerational risk of increased old age inequalities.
• Bring awareness to the urgency of coping with existing — and preventing future — old age inequalities.
• Explore societal and structural changes in view of life course policies: life-long learning, proactive and adaptive labour policies, social protection and universal health coverage.
• Reflect on best practices, lessons and progress on the journey to ending older age inequalities and changing negative narratives and stereotypes involving “old age.”

Since crimes against SCs and STs are fundamentally hate crimes, the Rajiv Gandhi government enacted the Act in 1989 in furtherance of the provisions for abolition of untouchability (Article 17) and equality (Articles 14, 15) in the Constitution.

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have joined hands to set up the country’s first e-waste clinic here, that would enable segregation, processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.

Water is a global issue. Our country is facing challenges regarding drinking water and making water available for irrigation. Availability of water or precipitation is favourable to us, but the problem lies with managing that water.Prime Minister Narendra Modi realised this, and therefore this Ministry was formed. The impact of climate change is visible all over the world, and in in India also.The big programme announced by the Prime Minister — Jal Jeevan Mission — is to give functional tap-water to every household in the country by 2024.The Jal Jeevan Mission is set to be based on various water conservation efforts like point recharge, desilting of minor irrigation tanks, use of greywater for agriculture and source sustainability.The Jal Jeevan Mission will converge with other Central and State Government Schemes to achieve its objectives of sustainable water supply management across the country.

National Horticulture Board (NHB) was set up by Government of India in April 1984 on the basis of recommendations of the “Group on Perishable Agricultural Commodities”, headed by Dr M. S. Swaminathan, the then Member (Agriculture), Planning Commission, Government of India. The NHB is registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act 1860, with its headquarters at Gurugram. The main objectives of the NHB are to improve integrated development of Horticulture industry and to help in coordinating, sustaining the production and processing of fruits and vegetables.

Commercial paper is an unsecured, short-term debt instrument issued by a corporation, typically for the financing of accounts payable and inventories and meeting short-term liabilities. Maturities on commercial paper rarely range longer than 270 days. Commercial paper is usually issued at a discount from face value and reflects prevailing market interest rates.

The IFC-IOR stems from the importance of the Indian Ocean to world trade and security, and the need for the various maritime nations and organisations to collaborate towards enhancing maritime safety and security on the seas of this region. In addition to utilising the collective wisdom and resources towards addressing myriad challenges in the region, IFCIOR will help interface and integrate, wherein, all partners and stakeholders would benefit from each other’s best practices and expertise.
The IFC has been established at Gurugram, India and is collocated with Information Management and Analysis Centre which is jointly administered by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. IFC-IOR is established with the vision of strengthening maritime security in the region and beyond, by building a common coherent maritime situation picture and acting as a maritime information hub for the region. Establishment of IFC- IOR would ensure that the entire region is benefitted by mutual collaboration and exchange of information and understanding the concerns and threats which are prevalent in the region.
The information Exchange at the IFC-IOR would be initially undertaken by virtual means, using telephone calls, faxes, emails and video conferencing over internet. Subsequently, to enable better interconnection, quicker analysis of information and provide timely inputs, the IFC-IOR would host Liaison Officers from partner countries. Additionally, towards enhancing capability building, the IFC-IOR would undertake conduct of exercises and training capsules in maritime information collection and sharing. The setting up of IFC-IOR underscores the governmental approach and effort in line with the vision of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi towards Security and Growth of All in the Region (SAGAR).

The PSEB on August 16 had issued a public notice giving a chance to old candidates (since 2004) to clear their ‘reappear’ result for classes X and XII and sit for the ‘Supplementary Golden Chance Exam’ after paying Rs 15,000 as fee. Only 1,782 applicants would be taking the Punjab School Education Board’s (PSEB) Golden Chance exam to clear class X and XII. This is not even half of the 4,000 who had applied online for the exam, being held as the part of 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. The Rs 15,000 fee seems to have acted as a deterrent for many aspirants.

Rafale is a twin-engine medium multi-role combat aircraft.It is manufactured by the French company Dassault Aviation. The Rafale is referred to as an ‘omnirole’ aircraft by Dassault. It is the capability to perform several actions at the same time. It can carry out both air-to-ground as well as air-to-air attacks. The aircraft is also fitted with an on-board oxygen generation system (OBOGS).It suppresses the need for liquid oxygen refilling or ground support for oxygen production. Rafale also provides standoff capability when any country attacks India. Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar enables the pilot to look 200 to 400 kms away.

SARAS Aajeevika Mela is an initiative under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY – NRLM). The objective of the initiative is to bring the rural women SHGs – Self Help Groups under one platform. This is to help them show – case their skills, sell their products and build linkages with buyers. Through the initiative the women will get exposure to understand the demand of urban customers.
The Mela is being organized by the CAPART – Council for Advancement of People’s action and rural Technology, the marketing arm of the ministry of rural development. The Mela is to be organized in the lawns of India Gate between 10th October 2019 and 23rd October 2019. Over 200 stalls are to be set up. More than 500 SHG women from all over the country are expected to participate. During the Mela the ministry has also planned to conduct workshops to sharpen the skills of the participating women in GST, marketing, e – marketing, product design, book keeping, etc.

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Children’s agency of the United Nations has now become the first UN organization to hold and make transactions in cryptocurrency. UNICEF now joins a number of other aid agencies that accept donations in cryptocurrencies, such as American Red Cross.
The UNICEF has established UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund, making UNICEF able to receive, hold as well as disburse donations via cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether. Through the received donations, UNICEF will be funding open source technology that aims to benefit children and young people globally.

The ‘mHariyali’ mobile application was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to encourage public engagement in planting trees and Green drives. The application provides automatic geo – tagging of plants. It will hence enable the nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in September 2019, had selected 103 Central Government colonies to implement the following Awareness and Construction of Roof top rain water harvesting Cleaning and Greening of open space through plantation Sensitization on Source Segregation of household waste Orientation and Capacity building on Home Composting. The application is a part of the campaign to keep the participants motivated.

Fourteen global cities have pledged to promote sustainable food policies to tackle the climate crisis as well as boost the health of its citizens, according to C40 Cities — a global climate leadership group comprising 94 cities around the world. The C40 Good Food Cities Declaration was signed by the mayors of Barcelona, Copenhagen, Guadalajara, Lima, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Oslo, Paris, Quezon City, Seoul, Stockholm, Tokyo and Toronto at the ongoing C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen on October 10, 2019. As part of the declaration, mayors of these cities will work towards implementing a ‘planetary health diet’ for all by 2030. It will be balanced and nutritious food, based on the culture, geography, and demography of the cities.

Aiming zero preventable maternal and newborn deaths in India, the central government on Thursday launched the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) scheme, under which pregnant women, mothers up to 6 months after delivery, and all sick newborns will be able to avail free healthcare benefits.

90:90:90 Strategy: It is a HIV treatment narrative of UNAIDS programme which has set targets of
• 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status (90% diagnosed),
• 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy (90% on HIV treatment) and
• 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression (90% suppressed)

Turkey’s military launched a cross-border operation against Kurdish-led forces in Syria in early October, after US troops who had been allied to the Kurds withdrew.
Turkey named the military incursion as “Operation Peace Spring” which aims to create a ‘safe zone’ that is 480 km wide and upto 35 km deep inside Syria.It wants to push back members of the YPG, which it views as an extension of a Kurdish rebel group that has been fighting in Turkey for decades and is designated a terrorist organisation – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkey also hopes to resettle, in the zone, up to two million of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting.

The National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey 2019 have been released by the Union Health Minister. The survey was conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It was conducted in 31 districts of 24 States. The survey has found that Cataract is the principal cause of blindness for people above 50 years in India. India was the first country to launch the National Programme for Control of Blindness in 1976 to reduce blindness prevalence to 0.3 per cent by 2020. But,the survey has found that the estimated prevalence of blindness still stands at 1.99% as of October,2019.

United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said in a booklet that people globally should eat healthy diets for a zero hunger world. The booklet has been released ahead of World Food Day on October 16. World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The theme of 2019 World Food Day is “Our Actions Are Our Future, Healthy Diets for A #Zero Hunger World.” With the theme, the FAO aims to create awareness about healthy diets and how sustainable diets can help eradicate hunger and malnutrition.

Minister of State for Shipping has chaired the 17th Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) meeting in New Delhi. Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) is an apex advisory body for the development of the maritime sector. MSDC was constituted in May 1997 under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Shipping. It aims to ensure integrated development of Major and non-Major Ports. It also assess in consultation with State Governments for the future development of existing and new Minor Ports.

Facebook is extending a programme aimed at inspiring, guiding and encouraging tribal girls from across India to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities for a seond phase with a partnership with the ministry of Tribal Affairs. Called GOAL (Going Online as Leaders), the programme was launched in March this year and connects underprivileged young women from tribal areas with senior expert mentors in the areas of business, fashion and arts to learn digital and life.

Qatar has announced to extend the elimination of Kafala System to all the remaining workers. The Kafala (Sponsorship) System emerged in the 1950’s to regulate the relationship between employers and migrant workers in many countries in West Asia. The Kafala system requires foreign workers to have an in-country sponsor usually their employer or Kafeel who is responsible for their visa and legal status. The migrant worker cannot enter the country,transfer employment or leave the country for any reason without first obtaining explicit written permission usually from his employer.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacterium causes TB. It is spread through the air when a person with TB (whose lungs are affected) coughs, sneezes, spits, laughs, or talks. TB is contagious, but it is not easy to catch Elimination as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), means that there should be less than 1 case of TB for a population of a million people. In view of the current TB burden in India, there is a great deal that needs to be done if elimination is to be achieved by 2025.
The National Strategic Plan 2017 – 2025, sets out the government plans of how the elimination of TB can be achieved.