Daily Current Affairs MCQ - April 1, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The term 'Indo-Pacific' refers to the maritime space stretching from East Africa and West Asia's littorals across the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean to East Asia's littorals.

The Supreme Court asked the government to explain why it had not set up an "independent environment regulator" to oversee green clearances.

• The top court had ordered the setting up of a national environment regulatory body to ensure independent oversight of green clearances way back in July 2011 in Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited v. Union of India, commonly known as the 'Lafarge mining case'.

• In 2011, the court asked the Centre to appoint a national regulator for appraising projects, enforcing environmental conditions for approvals, and imposing penalties on polluters.

About National Board for Wildlife:

1. It is a "Statutory Organization" constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

2. Its roles is "advisory" in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.

3. The board's primary function is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.

4. It has power to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.

5. No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

6. The Prime Minister chairs the NBWL.

The India-Mauritius CECPA will enter into force on 01 April 2021.

• India and Mauritius signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) on 22 February 2021.

• The CECPA is the first trade Agreement signed by India with a country in Africa.

• The India-Mauritius CECPA provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries.

• The Agreement is a limited agreement, which will cover Trade in Goods, Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural Persons, Telecom, Financial services, Customs Procedures and Cooperation in other Areas.

• The CECPA between India and Mauritius covers 310 export items for India. Mauritius will benefit from preferential market access into India for its 615 products.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Central Sector Scheme - "Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industry (PLISFPI)" with an outlay of Rs. 10900 crore.

• The objectives of the Scheme are to support food manufacturing entities with stipulated minimum Sales and willing to make minimum stipulated investment for expansion of processing capacity and Branding abroad to incentivise emergence of strong Indian brands.

• The scheme will be rolled out on All India basis.

• The scheme shall be implemented through a Project Management Agency (PMA). The Scheme would be monitored at Centre by the Empowered Group of Secretaries chaired by the Cabinet Secretary.

• The duration of the scheme will be six years i.e., 2021-22 to 2026-27. The incentive under the scheme would be paid for six years ending 2026-27.

• The scheme is "fund-limited", i.e., cost shall be restricted to the approved amount.

The Union Commerce and Industry Ministry announced extension of the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) of Government of India.

• The present Policy which came into force on 1st April 2015, was for 5 years and was extended thereafter upto 31st March, 2021.

• In view of the persisting COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has decided to continue benefits under various export promotion schemes by extending existing Foreign Trade Policy by another six months i.e., up to 30th September, 2021.

• Exemption from payment of IGST and Compensation Cess on the imports made under Advance/EPCG Authorisations and by EOUs etc. has also been extended up to 30.09.2021.

• Similarly, validity period of the Status Holder Certificates is also extended. This will enable the Status Holders to continue to avail the specified facilities/benefits.

Bhart 22 ETF is an open-ended exchange traded fund investing in S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index. The Government launched Bharat 22 scheme to fulfil its disinvetsment target in PSUs.

• India has joined a major global initiative to combat terrorism and extremism online and secure the internet. The initiative — ‘Christchurch call to action’ — has been named after the New Zealand city where 51 people were killed in an attack on mosques. 

• The declaration on Christchurch call to action said a free, open and secure internet is a powerful tool to promote connectivity, enhance social inclusiveness and foster economic growth.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti has decided to use sensor-based IoT devices to effectively monitor the implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in more than six lakh villages.

• For this, National Jal Jeevan Mission in collaboration with Tata Community Initiatives Trust (TCIT) and Tata Trusts recently completed pilot projects in several remote villages of five States i.e., Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.

• The Internet of Things (IoT) based remote monitoring provides near real-time information without any manual intervention by using sensors.

• This would not only allow effective monitoring and management on-ground, but also enable real-time visibility to State water supply/ PHED officials, and citizens.

• Several types of sensors have been deployed including flow meters, ground water level sensors, chlorine analyzers, pressure sensors, pump controller etc. to measure all the relevant aspects of water service delivery.

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Union Government's flagship programme, is implemented in partnership with States/ UTs to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024.

• It envisions creating a Digital Wall and Remote Command & Control Centre for monitoring and managing supply of prescribed quality water in adequate quantity (55 Liters Per Capita per Day - LPCD) every day through household tap connections across all rural villages.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog launched AIM-PRIME (Program for Researchers on Innovations, Market-Readiness & Entrepreneurship), an initiative to promote and support science-based deep-tech start-ups & ventures across India.

• In this regard, AIM has joined hands with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to launch this nationwide program which will be implemented by Venture Center - a non-profit technology business incubator.

• The program's first cohort is open to technology developers (early-stage deep tech start-ups, and scientists/ engineers/ clinicians) with strong science-based deep tech business ideas.

• The program is also open to CEOs and Senior incubation managers of AIM Funded Atal Incubation Centers that are supporting deep tech entrepreneurs. Deep technology is an outcome of intense research and development (R & R&D) with high knowledge content.

• This program's benefits are aimed at addressing specific issues through training and guidance over 12 months.

The government has sharply slashed the rates on all small savings instruments for the first quarter of 2021-22.

• It has brought the rate of return on the Public Provident Fund down from 7.1% to 6.4% and effecting cuts ranging from 40 basis points (0.4%) to 110 basis points (1.1%) through a notification.

• The sharpest cut was seen in the quarterly interest rate paid on one-year term deposits, from 5.5% in the January to March quarter to 4.4% in this quarter.

• The return rate on the Senior Citizen Savings' Scheme was cut from 7.4% to 6.5%, while the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme's return was reduced from 7.6% to 6.9%.

• The interest rate paid on National Savings Certificate and Kisan Vikas Patra were also reduced significantly, from 6.8% to 5.9%, and from 6.9% to 6.2%, respectively. Consequently, the Kisan Vikas Patra, which used to mature in 124 months, will now mature in 138 months.

• While savings deposits earned the lowest rate of 4% till now, that return has now been further slashed to 3.5%. The return on five-year deposits has been reduced from 6.7% to 5.8% among time deposits.

• For savers, the option with the highest returns at this point is the Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme, followed by the Senior Citizens' Savings Schemes and the Public Provident Fund.

• While the government resets the interest rate on small savings instruments every quarter, this round of rate cuts assumes significance as the government is keen to lower interest rates to make it easier to execute its borrowing plans for the year and spur growth.

• The government plans to borrow ₹12.05 lakh crore in 2021-22, on the back of a record gross borrowing of ₹13.71 lakh crore in 2020-21.

• The central bank has cited high small savings rates as a major impediment in ensuring policy rate cuts get transmitted into the banking system.