Daily Current Affairs MCQ - June 19, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Extends Validity of Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum from 31st March, 2021 to 31st December, 2021.

• The Ministry for MSME in September 2015 notified Udyog Aadhaar to ensure ease of registration and wider coverage of MSMEs to avail the benefits under various Schemes of Central/ State governments.
• Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum (UAM) can be filled online on the portal created by Ministry of MSME.
• UAM is a one-page registration form which constitutes a self-declaration format under which the MSME will self-certify its existence, bank account details, promoter/owner’s Aadhaar details and other minimum information required.
• There shall be no fee for filing the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum. On submission of the form, Udyog Aadhaar Acknowledgement shall be generated and mailed to the email address provided in the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum which shall contain unique Udyog Aadhaar Number (UAN).
• Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Notifies Common Format for Issuance of PUC (Pollution under Control) Certificate Across the Country, under Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989.

The salient features of the PUCC are as under:

1. Introduction of uniform Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) format across the country and linking the PUC database with the National Register.
2. The concept of Rejection slip is being introduced for the first time. This document can be shown at the service centre for getting the vehicle serviced or can be used, in case the PUCC centre device is not working properly when tested at another centre.
3. There will be confidentiality of information viz. (i) Vehicle owner’s mobile number, name and address (ii) engine number and chassis number (only the last four digits to be visible, the other digits shall be masked)
4. The owner’s mobile number has been made mandatory, on which an SMS alert will be sent for validation and fee.
5. Enforcement would be IT-enabled and would help in better control over polluting vehicles.
6. The QR code shall be printed on the form. It will contain the complete information about the PUC Centre.

Hence both statements are correct.

The level of registration of births and deaths in the country improved in 2019, according to the “Vital Statistics of India Based on The Civil Registration System” report. Some States and Union Territories were, however, lagging behind.

• The level of birth registration increased from 87.8% in 2018 to 92.7% in 2019; and death registrations went up from 84.6% to 92% during the period.
• While 14 States/Union Territories achieved 100% level of birth registrations, 19 States/Union Territories achieved the same level in cases of death.

Full registration

• Mizoram and Tripura reported 100% registration of both births and deaths. Meghalaya had 100% registration of births and 97.6% registration of deaths, while Assam reported 100% registration of births and 74% registration of deaths.

Sex ratio at birth (SRB)

• The highest sex ratio at birth (SRB) based on registered events was reported by Arunachal Pradesh (1,024), followed by Nagaland (1,001) Mizoram (975) and Andaman & Nicobar Islands (965).
• The lowest SRB was reported by Gujarat (901), Assam (903) and Madhya Pradesh (905), followed by Jammu & Kashmir (909).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Chief Election Commissioner, Shri Sushil Chandra along with Election Commissioner Shri Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Shri Anup Chandra Pandey released ‘General Elections 2019 – An Atlas’ on June 15, 2021

• 17th General Elections conducted in 2019 were the largest democratic exercise in human history which witnessed the participation of 61.468 crore voters at 10.378 lakh polling stations spread over 32 lakh square kilometer territory of India.
• In the 23 States and UTs women voting percentage was more than the male voting percentage
• The 2019 General Elections witnessed the lowest gender gap in the history of Indian elections. The Elector Gender Ratio which has shown a positive trend since 1971 was 926 in 2019 General Elections.
• The Election Commission of India set up over 10 lakh polling stations in General Elections 2019 with the lowest number of electors per polling station (365) in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The overall polling percentage in the last parliamentary election, including postal ballots, was 67.4%, which is the highest ever turnout in a Lok Sabha poll.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued all 16 crew of sinking MV Mangalam near Revdanda port of Maharashtra on June 17, 2021.

• Revadanda is located on the W coast, approx 44km S of Mumbai.
• The port provides an open roadstead lighterage anchorage and small alongside jetties for unloading iron ore to the nearby steel plant via conveyor.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Raksha Mantri dedicated to the nation 12 roads, built by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the Northern and Eastern border areas.

• At an event organised in Lakhimpur district of Assam, the Raksha Mantri e-inaugurated a 20-km long double lane Kimin-Potin road in Assam's Lakhimpur district, along with nine other roads in Arunachal Pradesh and one each in the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir.
• The roads have been constructed under ‘Arunank’, ‘Vartak’, ‘Brahmank’, ‘Udayak’, ‘Himank’ and ‘Sampark’ projects of BRO.
• These road projects are part of the ‘Act East Policy’ of the Government wherein special emphasis is being laid on the overall development of the border areas.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Every year, on 16 June, World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated, to educate people on the need to conserve the world’s Sea turtles and their habitats. Significance: Due to millions of tonnes of plastic dumped in our oceans every year, these vertebrates are under threat. Turtles: These are the world’s oldest reptile groups in existence, across the world found even before lizards and snakes.

Zion-a Chana, a patriarch of a Christian cult, who had a world record for being the head of the “world’s largest family”,  passed away at 76 at Aizawl in Mizoram. About: Ziona was the leader of Chana pâwl, a polygamy-practising Christian sect. The cult believes in polygamy.  He has about 2,000 members, most of them living in the self-sustaining Baktawng Tlangnuam.

Recently, India has signed an agreement extending a USD 100 million Line of Credit (LOC) to Sri Lanka for projects in the Solar Energy Sector. The LOC is for 20 years, with an interest of 1.75%. The agreement was signed between the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India and the Government of Sri Lanka. Line of Credit: It is a credit facility extended by a bank to a government, business or individual customer, that enables the customer to draw the maximum loan amount.

Recently, China has successfully sent its 1st astronauts to the country’s Tiangong space station onboard the Shenzhou-12 – its 1st manned spacecraft since 2016. About: According to China's space agency, Shenzhou-12 spacecraft carrying 3 male astronauts on board a Long March-2F rocket docked with Tianhe, the main section of the Tiangong station, hours after blasting off from the Gobi Desert in northwest China. The astronauts, Liu Boming 54, Nie Haisheng, 56, and Tang Hongbo, 45, appeared before the media at a ceremony at the Jiuquan satellite launch centre. The team is expected to be in Tiangong for 3 months.