Daily Current Affairs MCQ - June 29, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Union Finance Minister announced a slew of measures to provide relief to diverse sectors affected by the 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic.

• She announced a relief package of Rs 6,28,993 crore to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 17 measures amounting to Rs. 6,28,993 crore were announced.
• These included two measures announced earlier, i.e. the additional Subsidy for DAP & P&K fertilizers, and extension of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) from May to November, 2021.
• She announced Rs. 1.1 lakh crore Loan Guarantee Scheme for COVID affected sectors. Of them Rs. 50 thousand crore will be for health sector. The scheme is aimed at upscaling medical infrastructure targetting unreserved areas.
• She also announced Rs. 1.5 lakh crore for Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme, ECLGS which was launched as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Package in May, 2020.
• She announced Credit Guarantee Scheme which is a new scheme to facilitate loans to 25 lakh people through Micro Finance Institutions, MFI.
• The guarantee will be provided to Scheduled Commercial Banks for loans to new or existing NBFC- MFIs for on lending upto Rs. 1.25 lakh to about 25 lakh to small borrowers.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Addressing at the 29th Group of Ministers meeting, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that Delta plus is a variant of concern and special surveillance is being done in the 12 States wherein these variants have been detected.

• When the mutations happen – if there is any previous association with any other similar variant which is felt to have an impact on public health – then it becomes a Variant under Investigation.
• Once genetic markers are identified which can have association with receptor binding domain or which have an implication on antibodies or neutralizing assays, we start calling them as Variants of Interest.
• The moment we get evidence for increased transmission through field-site and clinical correlations, it becomes a Variant of Concern.

Variants of concern are those that have one or more of the following characteristics:

• Increased transmissibility
• Change in virulence/ disease presentation
• Evading the diagnostics, drugs and vaccines
• The 1st Variant of Concern was announced by the UK where it was found. Currently there are four variants of concern identified by the scientists - Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Six medical colleges from India have found a place in the list of the World's 100 best medical colleges for the year 2021, in a ranking released by CEO World Magazine.

• The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has bagged 23rd position, while AFMC Pune has bagged 34th rank, followed by CMC Vellore (49), JIPMER Pondicherry (59), Medical College Chennai (64), and IMS BHU Varanasi (72).

Toppers

• The US-based Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ranked first with the highest score of 99.06, followed by Harvard Medical School, Perelman School of Medicine, and NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

In order to improve the availability of phosphatic fertilisers (DAP and NPK) and to reduce the dependence on imports, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers chaired a meeting. Government ready with Action Plan to make India Aatmanirbhar in Rock Phosphate, the key raw material of DAP and NPK Fertlisers.

• Rock phosphates or phosphorites are sedimentary phosphatic deposits comprising fine-grained mixture of various calcium phosphates, most important being hydroxylapatite, carbonateapatite, fluorapatite and their solid solutions.
• About 80% phosphate production in the world is derived from phosphate rocks (phosphorite)
• Rock Phosphate is the key raw material for DAP and NPK fertilisers and India is 90% dependent on imports.
• Of the total reserves/resources, 34% are in Jharkhand, 31% in Rajasthan, 19% in Madhya Pradesh, 8% in Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand each, respectively. Meagre quantities of resources are also located in Gujarat and Meghalaya.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to former Prime Minister, Shri PV Narasimha Rao Ji on his 100th birth anniversary.

• Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (1921 –2004) was a politician who served as the 9th Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He also became the Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh in 1971.
• Father of Economic reforms: He sought to dismantle the License Raj system, reduce red tape and make Indian industries more competitive. He laid the foundation for trade liberalization and re-integration of Indian economy with the global economy, especially East Asian economies.
• Foreign policy: Among his bold moves in foreign policy were establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and reversing decades of frosty relations between India and the United States by bringing them together. He also launched the Look East policy.
• Father of Indian nuclear Program: He energised the national nuclear security and ballistic missiles program, which ultimately resulted in the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests by Vajpayee-led NDA government (the tests were planned in 1996 but they were not carried out as government at centre got changed due to 1996 general election).
• National Security: He was also fairly successful in controlling the separatist movements in Punjab and Kashmir.
• Local governance: The path-breaking 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments empowering local bodies during Narasimha Rao’s tenure as the Prime Minister are worthy of mentioning.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

According to a Personnel Ministry notification, Vigilance Commissioner Suresh N Patel will act as the central vigilance commissioner (CVC) in the Central Vigilance Commission. The appointment was made after Sanjay Kothari completed his term as the chief of the probity watchdog. He started working with effect from the date of occurrence of vacancy that is June 24, 2021, until the appointment of the central vigilance commissioner. Central Vigilance Commission: It is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption. It is headed by the CVC and can have a maximum of 2 vigilance commissioners.

Chandigarh received the best union territory award under Smart City Awards 2020 which were announced under the 'Smart Cities Mission' on June 25. These awards were announced to mark 6 years of 3 urban transformative missions by the Central government namely, Atal Mission for Urban Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Smart Cities Mission and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban.

Neeraj Chopra, ace javelin thrower clinched the bronze medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland. He finished 3rd behind world no. 1 Johannes Vetter of Germany and former Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago. He threw his javelin at the 86.79 m mark. It was Chopra’s 3rd best performance this season since re-writing his own national record during the Indian Grand Prix 3 with a throw of 88.07m in March at the NIS Patiala.

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking or World Drug Day is observed every year, on June 26. About the Day: It is observed to create awareness about issues related to drugs and seek international cooperation to combat its effects on health, society, and governance. The theme for 2021 is ‘Share Facts On Drugs, Save Lives’. History of the Day: On December 7, 1987, the day June 26 was chosen by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) as International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by its resolution 42/112.

European Space Agency is set to hire and launch the world's 1st physically disabled astronaut. Key Highlights: It will be a 22-member space programme for which decennial recruitment calls for astronauts. It received 22,000 applicants. Space mission will be ESA's 7-billion-euro budget mission and is a 3rd of NASA’s. European Space Agency (ESA): It is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states. It was established in 1975 and is dedicated to the exploration of space. It is headquartered in Paris, France.