Daily Current Affairs MCQ - July 2, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

In Tamil Nadu, however, a controversy erupted earlier this month over the new DMK government referring to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the ‘union government’ (ondriya arasu) instead of ‘central government’ (madhiya arasu).

• In common parlance, the terms “union government” and “central government” are used interchangeably in India.
• However, Article 1(1) of the Constitution of India says “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
• Scholars of India’s constitutional system have described it as being “basically federal, with striking unitary features” (D D Basu).
• While submitting the draft Constitution in 1948, Dr B R Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, had said that the committee had used the world ‘Union’ because
  • the Indian federation was not the result of an agreement by the units, and
  • the component units had no freedom to secede from the federation.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) and Microsoft signed a MoU for a strategic partnership to build an AI and emerging technologies Centre of Excellence at AJNIFM.

• The collaboration seeks to explore the role of cloud, AI and emerging technologies for transforming and shaping the future of public finance management in India.
• The Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) is a Centre of Excellence specialising in capacity building of professionals in the fields of Public Policy, Financial Management and other governance issues for promoting highest standards of professional competence and practice.
• AJNIFM was set up in 1993 as a registered society under Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a biennial event, was hosted by the French Navy at La Réunion from 28 June to 01 July 2021.

• Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy, participated virtually in the inaugural session of the event and provided his congratulatory remarks to the Outgoing and Incoming Chairmen.
• IONS, conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008, seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among Navies of the littoral states of the IOR by providing an open and inclusive forum for discussion of regionally relevant maritime issues that would lead to common understanding on the way ahead.
• The chairmanship of IONS has been held by India (2008-10), UAE (2010-12), South Africa (2012-14), Australia (2014-16), Bangladesh (2016-18) and Islamic Republic of Iran (2018-21).
• France has assumed the Chairmanship on 29 Jun 21 for a two-year tenure.
• IONS Conclave of Chiefs (CoC) is the decision-making body at the level of Chiefs of Navies, which meets biennially. 6th IONS and CoC was conducted by Iran Navy in April 2018 at Tehran. Owing to the pandemic, the CoC 2021, will be hosted by French Navy later this year.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Modi greeted Chartered Accountants on Chartered Accountants' Day. 

• July 1 is celebrated as National Chartered Accountant Day in India. The day is observed in order to celebrate the formation of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) on July 1st, 1949.
• The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is the national professional accounting body of India.
• It was established on 1 July 1949 as a statutory body under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 to regulate the profession of Chartered Accountancy in India.
• ICAI is the only licensing cum regulating body of the financial audit and accountancy profession in India. It recommends the accounting standards to be followed by companies in India to National Financial Reporting Authority
• Only a member of ICAI can be appointed as statutory auditor of a company under the Companies Act, 2013.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

• The present glacial lake atlas is based on the inventoried glacial lakes in part of Ganga River basin from its origin to foothills of Himalayas covering a catchment area of 2,47,109 sq. km.
• The study portion of Ganga River basin covers part of India and transboundary region.
• The Atlas is available on Bhuvan portal of NRSC, ISRO, India WRIS Portal and National Hydrology Project (NHP) web site of DoWR, RD & GR.

The expected utility of the atlas is:

• The atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic glacial lake database for Ganga River basin with size > 0.25 ha
• In the context of climate change impact analysis, the atlas can be used as reference data for carrying out change analysis, both with respect to historical and future time periods
• The atlas also provides authentic database for regular or periodic monitoring changes in spatial extent (expansion/shrinkage), and formation of new lakes
• The atlas can also be used in conjunction with glacier information for their retreat and climate impact studies.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) can designate individuals as “terrorists” under the amended anti-terror law that was passed by the Parliament in 2019.

The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), enacted in 1967, was first amended in 2004, 2008 and 2013.

The UAPA as amended in August 2019 gave the MHA the power to designate individuals as terrorists.

Initially in 1967, the Act concerned itself with banning “unlawful” associations alone and had no mention of terrorism. “Unlawful activity” was defined as activities including speeches, writings etc that supported secessionist claims or questioned India’s sovereignty.

• Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist James Matthew Barrie in the early 1900s. His character is one of a care-free young boy, who never grows up.
• It is said that people who develop similar behaviours — of living life carefree, finding responsibilities challenging in adulthood, and basically, “never growing up” — suffer from Peter Pan Syndrome.
• While the World Health Organization does not recognise Peter Pan Syndrome as a health disorder, many experts believe it is a mental health condition that can affect one’s quality of life.
• As Peter Pan Syndrome hasn’t officially been diagnosed as a health disorder, there aren’t clearly-defined symptoms or characteristics or even reasons which cause it. However, according to HealthLine, it could affect one’s daily routine, relationships, work ethic, and result in attitudinal changes.

Every year, on 30th June, International Asteroid Day is observed. This day is a United Nations-recognised campaign to raise awareness of asteroids, their potential threat to our planet and the scientific secrets that can be discovered by studying them. This year's International Asteroid Day Significance: It marks the 113th anniversary of the largest recorded asteroid impact that took place near the Tunguska River in Russia’s Siberia. Asteroids: As per NASA, asteroids are "rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago".

El Salvador and China have been declared malaria-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021. El Salvador: It became the 1st central American country to be declared malaria-free in Feb 2021. China became Malaria-free in June 2021: On June 30, 2021, was certified as malaria-free by the World Health Organisation after a 70-year effort of eradicating this mosquito-borne disease.

Rosatom (a Russian company) is providing technology to construct the Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu. This development is a significant step in bilateral relations between Russia and India. This plant has 6 units each having a 1,000 MWe generation capacity. It will be India’s 1st light water reactor. Why in the News? On June 29, 2021, Russia started the construction of a fifth nuclear power unit at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.