Daily Current Affairs MCQ - July 26, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

India’s nomination of Rudreswara Temple, (also known as the Ramappa Temple) at Palampet, Mulugu district, near Warangal in the state of Telangana has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list. This is India’s 39th World Heritage Site.

• The decision was taken at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO today.
• Ramappa temple, a 13th century engineering marvel is named after its architect, Ramappa.
• The Rudreswara temple was constructed in 1213 AD during the reign of the Kakatiya Empire by RecharlaRudra, a general of Kakatiya king Ganapati Deva. The presiding deity here is Ramalingeswara Swamy.
• The temple complexes of Kakatiyas have a distinct style, technology and decoration exhibiting the influence of the Kakatiyan sculptor.
• The foundation is built with the “sandbox technique”, the flooring is granite and the pillars basalt. The lower part of the temple is red sandstone while the white gopuram is built with light bricks that reportedly float on water.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Women and Child Development launches web based portal pmcaresforchildren.in to facilitate submission of applications, identification of children eligible to receive support under the 'PM CARES for Children' scheme.

• 'PM CARES for Children' scheme was announced by the Prime Minister Modi for supporting children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic.
• The scheme aims to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children who have lost their parents to COVID pandemic, in a sustained manner.
• It enables their wellbeing through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs. 10 lakh, on reaching 23 years of age.
• Eligibility: All children who have lost –
  • Both parents or
  • Surviving parent or
  • legal guardian/adoptive parents due to COVID 19 pandemic, starting from 11.03.2020 till the end of pandemic, shall be entitled to benefits under this scheme.

Hence both statements are correct.

India has entered the top 10 list of the countries exporting agricultural produce in the year 2019 with a sizable share in the export of rice, cotton, soya beans and meat.

• As per a report by World Trade Organization (WTO) on the trends in world agricultural trade in the past 25 years, India and Mexico with 3.1% and 3.4% share in global Agri exports, respectively, replaced New Zealand (9th) and Malaysia (7th) as the largest exporters across the globe.
• The United States of America (USA), which topped the list in 1995 with 22.2% share of world Agri export, was overtaken by the European Union (EU) in 2019 with 16.1% global Agri share.
• Notably, the top exporting nations of rice in 1995 were Thailand (38%), India (26%), and the US (19%). In 2019, India with a lead of 33% overtook Thailand (20%) to top the list, while Vietnam (12%) overtook the US and climbed to the third spot.
• Further, India is also the third-largest cotton exporter (7.6%), and the fourth-largest importer (10%) in 2019.
• In the largest traded Agri product, soya beans, India (0.1%) has a meagre share, but was ranked ninth in the world.
• In the “meat and edible meat offal” category, India secured 8th rank in the world with a global share of 4%.
• India’s share of foreign value-added content in its Agri exports clocked 3.8% share primarily due to high tariffs on Agri imports to boost the domestic markets and local farmers.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Government of India informed Lok Sabha that it has decided as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise population other than SCs and STs in Census. Subsequently many leaders demanded a caste-based census.

• Every Census in independent India from 1951 to 2011 has published data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, but not on other castes. Before that, every Census until 1931 had data on caste.
• However, in 1941, caste-based data was collected but not published.
• In the absence of such a census, there is no proper estimate for the population of OBCs, various groups within the OBCs, and others.
• The Mandal Commission estimated the OBC population at 52%, some other estimates have been based on National Sample Survey data.
• Demand for a caste census usually come from among those belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) and other deprived sections, while sections from the upper castes oppose the idea.

Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC).

• The UPA government decided to go for a full-fledged SECC, which was conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development in rural areas and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation in urban areas.
• The SECC data excluding caste data was finalised and published by the two ministries in 2016.
• The raw caste data was handed over to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which formed an Expert Group under former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairperson Arvind Pangaria for classification and categorisation of data.
• It is not clear whether it submitted its report; no such report has been made public.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

On the 52nd Foundation Day of REC Limited, Union Power Minister released a report on Key Regulatory Parameters of Power Utilities.

• REC Limited, formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited, is a Navratna NBFC under the purview of the Ministry of Power focusing on Power Sector Financing and Development across India.
• Established in 1969, it provides financial assistance to state electricity boards, state governments, central/state power utilities, independent power producers, rural electric cooperatives and private sector utilities.
• Its business activities involve financing projects in the complete power sector value chain; different type of projects includes Generation, Transmission, Distribution Projects, and Renewable Energy projects.
• HQ: Delhi.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Partners in Population and Development (PPD):

• It is an intergovernmental organisation for promoting south-south cooperation in the fields of reproductive health, population, and development.
• Its Secretariat is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• Currently, PPD has the membership of 26 developing countries, representing more than 59% of the world’s population.
• Launched at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), when ten developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America formed an intergovernmental alliance to help implement the Cairo Program of Action (POA).
• This POA, endorsed by 179 nations, stresses the need to establish mechanisms to promote development through the sharing of experiences in reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) within and among countries and to promote effective partnerships among the governments, NGOs, research institutions and the private sector.

Telegraph Act, 1885: Under this law, the government can intercept calls only in certain situations — the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence. These are the same restrictions imposed on free speech under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.

Delhi-based NGO Toxics Link released a study, “Quantitative analysis of Microplastics along River Ganga”, which has found that the river – which flows through five states covering about 2,500 km before flowing into the Bay of Bengal – is heavily polluted with microplastics.

Among the range of plastic debris that is found in water bodies, microplastics are the most notorious because of their small size, on average microplastics are less than 5 mm in length or roughly equal to five pinheads.

Because microplastics are so small, they are ingested by marine habitants including fish, corals, planktons and sea mammals and are then carried further into the food chain. In the case of humans, most of the microplastics can be found in food, water and food containers and their ingestion can cause health problems.

• The National Statistical Office (NSO) is the central statistical agency of the Government mandated under the Statistical Services Act 1980 under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
  • It is responsible for the development of arrangements for providing statistical information services to meet the needs of the Government and other users for information on which to base policy, planning, monitoring and management decisions.
  • The services include collecting, compiling and disseminating official statistical information.
• The Reports & Indices by NSO are:
  • Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
  • Consumer Price Index (CPI)
  • Sustainable Development Goals National Indicator Framework Progress Report
  • Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS
• Hence, option D is correct.

• United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is a regional development arm of the United Nations for the Asia-Pacific region.
  • It has 53 Member States and 9 Associate Members from Asia-Pacific Region. India is also a member. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • Established: 1947
  • Headquarters: Bangkok, Thailand
• The Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation, 2021 is conducted every two years by the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and includes an assessment of 58 trade facilitation measures covered by the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. Hence, statement 2 is correct
  • 58 measures include publications of existing import-export rules on the internet, risk management, advance ruling on tariff classification, pre-arrival processing, independent appeal mechanism, expedited shipments, automated customs system, among others.
• A higher score for a country helps businesses in their investment decisions.
• The UN Regional Commissions jointly conduct the UN Global Survey on Digital and Sustainable Trade Facilitation.
• The Survey currently covers 143 economies around the globe. For Asia Pacific, it is conducted by UNESCAP.
  • India is the best performing nation as compared to the South and South West Asia region (63.12%) and Asia Pacific region (65.85%).
  • The overall score of India is also greater than many OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries including France, UK, Canada, Norway, Finland etc. and the overall score is greater than the average score of the EU (European Union). Hence, statement 3 is correct.