Daily Current Affairs MCQ - August 27, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

NITI Aayog Releases North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021–22.

The NER District SDG Index& Dashboard, a collaborative effort by NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP. The Index measures the performance of the districts of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Overall Results and Findings

• Out of the 103 districts considered for ranking, 64 districts belonged to the Front Runner category while 39 districts were in the Performer category in the composite score and ranking of districts.
• All districts in Sikkim and Tripura fall in the Front Runner category and there are no districts in the Aspirant or Achiever categories.
• East Sikkim [Score 75.87] ranks first in the region followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura [Score 75.73] in the second position.
• The score for the 103 districts ranges from 53.00 in Kiphire [NL] to 75.87 in East Sikkim [SK].

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Maldives government officially signed an agreement with Mumbai-based company AFCONS, for the construction of the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP).

This infrastructure project, the largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link that will connect the Maldives capital Malé with the neighbouring islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi. This project was funded by India in a grant of $100 million, with a line of credit of $400 million. This project is significant because it facilitates inter-island connectivity in the country. The GMCP is not only the biggest project India is doing in the Maldives but also the biggest infrastructure project in the Maldives overall. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

World Bank has halted all financial assistance for projects to Afghanistan.

The move comes in the wake of the Taliban assuming power in the country. The World Bank paused disbursements in its operations in Afghanistan and is closely monitoring

and assessing the situation in line with its internal policies and procedures. The World Bank will continue to consult closely with the international community and

development partners in this direction. Concerns have also been raised as regards the impact on the country’s development prospects, especially for women. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Ship Vigraha, seventh in the series of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs), will be commissioned by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh in Chennai on August 28, 2021.

• The ship will be based in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and operate on the eastern seaboard under the Operational and Administrative Control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (East).
• The 98-meter OPV, with a complement of 11 officers and 110 sailors, has been designed and built indigenously by Larsen & Toubro Ship Building Limited.
• The vessel is armed with a 40/60 Bofors gun and fitted with two 12.7 mm Stabilised Remote Control Gun with fire control system. The ship is also designed to carry one twin-engine Helicopter and four high speed boats for boarding operation, search & rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister for Steel, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh recently inaugurated MSTC's new Corporate building at Newtown, Kolkata.

• MSTC Ltd, previously known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation was set up in 1964 as a regulatory body for export of ferrous scrap and thereafter canalizing agency for import of ferrous scrap and old ships for breaking in the country.
• From traditional business MSTC has diversified to e-commerce, Today, MSTC has more than seventeen offices across the country.
• MSTC has formed a Joint Venture company, 'Mahindra MSTC Recycling Priva te Limited' (MMRPL) with Mis Mahindra intergraded Ltd.
• MMRPL has set up three Collection and Dismantling (C&D) centers at Noida (U.P.), Chennai and Pune to scrap ELVs (End of Life Vehicles), in an environmentally sound manner following the laid down guidelines.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Horn of Africa is a peninsula and the easternmost projection of the African continent. The Horn of Africa consists of the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

Withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is being compared to the fall of Saigon. In 1975, Saigon, the capital of US-backed South Vietnam, fell to Communist-ruled North Vietnam two years after the withdrawal of the American military which had been in the country for 19 years.

• The Indian flag was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on July 22, 1947.
• The first national flag, which consisted of three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green, is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, at the Parsee Bagan Square, near Lower Circular Road, in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
• Later, in 1921, freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya met Mahatma Gandhi and proposed a basic design of the flag, consisting of two red and green bands.
• After undergoing several changes, the Tricolour was adopted as our national flag at a Congress Committee meeting in Karachi in 1931.

Tax revenue is charged on income earned by an individual or an entity (direct tax) and on the value of transaction of goods and services (indirect tax). On the other hand, non-tax revenue is charged against services provided by the government. It also includes interest charged on loans advanced by the government for various purposes.

This year’s edition ofThe State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era. The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).