Daily Current Affairs MCQ - October 12, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Supreme Court has declared the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) position as a “unique” forum endowed with suo motu powers to take up environmental issues across the country.

• The court said the NGT need not wait for the “metaphorical Godot” to knock on its portal to flex its considerable muscles to save the environment.
• The exercise of power by the NGT is not circumscribed by the receipt of applications.
• When substantial questions relating to the environment arise and the issue is civil in nature and those relate to the Act, the NGT, in our opinion, even in the absence of an application, can self-ignite action either towards amelioration or towards prevention of harm.
• Supreme court dismissed objections from the Centre, legal experts and even the court’s own amicus curiae who all argued against the NGT clothed with suo motu powers.
• The court explained that the role of the NGT was not simply adjudicatory in nature. The tribunal has to perform equally vital roles that were preventative, ameliorative or remedial in nature.
• The judgment described the NGT “as a complimentary, competent, specialised forum to deal with all environmental multidisciplinary issues both as original and also as an appellate authority, which complex issues were hitherto dealt with by the High Courts and the Supreme Court”.

The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts. The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same. Initially, the NGT is proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and will follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible. New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has launched the NITI Aayog – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Handbook on Sustainable Urban Plastic Waste Management in New Delhi.

• It provides a comprehensive overview of managing plastic waste by representing and discussing components of the entire plastic waste value chain.
• The Handbook can be adopted by urban local bodies to good effect.
• NITI Aayog CEO, Amitabh Kant reiterated the significance of the Re-use, Reduce and Recycle model and the need to create a mass movement around the use of plastics.

Material Recovery Facility (MRF)

• NITI Aayog in this handbook has suggested urban local bodies across states adopt the material recovery facility (MRF) model & implement it as a public-private partnership model for sustainable management of urban plastic waste.
• A materials recovery facility, also known as a materials reclamation facility or recycling facility is a specialized plant that receives, separates, and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers.
• The model is initially funded by private players, supported by urban local bodies, and operated by service providers including local organizations and waste management agencies.
• this model ensures compliance with regulations and improves resource utilization.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2021 — often incorrectly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics — to three US-based economists.

• A U.S. based Canadian David Card, Israeli-American Joshua Angrist and Dutch-American Guido Imbens won the Nobel Economics Prize for providing “new insights about the labour market” and showing “what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments”.
• Half of the prize went to Card, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley “for his empirical contributions to labour economics.” Card’s work has focused on labour market effects of minimum wages, immigration and education.
• The other half went jointly to Angrist, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Imbens, a professor at Stanford, “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of a causal relationship.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Union Environment Minister released the Vision Plan (2021-2031) for Indian zoos by Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to upgrade them to global standards and strengthening of Central Zoo Authority.

• The vision document is committed to making CZA and Indian zoos a greater force for conservation by providing unparalleled animal care, cutting edge research, and immersive visitor experiences that strike meaningful chords with people of all ages.
• The exhaustive 10 years vision plan has been arrived at after a very stringent data mining and stakeholder consultive process and is expected to give a direction towards ex-situ conservation approaches in India.
• As on today there are more than 150 recognized zoos and rescue centers in the country that adhere to the guidelines and high standards of wild animal welfare.

Prani Mitra Awards

• Union Environment Minister also gave away the Prani Mitra Awards constituted by Central Zoo Authority (CZA).
• These are given every year under 4 categories of – outstanding contribution by zoo director/ curator, biologist/ educationists, veterinarian and the animal keeper/ zoo frontline.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Vice President of India presented Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence to Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Dr. Randeep Guleria.

• The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence was instituted by Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), Delhi, promoted by Lal Bahadur Shastri Educational Society.
• The Award honours each year a distinguished Indian residing either in India or abroad for his/her sustained individual contributions and outstanding achievements of high professional order and excellence in the field of management, public administration, public affairs, education, Institution building, art & culture and sports.
• The honour carries a cash award of Rs. Five Lakh plus a Citation and a Plaque.
• The Award is presented on October 1 each year which the eve of the birth anniversary of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri is.
• Some of the recent recipients of the Award are Mr. Fali S. Nariman, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Dr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Dr. Prannoy Roy, Dr. A. Sivathanu Pillai, Dr. R.A. Badwe, Mrs. Tessy Thomas, late Prof. Yash Pal, Ms Aruna Roy, Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal, Dr. E. Sreedharan, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. Naresh Trehan, late Dr. C.P. Srivastava, Ms Ela R. Bhatt, Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, Mr. N.R. Narayana Murthy, Mr. Sam Pitroda and late Prof. C.K. Prahalad.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

• A tax haven is generally an offshore country that offers foreign individuals and businesses little or no tax liability in a politically and economically static environment. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • Characteristics of tax haven countries generally include no or low-income taxes, minimal reporting of information, lack of transparency obligations, lack of local presence requirements, and marketing of tax haven vehicles.
  • Generally, tax havens do not require residency or business presence for individuals and businesses to benefit from their tax policies. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Individuals and corporations can potentially benefit from low or no taxes charged on income in foreign countries where loopholes, credits, or other special tax considerations may be allowed in accordance with the law.
• Worldwide, there are some programs in place to increase the enforcement of offshore investment reporting.
• The Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, developed by the OECD with G20 countries, represents the international consensus on automatic exchange of financial account information for tax purposes, on a reciprocal basis. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The Report, “Ecological Threat Report (ETR) 2021: Understanding ecological threats, resilience and peace”, was released by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), an international think tank. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The ETR Report ranks countries on the basis of ETR Score which is an average of the five threats. It uses the relative severity of five indicators to build up the overall level of threat faced by a country. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The 5 indicators are food risk, water risk, rapid population growth, temperature anomalies and natural disasters.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, the score is influenced by high levels of population growth, which will place increased pressure on existing food and lead to water scarcity.
• The Report recommended a policy to combine health, food, water, refugee relief, finance, agricultural and business development into one integrated agency in high-risk areas and empowering local communities. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
  • Circular Economic Systems are the systems that reuse resources, reduce emissions and weed out the chemicals and toxins that are causing millions of premature deaths – all while creating jobs.

• A heatwave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western and South Central parts of India.
  • The India Meteorological Department (IMD) classifies heat waves according to regions and their temperature ranges. Hence, option C is correct.
• Recently, a study has found a spatial shift of heatwaves in India, now occurring in new regions in the country.
  • It also added that the eastern and western coasts, which are currently unaffected by heatwaves, will be severely impacted in the future. Hence, option A is not correct.
  • Also, heatwaves were found in southern Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where they would traditionally not take place. Hence, option B is not correct.
• The heatwave is considered when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C for Plains and at least 30°C for Hilly regions. Hence, option D is not correct.
  • An increase of 5°C to 6°C from the normal temperature is considered to be heat wave condition.

For boosting exports of citrus and its valued added products, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute (ICAR-CCRI), Nagpur.

• The MoU envisages promoting export by focussing on creation of product specific clusters along with development of technologies by APEDA and ICAR-CCRI with a focus on efficient and precision farming.
• The MoU also aims at export promotion of Geographical Indication (GI) tagged Nagpur Orange) and organic citrus products from Maharashtra.
• For boosting value-addition and farmers’ income, APEDA has signed a series of MoUs with ICAR-Indian Institute of Millet Research (ICAR-IIMR), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) and others.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj inaugurated a training program on Sandalwood Farming & Management of its health in association with the Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST), Bengaluru.

• The program is structured around the basics & benefits of Indian sandalwood, seed handling, nursery techniques & managing the health of the plant.
• Sandalwood has been long associated with the Indian heritage & culture, as the country contributed 85% of the world’ sandalwood trade erstwhile. However, off late this has been declining at a fast rate. With anti-bacterial, anti-biotic & anti-cancer benefits amongst others, sandalwood finds its uses in pharmaceuticals, personal care & furnitures.
• Globally, India & Australia are the largest growers of sandalwood, while the biggest markets lie in the United States, China, Japan & the Indian domestic market. While in 2020 the world sandalwood market stood at USD 300 million, World Trade Research pegs the market size at USD 3 billion by 2040.
• Hence both statements are correct.