Daily Current Affairs MCQ - October 25, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that NGOs have no fundamental right to receive “unbridled foreign contributions” without regulations.

• It was responding to petitions challenging amendments made in the Foreign Contributions Regulations law in 2020. The petitions had argued that the amendments severely restricted the use of foreign funds by the NGOs for their activities.
• The petitioners had also found it cumbersome that the new law expected 23,000 NGOs to open accounts in the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in the capital to receive their foreign funds.
• The Centre said the amendments were meant to ensure that foreign funds were not used to impinge upon the functioning of parliamentary institutions, political associations and other organisations in India.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) event will be conducted jointly by Ministry of Electronics and IT, NIXI and Multistakeholder Group from 8th to 11th of November, 2021.

• The theme of IIGF 2021 is ‘Empower India through Power of Internet’. The event will witness enlightening discussions on the road to Digitization in India.
• The India Internet Government Forum is an initiative associated with the UN Internet Governance Forum (UN-IGF).
• India Internet Governance Forum(IIGF) has been constituted in conformance to IGF-Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda of the UN-based Internet Governance forum (IGF).
• The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder platform bringing representatives together from various groups to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.
• Through an open and inclusive process, IIGF brings together all stakeholders in the Global Internet governance ecosystem, including government, industry, civil society, academia - as equal participants of the larger Internet Governance discourse.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, banned from social media platforms Facebook and Twitter since the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has announced that he is launching a social media company , TRUTH Social, to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech”.

• “We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” Mr. Trump said.
• The platform will be made possible via the merger of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Group, with TMTG eventually becoming a publicly listed company.
• The app is expected to roll out across the U.S. in the first quarter of next year, with a beta version being launched next month.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Union Home Ministry has advised the States to update recent photographs of prisoners released on parole/furlough/premature release in the “ePrisons” and “Interoperable Criminal Justice System” database to generate immediate alerts and facilitate easy tracking in the event of their violating the law.

• The e-Prisons, which aims at computerization of the functioning of prisons in the country, has been operationalised in all States and Union Territories.
• e-Prisons data has been integrated with Police and Court system under the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance of Rs.99.49 crores to the States and Union Territories (UTs) for this project and all funds have been released to them.
• e-Prisons uses data maintained by the States and Union Territories on the National Prisons Information Portal as per protocols notified for e-Prisons.
• The system can be accessed through the secure National Informatics Centre (NIC) network, exclusively by the authorized officials of Law Enforcement Agencies and Prisons, through Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
• Hence both statements are correct.

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind graced the centenary celebrations of Bihar Legislative Assembly in Patna today (October 21, 2021).

• The Bihar Vidhan Sabha building turned 100 years old on February 7, 2021.
• Though the building where the session of the state assembly takes place these days, became ready by the end of 1920, it was formally inaugurated on February 7, 1921 by Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, the first governor of the erstwhile Bihar and Orissa province.
• The date also coincides with the beginning of the first session of the Bihar and Orissa Provincial Legislative Council. Lord Sinha addressed the first session after inaugurating the new building.
   

Background

• The erstwhile province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out from Bengal Presidency in 1912. Eight years later in 1920, the Bihar and Orissa was declared ‘governor province’ after the enforcement of the Government of India Act, 1919.
  After the declaration of the ‘governor province’, it was decided to build a separate legislative building and secretariat in Patna for the province of Bihar and Orissa.
• The present-day Odisha was separated from Bihar on April 1, 1936, while Jharkhand on November 15, 2000.
   

Hence both statements are correct.

A made-in-India aromatherapy spray is being pulled off retail giant Walmart’s shelves in the United States after a medical investigation linked it to melioidosis, a rare disease that has sickened at least four, and may have caused two deaths, in the country.

• The spray was reported to contain a bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, that causes a rare but deadly disease called melioidosis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said.
• The spray, “Better Homes and Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones”, was found on October 6 in the home of a Georgia resident who became ill with melioidosis in late July.

Key facts

• Melioidosis, also called Whitmore’s disease, is an infectious disease that can infect humans or animals. The disease is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei.
• It is predominately a disease of tropical climates, especially in Southeast Asia and northern Australia where it is widespread. The bacteria causing melioidosis are found in contaminated water and soil. It is spread to humans and animals through direct contact with the contaminated source.
• Most people infected with B. pseudomallei experience no symptoms, but those who do experience symptoms have signs and symptoms that range from mild, such as fever, skin changes, pneumonia, and abscesses, to severe with inflammation of the brain, inflammation of the joints, and dangerously low blood pressure that causes death.
• Hence both statements are correct.

As part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, a total of 152 Centre for Financial Literacy & Service Delivery (SAKSHAM Centres) across 77 districts of 13 states launched under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of the Ministry of Rural Development during 4-8th October, 2021.

• Centre for Financial Literacy & Service Delivery (CFL&SD) would act as one stop solution/single window system for basic financial needs of Self-Help Group (SHG) households in rural areas.
• The main objective of the center is to provide financial literacy & facilitate delivery of financial services (savings, credit, insurance, pensions etc.) to SHG members and rural poor.
• These Centers will be managed by SHG network, largely at the level of the Cluster Level Federations (CLFs), with the help of trained Community Resource Persons (CRPs).
• These trained CRPs are provided six days residential training at Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) established by the Lead Bank of the district.
• All of these resources persons, popularly known as Financial Literacy Community Resource person (FL CRPs) also provided a training tool kit in vernacular languages.
• Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has also developed a mobile & web-based application called “SAKSHAM” which will be used by the community resource person of the Centre to know the penetration of various financial services for each SHG & village, identify major gaps and accordingly provide training and deliver the required financial services.
• This application will also measure the impact of the programme on regular interval for mid-course correction in strategy, if any.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Union Cabinet approved Production-Linked Incentive Scheme for Specialty Steel which was notified on 29th July 2021. Guidelines for an effective implementation of PLI Scheme have been notified on 20th Oct 2021.

• Specialty steel is value added steel wherein normal finished steel is worked upon by way of coating, plating, heat treatment, etc to convert it into high value added steel which can be used in various strategic applications like Defence, Space, Power, apart from automobile sector, specialized capital goods etc.
• The five categories of specialty steel which have been chosen in the PLI Scheme are:
  • Coated/Plated Steel Products
  • High Strength/Wear resistant Steel
  • Specialty Rails
  • Alloy Steel Products and Steel wires
  • Electrical Steel

Benefits:

• The benefit of this scheme will accrue to both big players i.e. integrated steel plants and to the smaller players (secondary steel players)
• It is expected that the speciality steel production will become 42 million tonnes by the end of 2026-27. This will ensure that approximately 2.5 lakh crores worth of speciality steel will be produced and consumed in the country which would otherwise have been imported.
• Similarly, the export of specialty steel will become around 5.5 million tonnes as against the current 1.7 million tonnes of specialty steel getting FOREX of Rs 33,000 crore.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Central Government has notified the Indian Telegraph Right of Way (Amendment) Rules, 2021 on 21st October 2021 to incorporate the provisions related to nominal one-time compensation and uniform procedure for establishment of Overground Telegraph Line in the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016.

• The amount of one-time compensation for establishment of overground telegraph line will be maximum one thousand rupees per kilometre.
• Documentation for Right of Way (RoW) application for overground telegraph line has been made simple.
• Also, there will be no fee other than Administrative fee and Restoration charges for establishing, maintaining, working, repairing, transferring or shifting the underground and overground telegraph infrastructure.
• These amendments will ease Right of Way related permission procedures for establishment and augmentation of Digital Communications Infrastructure across the country.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Centre has identified a Maharashtra-based exporter as the source of the broken rice flagged in Europe as contaminated with genetic modifications (GM) earlier this year, the Commerce Ministry. It added that the 500-tonne consignment was given a non-GMO certification by an independent agency.

• While reiterating that GM rice is not grown commercially in India, the Ministry asked genetic and rice experts, including the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee [GEAC] and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), to investigate.
• The European Commission’s contamination alert prompted the recall of tonnes of confectionery items and baked goods throughout Europe this summer, and provoked concerns that India’s ₹65,000 crore worth of annual rice exports could be hurt by the allegations.
• The Indian Ministry of commerce alleged that the case was a “futile conspiracy to malign the image of India as a reliable food security provider”. Worried farmers’ groups and environmental activists, however, noted that multiple GM rice varieties had been approved for confined field trials.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.