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

Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections hit ₹1,31,526 crore in November, the second highest since it was implemented in July 2017, and the second month in a row that collections have crossed ₹1.3 lakh crore.

• The revenues for November were 25% higher than that in the corresponding month last year and 27% over the pre-pandemic levels of 2019-20.
• Economists, however, said the November collections, reflecting transactions undertaken in October, were underwhelming in the context of the record generation of e-way bills in October.
• Tax collections from import of goods were 43% higher, while revenues from domestic transactions, including import of services, were 20% higher than the respective collections in November 2020.
• The Union Finance Ministry also revised downwards GST collections for the first three months of 2021-22, starting with the record revenues of April that were originally reported as ₹1,41,384 crore. Those collections have now been pared by ₹1,676 crore to ₹1,39,708 crore.
• Emphasising that November’s GST kitty was second only to the collections this April, the Ministry sought to differentiate the significance of the former by stressing that April’s collections related to year-end revenues.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of arrests under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, followed by Jammu and Kashmir, and Manipur, according to data tabled by the Government in the Rajya Sabha.

• Uttar Pradesh recorded 361 UAPA arrests, Jammu and Kashmir 346, and Manipur 225 in 2020.
• As per the National Crime Record Bureau’s report, “the number of persons arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the years 2019 and 2020 are 1,948 and 1,321 respectively”.
• Since 2016, 7,243 were arrested under UAPA. Of those, only 212 were convicted and 286 were acquitted.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

India joined the G20 ‘Troika’.

• With this move, India has started the procedure for taking over the G20 presidency next year.
• Troika refers to the top grouping within the G20 that consists of the current, previous and the incoming presidencies — Indonesia, Italy and India.
• India will assume the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022 from Indonesia, and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in India in 2023.
• Italy hosted the G20 summit during October 30-31 that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where India had raised the issue of Afghanistan’s future following the takeover by the Taliban.
• Indonesia took over the G20 presidency on December 2, 2021. Next year’s summit will be organised along the overall theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”.
• As a Troika member, India will work closely with Indonesia and Italy to ensure consistency and continuity of the G20’s agenda.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Chinese firm Sino Soar Hybrid Technology, whose energy project was suspended in Sri Lanka after India raised concern over its location close to the Tamil Nadu coast, recently signed a similar project in the Maldives.

• Maldives Ministry of Environment signed a contract with the Chinese energy company for the “design, supply, installation and maintenance of grid-tied” solar PV-diesel hybrid power generation plants in all 12 inhabited islands of Thaa Atoll, south of capital Male.
• It was in January this year that Sri Lanka’s Cabinet cleared an energy project involving the same firm, in its northern islands of Nainativu, Delft or Neduntheevu, and Analaitivu, located off Jaffna Peninsula in the Palk Bay, some 50 km off Tamil Nadu.
• However, India raised concern, offering to execute the project with a grant of $12 million. While there has been no official announcement on the project since, sources told The Hindu that “discussions [on the India-backed project] are on”. Sri Lanka’s Tamil parties too objected to the Chinese project then, saying it posed a “security threat” to India.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

A butterfly survey at the Peechi-Vazhani wildlife division has recorded a remarkable increase in the species’ numbers.

• Southern Birdwing, the largest butterfly in India, and Grass Jewel, the smallest, were found during the survey. Buddha Peacock, the State butterfly of Kerala, was also recorded.
• Of the 326 found in Kerala, 156 species were recorded in the 242-sq. km. division.
• The four-day butterfly survey was conducted by the Kerala Forest Department and the Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS) Thiruvananthapuram.
• The Peechi-Vazhany, Chimmony, and Chulannur Wildlife Sanctuaries were surveyed using 14 base camps.
• Peechi-Vazhany Wildlife sanctuary had 132 species of butterflies, Chimmony had 116 species, while Chulannur recorded 41 species. The survey noted 80 species, almost double, to the older record of Peechi-Vazhany, 33 to Chimmony, and 41 species to Chulannur.
• Other notable species are Nilgiri Grass Yellow, Travancore Evening Brown, Malabar Flash, Orange Tailed Awl, Southern Spotted Ace and Common Onyx.
• The report of Common Tinsel at Chulannur was another highlight. Altitudinal migration of Common Albatross was recorded in Chimmony.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Carbon offsetting allows a country to help reach its own emissions reduction targets by funding emission reductions in another country. Companies are also increasingly using carbon credits to offset their emissions.

The first major offsetting scheme, the U.N.s clean development mechanism (CDM), was set up under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in which 190 countries agreed country-by-country emission reduction targets.

The scheme was designed to help fund emission reduction projects in developing countries, while also providing offset credits to the developed world to help meet its Kyoto targets.

More than 8,100 projects in 111 countries have registered with the CDM scheme, which has handed out over 2 billion carbon credits, called Certified Emission Reductions (CERs), representing 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide reduction.

Projects registered under the scheme range from capturing and using methane gasses in pig manure to create electricity to replacing traditional wood and coal burning cookstoves with cleaner alternatives such as ethanol. Offsets can be bought by individuals, companies or countries.

Out-of-pocket expenditure, the biggest part of NHA estimates is captured using “Household Social Consumption in India: Health” survey of National Sample Survey Organisation. Public spending on health by various departments of the Union and State governments, major urban local bodies, and social security schemes are captured from Budgets. Various sources are also used to capture insurance premiums, expenditure estimates from firms, non-governmental organisations and foreign entities.

Various sources are also used to capture insurance premiums, expenditure estimates from firms, non-governmental organisations and foreign entities.

In NHA estimates in India, in order to show higher public investment, capital expenditure is included.

In Lok Sabha, questions that are not admitted include: those that are repetitive or have been answered previously; and matters that are pending for judgment before any court of law or under consideration before a Parliamentary Committee.

Trace metals like cadmium or copper are supplied to oceans via continental run-offs, atmospheric deposition, hydrothermal activities and continental shelf interaction. They are essential for ocean productivity.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the amount of variable rate reverse repo (VRRR) auctions in December, as it is shifting out of the fixed-rate overnight reverse repo auction and re-establishing VRRR as the main liquidity management operations.

The operations of 14-day VRRR would continue to be complemented by longer-term VRRRs, the size and maturities of which will be decided based on continuous assessment.