Daily Current Affairs MCQ - December 29, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Prime Minister announced that the COVID-19 vaccination for children between 15 and 18 years of age will start from 3rd of next month.

• Mr Modi said, the government has also decided that it will begin precaution doses for the healthcare workers and frontline workers from 10th of January.
• He said, citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will also have the option of precaution dose of the vaccine on the advice of their doctor from 10th January onwards.
• Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine 'Covaxin' also received approval for Emergency use in children between 12 and 18 years of age. Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Centre told the Delhi High Court that the “right to be forgotten” is part of the fundamental right to privacy, but added it has no significant role to play in the matter.

• The right to be forgotten allows a person to seek deletion of private information from the Internet.
• The concept has found recognition in some jurisdictions abroad, particularly the European Union. The EU in 2018 adopted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 17 of which provides for the right to erasure of certain categories of personal data.
• While the right is not recognised by law in India, courts in recent months have held it to be an intrinsic part of the right to privacy. Petitions across courts have been seeking enforcement of this “right” — a legal principle that is not yet backed by statute in India.
• In May 2019, Justice Pratibha M Singh of the Delhi High Court, said the “right to be forgotten” and “right to be left alone” are inherent aspects of the right to privacy, and restrained republication of these news reports.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) organised a special event called “Discourse on Rural Financial Inclusion” on 18th December, 2021.

• As a part of the event, the facility for overdraft (OD of Rs. 5,000/- to verified SHG members under DAY – NRLM having accounts under the prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana with Banks was launched by Department of Rural Development.
• This facility has been initiated in pursuance of the announcement made by the Finance Minister in her budget speech of 2019-20.
• Six Women SHG members from three States i.e., Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh (Two from each State) were provided with a cheque of Rs. 5,000 to mark the start of the scheme.
• It is estimated that about 5 crore women SHG members under DAY-NRLM would be benefitted from this facility eventually.
• Hence both statements are correct.

• NITI Aayog has released the fourth edition of the State Health Index for 2019–20.
• The index is developed by NITI Aayog, with technical assistance from the World Bank, and in close consultation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The report, titled “Healthy States, Progressive India”, ranks states and Union Territories on their year-on-year incremental performance in health outcomes as well as their overall status.
• The State Health Index is an annual tool to assess the performance of states and UTs, which has been compiled and published since 2017.
• It is a weighted composite index based on 24 indicators grouped under the domains of ‘Health Outcomes’, ‘Governance and Information’, and ‘Key Inputs/Processes’. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • Health Outcomes: It includes parameters such as neonatal mortality rate, under-5 mortality rate, sex ratio at birth.
  • Governance and Information: It includes parameters such as institutional deliveries, average occupancy of senior officers in key posts earmarked for health.
  • Key Inputs/Processes: It consists of proportion of shortfall in health care providers to what is recommended, functional medical facilities, birth and death registration and tuberculosis treatment success rate.

About Indo-Lanka Accord

• It is popularly referred to as the Rajiv-Jayewardene Accord, after its architects Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene. It was signed in 1987. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It was signed on the pretext of the Civil War in Sri Lanka (between Tamils and Sinhala community). Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The accord sought to balance India’s strategic interests, interest of people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka and Tamil minority rights in Sri Lanka.
• The accord saw the placement of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The accord also resulted in the enactment of the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka and the Provincial Councils Act of 1987.

Reorganisation of States in India

• In 1950, the Constitution contained a four-fold classification of the states of the Indian Union—Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D States.
• On account of the multilingual nature and differences that existed between various states, there was a need for the states to be reorganised on a permanent basis.
  • In this context, in 1948, SK Dhar committee - was appointed by the government to look into the need for the reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• In December 1948, the JVP Committee comprising Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya was formed to study the issue.
  • The Committee, in its report submitted in April 1949, rejected the idea of reorganisation of states on a linguistic basis but said that the issue could be looked at afresh in the light of public demand.
  • However, due to protests, in October 1953, the Government of India created the first linguistic state, known as Andhra state, by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the Madras state. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

India will chair the Counter-Terrorism Committee of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January 2022 after 10 years.

• The Counter-Terrorism Committee was established by Security Council resolution 1373 adopted unanimously on 28 September 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.
• The Committee was tasked with monitoring implementation of resolution 1373 which requested countries to implement a number of measures aimed at enhancing their legal and institutional ability to counter terrorist activities at home and around the world.
• This includes taking steps to criminalize the financing of terrorism, freezing any funds related to persons involved in acts of terrorism, deny all forms of financial support for terrorist groups, suppress the provision of safe haven, sustenance or support for terrorists and share information with other governments on any groups practicing or planning terrorist acts.
• Besides, the Committee monitors steps taken to cooperate with other governments in the investigation, detection, arrest, extradition and prosecution of those involved in terror acts and criminalizes active and passive assistance for terrorism.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Total telephone connections rose to 118.9 crore in September 2021 from 93 crore in March 2014, with a growth of 28 % in the said period.

• The tele-density which was 75.23% in March 2014 has reached 86.89% in September 2021.
• Internet connections jumped from 25.15 crore in March 2014 to 83.37 crore in June 2021, registering a growth of 231%.
• Broadband connections rose from 6.1 crore in March 2014 to 79 crores in June 2021, growing by about 1200%.
• The number of Mobile Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) increased from 8 lakh in 2014 to 23 lakhs in 2021 growing by 187 %.
• India jumped 21 rank, from 88 in 2020 to 67th position in 2021, in Network Readiness Index(NRI) which was developed by World Economic Forum in 2002 and now published by M/s Portulans Institute, Washington. India ranked 3rd among lower middle income countries and 12th among Asia & Pacific countries.
• India ranks among top 10 in ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020 (release on 29.06.2021).
• C-DOT, the R&D arm of DoT, is currently working on Quantum communication systems. Under the National Mission on Quantum technologies and Applications, the ETG (Empowered Technology Group) has identified C-DoT as the lead agency for Quantum Communications, one of the four components of the National Mission.
• Hence all statements are correct.

Recent key initiatives of the Ministry during the year are as under.

• PM MITRA PARKS: Government has approved Setting up of 7 Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (MITRA) Parks with a total outlay of Rs. 4445 Crores in a period of 5 years.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles is specially focused at high value and expanding MMF and Technical Textiles segments of Textiles Value Chain. Incentives worth Rs. 10,683crore will be provided over five years for manufacturing notified products of MMF Apparel, MMF Fabrics and segments/products of Technical Textiles in India.
• Government has approved continuation of RoSCTL scheme up to March 2024 to boost export competitiveness of Indian apparel and made-ups.
• The Technical Textiles segment is a new age textile, whose application in several sector of economy, including infrastructure, water, health and hygiene, defense, security, automobiles, aviation will improve the efficiencies in those sectors of economy. Government has also launched a National Technical Textiles Mission for promoting R&D efforts in that sector.
• SAMARTH (SKILL DEVELOPMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING) is a placement oriented programme targeting skill development of unemployed youth in the value chain of textiles for gainful employment in organized sector and skill upgradation of weavers & artisans in traditional sector.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Both Statements 1 & 2 are CORRECT:

• Chandigarh became the first state or Union Territory in India to launch Carbon Watch, a mobile application to assess the carbon footprint of an individual. Although the app can be accessed by everyone, it has specific options for the residents of Chandigarh to compile a detailed study.
• The application can be downloaded through a QR code in Android supported smart cell phones.
• Carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases especially carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by particular human activity.
• Making the people Climate-Smart Citizens while making them capable of accessing their carbon footprint, along with providing them with steps to reduce it, is the motive behind the application.