Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 27, 2022 - CLAT MCQ

India has protested the U.S. decision to conduct a patrol in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the western Indian Ocean, rejecting the U.S.’s claim that its domestic maritime law was in violation of international law.

• In a rare and unusual public statement, the U.S. Navy announced that its ship, USS John Paul Jones, had carried out Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) in the Indian EEZ, adding that its operations had “challenged” what the U.S. called India’s “excessive maritime claims”.
• USS John Paul Jones asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, inside India’s exclusive economic zone, without requesting India’s prior consent, consistent with international law, the U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet said
• The Government of India’s stated position on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is that the Convention “does not authorise other States to carry out in the EEZ and on the continental shelf, military exercises or manoeuvres, in particular those involving the use of weapons or explosives, without the consent of the coastal state.
• While India ratified UNCLOS in 1995, the U.S. has failed to do it so far.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Many animals and plants unique to the world’s most scenic natural places face extinction if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, according to a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation.

• if the planet heats by over 3°C, then a third of endemic species living on land, and about half of endemic species living in the sea, face extinction. On mountains, 84% of endemic animals and plants face extinction at these temperatures, while on islands that number rises to 100%.
• Endemic species threatened by climate change include lemurs, which are unique to Madagascar, and the snow leopard, one of the most charismatic animals of the Himalayas.
• They also include important medical plants such as the lichen Lobaria pindarensis, used to alleviate arthritis.
• However, remaining within the climate goals of the Paris Agreement — which aims to keep global heating well below 2°C, ideally at 1.5°C, compared to a baseline — would save the majority of species.
• Hence both statements are correct.

NITI Aayog—in association with Agami and Omidyar Network India and with the support of ICICI Bank, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, Trilegal, Dalberg, Dvara, NIPFP—will launch the first-of-its kind Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) handbook in India.

• The handbook is an invitation to business leaders to adopt ODR in India. It highlights the need for such a mechanism, the models of ODR that businesses can adopt and an actionable pathway for them.
• ODR is the resolution of disputes outside courts, particularly of small and medium-value cases, using digital technology and techniques of alternate dispute resolution (ADR), such as negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
• While courts are becoming digitized through the efforts of the judiciary, more effective, scalable, and collaborative mechanisms of containment and resolution are urgently needed.
• ODR can help resolve disputes efficiently and affordably.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment reviewed the progress of the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes in the last financial year.

• The government had completely revamped the Post Matric Scholarship scheme for Scheduled Castes to provide universal access to the SC youth for higher education.
• The funding pattern under the Scheme was changed from the committed liability formula to a fixed sharing pattern of 60:40 between the Centre and the States (90:10 for the North EasternStates), thus increasing the commitment of the Government in the scheme by almost four times.
• An amount of Rs.35,534 crore was committed by Central Govt. for this scheme till 2025-26 and it is estimated that about 4 crore youth from the SC community will be benefitted during this period.
• Apart from increasing the central share in the scheme, the Government has brought in several process improvements to avoid delays in payment of scholarships using the DBT system.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 promulgated on 4th April, 2021 provides for pre-packaged insolvency resolution process (PPIRP) for corporate debtors classified as micro, small and medium enterprises.

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India notified the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Pre-packaged Insolvency Resolution Process) Regulations, 2021 (PPIRP Regulations) to enable operationalisation of PPIRP.
• The PPIRP Regulations detail the Forms that stakeholders are required to use, and the manner of carrying out various tasks by them as part of the PPIRP.
• These provide details and manner relating to:
  • Eligibility to act as resolution professional, and his terms of appointment;
  • Eligibility of registered valuers and other professionals;
  • Identification and selection of authorised representative;
  • Public announcement and claims of stakeholders;
  • Information memorandum;
  • Meetings of the creditors and committee of creditors;
  • Invitation for resolution plans;
  • Competition between the base resolution plan and the best resolution plan;
  • Evaluation and consideration of resolution plans;
  • Vesting management of corporate debtor with resolution professional;
  • Termination of PPIRP.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The population of dolphins in Chilika, India’s largest brackish water lake, and along the Odisha coast has doubled this year compared with last year.

• The State Environment Department released the final data on the dolphin census conducted in January and February this year, indicating a spectacular growth in numbers.
• Three species were recorded during the census, with 544 Irrawaddy, bottle-nose and humpback dolphins sighted this year, compared with 233 last year.
• The endangered Irrawaddy dolphins is mostly found in Chilika lake. Few were also sighted in the Rajnagar mangrove division.
• The highest growth has been noticed in the case of humpback dolphins with a population of 281.
• These humpback dolphins were not part of any riverine systems, so they cannot be identified as residential mammals. They were spotted travelling along the Odisha coast and the number is likely to fluctuate in the next census.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The price of Brent crude has fallen under $63 per barrel from a high of $70 per barrel in early March. A recent resurgence in Covid-19 infections coupled with a decision by OPEC+ (a keep producers’ block) to increase crude oil production has contributed to a fall in crude oil prices.

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 13 countries. It was founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela).
• Since 1965, it is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, although Austria is not an OPEC member state.
• The current OPEC members are the following: Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
• A larger group called OPEC+ was formed in late 2016 to have more control on the global crude oil market.
• The stated mission of the organization is to "coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets".
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Supreme Court said that the case against two Italian marines who gunned down two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in February, 2012, will be closed only after Italy deposits with it Rs 10 crore as compensation to victims.

• On February 15, 2012, two Indian fishermen returning from a fishing expedition near Lakshadweep islands onboard fishing vessel St Antony were gunned down by two Italian marines on board oil tanker Enrica Lexie.
• The incident occurred around 20 nautical miles off the coast of Kerala.
• Shortly after the incident, the Indian Coast Guard intercepted Enrica Lexie and detained the two Italian marines— Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre.
• Following this, the Kerala Police registered an FIR against them for murder and arrested them.
• In April, 2013, the case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which invoked the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA). The SUA Convention was passed in 1988 with the goal of suppressing international terrorism.
• India argued it had jurisdiction over the case as the two fishermen were killed without warning just 20.5 nautical miles from Indian coast making the area part of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• On March 7, 2014, India dropped the SUA charges against the marines. Later, Latorre and Girone returned from India to Italy on September 13, 2014 and May 28, 2016, respectively.

Ruling by Permanent Court of Arbitration

• The matter finally reached the Permanent Court of Arbitration in July, 2019.
• In May, 2020, the court ordered that the marines will not be tried in India, and will face criminal proceedings in Italy.
• The court, based in The Hague, further said New Delhi was entitled to compensation and asked India and Italy to consult on the amount of compensation due.
• Established under UN Charter 1945 to act as a principal Judicial organ of UN.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Researchers from IIT Guwahati have developed a technique to improve the performance of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which power most of the portable devices used today.

• The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was jointly awarded to Stanley Whittingham, John Goodenough and Akira Yoshino for work that led to the development of lithium-ion batteries.
• These batteries are used in most mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and power banks, among other devices.
• Today, most Electrical Vehicles (EV) use Li-ion batteries as well, but are slowly reaching their theoretical limits of being able to provide roughly up to 300-watt hour per kilogram of energy.
• These batteries can also be used to store solar and wind power, which means that with their widespread use it may even be possible to live in a fuel free society.

Disadvantages

• Some of the disadvantages of Li-ion batteries include their susceptibility to overheating and their being prone to damage at high voltages since they are made with flammable and combustible materials.
• Such batteries also start losing their capacity over time — for instance, a laptop battery in use for a few years does not function as well as a new one.

Alternatives to Li-ion batteries

• In January 2020, researchers from Australia claimed that they developed the world’s most efficient lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery, capable of powering a smartphone for five continuous days — the equivalent of an electric car being able to drive a distance of over 1,000 km.
• Li-S batteries are generally considered the successors of Li-ion batteries because of their lower cost of production, energy efficiency and improved safety. Their cost of production is lower because sulfur is abundantly available.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Directorate of Archives and Archaeology (DAA) of the Goa government inaugurated the Advanced Antiquities Management System on March 30 that it claimed was the first such system in the country for storage of antiquities.

• The system that catalogues 83 antiquities at present is aimed at providing quick information about an antiquity linked to the software, saving storage space and ensuring improved preservation of the objects of historical significance.
• The Advanced Antiquities Management System (AAMS) is a software-driven automated storage used for the storage of various objects.
• So far it has been used for storage of industrial equipment but the decision of Goa’s DAA to use it for storing valuable antiquities is the first such in the country.
• The AAMS will ensure safety of antiquities, clean storage space, access control and data management and also enhance utilisation of space.
• The AAMS is placed at Goa’s DAA in Panaji.
• Hence both statements are correct.