Daily Current Affairs MCQ - February 10, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card.

• The Rajapaksa government will “prioritise” the implementation of the Framework as a national level programme, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet decided.
• Under the proposed Unitary Digital Identity Framework, it is expected to introduce a personal identity verification device based on biometric data, a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices.
• The initiative follows bilateral talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019.
• It also comes amid substantive economic assistance from India — totalling $ 1.4 billion since the beginning of this year — to Sri Lanka, to help the island nation cope with its dollar crunch, and import food, medicines and fuel amid frequent shortages.
• While India has confirmed support for Sri Lanka’s effort to transition to a digital identity system, there is no official information yet on the value of the grant, and whether it would include technological support or training.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Haryana Cabinet approved the draft of the Haryana Prevention of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2022.

• It seeks to prohibit religious conversion effected through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage, by making it an offence.
• According to the draft Bill, the burden of proof “lies on the accused”. The draft Bill will now be tabled before the Assembly.
• The Bill, on the lines of recent anti-conversion laws passed in other States, proposes to make conversion by marriage an offence.
• It also prescribes higher punishment for conversion of minors, women, and members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
• The burden of proof as to whether a conversion was not affected through misrepresentation, use of force, under threat, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage or for marriage for the purpose of carrying out conversion lies on the accused.
• The draft Bill provides for declaring marriages null and void, which were solemnized by concealment of religion.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Culture, Government of India will organize a first of its kind, 2-Day Global Summit on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’, on 15-16 February 2022.

• The summit is being organized under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the flagship program to mark 75th anniversary of India’s independence and celebrate the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements.
• The Global Summit will bring together leading luminaries, domain experts and practitioners in the field of museum development and management from India and around the world to discuss best practices and strategies. The Summit is being organised in partnership with Bloomberg.
• An outcome of this knowledge sharing will include creation of a blueprint for development of new museums, nurture a renewal framework, and reinvigorate existing museums in India.
• The online summit will encompass four broad themes: Architecture and Functional Needs; Management; Collections (including Curation & Conservation practices); and, Education and Audience Engagement.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare has commenced the work for creating various agricultural services built around a core layer of Farmers’ Database (Agristack) in India.

• In order to create Agristack, the department is in the process of finalising the “India Digital Ecosystem of Agriculture (IDEA)” which lays down a framework for building Agristacks.
• This Ecosystem shall help the Government in effective planning towards increasing the income of farmers in particular and improving the efficiency of the Agriculture sector, as a whole.
• As a first step, in this direction, the Government has already initiated building federated farmers’ database that would serve as the core of the envisaged Agristack.
• At present, proposed farmers’ database will include the farmers registered under the PM-Kisan Scheme.
• Hence both statements are correct.

• Marine heatwaves are periods of extremely high temperatures in the ocean.
• These events are linked to coral bleaching, seagrass destruction, and loss of kelp forests, affecting the fisheries sector adversely.
  • Study showed that 85% of the corals in the Gulf of Mannar near the Tamil Nadu coast got bleached after the marine heatwave in May 2020.
• The most common drivers of marine heatwaves include ocean currents which can build up areas of warm water and air-sea heat flux, or warming through the ocean surface from the atmosphere.
• Impacts of Marine Heatwaves:
  • Affect Ecosystem Structure: Marine heat waves affect ecosystem structure, by supporting certain species and suppressing others.
  • Change Habitat Ranges of Certain Species: Marine heatwaves can change the habitat ranges of certain species, such as the spiny sea urchin off southeastern Australia which has been expanding southward into Tasmania at the expense of kelp forests which it feeds upon.
  • Affect Biodiversity: Biodiversity can be drastically affected by marine heatwaves.
  • Increase the Risk of Deoxygenation and Acidification: Often they occur alongside other stressors such as ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and overfishing.
    • In such cases, MHWs not only further damage habitats, but also increase the risk of deoxygenation and acidification.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• Nai Roshni-a Leadership Development Programme for Minority Women is a Central Sector Scheme for women belonging to minority communities in the age group of 18 to 65 years. It was started in 2012-13.
  • The objective of the scheme is to empower and instill confidence among minority women, including their neighbours from other communities living in the same village/locality, by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and other institutions at all levels. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It is run with the help of NGOs, Civil societies and Government Institutions all over the country.
• The ‘Nai Manzil’ scheme aims to benefit the youth (both men & women) belonging to six notified minority communities of 17-35 years of age, who do not have formal school leaving certificate, i.e., those in the category of school –dropouts or educated in community education institutions like Madrasas. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Usttad (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/Crafts for Development): The scheme aims to preserve the rich heritage of traditional arts/crafts of minorities. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• Recently, the Central government has released the Central Media Accreditation Guidelines-2022.
• Provisions to Withdraw/Suspend Accreditation:
  • If a journalist acts in a manner prejudicial to the country’s security, sovereignty and integrity, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or is charged with a serious cognisable offence. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • If actions are prejudicial to decency, or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence.
    • Accredited media persons have been prohibited from using the words “Accredited to the government of India” on public/social media profile, visiting cards, letter heads or on any other form or any published work.
• Provisions for Granting Accreditation:
  • Accreditation is only available for journalists living in the Delhi NCR region. There are multiple categories.
  • A journalist needs to have a minimum five years’ professional experience as a full-time working journalist or a cameraperson in a news organisation, or a minimum of 15 years as a freelancer to become eligible.
    • Veteran journalists, with over 30 years of experience, and who are older than 65 years of age, too are eligible.
  • A newspaper or a periodical needs to have a minimum daily circulation of 10,000, and news agencies must have at least 100 subscribers. Similar rules apply for foreign news organisations and foreign journalists.
  • Journalists working with digital news platforms are also eligible, provided the website has a minimum of 10 lakh unique visitors per month.
  • No accreditation will be granted to freelance journalists working for foreign news media organisations. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

Virat, Darmi and Heena were awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation on the eve of Army Day on January 15 for their exemplary service.

• Virat is a horse with the President’s Bodyguard (PBG), while Darmi and Heena are Army dogs.
• Virat, a Hanoverian breed, was issued to the PBG on September 12, 2000. He performed his duties as the Commandant’s charger for over a decade and awed spectators, including foreign dignitaries, with his trademark poise and confidence, an official said.
• The Army has eight different trades of dogs: tracker, guard, mine detection, explosive detection, infantry patrol, avalanche rescue operations, search and rescue, assault and narcotic detection.
• Darmi was pressed into service for a search and rescue operation at a post on the Siachen Glacier on April 25 last year.
• Heena, a Labrador retriever, is a tracker aged five years and is highly loyal, even-tempered, intelligent, obedient and exceptionally reliable.
• Hence both statements are correct.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that she was “profoundly shocked” as West Bengal’s tableau for the Republic Day parade “was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications.”

• Around September every year the Defence Ministry, which is responsible for the Republic Day parade and the celebrations, invites all the states, the Union Territories, Central Government departments, and a few constitutional authorities to participate in the parade through tableaux.
• The proposals had to be submitted by September 27, and the shortlisting of the proposals began in the second week of October.
• The participants have to showcase elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The theme given to participants this year was around 75 years of India’s Independence.
• The participants have to showcase elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The theme given to participants this year was around 75 years of India’s Independence.
• The Defence Ministry constitutes an expert committee of distinguished persons from fields like art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography, etc, who help in shortlisting the tableaux from the proposals.
• Hence both statements are correct.

In 2020, resignation rates across the US plummeted due to the fear and uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

• However, one year later, as the workforce experienced a collective burnout, individuals left their jobs at unprecedented rates, leading some to describe the phenomenon as the Great Resignation.
• In November 2021, 4.5 million workers left their jobs according to the US Labor Department. This matched record numbers observed in September and accounted for 3 per cent of the workforce quitting their jobs each month.
• Estimates indicate that in total, 75.5 million people in America resigned in 2021.
• Low-wage workers were more likely to resign than their higher-paid counterparts with the sectors most affected including hospitality, healthcare and social assistance, and transportation, warehousing, and utilities.
• The Great Resignation has largely been fuelled by burnout, but other factors also include the shift to working from home and the desire to move into a more stable profession.
• In light of these resignations, the labour market has incentivised companies to offer better benefits and higher salaries.

Indian scenario

• In India, the situation is not as dire but still cause for concern. Following the Great Resignation, the IT and technology sector is hiring at unprecedented rates with the top five IT companies hiring around 1.7 lakh people in 2021.
• Not only are people in the workforce changing jobs, but according to a September 2021 survey by Amazon India, nearly 51 per cent of job seekers are looking for opportunities in industries where they have little to no experience.
• Hence both statements are correct.