Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 26, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent bi-partisan commission, has recommended for the second year in a row that the State Department put India on a list (‘Countries of Particular Concern’ or CPCs) for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020.

• One of the 10 USCIRF commissioners presented a dissenting view.
• The USCISRF recommended that the administration impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for “severe violations of religious freedom”.
• A second recommendation was for the administration to promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at bilateral and multilateral forums “such as the ministerial of the Quadrilateral [the Quad]”.
• Another recommendation — to the U.S. Congress — was to raise issues in the U.S.-India bilateral space, such as by hosting hearings, writing letters and constituting Congressional delegations.
• The USCIRF recommendations are non-binding and the Trump administration had rejected the USCIRF recommendation to designate India a CPC last year, when it released its own determinations in December.
• The key concerns of the 2021 report include the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for appointment of retired judges as ad-hoc judges in High Courts under Article 224A of the Constitution to deal with mounting backlog of cases.

• Terming pendency of around 57 lakh cases in High Courts as “docket explosion”, the Supreme Court activated a “dormant” constitutional provision to pave way for appointment of retired High Court judges as ad-hoc ones for a period of two to three years to clear backlog.
• Article 224A , used rarely, of the Constitution deals with appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts.
• It says “the Chief Justice of a High Court for any State may at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of a Judge of that Court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a Judge of the High Court for that State”.
• A bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices S.K. Kaul and Surya Kant issued a slew of guidelines pertaining to issues such as tenure, salary, perks, etc, and their role in adjudicating cases.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Russia’s space agency said it hoped to launch its own orbital station in 2025 as Moscow considers withdrawing from the International Space Station programme to go it alone.

• Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said work had begun on the first module of a new station, after officials warned that Russia was considering pulling out of the ISS, one of the few successful examples of cooperation with the West.
• The announcement came with tensions soaring with the West.
• Launched in 1998 and involving Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency, the ISS is one of the most ambitious international collaborations in human history.
• Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said in recent days that Moscow was considering whether to leave the ISS programme from 2025 because of the station’s age. Roscosmos said that a decision on quitting the ISS had not yet been made.
• Russia lost its monopoly for manned flights to the ISS last year after the first successful mission of U.S. company Space X.
• Despite its much-lauded history — Russia this month marked the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in orbit — the country’s space programme has struggled in recent years as president Putin is more interested in military technology than space exploration.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

While speaking at the annual Boao Forum, China’s President Xi Jinping said that global rules cannot be imposed “by one or a few countries”.

• Headquartered in China, the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is an international organization jointly initiated by 29 member states.
• BFA holds its annual conference in Boao, Hainan on a regular basis.
• The founding purpose of BFA was to promote economic integration in Asia. Its mission now is to pool positive energy for the development of Asia and the world.
• The first conference of BFA was held on Feb. 26-27, 2001 in Boao, Hainan Province, China.
• The forum, sometimes known as the “Asian Davos” is modelled on the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland.
• Its fixed address is in Bo'ao, Hainan province, China, although the Secretariat is based in Beijing.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is the first Political party in the country that has declared the name of the entity which made donations to it through electoral bonds, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a poll rights group, said.

• A declaration of a ₹1 crore donation was made in the party’s 2019-20 contribution report, it added.
• According to the contribution report of the ruling party in Jharkhand, the donation was made by aluminium and copper manufacturing company Hindalco.
• The ADR, in a new report, said the most common source of income for national and regional political parties in 2019-20 were donations through electoral bonds.
• Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
• Given the anonymity provided to donors by the scheme, electoral bonds have emerged as the most popular channel of donations to parties in the last two years

These bonds are redeemable in the designated account of a registered political party. The bonds are available for purchase by any person (who is a citizen of India or incorporated or established in India) for a period of ten days each in the months of January, April, July and October as may be specified by the Central Government. A person being an individual can buy bonds, either singly or jointly with other individuals. Donor’s name is not mentioned on the bond.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Cabinet has approved Bangalore Metro Rail Project Phase 2A (Central Silk Board Junction to K.R. Puram) and Phase 2B (K.R. Puram to Airport via Hebbal Junction) of total length 58.19 km. The total completion cost of the project is Rs. 14,788.101 Crore.

• The project will streamline the urban transportation system in Bengaluru, which is stressed due to intensive developments, increase in the number of private vehicles and heavy construction in the city putting stress on travel infrastructure.
• The Metro Project in itself is an innovation over the conventional system of urban transport.
• The project involves integration with other urban transport system in an efficient and effective manner which is possible only by adopting innovative methods of designing, technology and institutional management.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Union Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval for the Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 (enacted on 28th March, 2021 as the Finance Act, 2021).

• The amendments were essential to clarify and rationalise the proposals further and address stakeholders concerns arising out of amendments proposed in the Finance Bill.
• The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 shall provide equity and inclusiveness to all the taxpayers by addressing stakeholders concerns arising out of amendments proposed in the Bill.
• The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 are tax proposals which shall generate timely revenue for the Government and streamline existing provisions by addressing grievances of the taxpayers.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Cabinet has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for the formulation of exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through coal gasification route by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).

• Considering the strategic energy security and urea self-sufficiency of the country, looking into the country's vast coal reserves, it has been decided go ahead with Talcher Fertilizer Limited plant based on coal gasification technology.
• The project shall improve availability of fertilizer to farmers thereby boosting development of eastern region and will save transport subsidy for supply of urea in eastern part of the country.
• It would assist in reducing Urea imports to the tune of 12.7 LMT per annum leading to savings in foreign exchange.
• Talcher Fertilizers Ltd. (TFL) is a Joint Venture Company of four PSUs namely Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), GAIL (India) Ltd. (GAIL), Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) which was incorporated on 13th November, 2015.
• TFL is reviving the erstwhile Talcher plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) by setting up a now greenfield Urea Plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Ton per annum (LMTPA). The estimated project cost of the TFL Urea project is 13277.21 Crore (+/-10%).

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

A day after the Czech Republic expelled 18 Russian diplomats, Russia retaliated by announcing it would send back 20 Czech diplomats, exacerbating relations that have already been strained in recent times.

• Prague had accused Russian embassy officials of being intelligence operatives, and said that it suspected them of being involved in a 2014 explosion at an arms depot that left two dead.
• The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe.
• It is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the east.
• Its Capital is Prague.

History of Czech Republic

• In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized, and in 1918 most of it became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I.
• After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands.
• Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948.
• In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country, and on 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia dissolved with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Using a new platform, scientists have developed a Covid-19 vaccine that they say could offer protection against not only existing and future strains of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but also other coronaviruses.

• The new vaccine-production platform was invented by Dr Steven L Zeichner of the University of Virginia Health System (UVA). It involves synthesising DNA that directs the production of a piece of the virus. This can instruct the immune system how to mount an immune response against the virus.
• The vaccine targets a part of the virus’s spike protein called the fusion peptide. This compound is essentially universal among coronaviruses, and has not been observed to differ at all in the many genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from around the world.
• Most vaccines in development target either the entire spike protein, or just the receptor binding domain (RBD). While antibodies against the RBD can provide good neutralising activity, there can be mutations in the RBD that decrease somewhat the effectiveness of the antibodies.

Hence both statements are correct.