Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 17, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Indian Navy demonstrated its maritime maneuvers in U.S. Navy-led Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) military exercise in Singapore.

• The military exercise also included navies of 20 other partner nations as well.
• The maritime exercise aimed to foster enhanced cooperation between Southeast Asian countries by incorporating tactics, standardized training, and procedures to combat contingencies or illegal activities in the maritime domain.
• Notably, the exercise featured a maritime operations center based out of the International Fusion Centre in Singapore, which will serve as a centralised hub for crisis coordination and information sharing of suspicious vessels during the simulation.
• SEACAT began in 2002 as “Southeast Asia Cooperation Against Terrorism” and this is the 20th iteration of the exercise. In 2020, the event was conducted as part of a virtual symposium amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vehicle scrappage policy with an aim to phase out old and unfit vehicles in an environment-friendly manner. The goal for 21st century India to be Clean, Congestion Free & Convenient Mobility, is the need of the hour," Modi said.

• As per law, a registration certificate for a passenger vehicle is valid for 15 years from date of issue. For a commercial vehicle, it is valid for a period of 10 years.
• The scrappage policy will come into effect after the expiry of this 10 or 15 year period. The vehicle will then have to undergo a mandatory fitness test.
• As per the motor vehicle law, renewal of fitness certificate annually is mandatory for a commercial vehicle once it is older than eight years. For the first eight years, such vehicles will need to undergo the test after every two years.
• If a vehicle passes the fitness test then it will have to repeat the same after every 5 years to keep a check. A valid fitness certificate will be necessary for renewal of registration certificates after 15 years. The renewed certificate will be issued for a period of 5 years in case of private vehicles.

Incentives for scrapping old vehicles

• Firstly, owners of such vehicles will get a scrap value which will be equivalent to 4 per cent to 6 per cent of the ex-showroom price of the new vehicle that they would be purchasing.
• Secondly, there will be zero registration fees for new vehicle purchased if the owner shows a certificate of deposit.
• Thirdly, state governments have been asked to offer concessions on motor vehicle tax. The concessions include up to 25 per cent for non-transport vehicles and up to 15 per cent for transport vehicles.
• Fourthly, vehicle manufacturers have been advised to provide 5 per cent discount on purchase of new vehicle against certificate of deposit.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Ministry of Environment has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, which prohibits identified single use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.

• In the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India had piloted a resolution on addressing single-use plastic products pollution, recognizing the urgent need for the global community to focus on this very important issue.
• The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022:
  • ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [Thermocol] for decoration;
  • plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers.
• In order to stop littering due to light weight plastic carry bags, with effect from 30th September, 2021, the thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to seventy five microns and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022.
• The plastic packaging waste, which is not covered under the phase out of identified single use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility of the Producer, importer and Brand owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
• For effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility the Guidelines for Extended Producer Responsibility being brought out have been given legal force through Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry chaired a meeting for the review of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) initiative of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

• ONDC is globally first-of-its-kind initiative that aims to democratise Digital Commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network.
• As UPI is to the digital payment domain, ONDC is to e-commerce in India.
• ONDC will enable, buyers and sellers to be digitally visible and transact through an open network. no matter what platform/application they use.
• ONDC will empower merchants and consumers by breaking silos to form a single network to drive innovation and scale, transforming all businesses from retail goods, food to mobility
• ONDC will be compliant with the Information Technology Act, 2000 and designed for compliance with the emerging Personal Data Protection Bill.

Hence both statements are correct.

The ‘incel’ movement, a dangerous online subculture comprising men who identify as ‘involuntary celibates’ and regularly express deeply misogynistic views about women, is slowly becoming a threat to law and order, experts have warned.

• Incels are a largely online community of men who describe themselves as “involuntary celibates. Men who are part of this movement harbour a deep resentment towards both women and other men who are sexually active.
• The blame women for their own lack of sexual and social status. While views tend to vary, some believe that sex is their right — something that is owed to them by virtue of them being males.
• An extreme section of Incels even advocate violence against women.

What are the ‘red pill’ and ‘black pill’ mentalities promoted by incels?

• The ‘black pill’ theory, often associated with incels, promotes the defeatist idea that your fate is sealed at birth and no matter what changes you try to make, your sexual capital cannot be altered
• ‘Red pillers’, on the other hand, believe the world is biased toward women, and see feminism as female supremacy. They believe there is a systemic bias in favour of women.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ahead of India’s 75th Independence Day, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney from New York has reintroduced a legislation in the US House of Representatives to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to Mahatma Gandhi for his contributions made through his methods of non-violence.

• If given the award, Gandhi would become the first Indian to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest civilian award in the US and has been awarded to the 1980 US summer Olympics team, Robert F. Kennedy, Nelson Mandela and George Washington among many others.
• In every session of the Congress, the legislation to award Congressional Gold Medals are introduced. Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Indian flag was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on July 22, 1947.

• The first national flag, which consisted of three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green, is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, at the Parsee Bagan Square, near Lower Circular Road, in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
• Later, in 1921, freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya met Mahatma Gandhi and proposed a basic design of the flag, consisting of two red and green bands.
• After undergoing several changes, the Tricolour was adopted as our national flag at a Congress Committee meeting in Karachi in 1931.
• The earliest rules for the display of the national flag were originally governed by the provisions of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
• In 2002, the Flag Code of India came into effect which allowed the unrestricted display of the Tricolour as long as the honour and dignity of the flag were being respected.
• The flag code did not replace the pre-existing rules governing the correct display of the flag; it was, however, an effort to bring together all the previous laws, conventions and practices.
• The Flag Code of 2002 is divided into three parts — a general description of the tricolour, rules on display of the flag by public and private bodies and educational institutions, and rules for display of the flag by governments and government bodies.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 75 'Vande Bharat' trains will connect different parts of the country in 75 weeks to mark the ongoing 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'.

• Vande Bharat— the indigenous semi-high speed train set — is being given a boost, with the Railways gearing to roll out at least 10 of them, linking around 40 cities, by August 2022 to commemorate 75 years of Independence.
• Hyderabad-based engineering firm, Medha, which in February secured the contract to supply the electrical systems for 44 Vande Bharat trains, has now been told to advance its production plan, so that at least two prototypes can be rolled out by next March following all trials.

Hence both statements are correct.

India added another feather in its cap when four more sites - two each from Haryana and Gujarat - were recognised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

• Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary in Jhajjar (both in Haryana) have been added to the list this year.
• Apart from that, Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat too have now become a paert of the convention.
• Haryana's Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary is a human-made freshwater wetland. It is also the largest in Haryana.
• The Sultanpur National Park supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles.
• The Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat lies on the Central Asian Flyway and more than 320 bird species can be found here.
• Meanwhile, the Wadhvana Wetland in Gujarat is internationally important for its birdlife as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.
• The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.
• It came into force for India on February 1, 1982. Those wetlands which are of international importance are declared as Ramsar sites.
• Last year, Ramsar declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of international importance.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

On India’s 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will launch ‘PM Gati Shakti Master Plan’, a Rs. 100 lakh-crore project for developing ‘holistic infrastructure’.

• In his speech, PM Modi pegged the project as a source of employment opportunities for the youth in future.
• The Gati Shakti plan will help raise the global profile of local manufacturers and help them compete with their counterparts worldwide. It also raises possibilities of new future economic zones.
• More details and the launch date of the project are awaited. Other significant announcements include the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission and the opening up Sainik Schools for girls.

Hence both statements are correct.