Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 11, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the value of a Member of Parliament (MP) vote is likely to fall from 708 to 700 in the presidential elections scheduled for July.

• Under the Constitution of India (Article 52), there shall always be a President of India, holding the highest elective office in the country.
• The President holds office for a period of five years from the date on which s/he enters upon her/his office. Accordingly, an election is held before the expiration of the term of the incumbent President.
• S/he is elected in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Presidential and vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952. The said Act is supplemented by the provisions of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Rules, 1974.
• Therefore, the President is elected by an Electoral College (Article 54), which consists of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all the States and also UTs of NCT of Delhi and Puducherry (now J&K also).
• Under Article 324 of the Constitution of India, the authority to conduct elections to the Office of President is vested in the Election Commission of India (ECI).
• As per Article 55(3) of the Constitution of India, the election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.

Hence both statements are not correct.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently released a list of 169 names of future tropical cyclones that would emerge in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

• The WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) panel on tropical cyclones was founded in 1972.
• It was formed to promote and coordinate the measures to minimize loss of life and material damage caused by tropical cyclones and associated floods and storm surges in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
• In 2000, the WMO/ESCAP decided to start naming cyclones in the Asia Pacific region, when it comprised of Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
• After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.
• The WMO/ESCAP later expanded to include five more countries in 2018 — Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
• The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD, in April 2020 were provided by these countries — 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Environment Ministry has approved an exemption to the laws governing the regulation of coastal zones and has paved the way for gas-powered plants to be set up on the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

• The Island Coastal Zone Regulation (ICRZ), 2019, limits infrastructure development on vulnerable coastal stretches.
• The National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) has recommended that gas-based power plants be permitted within the Island Coastal Regulation Zone area only on islands with geographical areas greater than 100 sq. km.
• Following visits by the NTPC personnel, a dual-fuel power plant that runs on both diesel and LNG is expected to be commissioned.
• There has been an increased interest in the development of the Andaman region following a policy push by the NITI Aayog. A proposed project plans to develop the Greater Andaman region or the southernmost stretch of the island group.
• Proposals include a 22-sq.km airport complex, a transshipment port (TSP) at South Bay at an estimated cost of ₹12,000 crore, a parallel-to-the-coast mass rapid transport system and a free trade zone and warehousing complex on the southwestern coast.

Hence both statements are correct.

With the quantity of information available on the internet growing steadily, search algorithms are becoming increasingly complex, raising privacy and other concerns and drawing the attention of regulators.

• Last month, U.K.’s digital watchdog said they will take a closer look at algorithms, seeking views on the benefits and risks of how sites and apps use algorithms, as well as inputs on auditing algorithms, the current landscape and the role of regulators.
• An algorithm, essentially, is a series of instructions. It can be used to perform a calculation, find answers to a question or solve a problem. Search engines use a number of algorithms to perform different functions prior to displaying relevant results to an individual’s search request.
• Tech giant Alphabet Inc’s Google, whose flagship product is the Google search engine, is the dominant player in the search market.
• Algorithms are often built using historical data and for specific functions. Once developed, they go through frequent updates from companies for quality enhancement.
• Any changes or updates in their algorithms could also mean that traffic is steered away from certain sites and businesses, which could have a negative effect on their revenue.
• Firms can use these algorithms to change the way they rank products on websites, prioritising their own products and excluding competitors. Some of these concerns have caught the eye of regulators.

Hence both statements are correct.

• They are not sacrosanct or permanent and the Parliament can curtail or repeal them but only by a constitutional amendment act. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The rights are not absolute but qualified.
• The state can impose reasonable restrictions on them, however, the reasonability of the restrictions is decided by the courts.
• The rights are justiciable and allow persons to move the courts for their enforcement, if and when they are violated. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Any aggrieved person can directly go to the Supreme Court in case of violation of any fundamental right.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY):

• The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched to create a universal social security system for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.
  • It is an initiative of the Government to provide financial security and cover future exigencies for the people in the unorganized sector. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• It is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through the National Pension System (NPS). Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• This scheme is open to all bank account holders in the age group of 18 to 40 years and the contributions differ, based on the pension amount chosen. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• Subscribers would receive the guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 or Rs. 2000 or Rs. 3000 or Rs. 4000 or Rs. 5000 at the age of 60 years, based on the contributions made by the subscriber after joining the scheme.
• The minimum pension would be guaranteed by the Government, i.e., if the accumulated corpus based on contributions earns a lower than estimated return on investment and is inadequate to provide the minimum guaranteed pension, the Central Government would fund such inadequacy.
  • Alternatively, if the returns on investment are higher, the subscribers would get enhanced pensionary benefits.
• Subscribers can make contributions to APY on a monthly/ quarterly/half-yearly basis.

Morley-Minto Reforms 1909:

• The reforms included the admission of Indians to the Secretary of State's council, to the viceroy's executive council, and to the executive councils of Bombay and Madras, and the introduction of an elected element into legislative councils with provision for separate electorates for Muslims.
  • The reforms were regarded by Indian nationalists as too cautious, and the provision of separate electorates for Muslims was resented by Hindu.
• The legislative councils at the Centre and the provinces were increased in size. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The Act increased the maximum additional membership of the Imperial Legislative Council from 16 to 60.
• Indians were given membership to the Imperial Legislative Council for the first time. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• It introduced separate electorates for the Muslims.
• Some constituencies were earmarked for Muslims and only Muslims could vote for their representatives.
• Satyendra P Sinha was appointed the first Indian member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council.

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was a great social reformer and educationist who provided exemplary leadership to India's freedom movement.
• Role in Colonial Legislatures:
  • Between 1899 and 1902, he was a member of the Bombay Legislative Council followed by work at the Imperial Legislative Council from 1902 till his death (1915).
  • At the Imperial legislature, Gokhale played a key role in framing the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Role in INC:
  • He was associated with the Moderate Group of Indian National Congress (joined in 1889). Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • He became president of INC in 1905 in Banaras session.
  • This was the time when bitter differences had arisen between his group of ‘Moderates’ and the ‘Extremists’ led by Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak among others. The two factions split at the Surat session of 1907.
  • Despite the ideological difference, in 1907, he intensely campaigned for the release of Lala Lajpat Rai, who was imprisoned that year by the British at Mandalay in present-day Myanmar.
• Related Societies and Other Works:
  • He established the Servants of India Society in 1905 for the expansion of Indian education.
  • He was also associated with the Sarvajanik sabha journal started by Govind Ranade.
  • In 1908, Gokhale founded the Ranade Institute of Economics.
  • He started English weekly newspaper, The Hitavada (The people's paper). Hence, statement 3 is correct.

In case of disputes relating to waters, Article 262 provides:

Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.

Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in Clause (1).

While water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments and storage fall in the State List, issues like development of inter-state rivers come under the Union List.

Depreciation in the rupee impacts all expenditure in dollar terms— imports, foreign education, travel, investments abroad, medical treatment etc. On the other hand, if you are an exporter or an NRI sending money back home, depreciation would fetch you more rupees per dollar.

A depreciating rupee increases the cost of crude import. A rise in cost of crude raises fuel prices and inflation. That, in turn, leads to a rise in interest rates, which increases our borrowing cost.