Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 7, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Preparations are afoot for the 90th Interpol General Assembly that is to be held in the Indian capital later this year.

The arrangements for the event are being made by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in coordination with other government agencies.

• International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is the radio-telegraph code for the organisation.
• Interpol is an international police organisation made up of 195 member countries.
• It does not work under UN.
• It has enjoyed a special role – that of Permanent Observer at the United Nations - since 1996.
• It was founded in 1923 and is headquartered at Lyon, France.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

As the Quad grouping looks to track and address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Indo-Pacific, an ambitious effort to install the satellite-based Vehicle Monitoring System (VMS) for small fishing vessels (less than 20 metres) across the country’s coastline is still to be rolled out.

• Despite pilot studies being conducted, the project, conceived in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, remains stuck primarily due to two reasons.
• Fishermen don’t want to get tagged as they do not want any of their illegal activities recorded and they are sceptical that others will get to know of where there is good catch. Second is that fishing is a State subject and there are local politics involved.
• There is no legislation to force fishermen to install the transponders and efforts by the Ministry of Fisheries to table the Indian Marine Fisheries Bill, 2021 which covers this has repeatedly been delayed due to the opposition from the States and fishermen.
• The Quad grouping, comprising India, Australia, Japan and the U.S., announced at the Tokyo summit last month an ambitious Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative to track “dark shipping” and to build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters” integrating three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific.
• There are two main regulations globally on IUU fishing — the Cape Town Agreement (CTA) and the Agreement on Ports State Measures (PSMA) — and India is, so far, not a signatory to both agreements.
• The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is for bigger ships, which was made compulsory for all vessels above 20 metres after 26/11 by the National Committee on Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS).
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have been on a selling spree in India. May figures of about ₹44,000 crore formed the highest monthly quantum of sell-off since March 2020 when India announced a nationwide lockdown.

• Foreign portfolio investors are those that invest funds in markets outside of their home turf.
• Their investments typically include equities, bonds and mutual funds.
• They are generally not active shareholders and do not exert any control over the companies whose shares they hold. The passive nature of their investment also allows them to enter or exit a stock at will and with ease.
• Promise of attractive returns on the back of economic growth draws investors including FPIs into a country’s markets.

What impact does an FPI sell-off have?

• When FPIs sell their holdings and repatriate funds back to their home markets, the local currency takes a beating. As supply of the rupee in the market rises, its value declines.
• Their selling actions have triggered a significant decline in benchmark indices resulting in a drop in market capitalisation of companies.

Hence both statements are correct.

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the scheme ‘SHRESHTA.’ Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• This scheme is known as Scheme for residential education for students in High school in Targeted Areas.
• The scheme ‘SHRESHTA’ was created with the goal of providing quality education and opportunity to students of SC Category. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Its basic motive is to uplift the socio-economic status of the Scheduled Castes peoples by providing high quality education to their children in the best private residential schools in the country.
  • Admission will be provided in Class 9 and Class 11 of CBSE affiliated private schools.

• The National Wildlife Action Plan (2002-2016) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) stipulated that state governments should declare land falling within 10 km of the boundaries of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries as eco fragile zones or Eco Sensitive Zones (ESZs). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• ESZs are prescribed under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The purpose of declaring ESZs around national parks, forests and sanctuaries is to create some kind of a “shock absorber” for the protected areas.
• These zones would act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to those involving lesser protection.

• Recently, Devasthal Observatory campus owned by Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital in Uttarakhand has set-up the International Liquid-Mirror Telescope (ILMT).
• It has become the world's first Liquid-Mirror Telescope (LMT) to be commissioned for astronomy and also one of its kind to be operational anywhere in the world. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• A LMT is a stationary telescope whereas a conventional telescope moves along the direction of the object of interest in the sky. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• A LMT will survey and capture any and all possible celestial objects such as stars, galaxies, supernovae explosions, asteroids and even space debris. However, a conventional capture just a piece of sky at a given point of time.

• Kanger Valley National Park is located in the Bastar district (Near Jagdalpur) of the state of Chhattisgarh.Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• In 2016, the Odisha government was the first to recognise Community Forest Resources (CFRs) inside the Simlipal National Park. Now Chattisgarh has become the 2^nd state by providing such rights.Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The Kanger Valley National Park is also known as Kanger Ghati National Park.
• The national Park is situated in the valley of the river Kanger. The park derives its name from the Kanger River, which flows throughout its length. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The Park is a typical mixed humid deciduous type of forest, in which the Sal, Saugaun, teak and bamboo trees are available in abundance. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Petitioners in the Delhi High Court questioned why marital status, age, or gender were the criteria for being allowed to commission or not commission surrogacy in India.

• As per the Surrogacy Act that kicked in from January this year, a married couple can opt for surrogacy only on medical grounds.
• The law defines a couple as a married Indian “man and woman” and also prescribes an age-criteria with the woman being in the age group of 23 to 50 years and the man between 26 to 55 years.
• Additionally, the couple should not have a child of their own.
• Though the law allows single women to resort to surrogacy, she should either be a widow or a divorcee, between the age of 35 to 45 years. Single men are however, not eligible.

Hence both statements are correct.

A multinational peacekeeping exercise-Ex Khaan Quest 2022 featuring participation from military contingents from 16 countries including India commenced in Mongolia.

• President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh inaugurated the exercise.
• The Indian Army is represented by a contingent from the LADAKH SCOUTS.
• The 14-day exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability, building military to military relationships, and developing peace support operations and military readiness among participating nations.

Hence both statements are correct.

In conjunction with the World Environment Day that was observed on June 5, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and World Resources Institute (WRI) India, jointly announced ‘Leaders in Climate Change Management’ (LCCM), a practice-based learning program.

• To facilitate this face-to-face learning program, the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru, also singed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NIUA and WRI India, becoming the first delivery partner of the LCCM program.
• LCCM envisions capacitating 5,000 professionals, including mid to junior-level government officials and frontline workers, and preparing them to champion climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions towards a coordinated effort to achieve India’s climate commitments.
• At COP26 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a five-fold strategy – Panch Amrit – to global leaders, extending India’s co-operation to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius targets.
• The LCCM program, designed and implemented in partnership with the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) and Indian School of Business (ISB), aims to strengthen India’s workforce to achieve this goal.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.