Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 21, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

NITI Aayog and the Department of Science & Technology (DST) have kicked off deliberations with stakeholders on developing an open source battery management system (BMS) for two- and three-wheeler Electric Vehicles (EVs).

FAME-II Scheme:

• Launched in 2015, the Fame India scheme is an incentive scheme that encourages the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.
• The full form of FAME India scheme is “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles in India”.
• In 2019, the Central government approved Phase-II of FAME Scheme with an outlay of Rs. 10,000 Crore for a period of 3 years.
• Earlier this year, it was extended to March 31, 2024.
• Phase-II aims to generate demand by way of supporting 7000 e-Buses, 5 lakh e-3 Wheelers, 55000 e-4 Wheeler Passenger Cars (including Strong Hybrid) and 10 lakh e-2 Wheelers.
• Nearly 2 lakh vehicles have been supported under the FAME-II scheme.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Cryptocurrency investors are increasingly looking at ways to protect their assets from being stolen. One particular way to get your money back even if an unfortunate incident takes place is through crypto insurance.

• Crypto insurance is a policy designed to protect investors against any losses associated with crypto scams and cyber-attacks. Most exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, etc., already have some insurance to protect the digital assets they hold for their customers.
• Cryptocurrency isn’t a legal tender. So, crypto insurance is different from that you can avail for your stocks, bonds or any other bank insurance. In short, it is not protected the same way other deposits might be.
• In August 2021, hackers pulled off one of the biggest ever cryptocurrency heists stealing $613 million in digital coins from token-swapping platform Poly Network. This rising trend has given birth to crypto insurance.
• Notably, crypto insurances can only cover hacks or crypto thefts. It is designed to cover institutional losses. But it can’t insure you if you fall trapped in a Ponzi scheme which promises high returns with no risks.
• The crypto insurance policy doesn’t cover direct hardware loss and damage and cryptocurrency transfer to a third party. Additionally, it won’t be able to protect against the disruption of the blockchain underlying the asset.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Malaysia’s government has said it will abolish the ‘mandatory’ death penalty — the required execution of individuals convicted of certain crimes. Once the government’s decision comes into effect, lesser punishments can be given for these crimes.

• In some countries (like Malaysia until now), the death sentence is imposed as the mandatory or only punishment for certain crimes. In Malaysia, terrorist acts, murder, and rape resulting in death carry the mandatory death penalty.
• A judge does not have the discretion to give a lesser punishment, or to consider aspects such as the circumstances in which the crime was committed or of the defendant before handing out the sentence.

Which countries have the mandatory death penalty?

• Barring a few exceptions and certain specific offences, most countries allow capital punishment to be reduced to a life sentence or alternative sentences.
• Some Islamic nations have the punishment for blasphemy, the offence of contempt against God or other sacred objects or people in a faith.
• India is among the countries that persist with the death penalty as the maximum punishment, but it is not mandatory for any crime.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda has said that the government has started a scheme, "Pradhan Mantri Aadi Adarsh Gram Yojana" for faster development of tribal villages.

• The focus of the scheme is on converging different programs of 41 ministries in the tribal villages to ensure their all-round development.
• Aim of the program is to turn the focus on such remote and backward villages of the country which are lagging behind due to lack of attention. Efforts are also being made to ensure the geo-tagging of and market linkages for the tribal products through TRIFED.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has curtailed the tenure of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) and moved him to the Border Security Force (BSF).

• Earlier this year, Mr. Gupta was given an extension as NATGRID CEO as the post was upgraded to the rank of Additional Secretary. He is a 1989 batch IPS officer.
• NATGRID is an online database for collating scattered pieces of information from more than 20 organisations in the field of telecom, tax records, bank, immigration, etc. to enable the generation of intelligence inputs.
• At least 10 central agencies like IB, R&AW and others will have access to the data on a secured platform for counter-terror investigations.
• The project was started in 2009 in the aftermath of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Hence both statements are correct.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Greece to demilitarise islands in the Aegean Sea.

• The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast.
• The vast majority of the Aegean Islands belong to Greece. The only sizable possessions of Turkey in the Aegean Sea are Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada), in the northeastern part of the Sea.

Dispute

• Greece and Turkey are NATO allies, but the neighboring countries have a history of disputes over a range of issues, including mineral exploration in the eastern Mediterranean and rival claims in the Aegean Sea.
• Turkey argues the islands were ceded to Greece on the condition they remained demilitarized.
• Greece maintains Turkey has deliberately misinterpreted the treaties and says it has legal grounds to defend itself following hostile actions by Turkey.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

In June 2022, the West Bengal Assembly passed the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill paving the way for making the Chief Minister the Chancellor of universities run by the state government, replacing the Governor from the position. Ironically, the Bill will become law only after it receives Governor’s assent.

• The appointment of Vice-Chancellors in state government-run universities is among the responsibilities of Governors as Chancellors.
• Chancellors in most states have the power to annul decisions of the decision-making bodies of universities such as the Executive Council, and to make appointments to these bodies.
• They also enjoy the power to preside over the convocation of universities.
• In some states, however, Governors have little or no say in appointing VCs despite holding the post of Chancellor. In Telangana and Gujarat, Governors have no option but to appoint VCs from among the names approved by the state governments.

How are similar disputes playing out in other states?

• The move by the Mamata Banerjee government has once again brought to the fore similar disputes playing out in Opposition-ruled states such as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which too have curtailed the authority enjoyed by Governors as Chancellors.
• While no attempt has been made to officially designate the CM as Chancellor in any other state, Tamil Nadu in April passed two Bills that seek to transfer the power of the Governor to appoint VCs of 13 state universities to the state government, which is currently run by the DMK.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Financial Act Task Force (FATF)

• It is an inter-governmental body that was established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris in 1989. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It assesses the strength of a country’s anti-money laundering and anti-terror financing frameworks, however, it does not go by individual cases.
• Its objective is to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
• Its Secretariat is located at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris.
• The FATF currently has 39 members including two regional organisations - the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council. India is a member of the FATF.
• Lists under FATF:
  • Grey List:
    • Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list.
    • This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
  • Black List:
    • Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities.
    • The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.
    • As of 2022, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are under High-risk Jurisdiction or black list. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• World Wide Web (WWW), which is also known as a Web (1.0), is a collection of websites or web pages stored in web servers and connected to local computers through the internet.
  • it was invented by Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist, in 1989, while working at CERN (Switzerland). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Web 2.0 is the second stage of evolution of the Web where users could now communicate with servers and other users leading to the creation of the social web.
  • This is the world wide web that we use today. It is also known as “Read & Write” Internet. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• Web 3.0, is an evolving term that is used to refer to the next generation of the Internet – a “read-write-execute” web – with decentralization as its bedrock.
  • It speaks about a digital world, built by leveraging blockchain technology, where people are able to interact with each other without the need for an intermediary. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas is called desertification. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations.
  • It does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems - which cover over one third of the world's land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed every year on 17^th of June.
  • On this day, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) organized Desertification and Drought Day.
  • This Year’s Theme: “Rising up from drought together.” Hence statement 2 is correct.
    • It emphasizes the need for early action to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and the planetary ecosystems.