Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 23, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Director General VS Pathania, took over as the 24th Chief of Indian Coast Guard on 31 Dec 21. He is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and National Defence College, New Delhi.

• It is an armed force that protects India's maritime interests and enforces maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone.
• It was formally established in 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 as an independent Armed force of India.
• It operates under the Ministry of Defence.
• The organization is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG).
• Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) is located at New Delhi.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Contract for construction of 50 Ton Bollard Pull Tugs was concluded with M/s Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Visakhapatnam on 14 Feb 2019 at a cost of Rs. 260.70 Crores.

• Third tug in the series, “Balraj” has been delivered to Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam on 31 Dec 2021.
• Tugs “Veeran” and “Balram” have been inducted on 22 Oct 21 and 30 Oct 21 at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam and Naval Dockyard, Mumbai respectively.
• These tugs have been designed and built under the classification rules of Indian Register for Shipping (IRS) with a service life of 20 years and are capable of assisting large naval ships, including Aircraft Carrier and Submarines in berthing, un-berthing, turning and manoeuvering in confined waters and in harbour.
• They also provide afloat firefighting cover/assistance to ships alongside/anchorage and have limited capability for Search and Rescue operations.
• Induction of 50Ton Bollard Pull Tugs has significantly augmented the auxiliary support services and enhanced the capability to meet high operational requirements of Fleet assets of Indian Navy.

Hence both statements are correct.

Finance Ministry has decided to extend the benefit of reduced performance security of three percent till 31st March 2023 for all Central Government's tenders and contracts.

• Ministry has reduced quantum of Performance Security from five to 10 percent to three percent of value of contract.
• The Ministry said, this relief will help the industries to deploy additional resources in project execution. Timely and economical project execution by industry is vital for high-speed development of infrastructure as envisaged through the National Infrastructure Pipeline.
• Industry bodies including construction, manufacturing, and services have represented the need to extend the benefit of reduction in Performance Security.

Hence both statements are correct.

India and Pakistan exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities, covered under the Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan.

• The Agreement provides that India and Pakistan inform each other of the nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the Agreement on the first of January of every calendar year.
• This is the 31st consecutive exchange of such lists between the two countries. The first one took place on January 01, 1992.

Lists of Civilian Prisoners, Fishermen in their Custody

• India and Pakistan exchanged the lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in their custody.
• This is in keeping with the provisions of the 2008 Agreement under which such lists are exchanged every year on 1st January and 1st July.
• India handed over lists of 282 Pakistan civilian prisoners and 73 fishermen in India's custody to Pakistan. Pakistan has shared lists of 51 civilian prisoners and 577 fishermen in its custody who are Indians or are believed to be Indians.

Hence both statements are correct.

GST Council decides to retain status quo on GST rate on textile to 5%.

• Textiles Ministry has said that the existing rates of five per cent in textiles sector will continue beyond 1st of January, 2022.
• Earlier, the Department of Revenue had notified Goods and Services Tax at 12 per cent on Man-made fibres, fabrics and apparel on 18th November this year, which was to come into force from 1st of January.

Hence both statements are correct.

Sahitya Akademi has announced its annual Sahitya Akademi Awards in 20 languages.

• Seven books of poetry, two novels, five short stories, two plays, one biography, one autobiography, one critique and one Epic Poetry have won the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2021.
• Awards in Gujrati, Maithili, Manipuri and Urdu languages will be announced at a later date.
• Assamese writers Anuradha Sarma Pujari and Namita Gokhale have won the award in the novel category.
• Awardees for Poetry category include Mwdai Gahai in Bodo, Sanjiv Verenkar in Konkani, Hrushikesh Mallick in Odia and Vindeshwari Prasad in Telegu.
• Every year since its inception in 1954, the Sahitya Akademi Award prizes to the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages recognised by the Akademi.
• The award amount is now Rs.1,00,000. The first Awards were given in 1955.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Centre has notified rules for Consumer Protection (Jurisdiction of the District Commission, the State Commission and the National Commission) Rules, 2021.

• The revised pecuniary jurisdiction for entertaining consumer complaints shall be upto 50 lakh rupees for District Commissions, more than 50 lakh to two crore rupees for State Commissions and more than two crore rupees for National Commission.
• With notification of the aforementioned rules, the new pecuniary jurisdiction, subject to other provisions of the Act, shall be as under:
  • District Commissions shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where value of the goods or services paid as consideration does not exceed 50 lakh rupees.
  • State Commissions shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where value of the goods or services paid as consideration exceeds 50 lakh rupees but does not exceed 2 crore rupees.
  • National Commission shall have jurisdiction to entertain complaints where value of the goods or services paid as consideration exceeds 2 crore rupees.
• The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 promulgates a three-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for redressal of consumer disputes namely District Commissions, State Commissions and National Commission.
• After the Act came into force, it was observed that the existing provisions relating to pecuniary jurisdiction of consumer commissions were leading to cases which could earlier be filed in National Commission to be filed in State Commissions and cases which could earlier be filed in State Commissions to be filed in District Commissions.
• This caused a significant increase in the workload of District Commissions, leading to rise in pendency and delay in disposal of cases, defeating the very object of securing speedy redressal to consumers as envisaged under the Act.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A recent religious conclave held in Haridwar witnessed inflammatory and provocative speeches by proponents of Hindutva, many of them leaders of religious organisations. Political parties and concerned citizens have termed these as ‘hate speech’ and demanded legal action against those involved in the propagation of hate and violence.

• There is no specific legal definition of ‘hate speech’. In general, hate speech is considered a limitation on free speech that seeks to prevent or bar speech that exposes a person or a group or section of society to hate, violence, ridicule or indignity.
• Provisions in law criminalise speeches, writings, actions, signs and representations that foment violence and spread disharmony between communities and groups and these are understood to refer to ‘hate speech’.
• Sections 153A and 505 of the Indian Penal Code are generally taken to be the main penal provisions that deal with inflammatory speeches and expressions that seek to punish ‘hate speech’.
• Under Section 153A, ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’, is an offence punishable with three years’ imprisonment.
• Section 505 of IPC makes it an offence to making “statements conducing to public mischief”.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A government committee report in the Supreme Court has said that “income” is a “feasible criterion” for defining the “Economically Weaker Sections” (EWS) in society, and the annual family income of ₹8 lakh is a “reasonable” threshold to determine EWS in order to extend reservation in admissions and jobs.

• The committee did not agree with the notion that the Union government had “mechanically adopted” ₹8 lakh as a number because it was also used for the OBC creamy layer cut-off.
• It said the income criterion for EWS was “more stringent” than the one for the OBC creamy layer.
• Firstly, EWS’s criteria relates to the financial year prior to the year of application whereas the income criterion for the creamy layer in OBC category is applicable to gross annual income for three consecutive years.
• Secondly, in case of OBC creamy layer, income from salaries, agriculture and traditional artisanal professions are excluded from the consideration whereas the ₹8 lakh criteria for EWS includes all sources, including farming.
• The report is the result of the Supreme Court’s repeated grilling of the government, since October, to explain how it zeroed in on the figure of ‘₹8 lakh’ as the annual income criterion to identify EWS among forward classes of society for grant of 10% reservation in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) medical admissions under the All India Quota (AIQ) category.
• The Supreme Court’s query was significant as the One Hundred and Third Constitutional Amendment of 2019, which introduced the 10% EWS quota, is itself under challenge before a larger Bench. The Amendment is under question for making economic criterion as the sole ground for grant of reservation benefits.
• The Centre had then formed an expert committee comprising Ajay Bhushan Pandey, former Finance Secretary; professor V.K. Malhotra, Member Secretary, ICSSR; and Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser to the Government of India. The committee had submitted its report on December 31.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Ministry of Civil Aviation has released draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP) for public feedback.

• NASP 2022 covers sports like aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft, ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding and paragliding; microlighting and paramotoring; skydiving and vintage aircraft.
• The vision is to make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030. The mission is to provide a safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.
• NASP 2022 seeks to leverage India’s huge potential for air sports given its large geographical expanse, diverse topography and fair weather conditions.
• An Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) will be established as the apex governing body. Associations for each air sport will handle day to day activities e.g. Paragliding Association of India or Skydiving Association of India etc.
• The air sports associations shall be accountable to ASFI with respect to the regulatory oversight and for providing safe, affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable conduct of their respective air sport.
• ASFI shall represent India at FAI and other global platforms related to air sports. Greater participation and success of Indian sportspersons in global air sports events will be facilitated.
• Domestic design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment will be promoted in line with the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland is the world governing body for air sports. All competitions in India will be conducted as per the guidelines laid down by FAI.
• Air sports by their very nature involve a higher level of risk than flying a regular aircraft. NASP 2022 places strong focus on ensuring international best practices in safety.

Hence both statements are correct.