Daily Current Affairs MCQ- July 27, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Virat, Darmi and Heena were awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation on the eve of Army Day on January 15 for their exemplary service.

• Virat is a horse with the President’s Bodyguard (PBG), while Darmi and Heena are Army dogs.
• Virat, a Hanoverian breed, was issued to the PBG on September 12, 2000. He performed his duties as the Commandant’s charger for over a decade and awed spectators, including foreign dignitaries, with his trademark poise and confidence, an official said.
• The Army has eight different trades of dogs: tracker, guard, mine detection, explosive detection, infantry patrol, avalanche rescue operations, search and rescue, assault and narcotic detection.
• Darmi was pressed into service for a search and rescue operation at a post on the Siachen Glacier on April 25 last year.
• Heena, a Labrador retriever, is a tracker aged five years and is highly loyal, even-tempered, intelligent, obedient and exceptionally reliable.

Hence both statements are correct.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that she was “profoundly shocked” as West Bengal’s tableau for the Republic Day parade “was rejected without assigning any reasons or justifications.”

• Around September every year the Defence Ministry, which is responsible for the Republic Day parade and the celebrations, invites all the states, the Union Territories, Central Government departments, and a few constitutional authorities to participate in the parade through tableaux.
• The proposals had to be submitted by September 27, and the shortlisting of the proposals began in the second week of October.
• The participants have to showcase elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The theme given to participants this year was around 75 years of India’s Independence.
• The participants have to showcase elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The theme given to participants this year was around 75 years of India’s Independence.
• The Defence Ministry constitutes an expert committee of distinguished persons from fields like art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography, etc, who help in shortlisting the tableaux from the proposals.

Hence both statements are correct.

In 2020, resignation rates across the US plummeted due to the fear and uncertainty caused by the pandemic.

• However, one year later, as the workforce experienced a collective burnout, individuals left their jobs at unprecedented rates, leading some to describe the phenomenon as the Great Resignation.
• In November 2021, 4.5 million workers left their jobs according to the US Labor Department. This matched record numbers observed in September and accounted for 3 per cent of the workforce quitting their jobs each month.
• Estimates indicate that in total, 75.5 million people in America resigned in 2021.
• Low-wage workers were more likely to resign than their higher-paid counterparts with the sectors most affected including hospitality, healthcare and social assistance, and transportation, warehousing, and utilities.
• The Great Resignation has largely been fuelled by burnout, but other factors also include the shift to working from home and the desire to move into a more stable profession.
• In light of these resignations, the labour market has incentivised companies to offer better benefits and higher salaries.

Indian scenario

• In India, the situation is not as dire but still cause for concern. Following the Great Resignation, the IT and technology sector is hiring at unprecedented rates with the top five IT companies hiring around 1.7 lakh people in 2021.
• Not only are people in the workforce changing jobs, but according to a September 2021 survey by Amazon India, nearly 51 per cent of job seekers are looking for opportunities in industries where they have little to no experience.

Hence both statements are correct.

The postponement of the Assembly elections in Punjab to February 20 underlines the importance of the Ravidassia community in the state.

• Several political parties had urged the Election Commission for a postponement as the earlier date of February 14 would have clashed with Guru Ravidas Jayanti, an annual occasion during which Ravidassias travel to Varanasi in large numbers.
• Many of them take a special train organised by the Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar, the largest dera of the Ravidassias.
• The Ravidassias are a Dalit community of whom the bulk — nearly 12 lakh — live in the Doaba region.
• The Dera Sachkhand Ballan, their largest dera with 20 lakh followers worldwide, was founded in the early 20th century by Baba Sant Pipal Das.
• Once closely connected with Sikhism, the dera severed these decades-old ties in 2010, and announced they would follow the Ravidassia religion.
• The dera made the announcement on Guru Ravidas Jayanti in Varanasi.
• Guru Ravidas was a mystic poet saint of the Bhakti Movement from the 15th and 16th centuries, and founded the Ravidassia religion.
• From 2010, the Dera Sachkhand Ballan started replacing the Guru Granth Sahib with its own Granth, Amritbani, carrying 200 hymns of Guru Ravidas, in Ravidassia temples and gurdwaras.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the demise of social worker and Padma Shri awardee Shanti Devi, who passed away at her residence in Gunupur, in Rayagada district of Odisha. She was 88.

• Shanti Devi, also known as Lugdi Devi, received the prestigious Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind on November 9, 2021.
• She had an immense contribution towards restoring peace in Maoist-affected areas of the state. She was also spearheading the voluntary organisation Seva Samaj.
• At the age of 17, she got married to Ratan Das, a Gandhian, and shifted to Koraput.
• She started her social work by founding an ashram at Gobarapalli in Rayagada district and worked for the development and education of tribal girls.
• Later, she shifted to Gunupur and founded Seva Samaj ashram in 1964 to provide education to tribal girls.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of Coal Pralhad Joshi said that NLC India Ltd, a Navratna public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Coal has been playing a pivotal role in ensuring India’s energy security during the last six decades of performance.

• The Minister was virtually launching the new rehabilitation & resettlement (R& R) policy applicable to land owners of NLCIL mines area.
• Lauding the efforts of NLCIL and Tamil Nadu Government in framing a very flexible rehabilitation policy with multiple options available to the affected people, Minister Shri Joshi ensured that compensation to the affected villagers will be based on fair and transparent process.
• The new policy has provisions for enhanced amenities to project effected families. NLCL has signed an MOU with Tamil Nadu government to impart skill development to the youth under Skill India Mission.
• NLCIL commenced its operations in Tamil Nadu way back in 1956 in lignite mining and lignite based power generation.
• Over a period of more than six decades, the company has diversified into coal based Power Generation, Renewable Power Primarily Solar and Coal Mining.
• In this process, the Company has made PAN India presence with 50.60 MTPA mining and 6,061 MW power generating capacity.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced the initiation of the Open Data Week to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem.

• Leading up to the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav - Smart Cities: Smart Urbanization’ conference scheduled to be held in Surat, during February 2022, the Open Data Week is part of a series of pre-event initiatives being undertaken by MoHUA to promote awareness and use of open data.
• It will be conducted during the third week of January, i.e., from 17th January 2022 to 21st January 2022.
• The Event will see participation from all 100 Smart Cities that will be publishing high quality datasets and data blogs on the Smart Cities Open Data Portal.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

At a consultation organised by the National Commission for Women on amendments to criminal law, there was unanimity among speakers that marital rape should be criminalised.

• After the discussions, The NCW will send the recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is looking at a review of the criminal laws, including the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
• The meeting comes at a time the Delhi High Court is hearing multiple petitions on making marital rape an offence and the Centre has sought more time to present its stand.
• The petitions have sought striking down the exception to Section 375 of the IPC, which says forcible sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being 18 years, is not rape.
• The meeting also discussed the interpretation of consent. There should be a broader understanding of when consent stands vitiated.

Other issues

• On the issue of age of marriage being raised for women to 21 years to make it equal to that of men, most speakers agreed that 18 years should be the age of marriage for both men and women.
• The meeting also discussed the need for gender-neutral anti-rape laws which the civil society has demanded to recognise same-sex assaults among gay, lesbian and bisexual people as well as sexual crimes against transgender persons.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh addressed the India-UK meet on “Sustaining Food Production under Environmental Stress” through virtual mode.

• The Workshop is being organized jointly by National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, an institute under Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and University of Birmingham, UK and supported by Newton Bhabha Fund and British Council.
• Dwelling on the issue of Sustainable Food Production, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the South Asian region is facing the shrinking arable land, besides the problem of global climate change that needs to be addressed.
• Quoting World Bank data, the Minister pointed out that the Arable land in South Asia was reported at 43.18 % in 2018 which has been stagnant since the early 1970s and recently declining.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In order to promote inclusive good governance, strengthening of local institutions and effective implementation of government programmes, the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), Government of India and National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRD & PR), Hyderabad signed MoU on 17th January 2022.

• The main purpose of having this agreement is to focus on different collaborative activities by drawing upon the strengths of these two national institutions for bringing better good governance mechanisms into practice across all programmes and schemes.
• The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) is an autonomous institute under the aegis of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India. Its head office is at New Delhi and branch office at Mussoorie.
• The National Centre for Good Governance traces its origin to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR). NIAR was set up in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) the Government of India's apex training Institute for higher civil services.
• NIAR was subsequently rechistened with an expanded mandate, as National Centre for Good Governance, which was inaugurated on February 24th, 2014.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.