Daily Current Affairs MCQ- August 2, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Union Minister for Women and Child Development informed the Rajya Sabha that the Central government aims to reduce stunting and under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) among children under 6 years by 2% per annum.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS):

• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India.
• The first National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) was conducted in 1992-93. The fifth round (NFHS-5) of the survey was conducted in 2019-21.
• The main objective of the NFHS has been to provide reliable and comparable data relating to health and family welfare and other emerging areas in India.
• All the rounds of NFHS have been conducted by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, as the national nodal agency.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Google Street View is finally available for ten cities in India and is expected to roll out in about 50 more cities by the end of the year.

• Google Street View is an immersive 360-degree view of a location captured using special cameras mounted on vehicles or on backpacks by data collectors moving around the city streets.
• The images are then patched together to create a 360-degree view which users can swipe through to get a detailed view of the location.
• It is available to view on Android and iOS using the app, or as a web view.
• In India, unlike in other markets, Google Street View is powered by images from third parties as per the National Geospatial Policy, 2021.
• Street View in India is not allowed for restricted areas like government properties, defence establishments and military areas. This means in a place like Delhi, the cantonment area will be out of bounds for Street View.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

High teenage fertility in some areas remains a cause of concern in India even as the fertility rate has stabilised across the country, the Health Ministry said in its Family Planning Vision-2030 document released.

• It added that participation of men will be encouraged in the family planning programme and that lack of access to contraceptives had been identified as a priority challenge area.
• While multiple factors have been identified that explain low contraceptive use among married adolescents and young women, two most important factors are child marriage and teenage pregnancy.
• Over 118 districts reported high percentage of teenage pregnancies and are mostly concentrated in Bihar (19), West Bengal (15), Assam (13), Maharashtra (13), Jharkhand (10), Andhra Pradesh (7), and Tripura (4).
• Additionally, over 44% of the districts in India reported high percentage of women marrying before they reach the age of 18. These districts were in Bihar (17), West Bengal (8), Jharkhand (7), Assam (4), two each in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Singapore (27.01%) and USA (17.94%) have emerged as top 2 sourcing nations in FDI equity flows into India in FY2021-22 followed by Mauritius (15.98%), Netherland (7.86%) and Switzerland (7.31%).

• It may be noted that as per the UNCTAD World Investment Report (WIR) 2022, in its analysis of the global trends in FDI inflows, India has improved one position to 7th rank among the top 20 host economies for 2021.
• India is rapidly emerging as a preferred country for foreign investments in the manufacturing sector. FDI Equity inflow in Manufacturing Sectors have increased by 76% in FY 2021-22 (USD 21.34 billion) compared to previous FY 2020-21 (USD 12.09 billion).
• Despite the ongoing pandemic and global developments, India received the highest annual FDI inflows of USD 84,835 million in FY 21-22 overtaking last year’s FDI by USD 2.87 billion. Earlier, FDI inflows increased from USD 74,391 million in FY 19-20 to USD 81,973 million in FY 20-21.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, on July 28, killing the two pilots aboard the trainer version of the fighter aircraft.

How many MiG-21 aircraft have crashed recently?

• There have been six MiG-21 Bison crashes in the last two 20 months, with five crashes in 2021 and one in 2022. Five pilots have lost their lives in these crashes. However, this is the first fatal trainer aircraft crash of the MiG-21 Bison in a long time.

How many MiG-21 Bison aircraft are in IAF?

• There are four squadrons of MiG-21 Bison aircraft currently in service in the IAF with each squadron comprising 16-18 aircraft, including two trainer versions. Out of these one squadron, Srinagar-based No 51 Squadron, is going to be retired from service or ‘number plated’ in IAF jargon on September 30 this year, leaving three squadrons in service.
• Out of these three squadrons, one will be number plated each year and, thus, MiG-21 Bison will be phased out of IAF by 2025. The IAF is looking towards reviving these squadrons back into service with the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will give away Agriculture Infrastructure Fund Awards in New Delhi on July 30, 2022.

• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was launched two years ago under the ambitious Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package as a dedicated Central Government scheme that provides medium-long term credit facility for investment in creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.
• This facility comes with financial support by way of three per cent Interest subvention from Government and credit guarantee by CGTMSE fee up to two crore rupees.
• This scheme can be converged with the existing Central Government and State Government schemes. This has immensely benefitted stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem - Farmers, Agri-entrepreneur, FPO, SHG, JLG, PACS, APMC, Startup, Central, Marketing Cooperative Society, State Agencies etc.

Hence both statements are correct.

Kerala, which slipped to the eighth slot in holding Assembly sittings during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, returned to the top spot in 2021, with its House sitting for 61 days, the highest in the country.

• The State’s showing was impressive as 2021 saw the more virulent second wave of the pandemic. In fact, between 2016 and 2019, it remained at the top with an average of 53 days.
• Despite enjoying the record of having the highest number of sittings in 2021, Kerala (where the Left Democratic Front is in power since May 2016) had promulgated 144 ordinances, also the highest in the country.
• Making the findings in its study on the functioning of State Assemblies for 2021, the PRS Legislative Research (PRS), a New Delhi-based think tank, states that for the year in question, Odisha followed Kerala with 43 sitting days; Karnataka 40, and Tamil Nadu 34 days.
• Of the 28 State Assemblies and one Union Territory’s legislature, 17 met for less than 20 days. Of them, five — Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Delhi — met for less than 10 days. The figures for Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab were 17, 16 and 11, respectively.

Hence both statements are correct.

PM Modi will launch the ministry of power’s flagship Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) on July 30, 2022.The scheme is aimed at improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of the power distribution companies (discoms).

• The scheme, with an outlay of over Rs 3.03 trillion in five years to FY26, will enable discoms to modernise and strengthen the distribution infrastructure and improve the reliability and quality of supply of power to end consumers.
• It also aims to reduce the AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and ACS-ARR (average cost of supply-average revenue realised) gap to zero by 2024-25. REC and PFC have been nominated as nodal agencies for the scheme.
• RDSS mandates compulsory installation of smart meters across the country. The Centre has set an ambitious target of installing 250 million smart meters by 2025.
• With this new scheme coming into force, all other previous schemes such as Integrated Power Development Scheme, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) would stand subsumed.

Hence both statements are correct.

The 2022 edition of the United Nations’ World Population Prospects (WPP) has been released.

It was released on the World Population Day (11 July).

The report says that India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023.

World Population Prospects (WPP)

• The Population Division (under Department of Economic and Social Affairs) of the UN has been publishing the WPP in a biennial cycle since 1951.
• The 2022 report is the twenty-seventh edition.
• Each revision of the WPP provides a historical time series of population indicators starting in 1950.
• It does so by taking into account newly released national data to revise estimates of past trends in fertility, mortality or international migration.
• Features:
  • The world’s population continues to grow, but the pace of growth is slowing down
  • The global population is expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.
  • In 2020, the global growth rate fell under 1% per year for the first time since 1950.

The Government of India has declared the IT resources of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and UPI managing entity National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) as ‘critical information infrastructure,’ according to an official notification.

• The Information Technology Act of 2000 defines “Critical Information Infrastructure” as a “computer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of which shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health or safety”.
• The government, under the Act, has the power to declare any data, database, IT network or communications infrastructure as CII to protect that digital asset.
• Any person who secures access or attempts to secure access to a protected system in violation of the law can be punished with a jail term of up to 10 years.
• Created in January 2014, the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) is the nodal agency for taking all measures to protect the nation’s critical information infrastructure.

Hence both statements are correct.