Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 1, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Various organisations have written letter to the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) over the increasing surveillance of sanitation workers.

• National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)
  • NCSK was established as an institution to investigate the conditions of Safai Karamcharis (waste collectors) in India and make recommendations to the Government.
  • It is currently a non-statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
  • The NCSK was established in the year 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act 1993 initially for the period upto 31.3.1997.
  • Hence, initially NCSK was established as a statutory body.
  • Later the validity of the Act was initially extended up to 2002 and thereafter up to 2004.
  • The NCSK Act ceased to have effect from 29.2.2004.
  • After that the tenure of the NCSK has been extended as a non-statutory body from time to time through resolutions.
  • The tenure of the present Commission was up to March 2022. However, it was extended further for a period of three years.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister released the second edition of the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) 2021.

The NeSDA 2021 report has been prepared covering the assessment of States, UTs, and focus Central Ministries on their effectiveness in delivering online services to citizens.

• National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA)
  • Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) had constituted NeSDA in 2019.
  • This drive was part of DARPG’s mandate to boost the e-government endeavours and drive digital government excellence.
  • It is a biennial study which assesses States, UTs, and focus Central Ministries on the effectiveness of e-Governance service delivery.
  • NeSDA helps the respective governments improve their delivery of citizen centric services and shares best practices across the country.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Union Home Ministry has issued a set of guidelines to the States and the UTs on the grant of special remission to prisoners.

• Remission is the complete ending of a sentence at a reduced point.
• Remission is distinct from both furlough and parole in that it is a reduction in sentence as opposed to a break from prison life.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) provides for remission of prison sentences, which means the whole or a part of the sentence may be cancelled.
• Under Section 432, the ‘appropriate government’ may suspend or remit a sentence, in whole or in part, with or without conditions.
• Under Section 433, any sentence may be commuted to a lesser one by the appropriate government.
• This power is available to State governments so that they may order the release of prisoners before they complete their prison terms.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Election Commission of India has announced the schedule of election for the 16th Presidential Election.

• The term of office of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, is ending on 24th July, 2022.
• As per Article 62 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of office of the outgoing President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.
• Article 324 of the Constitution read with the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, and the Presidential and Vice – Presidential Elections Rules, 1974 vests the superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of election to the office of the President of India in the Election Commission of India.
• As per the Article 54 of the Constitution of India, the President is elected by the members of the Electoral College consisting of:
  • elected members of both Houses of Parliament, and
  • elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all States including National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry
• Nominated members of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, and members of state Legislative Councils, are not part of the electoral college.
• Article 55 (3) of the Constitution provides that the election shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot.
• The votes are weighted, their value determined by the population of each state as per Census 1971.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Around one in 500 men could be carrying an extra X or Y chromosome, most of them unaware, according to researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Exeter.

• This puts them at increased risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and thrombosis.
• Sex chromosomes determine our biological sex. Men typically have one X and one Y chromosome, while women have two Xs. However, some men also have XXY or XYY.
• By linking genetic data to routine health records, the team found that men with XXY have much higher chances of reproductive problems, including a three-fold higher risk of delayed puberty and a four-fold higher risk of being childless. These men also had significantly lower blood concentrations of testosterone. Men with XYY appeared to have a normal reproductive function.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Government of India clarified that the TDS on virtual digital assets (VDA) continues to be 1%.

• The clarification from the Income Tax comes at a time when some media reports mentioned that the TDS rate for virtual digital assets has been dropped to 0.1% from 1% as announced earlier in the budget.
• The 1% TDS will be applicable from July 1.
• The Centre had set a 30% taxation on the gains from the cryptocurrency assets.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Central Consumer Protection authority (CCPA) under the Department of Consumer Affairs has notified ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’.

• The guidelines seek to ensure that consumers are not being fooled with unsubstantiated claims, exaggerated promises, misinformation and false claims.
• Such advertisements violates various rights of consumers such as right to be informed, right to choose and right to be safeguarded against potentially unsafe products and services.
• In exercise of the powers conferred by section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, to CCPA, the Guidelines were notified. Misleading advertisement has already been defined under section 2(28) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
• The present guidelines define “bait advertisement”, “surrogate advertisement” and clearly provides what constitutes as “free claim advertisements”.
• CCPA can impose penalty of upto 10 lakh rupees on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers for any misleading advertisements. For subsequent contraventions, CCPA may impose a penalty of upto 50 lakh rupees.
• The Authority can prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from making any endorsement for upto 1 year and for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend upto 3 years.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Cabinet approved an MoU between the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), India a Professional Body for joint research on air quality and climate change.

• No such MoUs were signed by the ARIES, Nainital in the similar areas of research with any other foreign bodies in the past.
• Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) is an Autonomous Research Institute established under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
• ARIES is a centre of excellence for research in Astronomy & Astrophysics and Atmospheric Sciences. It carries out research on air pollution and climate change on earth, formation and evolution of sun, stars and galaxies.
• The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) is Japan's only research institute that undertakes a broad range of environmental research in an interdisciplinary and comprehensive manner.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Network Planning Group (NPG) held its 20th meeting on June 2022 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi.

• It was chaired by the Special Secretary, Logistics Division, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and saw active participation from member ministries/departments including MoRTH, MoCA, MoR, MoPSW, MoP, DoT and Niti Ayog.
• The forum saw senior officials from these ministries deliberate on various agendas on logistic capacities and PM GatiShakti.
• Prime Minister launched PM GatiShakti NMP for multi-modal connectivity on 13th October, 2021. Implementation framework includes Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU) with required technical competencies.
• NPG consists of heads of the network planning wing of respective infrastructure ministries and it will assist the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS), which is headed by the cabinet secretary. EGOS consists of secretaries of 18 ministries as members and Head of Logistics Division, under the DPIIT, as member convenor.
• NPG will clear the projects as all infrastructure projects would have to come here.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the cost inflation index (CII) for FY 2022-23 via a notification dated June 14, 2022. The Cost Inflation Index for FY 2022-23 relevant to AY 2023-24 is 331. For the previous year, i.e., FY 2021-22, CII was notified as 317.

• The CII is an index that is used to calculate the inflation-adjusted rise in the value of an asset including land, buildings, houses, gold jewellery, debt mutual funds, and so on.
• This CII number will assist you determine the long-term capital gains on which you are required to pay taxes when you file your income tax returns (ITR) next year.
• This number will be used to calculate inflation-adjusted cost for only those assets that allow for inflation-adjusted (indexation benefit). As a result, the CII value cannot be used to calculate LTCG/LTCL on equity mutual funds because any sum above Rs 1 lakh each fiscal year is taxed at a flat rate of 10% without the advantage of indexation.

How it is calculated

• The formula to calculate inflation-adjusted cost price is: (CII of the year of sale/CII for the year of purchase) * Actual cost price.
• The government declared in Budget 2017 that the base year would be changed from 1981 to 2001 due to challenges in obtaining appropriate information by taxpayers. In the case of an asset purchased prior to April 1, 2001, the cost of the asset is regarded as the fair market value on April 1, 2001.

Hence both statements are correct.