Daily Current Affairs MCQ- December 15, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Former vice president Venkaiah Naidu has been conferred with the 25th Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi National Eminence Award (SIES). 

• Other awardees in various categories included the Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan, eminent industrialist Ratan Tata, renowned cardiologist and Padma Vibhushan awardee Dr Marthanda Varma Sankaran Valianathan, Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Ajay Sood and famous Harikatha artiste Vishakha Hari.
• The awards were instituted by the South Indian Education Society in 1998 in memory of the late Seer of Kanchi, Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati.
• Awards are given in the fields of public leadership, community leadership, science and technology and social thinkers to those who had made outstanding contributions in the above four fields.
• Each award carries a cash prize of Rs.2.5 lakh, a citation, an ornamental lamp and a scroll.

Hence both statements are correct.

Justice Dipankar Dutta recently took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court. With the appointment of Justice Dutta, the Supreme Court will have 28 judges out of the strength of 34 judges. 

Appointment Procedure:

• Article 124(3) of the constitution mentions the following people as eligible to become a Supreme Court (SC) Judge:
  • A High Court (HC) judge who has held that post for 5 years or more.
  • An advocate who has practiced in the HC/SC for 10 years or more.
  • A distinguished Jurist (no judge appointed on this basis till date).
• Article 124(2) says that the President of India Shall appoint the judges after consultation with such number of Judges of the SC/HC as he deems necessary. For appointment of any Judge of SC (other than CJI), the CJI must be consulted.
• The three Judges case of 1981, 1993 & 1998 has formalised the collegium system for the purpose of consultation.
  • The collegium for appointing SC judge consists of the CJI and 4 senior-most judges of SC.
  • Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) was set up after the Third Judge Case of 1998 to provide the process of how the Collegium would recommend names to the Executive.
• The President of India can either accept the recommendation or send it back for reconsideration. 
• The reconsidered advice must be accepted by the President.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani has recently said that the government has set up over one thousand fast track courts in the country with the help of Nirbhaya Fund.

• Objective: For implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country.
• Established in: 2013
• Established by: Union Finance Ministry.
• Type: It is a non-lapsable corpus fund.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The 4-day meeting of G20 Development Working Group (DWG) will begin on December 13, 2022 in Mumbai under the India's Presidency. 

• The Development Working Group meetings aims to discuss developmental issues in Developing Countries, Least Developed Countries and Island Countries.
• Its a platform for G-20 member countries to come together and prioritize multilateralism, share solutions that promote growth, remap development plans and achieve the Sustainable Development Goal’s targets.
• In these meetings, sessions on Data For Development, Role of G-20 in Advancing the 2030 Agenda, Infusing New LiFE into Green Development and Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals are organised.

G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting:

• The first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies (FCBD) meeting will begin on December 12, 2022 in Bengaluru.
• This meeting, which will mark the start of discussions on the Finance Track agenda under the Indian G20 Presidency, will be hosted jointly by the Ministry of Finance and the Reserve Bank of India.
• The discussions during the 3-day meeting will focus on the agenda for the Finance Track under the Indian G20 Presidency. 
• This includes reorienting international financial institutions to meet the shared global challenges of the 21st century, financing cities of tomorrow, managing global debt vulnerabilities, advancing financial inclusion and productivity gains, financing for climate action and SDGs.

Hence both statements are correct.

The 5th edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale opens on December 12, 2022, displaying works of over 90 artists from across the globe in varied media.

About:

• The Kochi Muziris Biennale was founded in 2011 by Kerala-born, Mumbai-based artists Bose Krishnamachari and Riyas Komu.
• It aims to "create a platform that will introduce contemporary, global visual art theory and practice to India”.

Biennale

• A biennale is an international large-scale showcase of art that takes place every two years at a particular site, centred around a curatorial theme.
• The theme for 2022: “In Our Views Flow Ink and Fire”.
• One of the most prestigious and oldest biennales in the world is the Venice Biennale, which was established through a resolution by the city council in 1893 to celebrate national artistic talent.
• In 2009, a global Biennale Foundation was established with an "aim to create a platform for dialogue, networking, and knowledge sharing among contemporary art biennials around the world".

Significance of the art biennale:

• Biennales often named after the host city, become a reason for local pride, promoting cultural tourism and generating revenue through visitors.
• Biennale is often viewed as recognition of an artists work Frequented by the powerful and the important in art, a
  participation  in Biennale  can open opportunities for future museum exhibitions,gallery representation and acquisitions.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently new species of wren babblers found in Arunachal Pradesh.

About

• Grey bellied wren babbler is a specie of songbird named after the Lisu, the local community.
• This is mostly found in Myanmar with some birds occurring in adjoining China and Thailand.
• IUCN Status: Least Concern 
• Habitat: Subtropical moist montane forest. 
• Features: Dark edges to its back and crown feathers give it a scaly-looking quality. Forages on ground and in undergrowth, almost always under heavy cover and rarely emerging into the open.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Indonesian Foreign Minister recently said India and other countries should “respect” and follow the ASEAN’s policy on Myanmar rather than taking a “different path.

ASEAN’s five points Consensus are

• It states that there shall be an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar.
• All parties shall exercise utmost restraint; constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.
• A special envoy of the ASEAN Chair shall facilitate mediation of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the secretary-general of ASEAN.
• ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through the AHA Centre (ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management).
• The special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.

ASEAN

• It is a group of  Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which was established in 1967 with the signing of the Bangkok declaration.
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
• Presently ASEAN comprises 10 member states namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.
• It promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and other countries in Asia.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recently inaugurated the statue of Mahakavi Subramanian Bharathiyar.

• Mahakavi Subramanian Bharathiyar was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. 
• He was bestowed the title "Bharathi" for his excellence in poetry.
• Bharathiyar fought for the emancipation of women, against child marriage, vehemently opposed the caste system.
• Sister Nivedita inspired Bharathi to recognise the privileges of women and the emancipation of women exercised Bharathi's mind.

Literary works:

• Bharathi joined as Assistant Editor of the Swadesamitran a Tamil daily in 1904.
• In1907, he started editing the Tamil weekly India and the English newspaper Bala Bharatham with M.P.T. Acharya.
• He assisted Aurobindo in the Arya journal and later Karma Yogi in Pondicherry.
• Three of his greatest works namely, Kuyil Pattu, Panchali Sapatham and Kannan Pattu were composed during 1912
• He also translated Vedic hymns, Patanjali's Yoga Sutra and Bhagavat Gita to Tamil.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment recently pulled up the Union government for the delay in approving the continuation of the Scheme for Providing Education to Madrasas/Minorities (SPEMM), which provides for financial assistance to madrasas and minority institutes.

• The scheme has two sub-schemes –
  • the Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM) and
  • Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutes (IDMI).
• The scheme is being implemented at the national level.
• Both the schemes are voluntary in nature.

Implementation:

• Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing the Umbrella Scheme for Providing Quality Education to Madrasas/Minorities (SPEMM).
• The scheme was transferred from the Ministry of Minority Affairs to the Ministry of Education in 2021.

Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM):

The salient features of SPQEM scheme are:

• To provide financial assistance to traditional institutions like Madrasas and Maktabs to encourage them to introduce Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and English in their curriculum so that academic proficiency for classes I-XII is attainable for children studying in these institutions.
• To provide opportunities to students of these institutions to acquire education comparable to the National Education System especially for secondary and senior secondary levels.
• To strengthen State Madrasa Boards opting for assistance by enabling them to monitor the Madrasa modernization programme and enhance awareness about education among the Muslim community.
• To provide quality components in Madrasas such as remedial teaching, assessment and enhancement of learning outcomes, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan etc.
• To provide in-service training of teachers appointed under the scheme for teaching modern subjects of Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and English to improve their pedagogical skills and quality of teaching.

Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutes (IDMI):

• Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutes (IDMI) has been operationalised to augment Infrastructure in Private Aided/Unaided Minority Schools/Institutions in order to enhance the quality of education to minority children.

The salient features of IDMI scheme are:

• To facilitate education of minorities by augmenting and strengthening school infrastructure in Minority Institutions (elementary/ secondary/senior secondary schools) in order to expand the facilities for formal education to children of minority communities.
• To encourage educational facilities for girls, children with special needs and those who are most deprived educationally amongst the minorities.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Culture Ministry has set up seven Zonal Cultural Centres (ZCCs) across the country for conservation and development of art, culture and crafts across the country.

• The centres have been set up at Patiala, Nagpur, Udaipur, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Dimapur, and Thanjavur.
• Government of India has provided annual grant-in-aid to conduct art programmes at these centres.
• The ministry also organises Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsavs (RSMs) through these ZCCs where a large number of artistes from all over India are engaged to showcase their talents.
• These ZCCs also organise a minimum 42 Regional Festivals for promotion of art and culture every year as per their programme calendar.
• For proper storage of the treasure of knowledge for posterity, several art forms including the vanishing ones are being documented by these ZCCs.
• Number of arts forms have been documented in digital format (both audio and video formats).
• Further, for preservation and promotion of various folk arts & culture of the country, these ZCCs also implement a number of schemes viz. Award to Young Talented Artists, Guru Shishya Parampara, Theatre Rejuvenation, Research and Documentation, Shilpgram, OCTAVE and National Cultural Exchange Programme.

Hence both statements are correct.