Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 07-07-19

MCQ 1
Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh scheme is for

Tax rebate
GST returns
MNREGA
None

Estimated savings/benefits of Rs. 59,599 crore upto March, 2019 under ‘PAHAL’ scheme.
Pratyaksh Hanstantrit Labh (PaHaL) scheme:
Aims to reduce diversion and eliminate duplicate or bogus LPG connections.
Under PaHaL, LPG cylinders are sold at market rates and entitled consumers get the subsidy directly into their bank accounts.

MCQ 2
Keoladeo National Park is situated in

UP
Maharashtra
West Bengal
None

Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, especially during the winter season. Over 230 species of birds are known to be resident. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971. It is also a World Heritage Site
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS; www.bnhs.org) and Birdlife International have identified 467 IBAs in India
The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is a voluntary mechanism to highlight specific wetlands of international importance that are facing immediate challenges. It is maintained as part of the List of Ramsar wetlands of international importance.
Keoladeo National Park 2,873 7,100
Loktak Lake 26,600 66,000

MCQ 3
Artemisinin & chloroquine drugs are used for treating

Tuberculosis
Measles
Malaria
Dengue

MCQ 4
Totally Vaccine preventable disease at present are

Lymphoma
Measles
Rabies
Malaria
Rubella

(A) 1,2,3,5
(B) 2,3,4,5
(C) 2,3,5
(D) All
MCQ 5
World Heritage Committee at the UNESCO’s 43rd session under way at Baku, Azerbaijan chose places for WHS. Which are among them

Ahmedabad
Jaipur
Myanmar’s ancient capital of Bagan
German city of Augsburg
Babylon

(A) 2,3,4,5
(B) 1,2,3,4
(C) All
(D) 2 & 3 only

the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. As of 2011, the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known as the Pink City, due to the dominant color scheme of its buildings. It is located 268 km (167 miles) from the national capital New Delhi.
Jaipur was founded in 1727 by the Rajput ruler Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amer, after whom the city is named. It was one of the earliest planned cities of modern India, designed by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya. During the British Colonial period, the city served as the capital of Jaipur State. After independence in 1947, Jaipur was made capital of the newly-formed state of Rajasthan.
Jaipur is a popular tourist destination in India and forms a part of the west Golden Triangle tourist circuit along with Delhi and Agra (240 km, 149 mi).
It is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the Jantar Mantar and the Amer Fort.

MCQ 6
The 2019 “State of the Education Report for India: Children with Disabilities” has been released by

Ministry of HRD
Ministry of Social justice & empowerment
UNESCO
A private NGO

The 2019 “State of the Education Report for India: Children with Disabilities” has been released by the UNESCO.
The report highlights accomplishments and challenges with regards to the right to education of children with disabilities (CWDs).
Key highlights of the report:
There are 78,64,636 children with disability in India constituting 1.7% of the total child population.
Three-fourths of the children with disabilities at the age of five years and onefourth between 5-19 years do not go to any educational institution.
The number of children enrolled in school drops significantly with each successive level of schooling.
There are fewer girls with disabilities in schools than boys with disabilities in schools.
A large number of children with disabilities do not go to regular schools but are enrolled at the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
The percentage of children attending schools is the lowest among those with multiple disabilities, mental illnesses and mental retardation.
Challenges ahead:
Significant gaps remain, even though successive government schemes and programs have brought large numbers of children with disabilities into schools.
Only 61 percent of CWDs aged between 5 and 19 were attending an educational institution compared to the overall figure of 71 percent when all children are considered.
Around 12 percent of CWDs dropped out of school, which is comparable with the overall percentage of dropouts among all children. 27 percent of CWDs never attended any educational institution, as opposed to the overall figure of 17 percent when the entire child population is taken into account.
A review of enrolment figures at NIOS shows a decline for most categories of disabilities between 2009 and 2015.
The report has made certain recommendations to improve the state of education for CWDs:
Amend the RTE Act to better align with the RPWD Act by including specific concerns of education of such children.
Establish a coordinating mechanism under HRD Ministry for effective convergence of all education programmes of children with disabilities.
Ensure specific and adequate financial allocation in education budgets to meet the learning needs of children with disabilities.
Strengthening data systems to make them robust and reliable and useful for planning.
Massively expand the use of information technology for the education of children with disabilities.
Give a chance to every child and leave no child with disability behind.
Transform teaching practices to aid the inclusion of diverse learners.
Overcome stereotypes and build positive dispositions towards children with disabilities, both in the classroom and beyond.

MCQ 7

There is no act in country for establishing gender equal payments
The Union Cabinet has cleared the new version of Code on Wages Bill, which seeks to define the norms for fixing minimum wages that will be applicable to all workers of organised and unorganised sectors, including government employees and MGNREGA workers.

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

The Union Cabinet has cleared the new version of Code on Wages Bill, which seeks to define the norms for fixing minimum wages that will be applicable to workers of organised and unorganised sectors, except government employees and MGNREGA workers.
The Code on Wages will amalgamate the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
The code on wages is one of the four codes that would subsume 44 labour laws with certain certain amendments to improve the ease of doing business and attract investment for spurring growth.
The four codes will deal with wages, social security, industrial safety and welfare, and industrial relations.
As per the Bill, minimum wages will be linked only to factors such as skills and geographical regions.
Present status: At present, minimum wages are fixed on the basis of categories such as skilled, unskilled, semi-skilled, high skilled, geographical regions, and nature of work such as mining and are applicable for 45 scheduled employments in the central sphere and 1709 scheduled employments in states.
As per the new Bill, the minimum wages across the country would be only linked to factors of skills and geographical regions, while the rest of the factors have been removed.
Floor Wage:
A National Floor Level Minimum Wage will be set by the Centre to be revised every five years, while states will fix minimum wages for their regions, which cannot be lower than the floor wage. The current floor wage, which was fixed in 2017, is at Rs 176 a day, but some states have minimum wages lower than it such as Andhra Pradesh (Rs 69) and Telangana (Rs 69).
This is expected to effectively reduce the number of minimum wage rates across the country to 300 from about 2,500 minimum wage rates at present.
Key Issues and Analysis:
Central government may set a national minimum wage. Further, it may set separate national minimum wages for different states or regions. In this context, two questions arise: (i) the rationale for a national minimum wage, and (ii) whether the central government should set one or multiple national minimum wages.
States have to ensure that minimum wages set by them are not lower than the national minimum wage. If existing minimum wages set by states are higher than the national minimum wage, they cannot reduce the minimum wages. This may affect the ability of states to reduce their minimum wages if the national minimum wage is lowered.
The time period for revising minimum wages will be set at five years. Currently, state governments have flexibility in revising minimum wages, as long as it is not more than five years. It is unclear why this flexibility has been removed, and five years has been set for revision.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, prohibits employers from discriminating in wage payments as well as recruitment of employees based on gender. While the Code prohibits gender discrimination on wage-related matters, it does not include provisions regarding discrimination during recruitment.
Need for a national minimum wage:
One argument for a national minimum wage is to ensure a uniform standard of living across the country. At present, there are differences in minimum wages across states and regions. Such differences are attributed to the fact that both the central and state governments set, revise and enforce minimum wages for the employments covered by them. The introduction of a national minimum wage may help reduce these differences and provide a basic standard of living for all employees across the country.

MCQ 8

NBFCs were the largest net borrowers of funds from the financial system
Housing finance companies will be regulated by SEBI now

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

The government is actively considering a proposal from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) seeking more powers to improve its regulatory and supervisory mechanism for NonBanking Financial Companies (NBFCs).
Why is this being proposed?
Recent defaults and delays in loan repayments by a section of NBFCs have shaken the confidence in the financial markets, leading to fears that potential solvency risks at certain companies can be contagious.
Liquidity for NBFCs with default ratings has completely dried up, creating broader challenges for policymakers.
What changes are being sought by RBI?
In the light of recent developments, there is a case for having a fresh look at their regulation and supervision. Need of the hour is to have an optimal level of regulation and supervision so that the NBFC sector is financially resilient and robust.
Need:
More powers will enable RBI to close regulatory gaps between banks (which are tightly regulated) and NBFCs. The RBI has already reduced the periodicity of the NBFC supervision to 12 months from 18 months earlier.
What is the scale of the challenge?
NBFCs were the largest net borrowers of funds from the financial system with gross payables of around Rs 8.44 lakh crore and gross receivables of around Rs 7.23 lakh crore as on end-March 2019.
These companies depend largely on public funds such as bank borrowings, debentures and commercial papers, which account for 70 per cent of the total liabilities of the sector.
When banks and mutual funds stop fresh loans to NBFCs facing default possibility, it can potentially lead to contagion in the financial markets.

MCQ 9

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) sometimes called the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN)
It was established by League of nations in 1920
There is no member from India on 15 Judges panel

Choose correct
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 1 & 3
(C) 1 only
(D) 2 & 3

International Court of Justice likely to deliver verdict in Kulbhushan Jadhav case this month.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial body of the UN. Established in 1946 to replace the Permanent Court of International Justice, the ICJ mainly operates under the statute of its predecessor, which is included in the UN Charter.
It has two primary functions: to settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and to act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations.
Dalveer Bhandari (born 1 October 1947) is an Indian member of the International Court of Justice and was a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
The ICJ is composed of fifteen judges elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list of people nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
There is an informal understanding that the seats will be distributed by geographic regions so that there are five seats for Western countries, three for African states (including one judge of francophone civil law, one of Anglophone common law and one Arab), two for Eastern European states, three for Asian states and two for Latin American and Caribbean states
The election process is set out in Articles 4–19 of the ICJ Statute. Elections are staggered, with five judges elected every three years to ensure continuity within the court. Should a judge die in office, the practice has generally been to elect a judge in a special election to complete the term.
Once elected, a Member of the Court is a delegate neither of the government of his own country nor of that of any other State. Unlike most other organs of international organizations, the Court is not composed of representatives of governments. Members of the Court are independent judges whose first task, before taking up their duties, is to make a solemn declaration in open court that they will exercise their powers impartially and conscientiously.
In order to guarantee his or her independence, no Member of the Court can be dismissed unless, in the unanimous opinion of the other Members, he/she no longer fulfils the required conditions. This has in fact never happened.