Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 17-07-19 | PDF Downloads

 
MCQ 1

1. In March 2017, Parliament passed the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, enhancing paid maternity leave from a period of 26 weeks to 52 weeks
2. It also makes it mandatory for every organization with 10 or more employees to have a crèche.

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

• Context: Data on provision of mandatory crèche services at establishments is not maintained centrally. The complaints received for violation of provision of the Act by respective Governments are dealt with as per the provisions of the Act.
• In March 2017, Parliament passed the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, enhancing paid maternity leave from a period of 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
• The law is applicable to all institutions with 10 or more employees.
• It also makes it mandatory for every organization with 50 or more employees to have a crèche.
• guidelines include:
• A crèche be either at the workplace or within 500 metres of it. Alternatively, it could also be in the beneficiaries’ neighbourhood.
• The facility should be open for eight to 10 hours and if the employees have a shift system, then the crèche should also be run accordingly.
• A crèche must have a minimum space of 10 to 12 square feet per child to ensure that she or he can play, rest and learn. There should be no unsafe places such as open drains, pits, garbage bins near the centre.
• The crèches should have at least one guard, who should have undergone police verification. There should also be at least one supervisor per crèche and a trained worker for every 10 children under three years of age or for every 20 children above the age of three, along with a helper.
• No outsiders such as plumbers, drivers, electricians be allowed inside the crèche when children are present.
• A crèche monitoring committee with representations from among crèche workers, parents and administration should be formed.
• There should also be a grievance redressal committeefor inquiring into instances of sexual abuse.
• The Maternity Benefit Act:
• The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, applies to establishments employing 10 or more than 10 persons in factories, mines, plantation, shops & establishments and other entities.
• The main purpose of this Act is to regulate the employment of women in certain establishments for certain period before and after child birth and to provide maternity benefit and certain other benefits.
• The Act was amended through the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017.
• The amendment has brought in major changes to the law relating to maternity benefits. These are:
• It extends the period of maternity benefit from 12 weeks to 26 weeks of which not more than eight weeks can precede the date of the expected delivery. This exceeds the International Labour Organisation’s minimum standard of 14 weeks and is a positive development. However, a woman who has two or more surviving children will be entitled to 12 weeks of which not more than six weeks can precede the date of the expected delivery.
• Women who legally adopt a child below the age of three months or a “commissioning mother” will be entitled to maternity benefit for 12 weeks from the date on which the child is handed over to her. A commissioning mother is defined as a biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman.
• It gives discretion to employers to allow women to work from home after the period of maternity benefit on mutually agreeable conditions.
• It introduces a provision which requires every establishment to intimate a woman at the time of her appointment of the maternity benefits available to her.

MCQ 2
SATAT initiative is related to

1. E-vehicles promotion
2. For employment opportunities to skilled youth
3. Promotion of research in universities
4. To set up compressed bio-gas (CBG) production plants

• Context: The government has said that the SATAT initiative has the potential of addressing environmental problems arising from landfill emissions, farm stubble burning, etc. and also bring down dependency on oil/gas import.
•  Till June, 2019, Oil Marketing Companies and Gas Marketing Companies have awarded Letter of Intent (LoI) for 344 plants for production and supply of CBG.

About the initiative:

• The initiative is aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.
• Compressed Bio-Gas plants are proposed to be set up mainly through independent entrepreneurs.
• CBG produced at these plants will be transported through cascades of cylinders to the fuel station networks of OMCs for marketing as a green transport fuel alternative.
• The entrepreneurs would be able to separately market the other byproducts from these plants, including bio-manure, carbon-dioxide, etc., to enhance returns on investment.
• This initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people and produce 50 million tonnes of bio-manure for crops.
• There are multiple benefits from converting agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste into CBG on a commercial scale:
• Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution. • Additional revenue source for farmers.
• Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment.
• Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals.
• Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil.
• Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations.
• Bio-gas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic decomposition from waste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc. After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has pure methane content of over 95%.

What is CBG?

• Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential. With calorific value (~52,000 KJ/kg) and other properties similar to CNG, Compressed Bio-Gas can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel.
• It is planned to roll out 5,000 Compressed Bio-Gas plants across India in a phased manner, with 250 plants by the year 2020, 1,000 plants by 2022 and 5,000 plants by 2025. These plants are expected to produce 15 million tonnes of CBG per annum, which is about 40% of current CNG consumption of 44 million tonnes per annum in the country. At an investment of approx. Rs. 1.7 lakh crore, this initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people and produce 50 million tonnes of biomanure for crops.
• The National Policy on Biofuels 2018 emphasizes active promotion of advanced bio-fuels, including CBG. The Government of India had launched the GOBAR-DHAN (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources) scheme earlier this year to convert cattle dung and solid waste in farms to CBG and compost. The scheme proposes to cover 700 projects across the country in 2018-19. The programme will be funded under Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM) component of Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin(SBM-G) to benefit households in identified villages through Gram Panchayats.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has notified Central Financial Assistance (CFA) of Rs. 4 crore per 4,800 kg of CBG per day generated from 12,000 cubic metres of biogas per day, with a maximum of Rs.10 crore per project.
• Compressed Bio-Gas can be produced from various bio-mass/waste sources, including agricultural residue, municipal solid waste, sugarcane press mud, distillery spent wash, cattle dung and sewage treatment plant waste. The other waste streams, i.e, rotten potatoes from cold storages, rotten vegetables, dairy plants, chicken/poultry litter, food waste, horticulture waste, forestry residues and treated organic waste from industrial effluent treatment plants (ETPs) can be used to generate biogas.
• The potential for Compressed Bio-Gas production from various sources in India is estimated at about 62 million tonnes per annum. Going forward, Compressed Bio-Gas networks can be integrated with city gas distribution (CGD) networks to boost supplies to domestic and retail users in existing and upcoming markets.
• Besides retailing from OMC fuel stations, Compressed Bio-Gas can at a later date be injected into CGD pipelines too for efficient distribution and optimised access of a cleaner and more affordable fuel.

MCQ 3

1. World Heritage Status is a permanent status once given
2. The boundaries cant be changed by respective countries once a tag is given to the site.

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

• A country may request to extend or reduce the boundaries, modify the official name, or change the selection criteria of one of its already listed sites. Any proposal for a significant boundary change or modify the site’s selection criteria must be submitted as if it were a new nomination, including first placing it on the Tentative List and then onto the Nomination File.
• A request for a minor boundary change, one that does not have a significantly impact on the extent of the property or affect its “outstanding universal value”, is also evaluated by the advisory bodies before being sent to the Committee. Such proposals can be rejected by either the advisory bodies or the Committee if they judge it to be a significant change instead of a minor one.
• Proposals to change the site’s official name is sent directly to the Committee
• Endangerment
• A site may be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger if there are conditions that threaten the characteristics for which the landmark or area was inscribed on the World Heritage List. Such problems may involve armed conflict and war, natural disasters, pollution, poaching, or uncontrolled urbanization or human development. This danger list is intended to increase international awareness of the threats and to encourage counteractive measures. Threats to a site can be either proven imminent threats or potential dangers that could have adverse effects on a site.[18]
• The state of conservation for each site on the danger list is reviewed on a yearly basis, after which the committee may request additional measures, delete the property from the list if the threats have ceased or consider deletion from both the List of World Heritage in Danger and the World Heritage List.
• Only two sites have ever been delisted: the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary in Oman and the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany. The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was directly delisted in 2007, instead of first being put on the danger list, after the Omani government decided to reduce the protected area’s size by 90 percent.
• The Dresden Elbe Valley was first placed on the danger list in 2006 when the World Heritage Committee decided that plans to construct the Waldschlösschen Bridge would significantly alter the valley’s landscape. In response, Dresden City Council attempted to stop the bridge’s construction, but after several court decisions allowed the building of the bridge to proceed, the valley was removed from the World Heritage List in 2009.
• The first global assessment to quantitatively measure threats to Natural World Heritage sites found that 63 percent of sites have been damaged by increasing human pressures including encroaching roads, agriculture infrastructure and settlements over the last two decades. These activities endanger Natural World Heritage sites and could compromise their unique values. Of the Natural World Heritage sites that contain forest, 91 percent of those experienced some loss since the year 2000. Many Natural World Heritage sites are more threatened than previously thought and require immediate conservation action.

MCQ 4

1. Blue Flag certification is given to beaches by France based World beach international
2. Its based on 33 criterias which must be maintained otherwise flag certification can be taken back

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

MCQ 5
 About Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana,

1. The unorganized sector workers, with income of less than Rs 15,000 per month and who belong to the entry age group of 18-60 years, will be eligible for the scheme.
2. He or she should be an income tax payer.
3. If the subscriber dies during the receipt of pension, any of his or her family member will be entitled to receive 50 percent of the pension as family pension

Choose correct
(A) 1 & 2
(B) 2 & 3
(C) All
(D) None

• About Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-Dhan Yojana:
• Launched by the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. The scheme was announced in the Interim Budget 2019.
• PM-SYM is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme that will engage as many as 42 crore workers in the unorganised sector.
• Eligibility:
• The unorganised sector workers, with income of less than Rs 15,000 per month and who belong to the entry age group of 18-40 years, will be eligible for the scheme. Those workers should not be covered under New Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme or Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). He or she should not be an income tax payer.
• Benefits:
• Minimum Assured Pension: Each subscriber under the scheme will receive minimum assured pension of Rs 3000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years.
• In case of death during receipt of pension: If the subscriber dies during the receipt of pension, his or her spouse will be entitled to receive 50 percent of the pension as family pension. This family pension is applicable only to spouse.
• In case of death before the age of 60 years: If a beneficiary has given regular contribution and dies before attaining the age of 60 years, his or her spouse will be entitled to continue the scheme subsequently by payment of regular contribution or may even exit the scheme.
• Contribution to the scheme:
• Contribution by the Subscriber: The subscriber is required to contribute the prescribed contribution amount from the age of joining the scheme till the age of 60 years.
• Medium of contribution: The subscriber can contribute to the PMSYM through ‘auto-debit’ facility from his or her savings bank account or from his or her Jan- Dhan account.
• Equal contribution by the Central Government: Under the PM-SYM, the prescribed age-specific contribution by the beneficiary and the matching contribution by the Central Government will be made on a ‘50:50 basis’.
• Once the beneficiary joins the scheme at the entry age of 18-40 years, the beneficiary has to contribute till 60 years of age. On attaining the age of 60 years, the subscriber will get the assured monthly pension of Rs.3000/- with benefit of family pension, as the case may be.
• Doubt and Clarification: In case of any doubt on the scheme, clarification provided by the JS& DGLW will be final.

MCQ 6
Seva Bhoj Yojana is by ministry of
(A)Health
(B)Tourism
(C)Culture
(D)Housing & Urban affairs

• Union Ministry of Culture has launched- ‘Seva Bhoj Yojna’– a scheme to reimburse central share of CGST and IGST on food, prasad, langar or bhandara offered by religious and charitable institutions.
• The scheme seeks to reimburse the central government’s share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) on purchase of raw items such as ghee, edible oil, atta, maida, rava, flour, rice pulses, sugar and jaggery, which go into preparation of food/prasad/langar/bhandara offered free of cost by religious institutions.
• The main objective of the scheme is to lessen the financial burden of such charitable religious institutions, which provide free of cost without any discrimination to the general public and devotees.
• Eligibility:
• The charitable religious institutions including temples, gurudwara, mosque, church, dharmik ashram, dargah, monasteries, which fulfill the following criteria are eligible for the grant:
• The institutions that have been in existence for at least five years before applying for financial assistance/grant.
• The institutions that serve free food to at least 5000 people in a month.
• The institutions covered under Section 10(23BBA) of the Income Tax Act or those registered as Society under Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860) or as a Public Trust under any law for the time being in force of statuary religious bodies constituted under any Act or institutions registered under Section 12AA of Income Tax Act.

MCQ 7

1. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, located in Indonesian island
2. It’s a dormant volcano
3. Mauna Kea’s summit is one of the best sites in the world for astronomical observation

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

• The Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO) are a number of independent astronomical research facilities and large telescope observatories that are located at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, United States. The facilities are located in a 525-acre (212 ha) special land use zone known as the “Astronomy Precinct”, which is located within the 11,228- acre (4,544 ha) Mauna Kea Science Reserve.
• The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture.
• The location is near ideal because of its dark skies from lack of light pollution, good astronomical seeing, low humidity, high elevation of 4,205 meters (13,796 ft), position above most of the water vapor in the atmosphere, clean air, good weather and low latitude location

• The mega telescope completed its design and development phase in 2009, but legal challenges from Native Hawaiian activists — who treasure Mauna Kea for cultural and religious reasons — have hounded the telescope.

About TMT:

• The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) is a proposed astronomical observatory with an extremely large telescope (ELT).
•  It is an international project being funded by scientific organisations of Canada, China, India, Japan and USA.
• Planned location: Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii in the US state of Hawaii.
• The TMT is designed for near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared observations, featuring adaptive optics to assist in correcting image blur.
• Potential:
• TMT will enable scientists to study fainter objects far away from us in the Universe, which gives information about early stages of evolution of the Universe.
• It will give us finer details of not-so-far-away objects like undiscovered planets and other objects in the Solar System and planets around other stars.

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