Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 22-07-19 | PDF Downloads

MCQ 1

1. G20 Head office is in New York
2. Spain is removed from the members list recently

Choose correct

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

Group of Twenty (G20)

• The 14th edition of the G-20 Summit is currently underway in Japan’s Osaka.
• G20 is a global forum comprised of twenty of the world’s largest economies.
• It focuses on addressing global economic challenges.
• Its membership includes 19 countries and European Union.
• The members are divided into 5 groups, consisting of a maximum of four states for choosing the President:
• Group 1: Australia, Canada, United States, Saudi Arabia.
• Group 2: India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey.
• Group 3: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico.
• Group 4: France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom.
• Group 5: China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea.
• In addition to the member countries Spain is a permanent guest and always participates in the G20 summits. Every year, the host country also chooses other guests.
• G20 was conceived in 1999, while the repercussions of the Asian financial crisis of 1997 still lasted. • In a G7 meeting, it was decided to expand the group and make it more representative in order to generate policies that have an impact in the economy.
• So a new forum of finance ministers and presidents of Central Banks, which would later become the G20.
• With the global financial crisis of 2008, the G20 became the main instrument and thereafter, Presidents and Heads of State joined the G20.
• The group does not have permanent offices or employees.
• The President is chosen by a rotation system amongst the member countries.
• There are two working channels of G20,
• Finance Channel – It covers meetings between finance ministers and central bank presidents.
• The Sherpas Channel – It covers non-financial issues, such as political commitment, the fight against corruption, development, gender equality, trade and energy.
• Civil societies through, Affinity groups participate in the G20 that seeks to enrich submit.
• The key regional organizations like ASEAN, African Union, OECD, ILO are usually invited to participate and are represented by the country that holds the presidency
• In the recent submit in Osaka, India held talks with member countries to address the Trade and Security issues.

 MCQ 2

1. INS Sindhukirti is first stealth warship built by India
2. INS Shivalik is diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy, built at the Admiralty Shipyard and Sevmash in the Soviet Union.

 Choose correct

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

• INS Shivalik and INS Sindhukirti
• These are the Indian Navy’s indigenously conceived design and constructed frontline stealth frigate.
• INS Shivalik is the Shivalik-class advanced, stealth-minded, guided-missile frigate warship.
• It is the first stealth warship built by India at Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai s part of the Indian Navy’s Project 17.
• It is equipped with a wide range of electronics and sensors.
• In addition, it uses HUMSA (hull-mounted sonar array), ATAS/Thales Sintra towed array systems.
• It is equipped with a mix of Russian, Indian and Western weapon systems.
• It also has improved stealth and land attacking features over the preceding Talwar-class frigates.
• It is the first Indian navy ship to use the CODOG (COmbined Diesel Or Gas) propulsion system.
• INS Sindhukirti is the seventh Sindhughosh-class, diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy, built at the Admiralty Shipyard and Sevmash in the Soviet Union.
• It is among the oldest operational submarines in the Navy.
• It has been virtually rebuilt with modern sensors weapons and systems which make it “a hole in the water” for the Navy.

 MCQ 3

1. Japanese Encephalitis is a vector borne disease
2. Merck’s vaccine is tested for it recently.

Choose correct

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

• Japanese Encephalitis has been recently reported in Assam.
• It is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
• It is a flavivirus family related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses.
• It is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia.
• It will not spread from one person to another.
• There is no cure for the disease. Treatment is focused on relieving severe clinical signs and supporting the patient to overcome the infection.
• Most JEV infections have mild (fever and headache) or without apparent symptoms.
• Approximately 1 in 250 infections results in severe clinical illness. The incubation period is between 4-14 days. • Safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent JE.
• ‘SA 14-14-2’ vaccine become the most widely used vaccine in endemic countries, and it was prequalified by WHO.
• Since the recent outbreak in Assam, all 27 districts of Assam were covered under the JE vaccination campaign for those aged between 1 to 15 years.
• Migratory birds along with pigs in the community play an important role in the transmission of JE from one area to another.
• Japanese encephalitis (JE) is an infection of the brain caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). While most infections result in little or no symptoms, occasional inflammation of the brain occurs. In these cases, symptoms may include headache, vomiting, fever, confusion and seizures. This occurs about 5 to 15 days after infection.
• JEV is generally spread by mosquitoes, specifically those of the Culex type. Pigs and wild birds serve as a reservoir for the virus. The disease mostly occurs outside of cities. Diagnosis is based on blood or cerebrospinal fluid testing.
• Prevention is generally with the Japanese encephalitis vaccine, which is both safe and effective. Other measures include avoiding mosquito bites. Once infected, there is no specific treatment, with care being supportive. This is generally carried out in hospital. Permanent problems occur in up to half of people who recover from JE.
• The disease occurs in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. About 3 billion people live in areas where the disease occurs. About 68,000 symptomatic cases occur a year, with about 17,000 deaths. Often, cases occur in outbreaks. The disease was first described in 1871
• This family has four genera and a number of unclassified species.
• Genus Flavivirus (type species Yellow fever virus, others include West Nile virus, Dengue Fever and Zika virus).
• Genus Hepacivirus (type species Hepacivirus C (hepatitis C virus), also includes Hepacivirus B (GB virus B))
• Genus Pegivirus (includes Pegivirus A (GB virus A), Pegivirus C (GB virus C), and Pegivirus B (GB virus D))
• Genus Pestivirus (type species Bovine virus diarrhea virus 1, others include Classical swine fever virus (previously hog cholera virus)— contains viruses infecting non-human mammals) Flaviviridae is a family of viruses. Humans and other mammals serve as natural hosts. They are primarily spread through arthropod vectors (mainly ticks and mosquitoes). The family gets its name from the yellow fever virus, the type virus of Flaviviridae; flavus is Latin for “yellow”, and yellow fever in turn was named because of its propensity to cause jaundice in victims

MCQ 4

 The legislations in India which prevents Child labour are:

1. POCSO 2012
2. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986)
3. NCPCR 4. The Right to Education Act 2009
4. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 (the JJ Act) and amendment of the JJ Act in 2006

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

• Key legislative provisions regarding Child labour
• The legislations in India which prevents Child labour are,

1. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act (1986)
2. National Policy on Child Labour (1987)
3. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 (the JJ Act) and amendment of the JJ Act in 2006
4. The Right to Education Act 2009
5. Child Labour Amendment (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 2016
6. Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2017

• The Indian Constitution ensures the right of all children under,
• Article 21 A: Right to Education
• Article 24: Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.
• The key international laws dealing with child labour include the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) convention 138 and convention 182 are related to child labour.
• convention 138 – concerning Minimum Age for Entry to Employment & Work
• convention 182 – concerning the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
• India has ratified both the Core Conventions.
• Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it.
• Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families.
• Government is also implementing the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) since 1988 for the rehabilitation of child labour.
• Under the scheme, children aged 9-14 are rescued/withdrawn from work and enrolled in NCLP Special Training Centres before being mainstreamed into the formal education system.
• Children aged 5-8 are directly linked to the formal education system through close coordination with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

 MCQ 5

 38th parallel is between

1. China & North Korea
2. Andaman & Nicobar Islands
3. Maldives & Lakshyadveep island
4. North & South Korea

• The DMZ has come into the spotlight with Donald Trump becoming the first serving American President to visit the area.
• It is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula.
• It is established by the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement to serve as a buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea.
• It roughly follows latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel), the original demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea at the end of World War II.
• The site where the Armistice was signed is called the Joint Security Area (JSA).
• It continues to be the venue where successive peace discussions concerning the region are conducted, including the recent Trump – Kim meet.
• Both North and South Korea maintain ‘Peace villages’ in sight of each other’s side of the DMZ.
• In September 2018, an agreement was signed with plans to convert the DMZ into a ‘Peace park’.
• Other major international borders of –
• Durand Line – Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• Radcliffe Line – India and Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
• MacMohan Line – India and China
• 49th Parallel, Medicine Line – U.S and Canada
• Maginot line, Siegfried Line – France and Germany
• Hindenburg Line – Germany and Poland.
• 17th Parallel – North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

MCQ 6

Service voters are

1. Voters who are govt employees
2. Voters of Election Commission staff
3. Voters of Military & para military services
4. None

• In the seven phases Lok Sabha polls, a record 18,02,646 eligible personnel were enrolled and 10,84,266 voted through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) or e-postal ballots
• Electronically transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS):
• ETPBS is developed by Election Commission of India with the help of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), for the use of the Service Voters.
• It is a fully secured system, having two layers of security. Secrecy is maintained through the use of OTP and PIN and no duplication of casted Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot (ETPB) is possible due to the unique QR Code.
• Persons working in paramilitary forces and the military and government officials deployed in diplomatic missions outside India are classified as Service Voters.
• Significance and benefits:
• This system enables the entitled service voters to cast their vote using an electronically received postal ballot from anywhere outside their constituency.
• The voters who make such a choice will be entitled for Postal Ballot delivered through Electronic Media for a particular election.
• The developed System is implemented inline with the existing Postal Ballot System. Postal Ballot will be transmitted through Electronic Means to the voters.
• It enables the voters to cast their vote on an electronically received postal ballot from their preferred location, which is outside their originally assigned voting constituency.
• This system would be an easier option of facilitating voting by the electors as the time constraint for dispatch of postal ballot has been addressed using this system.

Class of Electors who are eligible for ETPBS:

1. Service Voters, other than those who opt for proxy voting (Classified Service Voters).
2. The wife of a Service Voter who ordinarily resides with him.
3. Overseas Voters.

 MCQ 7

1. Parliamentary committees are not mentioned in the constitution
2. All committees are ‘select’ committees formed for a specific purpose, for instance, to deliberate on a particular bill. Once the Bill is disposed of, that select committee ceases to exist.

Choose correct

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

• Context: Eleven of the 22 Bills introduced in the ongoing session of Parliament have been passed, which makes it a highly productive session after many years. But these Bills have been passed without scrutiny by parliamentary standing committees, their purpose being to enable detailed consideration of a piece of legislation.

 What’s the issue?

• After the formation of the 17th Lok Sabha, parliamentary standing committees have not been constituted as consultations among parties are still under way. Partly as a result of this, the Bills were passed without committee scrutiny. They were discussed in Parliament over durations ranging between two and five hours.

Why to have parliamentary committees?

• Parliament is the embodiment of the people’s will. Committees are an instrument of Parliament for its own effective functioning.
• Committees are platforms for threadbare discussion on a proposed law.
• The smaller cohort of lawmakers, assembled on the basis of the proportional strength of individual parties and interests and expertise of individual lawmakers, could have more open, intensive and better-informed discussions.
• Committee meetings are ‘closed door’ and members are not bound by party whips, which allows them the latitude for a more meaningful exchange of views as against discussions in full and open Houses where grandstanding and party positions invariably take precedence.
• Members of Parliament may have great acumen but they would require the assistance of experts in dealing with such situations. It is through committees that such expertise is drawn into lawmaking.
• Executive accountability to the legislature is enforced through questions in Parliament also, which are answered by ministers. However, department standing committees go one step further and hear from senior officials of the government in a closed setting, allowing for more detailed discussions.
• This mechanism also enables parliamentarians to understand the executive processes closely.
• What are the types of committees?
• Most committees are ‘standing’ as their existence is uninterrupted and usually reconstituted on an annual basis;
• some are ‘select’ committees formed for a specific purpose, for instance, to deliberate on a particular bill. Once the Bill is disposed of, that select committee ceases to exist. Some standing committees are departmentally related.
• Financial control is a critical tool for Parliament’s authority over the executive; hence finance committees are considered to be particularly powerful. The three financial committees are the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.

Powers:

• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Significance:

• Committee reports are usually exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance. Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition. Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.

Article 105 in The Constitution Of India 1949

• 105 Powers, privileges, etc of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and committees thereof

(1) Subject to the provisions of this constitution and the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of Parliament, there shall be freedom of speech in Parliament

(2) No member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of either House of Parliament of any report, paper, votes or proceedings

(3) In other respects, the powers, privileges and immunities of each House of Parliament, and of the members and the committees of each House, shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Parliament by law, and, until so defined shall be those of that House and of its members and committees immediately before the coming into force of Section 15 of the Constitution (Forty fourth Amendment) Act 1978

(4) The provisions of clauses ( 1 ), ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this constitution have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, a House of Parliament or any committee thereof as they apply in relation to members of Parliament

Article 118 in The Constitution Of India 1949

• 118. Rules of procedure(1) Each House of Parliament may make rules for regulations, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, its procedure and the conduct of its business
• (2) Until rules are made under clause (1), the rules of procedure and standing orders in force immediately before the commencement of this Constitution with respect to the Legislature of the Dominion of India shall have effect in relation to Parliament subject to such modifications and adaptations as may be made therein by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be
• (3) The President, after consultation with the Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker of the House of the People, may make rules as to the procedure with respect to joint sittings of, and communications between, the two Houses
• (4) At a joint sitting of the two Houses the Speaker of the House of the People, or in his absence such person as may be determined by rules of procedure made under clause (3), shall preside

 What these committees do?

• Support Parliament’s work.
• Examine ministerial budgets, consider Demands for Grants, analyse legislation and scrutinise the government’s working.
• Examine Bills referred to by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha.
• Consideration of Annual Reports.
• Consideration of national basic long term policy documents presented to the House and referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha. Advantages of having such committees:
• The deliberations and scrutiny by committees ensure that Parliament is able to fulfil some of its constitutional obligations in a politically charged environment.
• They also help in obtaining public feedback and building political consensus on contentious issues. • They help develop expertise in subjects, and enable consultation with independent experts and stakeholders.
• The committees perform their functions without the cloud of political positioning and populist opinion.
• These committees allow the views of diverse stakeholders.
• They function through the year.
• They also offer an opportunity for detailed scrutiny of bills being piloted by the government.
• They increase the efficiency and expertise of Parliament.
• Their reports allow for informed debate in Parliament.
• How can these committees be made more effective?
• Parliamentary committees don’t have dedicated subject-wise research support available. The knowledge gap is partially bridged by expert testimony from government and other stakeholders. Their work could be made more effective if the committees had full-time, sector-specific research staff.
• The national commission to review the working of the Constitution has recommended that in order to strengthen the committee system, research support should be made available to them.
• Currently, the rules of Parliament don’t require every bill to be referred to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. While this allows the government greater flexibility and the ability to speed up legislative business, it comes at the cost of ineffective scrutiny by the highest law-making body. Mandatory scrutiny of all bills by parliamentary committees would ensure better planning of legislative business

MCQ 8

1. The Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 is the only Law working in India
2. Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) is also called Artificial neural networks (ANN) Choose correct

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

• On June 28, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released a Request for Proposal for an Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS) to be used by police officers across the country.
• What is automated facial recognition?
• AFRS works by maintaining a large database with photos and videos of peoples’ faces. Then, a new image of an unidentified person — often taken from CCTV footage — is compared to the existing database to find a match and identify the person.
• Artificial neural networks (ANN) or connectionist systems are computing systems that are inspired by, but not necessarily identical to, the biological neural networks that constitute animal brains. Such systems “learn” to perform tasks by considering examples, generally without being programmed with any task-specific rules. For example, in image recognition, they might learn to identify images that contain cats by analyzing example images that have been manually labeled as “cat” or “no cat” and using the results to identify cats in other images. They do this without any prior knowledge about cats, for example, that they have fur, tails, whiskers and cat-like faces. Instead, they automatically generate identifying characteristics from the learning material that they process.
• An ANN is based on a collection of connected units or nodes called artificial neurons, which loosely model the neurons in a biological brain. Each connection, like the synapses in a biological brain, can transmit a signal from one artificial neuron to another. An artificial neuron that receives a signal can process it and then signal additional artificial neurons connected to it.
• In common ANN implementations, the signal at a connection between artificial neurons is a real number, and the output of each artificial neuron is computed by some non-linear function of the sum of its inputs. The connections between artificial neurons are called ‘edges’. Artificial neurons and edges typically have a weight that adjusts as learning proceeds. The weight increases or decreases the strength of the signal at a connection. Artificial neurons may have a threshold such that the signal is only sent if the aggregate signal crosses that threshold. Typically, artificial neurons are aggregated into layers. Different layers may perform different kinds of transformations on their inputs. Signals travel from the first layer (the input layer), to the last layer (the output layer), possibly after traversing the layers multiple times.
• The original goal of the ANN approach was to solve problems in the same way that a human brain would. However, over time, attention moved to performing specific tasks, leading to deviations from biology. Artificial neural networks have been used on a variety of tasks, including computer vision, speech recognition, machine translation, social network filtering, playing board and video games and medical diagnosis.
• The NCRB, which manages crime data for police, would like to use automated facial recognition to identify criminals, missing people, and unidentified dead bodies, as well as for “crime prevention”.
• Its Request for Proposal calls for gathering CCTV footage, as well as photos from newspapers, raids, and sketches.
• The project is aimed at being compatible with other biometrics such as iris and fingerprints.
• It will be a mobile and web application hosted in NCRB’s Data Centre in Delhi, but used by all police stations in the country. “Automated Facial Recognition System can play a very vital role in improving outcomes in the area of Criminal identification and verification by facilitating easy recording, analysis, retrieval and sharing of Information between different organisations.”
• How will the new database fit in what already exists?
• NCRB has proposed integrating this facial recognition system with multiple existing databases. The most prominent is the NCRB-managed Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS). Facial recognition has been proposed in the CCTNS program since its origin.
• The idea is that integration of fingerprint database, face recognition software and iris scans will massively boost the police department’s crime investigation capabilities. It will also help civilian verification when needed. No one will be able to get away with a fake ID.
• It also plans to offer citizen services, such as passport verification, crime reporting, online tracking of case progress, grievance reporting against police officers, and more.
• The new facial recognition system will also be integrated with Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS), as well as state-specific systems, the Immigration, Visa and Foreigners Registration & Tracking (IVFRT), and the Koya Paya portal on missing children.

 Concerns:

• Cyber experts across the world have cautioned against government abuse of facial recognition technology, as it can be used as tool of control and risks inaccurate results.
• Amid NCRB’s controversial step to install an automated facial recognition system, India should take note of the ongoing privacy debate in the US.
• In the absence of data protection law, Indian citizens are more vulnerable to privacy abuses.
• Use of surveillance cameras and facial recognition constrict the rights of particular class of people.
• In the US, the FBI and Department of State operate one of the largest facial recognition systems.
• International organisations have also condemned the Chinese government on its use of surveillance cameras and facial recognition to constrict the rights of Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority.
• The AFRS is being contemplated at a time when India does not have a data protection law. In the absence of safeguards, law enforcement agencies will have a high degree of discretion. This can lead to a mission creep. The Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 is yet to come into force, and even if it does, the exceptions contemplated for state agencies are extremely wide.

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