Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 27-08-19 | Free PDF

MCQ 1

1. 45th WorldSkills Competition is being held at New Delhi
2. It is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world that truly reflects global industry.

Choose correct

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

• The 45th WorldSkills Competition is being held at the KAZAN EXPO International Exhibition Centre in Kazan, Russia.

What is it?

1. It is a flagship event of the WorldSkills International, organized every two years.
2. It is the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world that truly reflects global industry.
3. The aims of the competition include demonstrating the advantages of learning a vocational skill, and encouraging ‘parity of esteem’ between vocational and academic qualifications.

• WorldSkills currently has 79 Member countries and regions, most of which organize national skills competitions that help to prepare the workforce and talent of today for the jobs of the future.
• WorldSkills International was formerly known as the International Vocation Training Organisation (IVTO).
• It was founded in the 1940s and emerged from a desire to create new employment opportunities for young people in some of the economies that were devastated by the Second World War.
• WorldSkills India is an initiative of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. NSDC, through its WorldSkills India initiative, has been leading the country’s participation at WorldSkills International competitions since 2011.

The key objectives of WorldSkills India are to:

• Promulgate skills in the society and motivate the youth to pursue vocational education.
• Champion skills and learning for work through local, regional, national and international skills competition and contribute to the society.
• Invite sponsorships to organize the local, regional, national and international skills competitions and also host international competitions.
• Establish links and a long-term association with the WSI secretariat along with development of cooperation with the Government of India, state Governments, registered vocational skills training and awarding bodies.

MCQ 2

1. RCEP now is the world’s biggest free trade pact
2.  India has signed it with China, Australia & NZ

Choose correct

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

• RCEP is proposed between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six states with which ASEAN has existing FTAs (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
• Aim: RCEP aims to boost goods trade by eliminating most tariff and non-tariff barriers — a move that is expected to provide the region’s consumers greater choice of quality products at affordable rates. It also seeks to liberalize investment norms and do away with services trade restrictions.
• When inked, it would become the world’s biggest free trade pact. This is because the 16 nations account for a total GDP of about $50 trillion and house close to 3.5 billion people. India (GDP-PPP worth $9.5 trillion and population of 1.3 billion) and China (GDP-PPP of $23.2 trillion and population of 1.4 billion) together comprise the RCEP’s biggest component in terms of market size.
• Greater access to Chinese goods may have impact on the Indian manufacturing sector.
• India has got massive trade deficit with China. Under these circumstances, India proposed differential market access strategy for China.
• There are demands by other RCEP countries for lowering customs duties on a number of products and greater access to the market than India has been willing to provide.

Why India should not miss RCEP?

• If India is out of the RCEP, it would make its exports price uncompetitive with other RCEP members’ exports in each RCEP market, and the ensuing export-losses contributing to foreign exchange shortages and the subsequent extent of depreciation of the rupee can only be left to imagination. Some of the sectors that have been identified as potential sources of India’s export growth impulses under RCEP to the tune of approximately $200 billion.
• There are more compelling trade and economic reasons for RCEP to become India-led in future, than otherwise. India would get greater market access in other countries not only in terms of goods, but in services and investments also.

 there are views that in present form the RCEP agreement is not good for India. Why?

• The current account deficit (CAD) touched 8 per cent of GDP, and the agreement in the present state of negotiations would mean forgoing a substantial part of the revenues.
• Greater access to Chinese goods may have impact on the Indian manufacturing sector. India has got massive trade deficit with China. In fiscal year 2017-18, the trade deficit with China was $63 billion.
• Under these circumstances, India proposed differential market access strategy for China.
• Exports from ASEAN into India have grown far quicker than Indian exports to the bloc, which they attribute to the fact that India is a “services economy.”
• There are demands by other RCEP countries for lowering customs duties on a number of products and greater access to the market than India has been willing to provide.
• Apart from China, India is also losing out to financial and technological hub of Singapore, agriculture and dairy majors Australia and New Zealand, plantations of South East Asian countries, and pharmaceutical trade with China and the US.
• With e-commerce as part of the discussion, the Indian resistance at WTO of not letting the discussion on digital trade will weaken.
• The free movement of investments will benefit investors in the US, Singapore, Japan and China, but very few Indians will be taking advantage of this.
• New Delhi is also worried that the RCEP will open backdoor negotiations and may lead to the country losing out on TRIPS agreements. This may result in giving way to global majors in agriculture seed and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Bilateral talks between India and China are crucial for an early conclusion of RCEP negotaiations as agreed by other members. Indian policymakers need to be mindful of domestic sectors’ concerns before agreeing on terms of deal. Simultaneously, there is a necessity to improve our competitiveness in the economy. India must play its due role to get its due place in the regional economic configurations.

MCQ 3

1. Gravitational lensing is an artificial phenomenon induced by james webb telescope
2. It is based on Einstein’s theory of general relativity

 Choose correct

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

• Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope as a sort of time machine, researchers plan to investigate how new stars are born, with the help of a natural phenomenon called “gravitational lensing”.
• A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant light source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light travels towards the observer. This effect is known as gravitational lensing, and the amount of bending is one of the predictions of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. (Classical physics also predicts the bending of light, but only half of that predicted by general relativity.)
• Although Einstein made unpublished calculations on the subject in 1912, Orest Khvolson (1924) and Frantisek Link (1936) are generally credited with being the first to discuss the effect in print. However, this effect is more commonly associated with Einstein, who published an article on the subject in 1936.
• Fritz Zwicky posited in 1937 that the effect could allow galaxy clusters to act as gravitational lenses. It was not until 1979 that this effect was confirmed by observation of the so-called Twin QSO SBS 0957+561
• Gravitational lensing is an effect of Einstein’s theory of general relativity – simply put, mass bends light.
• The gravitational field of a massive object will extend far into space, and cause light rays passing close to that object (and thus through its gravitational field) to be bent and refocused somewhere else.
• The more massive the object, the stronger its gravitational field and hence the greater the bending of light rays – just like using denser materials to make optical lenses results in a greater amount of refraction.

1. Gravitational lensing is useful to cosmologists because it is directly sensitive to the amount and distribution of dark matter.
2. Lensing can help astronomers work out exactly how much dark matter there is in the Universe as a whole and also how it is distributed. 3. Lensing has also been used to help verify the existence of dark matter itself.

 MCQ 4

1. The SDDS is an Indian benchmark for disseminating macroeconomic statistics to the public.
2. It was launched in 2015 after changes in GDP methodology

Choose correct

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

• Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) is an International Monetary Fund standard to guide member countries in the dissemination of national statistics to the public.
• It was established in April 1996.

According to the IMF’s “Annual Observance Report of the Special Data Dissemination Standard for 2018”, India failed to comply with multiple requirements prescribed in the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).

Background

• The yearly observance report for each member country lists the compliances and deviations from the SDDS under each data category for that year. There are over 20 data categories which IMF considers for this report to capture a nation’s economic health including national accounts (GDP, GNI), production indices, employment, and central government operations.

The report lists three types of deviations from SDDS:

1. The first deals with delays in data dissemination from the periodicity prescribed in the SDDS.
2. The second occurs when member countries do not list a data category in their Advance Release Calendars (ARC) despite the category being mandated by the SDDS.
3. The third deviation occurs when data is not disseminated at all for a particular period.

What is Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS)?

• The SDDS is a global benchmark for disseminating macroeconomic statistics to the public.
• SDDS subscription indicates that a country meets the test of “good statistical citizenship.”
• Countries that subscribe to the SDDS agree to follow good practices in four areas: the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of data; public access to those data; data integrity; and data quality.

SDDS Plus:

• The SDDS Plus is the highest tier in the Fund’s Data Standards Initiatives and builds on the progress achieved under the SDDS.
• It is open to all SDDS subscribers, although it is aimed at economies with systemically important financial sectors.
• In addition to the requirements under the SDDS, the SDDS Plus emphasizes stronger data dissemination practices to enhance data transparency and help strengthen the international financial system.

MCQ 5

 About Krishna temple in Bahrain

1. The temple is estimated to have been established around 1817 and was built by Vohra Muslim community
2. It is considered to be the first and the oldest temple in the Gulf countries and has been a place of worship for a host of Hindus since centuries.

Choose correct

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

• PM Narendra Modi has announced a renovation project of USD 4.2 million for the iconic Shri Krishna Temple in Bahrain.

 Key facts:

• The temple completes 200 years this year.
• The temple is estimated to have been established around 1817 and was built by Thathai Bhatia Hindu community, and is still being managed by them.
• It is considered to be the first and the oldest temple in the Gulf countries and has been a place of worship for a host of Hindus since centuries

 MCQ 6

1. Women’s Equality Day is celebrated in the United Nations on August 26 to commemorate the contribution of Women in WW1
2. USA gave equal voting rights to all women based on this day in 1920

Choose correct

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

• Women’s Equality Day is celebrated in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex.
• It was first celebrated in 1973 and is proclaimed each year by the United States President

 MCQ 7

 Jaguar planes currently used by IAF are built by

1. HAL
2. Russia
3. UK/France
4. USA

• The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service in significantly upgraded form with the Indian Air Force.
• Originally conceived in the 1960s as a jet trainer with a light ground attack capability, the requirement for the aircraft soon changed to include supersonic performance, reconnaissance and tactical nuclear strike roles. A carrier-based variant was also planned for French service, but this was cancelled in favour of the cheaper Dassault Super Étendard. The airframes were manufactured by SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l’avion Ecole de Combat et d’Appui Tactique), a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation, one of the first major joint-Anglo-French military aircraft programmes.

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