Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 01-07-19 | PDF Downloads

MCQ 1

1. Denali (or Mt McKinley)(6194m) – Antarctica
2. Kilimanjaro(5892m) – Africa.
3. Vinson Massif(4892m); – Antarctica.
4. Mount Kosciuszko – Australia-Oceania

Choose correct match
(A) 1,2,3
(B) 2 & 4
(C)2 & 3 only
(D) 2,3,4

• The Seven Summit inlcudes

1. Carstensz Pyramid– 4884m; Location: Oceania (Australia – New Guinea)
2. Kilimanjaro– 5892m; Location: Africa
3. Elbrus– Height: Location: Russia
4. Aconcagua– Height: 6962m; Location: South America
5. Denali (or Mt McKinley)- Height: 6194m; Location: North America
6. Vinson Massif– Height- 4892m; Location: Antarctica
7. Mt. Everest– Height- 8848m; Location: Asia.

MCQ 3

1. India is the highest producer of Aluminium in world
2. NALCO is the maharatna PSU in india and headquartered in New Delhi

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

• National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), an Odisha-based Navaratna Company has been selected for President’s award for utilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund in social development. NALCO was selected for its Aliali Jhia Scheme.
• About Aliali Jhia :
• In 2015 NALCO started a scheme called Aliali Jhia. The scheme was on the line of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao to adapt and promote the poor and talented girls for education.
• It aimed to promote the education of Girls of BPL (Below Poverty Line) families. Under this scheme, NALCO adopted 416 girls from BPL families of 66 villages in Anugul and Koraput districts of Odisha. These girls are reading in 45 different schools and under this scheme Company is bearing all expenditure for education and promotion of talent from 8th to 10th class. Scheme is now joined by employees of the company.
• NALCO is a Navratna CPSE (Central Public Sector Enterprises) under Union Ministry of Mines. Centre Government holds 52% equity of NALCO.
• It was established in 1981, with its registered office at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• It is one of the largest integrated primary producer of Aluminium in Asia. It encompasses entire vale chain from bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and casting, power generation, rail and port operations.
• It is one of the largest integrated Bauxite-AluminaAluminium-Power Complex in the Country encompassing bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and casting, power generation, rail and port operations .
• The Company is the lowest-cost producer of metallurgical grade alumina in the World and lowest-cost producer of Bauxite in the World as per Wood McKenzie report.
• With sustained quality products, the Company’s export earnings accounted for about 42% of the sales turnover in the year 2018-19 and the Company is rated as 3rd highest net export earning CPSE as per Public Enterprise Survey report.
• It has spent Rs. 325 crore towards CSR activities till 2017-2018.
• Notable efforts in field of Education includes Indradhanush scheme, where the Company has sponsored 920 tribal children of Maoist infested Damanjodi sector and provided education to them in 3 reputed residential schools. 416 meritorious girl students of BPL families at Angul and Damanjodi sector have been adopted with financial support by the Company under ‘Nalco ki Ladli’ scheme in line with Govt’s ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ Mission.
• Recognizing the healthcare needs as one of the critical need, NALCO is operating 8 MHUs (Mobile Health Units) in peripheral villages of its plants by which more than one lakh patients are treated freely every year. Going a step ahead, the Company is also setting a secondary modern eye care hospital at Angul and a Night Shelter in AIIMS, Bhubaneswar for attendants of indoor and OPD patients availing long term treatment.
• Responding to the call of Govt of India, NALCO actively participated in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan by constructing 479 toilets in various districts of its operating areas and has also taken up a noble initiative to make 11 periphery villages completely Open Defecation Free (ODF) in Damanjodi and Angul sector.
• The Company has taken the responsibility of Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri & its surrounding under PM’s Iconic Shrine Development Programme to upgrade the infrastructure & maintain cleanliness with special emphasis on Renovation and beautification of Gandhi Park as a tourist spot, temple illumination, beautification of Puri town with thematic painting based on Jagannatha culture and battery-operated vehicle in railway station for differently-abled passengers and sick people.

MCQ 4

1. The United Nations Convention against Torture, 1984 [UNCAT] imposes a duty on the states to criminalise torture under Article 1
2. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that it is the responsibility of the states to ensure no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
3. India has refused to sign this treaty

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

• India has abstained from voting on United Nation General Assembly (UNGA’s) resolution aimed at examining options to end trade in goods which are used for capital punishment and torture. India stated that it is unacceptable to place death penalty on par with torture that it firmly believe that freedom from torture is a human right which must be respected and protected under all circumstances.
• Arguments by India India argued that incorporating capital punishment into scope of this resolution raised concerns about making an attempt to place it on par with torture.
• India stressed that the country remains firmly committed to prevent torture and other such punishment (like cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment).
• India stated that where capital punishment is statutorily provided for, due process of law is followed.
• It warned the assembly against current resolution, that it may even start a duplicative parallel process related to goods being used for torture and capital punishment and that it will further create ambiguity by conflating different issues.
• In India, capital punishment is a statutory provision, but at the same time, it is used in rarest of rare cases. Also, acts of torture are punishable in India under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Indian judiciary system serves as a bulwark against any such violations of human rights.
• India had signed the UNCAT in 1997 but is yet to ratify it.
• India is one of the few countries with lower human development index, such as Sudan and Brunei, which are yet to ratify the Convention.
• The Courts, various legal experts, the Law Commission of India and even the Government have time and again reiterated the need for a legislation prohibiting torture, however, the legislation seems to be in poise due to the open gap between words and actions.
• Recently the issue of the need for an anti-torture legislation was raised in the parliament. The Supreme Court is also set to decide an interlocutory application on a similar matter. In backdrop of these two instances, we will be discussing the need for a strong legislation against torture in India in this article.
• Introduction
• Torture, in general words, is a way of imposing the will of the strong over the weak by making the latter suffer. The United Nations Convention against Torture, 1984 [UNCAT] imposes a duty on the states to criminalise torture under Article 1 while defining torture as
• “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”
• Further, Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that it is the responsibility of the states to ensure no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• In India torture is a practice long prevalent in prisons. Over the years, the incidence of torture has only increased in India, with the methods becoming complex, involving psychical and physical exhaustion. A report by National Crime Records Bureau on prison statistics shows that one person dies in every six hours in Indian prisons.
• Between the period of 1st April 2017 to 28th February 2018, 1,674 custodial deaths have been recorded in India.
• These numbers show the growing trends of custodial violence that could be linked to the absence of strong deterrent laws in the country.

MCQ 5

1. Pitt’s India Act 1784 or the East India Company Act 1784 was passed in the British Parliament to rectify the defects of the Regulating Act 1773.
2. It ended the dual control system
3. Supreme court in Calcutta was established according to it.

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

• British came to India as traders and with the passage of time, they became it’s rulers. In 1600 AD, the British East India Company was granted a charter to trade in East. The company obtained exclusive right to trade with India for 15 years. From time to time, this charter had to be renewed. Gradually East India Company also morphed into a territorial power in India. Its career as a territorial power in India had started with the victory in the battle of Plassey. However, post battle of Plassey, the affairs of the company went haywire and needed parliamentary control. Thus a series of acts, beginning from regulating act 1773, were passed to regulate the affairs of the company; renew its charters; provide for government in India; provide for civil and criminal laws and so. Thus, the constitutional history of India begins from the Regulating Act 1773.
• Regulating Act of 1773 was the first landmark in the constitutional development of India. Via this act, the British Parliament for the first time interfered into affairs of India. The Prime Minister of England at the time of Regulating Act of 1773 was Lord North.
• Significance of the 1784 Act:
• The Act was significant for two reasons. Firstly, the company’s territories in India were for the first time called the ‘British possession in India’ and secondly, British Government was given the supreme control over Company’s affairs and its administration in India.
• Board of Control In political matters, the company was till now working as somewhat sovereign. The Pitts India act made the company directly subordinate to the British government. For the purpose of Joint Government, a Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India called Board of Control was created.
• This board was made of six people viz. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State, and four Privy Councillors nominated by the King.
• The Secretary of the State was entitled as the President of the Board of Control.
• This Board of control was empowered to control all matters of civil or military government or revenues. The board was given full access to the company’s records.
• It had the powers to send Governors to India and full authority to alter them.
• Thus, in the dual control, the Company was to be represented by the Court of Directors and the Crown was represented by the Board of Control.
• Alternation in Governor General-in Council The Governor General’s council was now reduced to 3 members, one of whom was to be the commander-in-chief of the King’s army in India. This process of reducing number of members from 4 to 3 was to strengthen the position of the Governor General because now, he was able to get any resolution passed even with the help of one member in his side. The Governor General was given the right of casting vote, in case the members present in a meeting of the council shall any time be equally divided in opinion. The Governor General Council was now under indirect control of the British Government through the Board of Control.

 MCQ 6
Aruna Sundararajan Committee has been constituted for

1. Water reservoirs revival
2. River linking
3. Telecom sector revival
4. Banking reforms

• Acknowledging that country’s telecom industry was under financial stress, Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had constituted a committee chaired by Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan to spell out revival plans for Telecom sector.
• Purpose: To review levies, including spectrum usage charge (SUC), and promote Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in telecom sector.
• Need: Reduction of levies and fees, such as licence fee, SUC and universal service levy, has been a long-standing demand of Telecom industry, along with review of definition of aggregated gross revenue and this will also be main focus areas of committe.

MCQ 7

• He established Radical Democratic Party (RDP), was a political party in India which existed at the time of the Second World War
• was a founder of the Mexican Communist Party and the Communist Party of India
• “Reason, Romanticism and Revolution” was his major work Recognise the personality

A. B.N. Rao
B. Bagha Jatin
C. Bipin Chandra pal
D.M.N.Roy

• Reason, Romanticism and Revolution is the last major work by Indian humanist philosopher and political activist M. N. Roy. Deemed by some to be his “magnum opus,” the book was published in two volumes, with the final manuscript readied for the press in the spring of 1952.
• The first volume appeared in August 1952 with the second volume published posthumously in May 1955. The work is a survey of the development of Western political thought as reflected through the prism of Roy’s personal philosophical ideas and includes a presentation of his own original thinking about a so-called “New Humanism.”
• Manabendra Nath Roy (21 March 1887 – 26 January 1954), born Narendra Nath Bhattacharya, was an Indian revolutionary, radical activist and political theorist, as well as a noted philosopher in the 20th century.
• Roy was a founder of the Mexican Communist Party and the Communist Party of India. He was also a delegate to congresses of the Communist International and Russia’s aide to China. Following the rise of Joseph Stalin, Roy left the mainline communist movement to pursue an independent radical politics. In 1940 Roy was instrumental in the formation of the Radical Democratic Party, an organisation in which he played a leading role for much of the decade of the 1940s.
• In the aftermath of World War II Roy moved away from Marxism to espouse the philosophy of radical humanism, attempting to chart a third course between liberalism and communism.
• He established Radical Democratic Party (RDP), was a political party in India which existed at the time of the Second World War
• RDP evolved out of the League of Radical Congressmen, which had been founded in 1939 by former Communist International leader M.N. Roy. Roy founded Radical Democratic Party in 1940 with the purpose of engaging India in the war to support the Allies. RDP also worked for Indian independence. RDP was against the industrial strike that took place at the time.
• During the period 1944-1948 the general secretary of RDP was V. M. Tarkunde.
• The trade union wing of the Royists was the Indian Federation of Labour.
• RDP was dissolved in 1948, to give place to the Radical Humanist movement.
• Nationalist revolutionary
• Towards the end of the 19th Century revolutionary nationalism began to spread among the educated middle classes of Bengal, inspired by the writings of Bankim and Vivekananda.Naren Bhattacharya was swept up in this movement, reading both of these leading luminaries extensively.
• According to one biographer, Roy gained an appreciation from Bankim that true religion required one not to be cloistered from the world, but to work actively for the public good; Vivekananda reinforced this notion of social service and further advanced the idea that Hinduism and Indian culture was superior to anything the western world could offer.
• With his cousin and childhood friend Hari Kumar Chakravarti (1882–1963), he formed a band of free-thinkers including Satcowri Banerjee and the brothers, Saileshvar and Shyamsundar Bose. Two other cousins of Bhattacharya and Chakravarti — Phani and Narendra Chakravarti – often came from Deoghar, where they went to school with Barin Ghosh. A mysterious Vedic scholar, Mokshadacharan Samadhyayi, active organiser of secret branches of the Anushilan Samiti in Chinsura started frequenting Bhattacharya group.
• In July 1905 a partition of Bengal was announced, scheduled to take effect in October. A spontaneous mass movement aimed at annulment of the partition emerged, giving radical nationalists like Naren Bhattacharya and his co-thinkers an opportunity to build broader support for their ideas. Following his expulsion from high school for organising a meeting and a march against the partition, Bhattacharya and Chakravarti moved to Kolkata and joined in the active work of the Anushilan.
• Under Mokshada’s leadership, on 6 December 1907 Bhattacharya successfully committed the first act of political banditry to raise money for the secret society. When arrested, he was carrying two seditious books by Barin Ghosh. Defended by the Barrister J.N. Roy (close friend of Jatindranath Mukherjee or Bagha Jatin) and the pleader Promothonath Mukherjee, he got released on bail, thanks to his reputation as a student and social worker.
• Unhappy with Barin’s highly centralised and authoritative way of leadership, Bhattacharya and his group had been looking for something more constructive than making bombs at the Maniktala garden. Two incidents sharpened their interest in an alternative leadership. Barin had sent Prafulla Chaki with Charuchandra Datta to see Bagha Jatin at Darjeeling who was posted there on official duty, and do away with the Lt. Governor; on explaining to Prafulla that the time was not yet ripe, Jatin promised to contact him later. Though Prafulla was much impressed by this hero, Barin cynically commented that it would be too much of an effort for a Government officer to serve a patriotic cause. Shortly after, Phani returned from Darjeeling, after a short holiday: fascinated by Jatin’s charisma, he informed his friends about the unusual man. On hearing Barin censuring Phani for disloyalty, Bhattacharya decided to see that exceptional Dada and got caught for good.
• The Howrah-Shibpur Trial (1910–11) brought Bhattacharya closer to Jatindra Mukherjee

 

 
 

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