Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 30-06-19 | PDF Downloads

MCQ 1
 Which of the following statements regarding ‘Green Climate Fund’ is/are correct?

1. It is intended to assist the developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
2. It is founded under the aegis of UNEP, OECD, Asian Development Bank and World Bank Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a fund established within the framework of the UNFCCC as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism to assist developing countries in adaptation and mitigation practices to counter climate change.
• The GCF is based in Incheon, South Korea. It is governed by a Board of 24 members and supported by a Secretariat.
• The objective of the Green Climate Fund is to “support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows”.
• It is intended that the Green Climate Fund be the centrepiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance under the UNFCCC. The current executive director is Yannick Glemarec Green Climate Fund
• At COP 16, Parties, decision 1/CP.16 established a Green Climate Fund (GCF)as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the UNFCCC. ===> Decision Made to Establish GCF
• At COP 17 held in Durban, the Parties approved the Governing Instrument for the GCF. ===> Legal Approval
• Parties, at COP 18, endorsed the consensus decision of the GCF Board to select Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea as the host of the GCF. ===> Host for GCF finalized. Source: • The Fund will start operating from 2013.
• It is a mechanism to redistribute money from the developed to the developing world. • GCF will help developing countries financially in adapting mitigation practices to counter climate change.
• It is intended to be the centerpiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion by 2020.

MCQ 2
The key schemes under which the States have been allocated money from Nirbhaya fund

1. Emergency Response Support System
2. Central Victim Compensation Fund
3. Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children
4. One Stop Scheme
5. Mahila Police Volunteer
6. Universalisation of Women Helpline Scheme

(A) 1,4,6
(B) 1,2,4,6
(C) All
(D) 2,3,4,6

• Only 20% of Nirbhaya Fund has been used by States until 2018
• Of ₹854.66 crore released by Centre, a mere ₹165.48 crore has been spent
• A sum of ₹1,813 crore has been disbursed by the Centre from 2015 to 2019. Of this, The Hindu analysed details of ₹854.66 crore disbursed until 2018
• The top five States ranked in terms of utilisation of money across various schemes under the Nirbhaya Fund were Chandigarh (59.83%), Mizoram (56.32%), Uttarakhand (51.68%), Andhra Pradesh (43.23%) and Nagaland (38.17%).
• However, the government data shows more money was utilised by Chandigarh than what was allocated to it under Central Victim Compensation Fund as well as Women Helpline Scheme.
• The worst five States include Manipur, Maharashtra, Lakshadweep – which didn’t spend even a single penny – and were followed by West Bengal (0.76%) and Delhi (0.84%).
• The Nirbhaya Fund was set up by the UPA-II in the aftermath of the gang rape of a paramedical student in a moving bus in New Delhi in December 2012 with an initial corpus of ₹1,000 crore. The Fund supports schemes for safety of women, and over the past six years it has swelled to ₹3,600 crore through allocation in the Finance Budgets. Though the Fund was instituted in 2013, its disbursement gathered pace only from 2015.
• The key schemes under which the States have been allocated money include
•  : Emergency Response Support System, Central Victim Compensation Fund, Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children, One Stop Scheme, Mahila Police Volunteer, and Universalisation of Women Helpline Scheme.
• Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing scheme of One Stop Centre to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence and
• A Scheme for Universalisation of Women Helpline to provide 24 hours immediate and emergency response to women affected by violence.
• The Government of India is implementing One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme for setting up One Stop Centre since 1st April 2015 to support women affected by violence.

 About the scheme:

• Popularly known as Sakhi, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has formulated this Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• It is a sub – scheme of Umbrella Scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of women including Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyaog Yojana.
• Under the scheme, One Stop Centres are being established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces in phased manner.
• Target group: The OSC will support all women including girls below 18 years of age affected by violence, irrespective of caste, class, religion, region, sexual orientation or marital status.
• The Centres will be integrated with a Women Helpline to facilitate access to following services: Emergency response and rescue services.
• Medical assistance.
• Assistance to women in lodging the FIR.
• Psycho- social support and counselling.
• Legal aid and counselling.
• Shelter
• Video conferencing facility.
• The Scheme will be funded through Nirbhaya Fund.
• The Central Government will provide 100% financial assistance to the State Government /UT Administrations under the Scheme.
• Need for protection:
• Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a global health, human rights and development issue that transcends geography, class, culture, age, race and religion to affect every community and country in every corner of the world.
• The Article 1 of UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence 1993 provides a definition of gender – based abuse, calling it “any act of gender – based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
• In India, gender based violence has many manifestations; from the more universally prevalent forms of domestic and sexual violence including rape, to harmful practices such as, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks, witch – hunting, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, child marriage, sex selective abortion, sati etc. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has enacted various special laws relating to women such as

1. The protection of women from domestic violence act, 2005;
2. Dowry prohibition act, 1961;
3. Indecent representation of women (prohibition) act, 1986; and
4. The sexual harassment of women at workplace (prevention, prohibition and redressal) act, 2013 and
5. Prohibition of child marriage act,2006 (PCMA).
6. The criminal law (amendment), act 2013 has been enacted making the punishment more stringent for offences like rape.

MCQ 3

1. Nirbhaya Fund’, the non-lapsable corpus fund parked with the Ministry of women and child development
2. In every budget 1000 crore rs. Are to be added in the fund mandatorily 3. It was announced in budget 2015-16

Choose correct
(A) 1 only
(B) 1 & 2
(C) All
(D) None
Only 42% of Nirbhaya fund released for projects since 2015
The then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at Centre announced the funds in 2013 after the gang rape and murder of a student in Delhi on December 16, 2012. The Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which has been highly vocal about women security and empowerment, has failed to spend even half of the Nirbhaya Fund since 2015, government data revealed. As per the data, the corpus transferred to the Public Account for the Nirbhaya Fund up to 2018-19 was Rs 3,600 crore out of which since 2015, the BJP-led central government was only able to release Rs 1,513.40 crore till December 2018.

• The then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at Centre announced the funds in 2013 after the gang rape and murder of a student in Delhi on December 16, 2012.
• The Central government has announced to dedicate a specific amount for the security of women with an initial corpus of Rs 1,000 crore in 2013-14.
• The similar amount was added in 2014-15.
• In 2016-17 and 2017-18 Rs 550 crore each were added in the fund.
• In 2018-19, Rs 500 crore was allocated for the fund.
• Named ‘Nirbhaya Fund’, the non-lapsable corpus fund parked with the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, were for the implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the safety and security for women in the country.
• Among these, the funds for only two projects were released 100 per cent. One time installment of Rs 200 crore for Home Ministry’s Creation of Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF) and Rs 0.24 crore for WCD’s NICSI for Developing Nirbhaya Dashboard ensures for the 100 per cent fund release for these projects.
• Against the appraised amount of Rs 312.69 crore for Emergency Response Support system, the Centre released zero amount in 2015- 16, Rs 217.97 crore in 2016-17, Rs 55.39 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 19.71 crore in 2018-19. In total, Rs 293.07 crore has been released for the proposal of the Home Ministry.

MCQ 4
EQUIP program is related with

1. Space
2. Governance
3. MSME Sector
4. Higher Education

• The Higher Education Department of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has finalized and released a 5-year Vision Plan titled as Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP).
• In what could be one of the first new initiatives of the second act of the NDA government, the Ministry of Human Resource Development plans to launch an ambitious ₹1.5 lakh crore action plan to improve the quality and accessibility of higher education over the next five years.
• This is being described as the implementation plan for the National Education Policy — a 2014 poll promise from the BJP — which is also likely to be released in a week’s time, after five years of repeated delays and extensions.
• The last NEP was released in 1986, with a revision in 1992.
• “While the country has been in election mode, we have had 80 experts working on the EQUIP project over the last two months, to bring transformational change to the system,” Higher Education secretary R. Subrahmanyam told The Hindu on Friday.
• EQUIP stands for the Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme and was crafted by ten committees led by experts within the government such as NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, principal scientific advisor K. Vijay Raghavan and former revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, as well as some corporate chiefs.

Goals set for Higher Education Sector by Expert Group are:

1. Doubling Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) and resolving geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India.
2. Promoting India as a global study destination.
3. Upgrade Quality of Education to global standards.
4. Positioning minimum 50 Indian institutions among Top-1000 Global Universities.
5. Promote Research & Innovation ecosystems for positioning India in Top-3 countries globally in matters of knowledge creation.
6. Introducing governance reforms in higher education for well-administered campuses.
7. Accreditation of all institutions for assurance of quality.
8. Doubling employability of students passing out of higher education.
9. Harnessing education technology for expanding reach and improving pedagogy (method and practise of teaching).
10. Achieving a quantum increase in investment in higher education.

MCQ 5

1. Aadhaar linkage is necessary to access NFSA benefits in a beneficiary’s local registered ration shop
2. One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme, which will allow portability of food security benefits, will be available across the country from July 1, 2019

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
‘One nation one ration card’ scheme from July 1, 2020
Aadhaar linkage needed for it to work; States given one more year to use point of sale machines in ration shops, says Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan

• ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme, which will allow portability of food security benefits, will be available across the country from July 1, 2020. This means poor migrant workers will be able to buy subsidised rice and wheat from any ration shop in the country, so long as their ration cards are linked to Aadhaar.
• All the States have been given one more year to use point of sale (PoS) machines in the ration shops and implement the scheme, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told journalists on Saturday. Already, 77% % of the ration shops across the country have PoS machines and more than 85% of people covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) have their cards linked to Aadhaar, he said.
• While Aadhaar linkage is not necessary to access NFSA benefits in a beneficiary’s local registered ration shop, located closest to her home address, it will be necessary to access the portability scheme, according to senior Food Ministry officials.
• Ten States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura – already offer this portability, pointed out Mr. Paswan. Delhi had also begun implementing portability, though it was later stopped for technical reasons. Other States, including Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu, could easily implement the scheme, as they had PoS machines in all the ration shops.
• “This scheme will ensure that no poor person is deprived of subsidised grains,” said the Minister. “We have written to all State governments to fast track its implementation, so that the whole country is ready to implement ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ latest by June 30, 2020.”
• The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Ram Vilas Paswan met State Food Secretaries and State government officials along with officials of Food Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs)in New Delhi. Shri Paswan discussed various issues pertaining to efficient implementation of national food security act.

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013:

• As passed by the Parliament, Government has notified the National Food Security Act, 2013 on 10th September, 2013.
• The objective is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.
• Key features:
• The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about twothirds of the population.
• The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
• The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
• The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Besides meal to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, such women will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.
• Children upto 14 years of age will be entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards.
• In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance.
• The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.
• Separate provisions have also been made in the Act for ensuring transparency and accountability.

MCQ 6

1. India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council has been endorsed unanimously by the Asia Pacific group, which comprises 55 countries, but Pakistan & China has blocked the proposal
2. Each year, the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members out of a total of 10, for a two-year term.

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

• Distribution of seats: These 10 seats are distributed among the regions thus: five for African and Asian countries; one for Eastern European countries; two for Latin American and Caribbean countries; two for Western European and other countries.
• Of the five seats for Africa and Asia, three are for Africa and two for Asia; there is an informal understanding between the two groups to reserve one for an Arab country. The Africa and Asia Pacific group takes turns every two years to put up an Arab candidate.
• Elections for terms beginning in even-numbered years select two African members, and one each within Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Terms beginning in odd-numbered years consist of two Western European and Other members, and one each from Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Votes: Irrespective of whether a country is a “clean slate” candidate and has been endorsed by its group, it needs to secure the votes of two-thirds of the members present and voting at the General Assembly session(a minimum of 129 votes if all 193 member states participate). When contested, the elections for non-permanent seats can be fraught and can go on for several rounds, In 1975, there was a contest between India and Pakistan, which went to eight rounds. Pakistan won the seat that year. In 1996, India lost a contest to Japan.

Role of non-permanent members in the work of the Security Council

• The limited nature of the right of veto
• Under the terms stipulated by the UN Charter, the right of veto of the permanent members of the Security Council is restricted, i.e. it does not apply in cases of a procedural nature (related primarily to the functioning of the Security Council itself). In such a situation, the support of nine members is needed for the Security Council to make a decision, regardless of whether they are permanent or non-permanent members of the Security Council. The powers of non-permanent members are also in theory strengthened by the so-called “collective right of veto” (a Ssecurity Council decision does not receive support if at least seven non-permanent members of the Security Council vote against its adoption, regardless of the support of all states – permanent members).
• Monthly presidency the Security Council
• A convenient opportunity for non-permanent members of the Security Council to influence the work of the Security Council is the monthly presidency of the Council, held in turn by all member states, in alphabetical order. The chair of the Security Council has influence on, amongst other things, shaping the monthly programme of the Council. It is also granted a number of powers of an organizational nature (including decisions concerning the order of voting in the Security Council on amendments to resolutions).
• The country holding the presidency of the Council in a given month usually also proposes the content of so-called thematic debates. For many non-permanent members, these debates are an opportunity to draw attention to issues important to them in the sphere of international peace and security.
• Crisis issues, sanction committees
• Measures taken by the Security Council in relation to global crises are usually initiated by the permanent members, which present the motions and other documents of the Council. The non-permanent members, however, can play an important role in matters concerning their respective geographic regions (eg. Arab countries with regards to issues pertaining to the Middle East) and thematic issues (eg. contributing states on issues regarding peacekeeping operations). Increased influence on the Council’s decisions is also provided by the leadership of sanction committees and Security Council working groups, which are traditionally exercised by nonpermanent members.
• The opportunity to build a coalition of states
• The importance of non-permanent members is increased when a large group of non-permanent members of the Security Council presents a united position on a given issue that is on the Council’s agenda. This happens often in situations where several members of the Security Council belong to the same regional organization or interest group. The importance of non-permanent members is also increased during serious political crises, during which permanent members do not represent a unanimous position but where the differences between them are not deep enough to completely paralyze the work of the Council.
• Consensual nature of certain Security Council decisions
• Also playing to the favour of non-permanent members is the fact that in the course of its work the Security Council often seeks to reach a consensus, not only with regards to legal documents (resolutions) and political documents (statements) but also organizational issues (the Security Council’s programme of work for a given month).
• Incorporating the most important issues during informal meetings gives nonpermanent members a chance to protect their interests and place issues that are important to them within the content of negotiated documents. In recent years, non-permanent members have not only played a significant role in the process of negotiating the content of documents, they have also started to present their own proposals for solutions.

 

 
 

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