QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz – 25 & 26 September, 2016

Solution: b.

Keep in mind the context – the ILC norms were recommended in 1957 – so the very basic needs (clothing, a roof over the head, food, fuel to cook food) were sought to be guaranteed back then, whereas by 1991/1992, what constituted the basic requirements had expanded. This way, you can easily answer this question.

“The norms recommended by the Indian Labour Conference, in 1957, fox fixing the minimum wages are:

• consumption units for one wage earner;
• minimum food requirements of 2700 calories per average Indian adult;
• clothing requirements of 72 yards per annum per family;
• rent corresponding to the minimum area provided for under Government’s Industrial Housing Scheme; and
• fuel, lighting and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of the total minimum wage.”

“In 1991 (1992 according to Arthapedia), the Hon’ble Supreme Court delivered a historic judgement and directed that

• children’s education,
• medical requirements,
• minimum recreation including festivals/ceremonies,
• provision for old age,
• provision for marriage etc.

should further constitute 25% of the minimum wage and be used as a guide in fixation of minimum wage.”
September 24th, PIB Features: Understanding Minimum Wages and Bonus.  

Solution: d.

Fixing minimum wages and revising them are decisions taken by the Central Government, and not any one ministry.

Economic Times, August 31st: “Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who chairs the inter-ministerial committee on labour, said the decisions are based on the proposals of the panel set up last year to look into the 12-point charter of demands of the trade unions.”

Arthapedia: “Minimum wage corresponds to the minimum cash payment to be paid to an individual working in certain notified jobs (mostly in the informal / unorganised sector), at a rate fixed by the central or state Governments.”

“The Minimum Wages Act, 1948  envisages appointment of an Advisory Board, by the appropriate Government, for the purpose of advising the appropriate Government in the matter of fixing and revising minimum rates of wages.”

September 24th, PIB Features: Understanding Minimum Wages and Bonus.

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Solution: b.

“Bonus payment is an extra payment given for doing one’s job well also known as performance-related pay or pay for performance. The practice of paying bonus in India appears to have originated during First World War when certain textile mills granted 10% of wages as war bonus to their workers in 1917.”

“The objective of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 is to provide for the payment of bonus to the persons employed in certain establishments on the basis of profits or on the basis of production or productivity and for matter connected therewith.”

September 24th, PIB Features: Understanding Minimum Wages and Bonus.

Solution: a.

“In the hills and forests of Jharkhand, Sarhul marks the beginning of the New Year. It is celebrated by the Oraon, the Munda, the Ho, the Santhal, and by us, the Birjia. Falling on the third day of the moon in the month of Chaitra, Sarhul marks the advent of spring, and the word means the worship of the sal tree.”

• Sarhul honours the return of Mother Nature’s daughter Bindi to earth.
• Sarhul is celebrated during spring season and the Saal trees get new flowers on their branches.
• It is also a worship of the village deity who is considered to be the protector of the tribes. The deities are worshipped with Sal flowers.

Primary reference: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/amrita-besra-on-the-traditions-associated-with-the-sarhul-festival-of-jharkhand/article9140459.ece

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Secondary reference: http://www.jharkhand.gov.in/festivals

Solution: c.

“ In a series of tweets, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said that expectations are raised that looking to the enthusiasm of people for making IDS declaration, the date for income disclosure scheme (IDS) would be extended. “We want to make it very clear that the last date for Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) will not be extended,” Mr. Adhia tweeted.”

Regarding the non-disclosure of information to the IT Dept or any law enforcement agency, the declaration must be a valid declaration. Additionally, an associated point, regarding disclosure (and not investigation)  – “bringing in section 138 of the IT Act is to dispel the perception that the details disclosed under the scheme are confidential under any circumstances — they can be disclosed if it is deemed to be in public interest. The key to this, according to tax experts, is the objectivity of the Chief Commissioner.”

“Such income as declared, would be taxed at the rate of 30% plus a ‘Krishi Kalyan Cess’ of 25% on the taxes payable (equivalent to 7.5% of the undisclosed income) and a penalty at the rate of 25% of the taxes payable (equivalent to 7.5% of the undisclosed income and not 45%), thereby totalling to 45% of the income declared under the scheme.”

Primary reference: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=145360

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Secondary reference: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=149530

Solution: c.

“Under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. Grant someone a special favour (such as a lower customs duty rate for one of their products) and you have to do the same for all other WTO members.”

“This principle is known as most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment (see box). It is so important that it is the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (Article 2) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (Article 4), although in each agreement the principle is handled slightly differently. Together, those three agreements cover all three main areas of trade handled by the WTO.”

“Some exceptions are allowed. For example, countries can set up a free trade agreement that applies only to goods traded within the group —   discriminating against goods from outside. Or they can give developing countries special access to their markets.”

Primary reference: https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm

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Source for question: http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/mfn-status-to-pakistan/article9144854.ece

Solution: d.

“In 2015, ‘PROVe’ was in the news as a ‘Polar Remotely Operated Vehicle’ which “was operationalised for research in North Antarctica in Priyadarshini Lake on the Schirmacher Oasis, which is the source of water for Maitri, India’s second base in the icy continent.”

This PIB Release from 2016 refers to PROVe in the following manner: “Currently, there is no mechanism other than Scuba diving to examine the corals and assess the extent of damage or rejuvenation that might be taking place since the great damages happened earlier. National Institute of Ocean Technology(NIOT), for the first time, used the indigenously-developed Remotely Operated Vehicle (PROVe), to map the coral reefs in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (North Bay and Chidiyatapu) and that the ROV can be used for this purpose efficiently.” So it most likely is the same PROVe from 2015 now being used in the Andamans.

Additionally, “NIOT had earlier developed a deep water work class Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) ROSUB 6000 which was suitable for exploration in deep waters. It was successfully operated at a maximum depth at 5,289 metres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. It also contributed to the exploration of deep ocean minerals such as gas hydrates, polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal sulphides, which occur at water depths ranging between 1,000 and 6,000 metres, said a communication from the institute.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/indian-rov-monitors-the-health-of-coral-reefs/article9147486.ece

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Solution: b.

What is the ‘iKnife’?

“Cancer detection techniques, during surgery, have become good enough to pinpoint a tumour but neither images nor the human eye can quickly tell apart healthy and unhealthy tissues. That’s where the iKnife comes handy. Based on electrosurgery — a technology around since 1920s that employs electric current to heat up the tissue that needs excision — the iKnife can detect precisely which tissue needs removing, and which should stay.”

Solution: a.

“The recent discovery of Proxima b, an exoplanet in our neighbouring star system, Proxima Centauri in the Alpha Centauri group, has fuelled popular interest in studying new worlds. However, theoretical and observational study of exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than the sun – is not new. Among the exoplanets discovered many cannot themselves support life. But it is expected that these could be surrounded by huge natural satellites having water and which are perhaps even habitable. This is a reason to look for such friendly “exomoons” as well as exoplanets.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sci-tech-and-agri/a-new-technique-to-look-for-exomoons/article9146210.ece

Solution: c.

Section 52(1) in the Copyright Act, 1957

Relevant for our purpose: Section 52(1)(i) – The following acts shall not constitute an infringement of copyright, namely:

• by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction; or
• as part of the questions to be answered in an examination; or
• in answers, to such questions;

On the right to photocopy

Solution: d.

• “The world’s largest radio telescope began searching for signals from stars and galaxies and, perhaps, extraterrestrial life on Sunday in a project demonstrating China’s rising ambitions in space and its pursuit of international scientific prestige.”
• “The official Xinhua News Agency said hundreds of astronomers and enthusiasts watched the launch of the Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, in the county of Pingtang.”
• “Installation of the 4,450-panel structure, nicknamed Tianyan, or the Eye of Heaven, started in 2011 and was completed in July.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-begins-operations/article9147058.ece