QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 03 February 2018

Solution: a.

A GK and mains-oriented question.

• Several plants on this FTW help clean the lake by absorbing nutrients such as excess nitrates and oxygen present in the water. They thus reduce the content of these chemicals. The FTW is based on the soilless hydroponics technique. The project is a joint effort of an NGO Dhruvansh, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the district administration and other organisations.
• Phytoremediation (‘phyto’ means plant) is a generic term for the group of technologies that use plants for remediating soils, sludges, sediments and water contaminated with organic and inorganic contaminants.
• Hydroponics: A technique of growing plants in a nutrient solution in the complete absence of soil.

http://www.unep.or.jp/Ietc/Publications/Freshwater/FMS2/1.asp;

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/tulsi-and-ashvagandha-to-purify-hyderabad-lake/article22637540.ece

Solution: c.

The Budget has proposed an LTCG tax on equity instruments on all capital gains exceeding ₹1 lakh at the rate of 10%, without offering any indexation benefit that allows gains to be set off against inflation.

Indexation helps investors in long-term debt funds to save taxes – when the purchase price is increased (adjusted for inflation) and deducted from the sale price to calculate LTCG, it brings down taxable gains.

What is indexation: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/mf/learn/fund-basics/indexation-helps-you-to-save-taxes-on-long-term-debt-mutual-funds/articleshow/55596384.cms;

Source/Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/business/markets/return-of-long-term-capital-gains-tax-spooks-sensex/article22633141.ece;

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Solution: c.

A mains-oriented question. India officially argues that our nuclear liability law is in conformity with the CSC.

One of the reasons cited by reactor manufacturers is the supplier liability that is present in our domestic nuclear liability law. Countries such as the U.S. have said that the Indian law’s provisions are violative of the CSC (which India ratified in 2016), but this has been denied by India.

The other issue is related to the price negotiations. For instance, Indo-French negotiations for six European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) in Maharashtra’s Jaitapur have dragged on for a decade on this count, with the Department of Atomic Energy announcing in 2013 that the cost “cannot go above” ₹6.50 per unit, and the French company Areva (the project has now been handed to EDF) clearly seeking more.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/forging-a-new-nuclear-deal/article22637628.ece;

https://thewire.in/21587/indias-nuclear-liability-regime-is-still-up-in-the-air/;

Solution: c.

Presently, consider statement 1 to be correct. Keep track of the news for any updates on this issue.

The Union government has, in the Budget, proposed to amend the repealed Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976, retrospectively, a move that will benefit the ruling BJP and the Congress held guilty by the Delhi High Court for receiving foreign funds from two subsidiaries of Vedanta, a U.K.-based company.  (The Representation of the People Act and the FCRA bar political parties from receiving foreign funds.)

In 2016, the government amended the FCRA through the Finance Bill route, allowing foreign-origin companies to finance non-governmental organisations and clearing the way for donations to political parties by changing the definition of “foreign companies”. The amendment, though done retrospectively, only made valid the foreign donations received after 2010, the year when the 1976 Act was amended. The retrospective amendment did not apply to donations prior to 2010.

Justification for Statement 2 (Stages in Enactment of Budget -> Chapter ‘Parliament’, Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth): The Finance Bill (not financial bill) is introduced to give effect to the financial proposals of the  Government  of  India  for  the  following  year.  It  is  subjected  to  all  the  conditions  applicable  to  a Money Bill.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/fcra-changes-will-help-bjp-cong/article22639424.ece;

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/fcra-amendment-in-finance-bill-to-help-bjp-congress-escape-scrutiny-5049589/

Solution: c.

While the presiding officer can either adjourn the house for a specified time or indefinitely, disruptions have often led to him/her adjourning the house for a specified time and not indefinitely.

• An adjournment  suspends  the  work  in  a  sitting  for  a  specified  time, which may be hours, days or weeks.
• Adjournment sine die  means  terminating  a  sitting  of  Parliament  for  an  indefinite    In  other words,  when  the  House  is  adjourned  without  naming  a  day  for  reassembly,  it  is  called  adjournment sine die. The power of adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the  House.
• The presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) declares the House adjourned sine die, when the business of a session is completed. Within the next few days, the President issues a notification for prorogation of the session. However, the President can also prorogue the House while in session.

Source/improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rs-adjourned-twice-as-sp-aap-members-protest/article22636943.ece;

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