INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 27 April 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (b)

Explanation: About Basavanna, his thoughts and contributions:

• Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I in Karnataka,
• Basavanna spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas.
• Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals.
• He introduced new public institutions such as the Anubhava Mantapa (or, the “hall of spiritual experience”), which welcomed men and women from all socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life, in open.
• As a leader, he developed and inspired a new devotional movement named Virashaivas, or “ardent, heroic worshippers of Shiva”. This movement shared its roots in the ongoing Tamil Bhakti movement, particularly the Shaiva Nayanars traditions, over the 7th- to 11th-century.
• Basava championed devotional worship that rejected temple worship and rituals led by Brahmins, and replaced it with personalized direct worship of Shiva through practices such as individually worn icons and symbols like a small linga.
• Basaveshwara is the first Kannadiga in whose honour a commemorative coin has been minted in recognition of his social reforms.
• In November 2015, the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi inaugurated the statue of Basaveshwara along the bank of the river Thames at Lambeth in London.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/basava-jayanti/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Stat1: In the early 1970s, the government of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had enacted major amendments to the Constitution (the 24th, 25th, 26th and 29th) to get over the judgments of the Supreme Court in RC Cooper (1970), Madhavrao Scindia (1970) and the earlier mentioned Golaknath.
• In RC Cooper, the court had struck down Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation policy, and in Madhavrao Scindia it had annulled the abolition of privy purses of former rulers.
• Stat2: The ‘basic structure’ doctrine has since been interpreted to include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/basic-structure-and-the-kesavananda-bharati-case/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: Here the directive word is Not Correct!!

• Stat1: The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration of the tribal areas in the four northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as per Article 244.
• Stat2 and 3: Though these areas fall within the executive authority of the state, provision has been made for the creation of the District Councils and regional councils for the exercise of the certain legislative and judicial powers.
• Each district is an autonomous district and Governor can modify / divide the boundaries of the said Tribal areas by notification.
• The Governor may, by public notification:
  • Include any area.
  • exclude any area.
  • create a new autonomous district.
  • increase the area of any autonomous district.
  • diminish the area of any autonomous district.
  • alter the name of any autonomous district.
  • define the boundaries of any autonomous district

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/autonomous-district-councils/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Stat1 and 2: It seeks to increase the financial and executive powers of the 10 Autonomous Councils in the Sixth Schedule areas of the northeastern region.
• The amendments provide for elected village municipal councils, ensuring democracy at the grass root level.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/autonomous-district-councils/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• At the heart of the South China Sea dispute is the “nine-dash line”, Beijing’s claim that encircles as much as 90 per cent of the ­contested waters. The line runs as far as 2,000km from the Chinese mainland to within a few hundred kilometres of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. Beijing maintains it owns any land or features contained within the line, which confers vaguely defined “historical maritime rights”.
• The nine-dash line—at various times also referred to as the ten-dash line and the eleven-dash line—refers to the undefined, vaguely located, demarcation line used initially by the Republic of China (1912–1949) and subsequently the governments of the Republic of China (ROC, which governs Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), for their claims of the major part of the South China Sea.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/south-china-sea-dispute/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1 and 2: Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.
• Stat3: At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/hydrogen-fuel/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment for crime.
• Now, with flogging abolished, judges will have to choose between fines, jail sentences and non-custodial alternatives such as jail sentences.
• This reform was made in order to “bring the kingdom into line with international human rights norms against corporal punishment”.
• In 2018, Saudi had lifted the ban on women drivers. And, women not requiring permission from their male guardians to apply for a passport anymore.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-27-april-2020/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• It is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km (32 mi) from Manali.
• It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, Manali-Leh Highway, a part of NH 21, transverses Rohtang Pass.
• River Ravi rises west of the Rohtang pass in the Kullu Hills.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-27-april-2020/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Sanaa is the largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate.
• Hodidah is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its principal port on the Red Sea.
• Aden is a port city and, since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea, some 170 km east of Bab-el-Mandeb

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-27-april-2020/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: Incident Reporting under CERT Rules

• In India, section 70-B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (the “IT Act”) gives the Central Government the power to appoint an agency of the government to be called the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.
• In pursuance of the said provision the Central Government issued the Information Technology (The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team and Manner of Performing Functions and Duties) Rules, 2013 (the “CERT Rules”) which provide the location and manner of functioning of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Rule 12 of the CERT Rules gives every person, company or organisation the option to report cyber security incidents to the CERT-In.It also places an obligation on them to mandatorily report the following kinds of incidents as early as possible:
  • Targeted scanning/probing of critical networks/systems;
  • Compromise of critical systems/information;
  • Unauthorized access of IT systems/data;
  • Defacement of website or intrusion into a website and unauthorized changes such as inserting malicious code, links to external websites, etc.;
  • Malicious code attacks such as spreading of virus/worm/Trojan/botnets/spyware;
  • Attacks on servers such as database, mail, and DNS and network devices such as routers;
  • Identity theft, spoofing and phishing attacks;
  • Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks;
  • Attacks on critical infrastructure, SCADA systems and wireless networks;
  • Attacks on applications such as e-governance, e-commerce, etc.
• The CERT Rules also impose an obligation on service providers, intermediaries, data centres and body corporates to report cyber incidents within a reasonable time so that CERT-In may have scope for timely action. This mandatory obligation of reporting incidents casts a fairly wide net in terms of private sector entities, however it is notable that prima facie the provision does not impose any obligation on government entities to report cyber incidents unless they come under any of the expressions “service providers”, “data centres”, “intermediaries” or “body corporate”. This would mean that if the data kept with the Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India is hacked in a cyber incident, then there is no statutory obligation under the CERT Rules on it to report the incident. It is pertinent to mention here that although there is no obligation on a government department under law to report such an incident, such an obligation may be contained in its internal rules and guidelines, etc. which are not readily available.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/27/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-27-april-2020/