INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 4 August 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Stat1: Article 129 and Article 215 empowers the Supreme Court and the High Court respectively, to punish people for their contempt.
• Article 129, states that “The Supreme Court shall be a court or record and shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to punish for contempt of itself”.
• Stat2: Under Indian law, the freedom of speech and of the press do not confer an absolute right to express one’s thoughts freely. Clause (2) of Article 19 of the Indian constitution enables the legislature to impose certain restrictions on free speech under following heads:
  • security of the State,
  • friendly relations with foreign States,
  • public order,
  • decency and morality,
  • contempt of court,
  • defamation,
  • incitement to an offence, and
  • Sovereignty and integrity of India.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/expression-of-opinion-or-anguish-is-not-contempt-amounting-to-scandalising-the-court-prashant-bhushan-tells-sc/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: Key recommendations:

• The time limit for payment of gratuity to an employee after termination of employment should be reduced from the current five years of continuous service to just one year.
• The provision of gratuity should be extended to all kinds of employees, including contract labourers, seasonal workers, piece rate workers, fixed term employees and daily/monthly wage workers.
• “Inter-state migrant workers” should be mentioned as a separate category in the Code.
• A welfare fund should be created exclusively for them. The fund should be financed proportionately by the sending states, the receiving states, the contractors, the principal employers and the registered migrant workers.
• The funds so created should exclusively be used for workers/employees not covered under other welfare funds.
• Create a central online portal and database of registered establishments as well as migrant workers, including building and other construction staff.
• Registration: It should be made mandatory for all establishments, including agricultural, non-agricultural, contract as well as self-employed workers to register under one body, instead of multiple organisations. This body “should remain responsible for provision of social security for all types of workers in the country”.
• An enabling mechanism should be included in the code itself for portability of Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund among states so money due to beneficiaries can be paid in any state irrespective of where the cess has been collected.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/code-on-social-security-2019/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund is raised by levying a cess of 1 per cent of the construction cost.
  • It is notified by the Central government in its official gazette.
  • The cess is collected by the State governments and UTs.
• It is part of the Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) Act, 1996, which regulates employment and working conditions of construction workers and also provides for their safety and welfare measures.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/code-on-social-security-2019/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: The policy has laid out following goals and objectives:

• To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
• To develop a dynamic, robust and competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.
• To reduce dependence on imports and take forward “Make in India” initiatives through domestic design and development.
• To promote export of defence products and become part of the global defence value chains.
• To create an environment that encourages R&D, rewards innovation, creates Indian IP ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/draft-defence-production-and-export-promotion-policy-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: All India Kisan Congress/Sabha

• This sabha was founded in Lucknow in April 1936 with Swami Sahjanand Saraswati as the president and N.G. Ranga as the general secretary and it involved people such as Namboodiripad, Karyanand Sharma, Yamuna Karjee, Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma, Rahul Sankrityayan, P. Sundarayya, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Bankim Mukherjee.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/centre-should-repeal-ordinances-farmers/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley onboard splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020.
• What is it?
  • In May 2020, the Crew Dragon became the first space vehicle to launch humans from American soil in nine years.
  • Built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, it’s part of NASA’s plan to hand over space station flights to private companies.
  • In particular, SpaceX was given funding through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which started in 2010 to foster public-private partnerships for space exploration.
• Background:
  • Crew Dragon evolved from an earlier design, called Dragon 1, which launched 20 times on missions to deliver cargo to the ISS between May 2012 and March 2020.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/what-is-the-spacex-crew-dragon/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1: Every 4 years the National Tiger Conservation Authority conducts a tiger census across India.
• Stat2: leopard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/report-on-leopard-sightings/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Stat3: Guru Shikhar, a peak in the Arbuda Mountains of Rajasthan, is the highest point of the Aravalli Range.
• Stat2: They are one of the oldest fold mountains of the world and the oldest in India.
  • Learn more about fold mountain here: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/fold-mountain/
• Stat1: They are aligned in north-east to south-west direction. They run between Delhi and Palanpur in Gujarat.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/rakhis-tied-to-trees-in-aravalis/

Ans: (c)

Explanation: Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN):

• This is being implemented under National Health Mission (NHM) by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• eVIN aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-4-august-2020/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The Galapagos Islands, spread over almost 60,000 sq km, are a part of Ecuador, and are located in the Pacific Ocean around 1,000 km away from the South American continent.
  • Ecuador made a part of the Galapagos a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and the sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park in 1959. In 1978, the islands became UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site.
  • Charles Darwin described the islands as a “world in itself”.
  • Why in News?
    • Ecuador was on alert earlier this week as a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels– what some called a “floating city”– was sighted near the Galapagos archipelago.
    • Chinese ships frequent Ecuador’s waters this time of the year when the cold Humboldt Current brings in nutrients that lead to a high congregation of marine species.
  • Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes on schools, hospitals and markets in Idlib province. UN investigators have termed these attacks as war crimes.
    • Where is Idlib?
      • Idlib is a city in north western Syria, 59 kilometerssouthwest of Aleppo, which is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly 500 meters above sea level.
    • Port Louis: It is the capital city of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. It’s known for its French colonial architecture.
      • Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritius counterpart Pravind Jugnauth jointly inaugurated the new Supreme Court built in Port Louis with Indian grant assistance.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/04/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-4-august-2020/