INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 28 October 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Land as an asset is unique because it is immovable, its value depends on its location, and with growing population, its demand keeps increasing, while its supply is limited. Access to land (or land rights) has a wide-ranging impact on livelihoods, industrial, economic, and social growth.  It has been noted that people with extensive rights to land are better off than the landless, due to better access to markets and other economic opportunities that come with land rights.
• Land ownership is broadly defined by the access to a land title. Land title is a document that determines the ownership of land or an immovable property.  Having a clear land title protects the rights of the title holder against other claims made by anyone else to the property.  In India, land ownership is determined through various records such as sale deeds that are registered, property tax documents, government survey records, etc.
• However, land titles in India are unclear due to various reasons such as legacy issues of the zamindari system, gaps in the legal framework, and poor administration of land records. This has led to several legal disputes related to land ownership, and affected the agriculture and real estate sectors.  Such issues have further highlighted the importance of having clear land titles, and a well organised land records system.  We discuss a few such issues in the following section.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/now-outsiders-can-buy-land-in-jk/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1: The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. A legal body with universal membership specializing in commercial law reform worldwide for over 50 years, UNCITRAL’s business is the modernization and harmonization of rules on international business.
• Stat2: Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) is a not-for-profit international arbitration organisation based in Singapore, which administers arbitrations under its own rules of arbitration and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/singapore-international-arbitration-centre-siac/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• About the European Union:
• It is a group of 27 countries that operate as a cohesive economic and political block.
• The EU has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison).
• Origin of the European Union:
  • Despite not being officially formed until 1993, the European Union’s foundations actually reach further back to 1957, when the European Economic Community was established.
  • The EEC was formed out of a previous group called the European Coal and Steel Community – which had its own start in 1951.
  • In 1993, the EEC morphed into the European Union following the new Maastricht Treaty (also known as the Treaty on European Union).
  • Additionally, the Treaty of Lisbon, enacted in 2009, gave the European Union more broad powers that included being authorized to sign international treaties, increase border patrol, and other security and enforcement provisions.
• In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/the-european-union/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• S1: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recently announced the conclusion of a six-month exercise (from April 2019) of conducting a “whole-genome sequence” of a 1,008 Indians. The project is part of a programme called “IndiGen” and is also seen as a precursor to a much larger exercise involving other government departments to map a larger swathe of the population in the country. Project proponents say this will widen public understanding in India about genomes and the information that genes hide about one’s susceptibility to disease.
• S2: IndiGen is funded by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) India through grant MLP1809

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/indigen-program/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: here the directive word is not correct!!

• Gobi Desert: Mongolia and China
• Great Victoria Desert: Australia
• Takla Makan Desert: China
• Mojave Desert: United States
• Context:
  • Korean Central Television (KCTV) recently warned that a cloud of yellow dust would blow in from China.
  • North Korean authorities have warned that this dust could bring Covid-19 with it.
• What is Yellow Dust?
  • It is actually sand from deserts in China and Mongolia that high speed surface winds carry into both North and South Korea during specific periods every year.
  • The sand particles tend to mix with other toxic substances such as industrial pollutants, as a result of which the ‘yellow dust’ is known to cause a number of respiratory ailments.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/yellow-dust/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• About the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act:
  • Passed in 1967, the law aims at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India.
  • The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.
  • It has death penalty and life imprisonment as highest punishments.
• Key points:
  • Under UAPA, both Indian and foreign nationals can be charged.
  • It will be applicable to the offenders in the same manner, even if crime is committed on a foreign land, outside India.
  • Under the UAPA, the investigating agency can file a charge sheet in maximum 180 days after the arrests and the duration can be extended further after intimating the court.
• As per amendments of 2019:
  • The Act empowers the Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) to grant approval of seizure or attachment of property when the case is investigated by the said agency.
  • The Act empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, to investigate cases of terrorism in addition to those conducted by the DSP or ACP or above rank officer in the state.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/unlawful-activities-prevention-act-1967/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Parampara Series — National Festival of Music and Dance:
  • The annual Parampara Series organised by Natya Tarangini in partnership with the United Nationswill be held online this year.
  • Background:
  • ‘Natya Tarangini’ – Performing Arts Centre was started with an idea to globally popularize Kuchipudi style of Indian classical dance.
  • Established in 1976 by Padmabhushan Awardees Drs. Raja and Radha Reddy and Kaushalya Reddy.
  • Natya Tarangini has today evolved from a simple Kuchipudi dance school into a world-class performing arts centre in Delhi.
• Kuchipudi (Southern India)
  • Kuchipudi, one of the major dance forms of India was originated from Andhra Pradesh, where it grew largely as a product of Bhakti movement beginning in the 7th Century AD.
  • Kuchipudi derives its name from the village Kuchelapuram, where it was nurtured by great scholars and artists who built up the repertoire and refined the dance technique.
  • The Kuchipudi is a dance-drama of Nritta, Nritya and Natya. The Nritta consists of teermanams and jatis, the Nritya of Sabdams, and the Natya of acting with Mudras for the songs. Nritta encompasses steps and movements in the form of patterns of dance which, though ornate in themselves, have no meaning to convey.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-28-october-2020/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The Instrument of Accession was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act 1935 and used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of India or Pakistan created by the Partition of British India.
• Why is October 27 celebrated as Infantry Day?
  • It was on this day that first Indian infantry soldiers took part in an action to defend Indian territory from external aggression.
  • On October 26, 1947 the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, signed the instrument of accession, making his state a part of Indian dominion, and thus paving the day for Indian troops to be deployed in the state to fight against Pakistani invaders.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/10/28/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-28-october-2020/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Lala Lajpat Rai was popularly called Punjab Kesari, Rai was born in Punjab’s Moga in 1865. Early in life, he became a follower of Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj.
• He joined the Indian National Congress at the age of 16. In 1885, Rai established the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore.
• He founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in New York City in 1917. Rai was elected President of the Indian National Congress during its Special Session in Kolkata in 1920, which saw the launch of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/28/lala-lajpat-rai-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• African cheetahs, to be translocated in India from Namibia, will be kept at Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
• Nauradehi is one of the most suitable area for the cheetahs as its forests are not very dense to restrict the fast movement of Cheetahs.

Refer: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/cheetahs-from-namibia-to-be-kept-at-nauradehi-sanctuary-ntca-tells-sc/articleshow/68114800.cms?from=mdr