INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 6 February 2021) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1: As per latest publication from Election Commission of India, the total number of parties registered was 2598, with 8 national parties, 52 state parties and 2538 unrecognised parties. All registered parties contesting elections need to choose a symbol from a list of available symbols offered by the EC.
• S2: When a recognised political party splits, the Election Commission takes the decision on assigning the symbol. For example, when the Samajwadi Party split, the EC allotted the ‘bicycle’ to the Akhilesh Yadav faction.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/registration-of-political-parties/

Ans: (c)

Explanation: here the directive word is not correct!!

• S1: According to section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, no person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police.
• S2: Registered political parties, in course of time, can get recognition as `State Party’ or National Party’ subject to the fulfillment of the conditions prescribed by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, as amended from time to time.
• S3: The maximum limit on the number of star campaigners for recognized National/State parties shall be 30 in place of 40 & for unrecognized registered political parties it shall be 15 in place of 20 during COVID-19. Link: https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/eci-revises-election-norms-maximum-number-of-star-campaigners-for-recognized-parties-to-be/663839
• S4: To be eligible for a ‘National Political Party of India:
  • It secures at least six percent of the valid votes polled in any four or more states, at a general election to the House of the People or, to the State Legislative Assembly.
  • In addition, it wins at least four seats in the House of the People from any State or States.
  • It wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People (i.e., 11 seats in the existing House having 543 members), and these members are elected from at least three different States.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/registration-of-political-parties/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• PMFBY aims to provide a comprehensive insurance cover against failure of the crop thus helping in stabilising the income of the farmers. The Scheme covers all Food & Oilseeds crops and Annual Commercial/Horticultural Crops for which past yield data is available and for which requisite number of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) are being conducted under General Crop Estimation Survey (GCES).
• S1: The scheme is implemented by empanelled general insurance companies.
• S2: Selection of Implementing Agency (IA) is done by the concerned State Government through bidding.
• S3: The scheme is compulsory for loanee farmers availing Crop Loan /KCC account for notified crops and voluntary for other others.
• The scheme is being administered by Ministry of Agriculture.
• The scheme has been beset by a number of problems for the farmers with unpaid dues in thousands of crores while insurance companies have pocketed the money.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana-pmfby-5/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Directorate General of Civil Aviation is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation primarily dealing with safety issues. It is responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards. It also co-ordinates all regulatory functions with International Civil Aviation Organisation.
• The headquarters are located in New Delhi with regional offices in the various parts of India.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana-pmfby-5/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• A Government Security (G-Sec) is a tradable instrument issued by the Central Government or the State Governments. It acknowledges the Government’s debt obligation. Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with original maturity of one year or more).
• S1: G-Secs are issued through auctions conducted by RBI.
• Floatation of State Government Loans (State Development Loans): As per the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, the RBI may, by agreement with any State Government undertake the management of the public debt of that State. I
• Accordingly, the RBI has entered into agreements with 29 State Governments and one Union Territory (UT of Puducherry) for management of their public debt.
• S2: In India, the Central Government issues both, treasury bills and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue only bonds or dated securities, which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs). Treasury Bills (T-bills) Treasury bills or T-bills, which are money market instruments, are short term debt instruments issued by the Government of India and are presently issued in three tenors, namely, 91 day, 182 day and 3.64 day.
• S3: Treasury bills are zero coupon securities and pay no interest. They are issued at a discount and redeemed at the face value at maturity.
• For example, a 91 day Treasury bill of 100/- (face value) may be issued at say 98.20, that is, at a discount of say, 1.80 and would be redeemed at the face value of  100/-.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/what-are-govt-securities-3/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The sea is bordered by the island of Great Britain to the southwest and west, the Orkney and Shetland islands to the northwest, Norway to the northeast, Denmark to the east, Germany and the Netherlands to the southeast, and Belgium and France to the south.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/denmark-to-create-worlds-first-energy-island-in-the-north-sea/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a technology for authenticating users and devices in the digital world. The basic idea is to have one or more trusted parties digitally sign documents certifying that a particular cryptographic key belongs to a particular user or device.
• Context:
  • The Central government has told the Delhi High Court that no blanket permission has been granted to any agency for interception or monitoring or decryption of any messages or information under the surveillance programmes like the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), Network Traffic Analysis (NETRA) and National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).
• Background:
  • The affidavit came in response to a petition seeking to constitute a permanent, independent oversight body for reviewing lawful interception and monitoring orders or warrants under the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act and the Information Technology Act.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/no-blanket-nod-given-for-surveillance/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) scheme:
• It is Haryana’s unique identity card scheme.
• Any family with a Haryana residential address can enrol for the scheme.
• The family ID or PPP, an eight-digit alpha numeric ID, is provided to those who are residents of Haryana.
• A registration ID is provided to those who live in Haryana but have not completed residency requirements.
• As of now, over 110 services and schemes being delivered to citizens via the Saral platform have been linked to the PPP scheme.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/02/06/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-6-february-2021/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• S1: This makes sense because short-term FII money is volatile. So, 1 is correct.
• S2: This will further increase India’s exposure to foreign money and may in fact aggravate financial crisis. So, 2 is wrong.
• S3: Full CAC implies free movement of currency out of the country for both current and capital account transactions such as short-term and long-term debt. This will only make India more vulnerable to such a crisis. So, 3 is wrong.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• It will remain unchanged since the money supply includes both cash/currency with public at hand and demand deposits. Withdrawing cash from demand deposit only puts it with the public, hence no change in M.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020