[Mission 2023] Insta– QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 20 July 2022

Solution: b)

Major maritime initiative launched by QUAD leaders to check illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific region and enhance the security apparatus of the region. ‘Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness’ (IPMDA) will offer an integrated and cost-effective maritime domain and transform the ability of partners in the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region to fully monitor the waters on their shores.

The IPMDA is said to be a satellite-based maritime security system aiming for a “fundamental requirement for peace, stability, and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region.

The initiative will integrate three critical regions of the Pacific Islands – Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region – and allow tracking of “dark shipping” and other “tactical activities”.

“Dark ships” are vessels with their Automatic Identification System (AIS) – a transponder system – switched off so as not to be detectable.

The maritime system will also improve the partners’ ability to respond to climate and humanitarian events and protect their fisheries – a vital need for many Indo-Pacific economies.

Source

Solution: d)

The working of G20 is divided into two tracks:

• The finance track: It comprises all meetings with G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and their deputies. Meeting several times throughout the year they focus on monetary and fiscal issues, financial regulations, etc.
• The Sherpa track: It focuses on broader issues such as political engagement, anti-corruption, development, energy, etc. Each G20 country is represented by its Sherpa; who plans, guides, implements, etc. on behalf of the leader of their respective country.

The work of G20 members is supported by several international organizations (Permanent guest invitees):

• These organizations include:
• The Financial Stability Board (FSB). The FSB, which was established by G20 leaders following the onset of the global financial crisis,
• The International Labour Organization (ILO).
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• United Nations (UN)
• World Bank
• The World Trade Organization (WTO)

Solution: c)

The FCRA was enacted during the Emergency in 1976 amid apprehensions that foreign powers were interfering in India’s affairs by pumping money into the country through independent organisations.

The law sought to regulate foreign donations to individuals and associations so that they functioned “in a manner consistent with the values of a sovereign democratic republic”.

An amended FCRA was enacted in 2010 to “consolidate the law” on utilisation of foreign funds, and “to prohibit” their use for “any activities detrimental to national interest”.

The law was amended again in 2020, giving the government tighter control and scrutiny over the receipt and utilisation of foreign funds by NGOs.

FCRA requires every person or NGO receiving foreign donations to file annual returns, and they must not transfer the funds to another NGO.

Source

Solution: b)

The Unemployment Rate (or UER) is the percentage of people in the labour force who demanded work but did not get it.

Under normal circumstances, the UER is a perfectly fine metric to track unemployment but in India’s case, and especially over the past decade, UER is becoming ineffective in accurately assessing the true level of unemployment distress. That’s because the labour force itself has been shrinking rapidly.

The labour force includes those who are employed and those who are looking for work but unable to get it (i.e. unemployed).

So, what has been happening over the past decade is that the Labour Force Participation Rate in India has been falling. As such, often when it appears that UER has fallen, it is not because more jobs have been created but because fewer people have demanded jobs (in other words, the LFPR has fallen).

Since millions do not formally “demand” work, there is an undercounting of unemployed people in India. This is why UER fails to adequately capture the unemployment distress in India.

Solution: b)

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 replaces the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. It fulfils the obligations to the United National Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory.

Disability has been defined based on an evolving and dynamic concept.

The types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21 and the Central Government will have the power to add more types of disabilities. 

Additional benefits such as reservation in higher education (not less than 5%), government jobs (not less than 4 %), reservation in allocation of land, poverty alleviation schemes (5% allotment) etc. have been provided for persons with benchmark disabilities and those with high support needs.