Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

Context: For the first time ever, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started work on reopening the crucial Baralacha Pass in Himachal Pradesh much before schedule to restore connectivity to Leh in Ladakh.

• Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass is a high mountain pass in the Zanskar range connecting the Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh.
• It is situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.
• The Bhaga river, a tributary of the Chenab River, originates from Surya Taal lake, which is situated a few kilometres from the pass towards Manali.
• The pass also acts as a water-divide between the Bhaga River and the Yunan River.

Explanation :

Context: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to start planting seabuckthorn in the cold desert areas of the state this year.

• Seabuckthorn is an ecologically and economically important plant that belongs to the family Elaegnaceae. The species is a wind pollinated dioecious shrub.
• In India, it is found above the tree line in the Himalayan region, generally in dry areas such as the cold deserts of Ladakh and Spiti.
• In Himachal Pradesh, it is locally called chharma and grows in the wild in Lahaul and Spiti and parts of Kinnaur.
• The plant is hardy and it can withstand extreme temperatures from -43ºC to 40ºC and it is considered to be drought tolerant.
• The shrub develops extensive root system having ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. It is therefore an ideal plant for soil erosion control, land reclamation, wildlife habitat enhancement, and farm stand protection in temperate region.
• As a folk medicine, seabuckthorn has been widely used for treating stomach, heart and skin problems.
• Its fruit and leaves are rich in vitamins, carotenoids and omega fatty acids.
• Besides being an important source of fuelwood and fodder, seabuckthorn is a soil-binding plant which prevents soil-erosion, checks siltation in rivers and helps preserve floral biodiversity.
• It also has commercial value, as it is used in making juices, jams, nutritional capsules.

Explanation :

Context: In Assam, the campaigns of political parties often include going to different Sattras to seek blessings or to glorify the teachings of Sankardeva.

• Sattras are monastic institutions in Assam. They were created as part of the 16th century Neo-Vaishnavite reformist movement. Movements started by the Vaishnavite saint-reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva(1449-1596).
• They were established to spread the Sankardeva’s unique “worship through art” approach. They are doing it presently with music (borgeet), dance (sattriya), and theatre (bhauna).
• Each Satra has a naamghar (worship hall) as its nucleus and is headed by an influential “Satradhikar”.
• Monks known as bhakats are inducted into Sattras at a young age. They may or may not be celibate depending on the kind of Sattra they are inducted into.
• There are about 900 Sattras across Assam, but the main centers are Bordowa (Nagaon), Majuli and Barpeta. These institutions are of paramount importance and lie at the heart of Assamese culture.

Sankardeva’s Philosophy

• Sankardeva propagated a form of Bhakti called eka-sharana-naam-dhrama, and espoused a society based on equality and fraternity, free from caste differences, orthodox Brahmanical rituals and sacrifices.
• His teaching focused on prayer and chanting (naam) instead of idol worship.
• His dharma was based on the four components of deva (god), naam (prayers), bhakats (devotees), and guru (teacher).

Explanation :

Context: The share of cess and surcharge in the gross tax revenue (GTR) of the Centre has almost doubled to 19.9% in 2020-21 from 10.4% in 2011-12.The 15^thFinance Commission has recommended a higher grant-in-aid and lower tax devolution to the States.

About Cess

• It is a form of tax levied or collected by the government for the development or welfare of a particular service or sector.
• It is charged over and above direct and indirect taxes.
• Cess collected for a particular purpose cannot be used for or diverted to other purposes.
• It is not a permanent source of revenue for the government, and it is discontinued when the purpose levying it is fulfilled.
• Currently, the cess and surcharge collected by the Centre are not part of the tax devolution.
• Examples: Education Cess, Swachh Bharat Cess, Krishi Kalyan Cess etc.

About Surcharge

• Surcharge is an additional charge or tax levied on an existing tax.
• Unlike a cess, which is meant to raise revenue for a temporary need, surcharge is usually permanent in nature.
• It is levied as a percentage on the income tax payable as per normal rates. In case no tax is due for a financial year, then no surcharge is levied.
• The revenue earned via surcharge is solely retained by the Centre and, unlike other tax revenues, is not shared with States.
• Collections from surcharge flow into the Consolidated Fund of India.

Explanation :

Context: Recently, the NITI Aayog has proposed to revise the National Food Security Act 2013.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was introduced by the Government of India in 2013.

Objective

• To provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

Salient Features

• It provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.
• The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
• The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
• The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Besides meal to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, such women will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.
• Children upto 14 years of age will be entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards.
• In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance.
• The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.

Responsibilities under NFSA

• NFSA defines the joint responsibility of the Centre and State/UT Government.
• The Centre is responsible for allocation of required foodgrains to States/UTs, transportation of foodgrains up to designated depots in each State/UT and providing central assistance to States/UTs for delivery of foodgrains from designated FCI godowns to the doorstep of the FPSs.
• The States/UTs are responsible for effective implementation of the Act, which inter-alia includes identification of eligible households, issuing ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrain entitlements to eligible households through fair price shops (FPS), issuance of licenses to Fair Price Shop dealers and their monitoring, setting up effective grievance redressal mechanism and necessary strengthening of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

• It provides for reforms in the TPDS including schemes such as Cash transfers for provisioning of food entitlements. In pursuance of enabling provisions under section 12 of NFSA for cash transfer, Govt. notified ‘Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rule, 2015’ in Aug 2015.

The DBT experiment aims to-

• reduce the need for huge physical movement of foodgrains
• provide greater autonomy to beneficiaries to choose their consumption basket
• enhance dietary diversity
• reduce leakages
• facilitate better targeting
• promote financial inclusion

Explanation :

Context: Post Union Budget 2021-22 presentation, the Sensex has risen 11.36%, , due to increased Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs).

• Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) consists of securities and other financial assets passively held by foreign investors.
• It does not provide the investor with direct ownership of financial assets and is relatively liquid depending on the volatility of the market.
• Examples of FPIs include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs).
• Unlike FDIs, a Financial Portfolio Investment does not require any transfer of IP, technology or know-how. There is no need to enter a joint venture with a partner company.
• Portfolio investments typically have a shorter time frame for investment return than direct investments. As with any equity investment, foreign portfolio investors usually expect to quickly realize a profit on their investments.
• As securities are easily traded, the liquidity of portfolio investments makes them much easier to sell than direct investments.
• Portfolio investments are more accessible for the average investor than direct investments because they require much less investment capital and research.

Explanation :

Context: Recently, Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed the new chief of the World Trade Organization, becoming the first woman to ever lead the institution and the first African citizen to take on the role.

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments.
• Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the WTO has 164 members (including European Union) and 23 observer governments (like Iran, Iraq, Bhutan, Libya etc).
• The Uruguay Round, conducted from 1987 to 1994, culminated in the Marrakesh Agreement, which established the World Trade Organization (WTO).
• The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years.
• It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions.
• India has been a member of the WTO since January 1995 and also had been a member of the WTO’s forerunner General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since July 1948.

Explanation :

Context: Recently, a shadow leather puppet in Kerala’s famous temple art Tholpavakkoothu has been animated by a robot.

• Tholpavakoothu or shadow puppetry is a temple art form which is prevalent in the Bhagavathy temples (mother Goddess) in Palakkad district and nearby regions in Kerala.
• Also known as Nizhalkkoothu and Olakkoothu, it is a ritual art performed during the annual festivals in the Kaali temples of Palakkad district.
• The theme of the play is based on the Kamba Ramayana (the Tamil version of the epic).
• The art is performed on a special stage called koothumadam in the temple courtyard.
• It is performed using the mythological figures along with the use of fire and lighting of lamps behind the screen.
• The chief puppeteer is known as ‘Pulavan’.
• Musical Instruments Used: Ezhupara, Chenda and Maddalam etc.

Explanation :

Context: Recently, the Union Minister of Science & Technology addressed the beginning of Mission Innovation 2.0.

• Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative of 24 countries and the European Commission (on behalf of the European Union) working to reinvigorate and accelerate global clean energy innovation with the objective to make clean energy widely affordable.
• It was announced at COP21 on November 30, 2015, as world leaders came together in Paris to commit to ambitious efforts to combat climate change.
• As part of the initiative, participating countries have committed to double their governments’ clean energy research and development (R&D) investments over five years, while encouraging greater levels of private sector investment in transformative clean energy technologies.
• Mission Innovation has identified eight Innovation Challenges which are global calls to action aimed at accelerating research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in technology areas.

Explanation :

Context: As per the 2019 Crime in India Report by the National Crime Records Bureau, only 2.2 % of cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act between the years 2016 and 2019 ended in convictions by court.

• Passed in 1967, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) 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.
• 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.
• The 2004 amendment, added “terrorist act" to the list of offences to ban organisations for terrorist activities, under which 34 outfits were banned.Till 2004, “unlawful" activities referred to actions related to secession and cession of territory.

As per 2019 amendments -

• 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.
• It also includes the provision of designating an individual as a terrorist.