Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act (FRBM Act), 2003, establishes financial discipline to reduce fiscal deficit
• The FRBM Bill was introduced by the then finance minister, Yashwant Sinha, in 2000. The Bill, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2003, became effective from July 5, 2004.
• It aims to introduce transparency in India's fiscal management systems.
• The Act’s long-term objective is for India to achieve fiscal stability and to give the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) flexibility to deal with inflation in India.

Key features

The FRBM Act made it mandatory for the government to place the following along with the Union Budget documents in Parliament annually:

• Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement
• Macroeconomic Framework Statement
• Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement

Escape Clause

• Escape clause generally refers to a contract provision that specifies the conditions under which a party can be freed from an obligation.
• The escape clause under the FRBM Act details a set of events in which the Central government can deviate from fiscal deficit targets.
• It provide flexibility to governments to overshoot fiscal deficit targets in times of need, enabling them to respond to economic shocks.
• To ensure escape clauses are not misused, they are generally allowed only in exceptional circumstances, and with a check on the quantum of deviation.
• The term was used by FRBM Review Committee headed by NK Singh, in 2016.

Explanation :

• Exercise Red Flag is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise held several times a year by the United States Air Force.
• It aims to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and other flight crew members from the United States and allied countries.
• First held in 1975, the Red Flag exercises bring together air crews from the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), United States Marine Corps (USMC), United States Army (USA) and numerous NATO and other allied nations' air forces.
• Only countries considered friendly towards the United States take part in Red Flag exercises.

Explanation :

• Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established in 1948 with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan.
• The fund is recognized as a Trust under the Income Tax Act and the same is managed by Prime Minister or multiple delegates for national causes.
• PMNRF accepts voluntary contributions from Individuals, Organizations, Trusts, Companies and Institutions etc.
• The resources of the fund are utilized to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc.
• In addition it assists partially to defray the expenses for medical treatment like heart surgery, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment of needy people and acid attack etc.

Explanation :

• Indian Army launched “Operation Namaste” to contain the spread of Corona Virus in the country.
• Under the operation, the army will help the Government of India fight against the deadly disease.
• Under the operation, Indian Army has established 8 quarantine so far. Also, Command wise help line numbers have been established.

Mo Jiban (My Life)

• It is a new programme launched by Odisha Government, under which people of the State have to take a resolute vow to stay home and not to go outside during the lockdown period to remain safe from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Explanation :

• Reunion is an overseas department and region of the French Republic and an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar and 175 km southwest of Mauritius.
• Administratively, it is one of the overseas departments of France.
• Like the other four overseas departments, it is also one of the 18 regions of France, with the modified status of overseas region, and an integral part of the republic with the same status as Metropolitan France.
• The official language is French. In addition, the majority of the region's population speaks Reunion Creole.
• The Island is home to one of the world’s most active volcanoes, the Piton de la Fournaise, which is also a World Heritage site.

Explanation :

• The Kuril Islands is a volcanic archipelago in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean.
• These form part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire.
• The Islands are currently under Russian administration. However, they are also claimed by Japan.
• Four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute between the two nations.
• These four islands - Kunashir (known in Japanese as Kunashiri), Iturup (Etorofu), Shikotan and the rocky Habomai islets.

Explanation :

• Kurzarbeit is Germany’s existing scheme that provides for partial compensation for a worker’s earnings in adverse situations.
• Kurzarbeit is German for “short-work”. The policy was rolled out during the 2008 economic crisis while its origins date back as far as the early 20th century, before and after World War I.
• Germany’s use of Kurzarbeit during the 2008-2009 economic crisis has been cited as one of the reasons why the country was able to hold its unemployment rate to within 7.5 per cent even during the recession.

Mode of Working

• The policy provides for a short-time work allowance, called kurzarbeitgeld, which partially compensates for lost earnings during uncertain economic situations.
• They can apply for short-term work benefits under the scheme, with the government stepping in to pay employees a part of their lost income.
• This helps the companies retain their employees instead of laying them off, and allows the latter to sustain themselves for a period of up to 12 months.
• Payment under Kurzarbeit is calculated on the basis of net loss of earnings. As per Germany’s Federal Agency for Work, short-time employees generally receive about 60 per cent of the flat-rate net wage, In case there is at least one child in the house of the short-time worker, he/she receives 67 per cent of the flat-rate net wage.

Explanation :

• Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.
• The virus is named after the Hantan River area in South Korea, where one of the early strains of the virus was isolated in the 70s.
• They are also an RNA virus just like SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus).
• These belong to the order called Bunyavirales and have 12 families.
• The virus is transmitted by rodent excreta, saliva and sometimes, infected rodent bites.
• There are different kinds of illnesses caused by different hantaviruses, and they affect either the blood vessels or the lungs.
• Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses and may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).
• Other hantaviruses, known as “Old World” hantaviruses, are found mostly in Europe and Asia and may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
• In HPS, there are muscle aches, fever, fatigue accompanied by breathing difficulties later. The most damage is observed in the lung, spleen and gall bladder.

Explanation :

• As per Article 110 of the Constitution of India, the Finance Bill is a Money Bill.
• The Finance Bill is a part of the Union Budget, stipulating all the legal amendments required for the changes in taxation proposed by the Finance Minister.
• This Bill encompasses all amendments required in various laws pertaining to tax, in accordance with the tax proposals made in the Union Budget.
• The Finance Bill, as a Money Bill, needs to be passed by the Lok Sabha — the lower house of the Parliament.
• Post the Lok Sabha’s approval, the Finance Bill becomes Finance Act.

Difference between a Money Bill and the Finance Bill

• A Money Bill has to be introduced in the Lok Sabha as per Section 110 of the Constitution. Then, it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations.
• The Rajya Sabha has to return the Bill with recommendations in 14 days. However, the Lok Sabha can reject all or some of the recommendations.

Explanation :

• Gudhi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional New Year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus celebrated in and near Maharashtra and Goa on the first day of the Chaitra month to mark the beginning of the New year according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar.
• The word Padwa comes from the Sanskrit word pratipada, which refers to the first day of a lunar fortnight.
• The festival is observed with colorful floor decorations called rangoli, a special Gudhi flag (garlanded with flowers, mango and neem leaves, topped with upturned silver or copper vessel), street processions, dancing and festive foods,
• Cheti Chand is a festival that marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year for Sindhi Hindus.
• The date of the festival is based on the lunar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, falling on the first day of the year, in the Sindhi month of Chet (Chaitra).
• It typically falls in late March or early April in the Gregorian calendar on or about the same day as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in other parts of the Deccan region of India.
• Navreh is a Hindu Festival, which is celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandits as the New Year's Day.