Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 14.06.22

Q1. Which of the following factors are responsible for rise in global food prices recently in 2021-2022?

1. Diversion of food crops to biofuels
2. Rise in fuel prices
3. COVID led disruption
4. Russia-Ukraine war

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

1. 2, 3 and 4
2. 2 and 4
3. 1, 3 and 4
4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Answer (d)

Explanation:

• The recent spike in food prices has been triggered by supply disruptions due to COVID-19 and further aggravated by the Russia-Ukraine war.
• Another factor underlying the rising trend and spikes in food prices is the diversion of food for biofuel The proportion of vegetable oil used for biodiesel increased from 1% in 2003 to 11% in 2011; it went up to more than 15% in 2021.
• This is further related to energy prices. When crude prices increase beyond a certain level it becomes economical to use oilseeds and grains for biodiesel and ethanol, respectively. The second reason for the use of food crops for biofuel is the mandate to increase the share of renewable energy resources.

• Food prices are also expected to go up in the current and next harvest season because of an increase in the prices of fertilizer and other agrochemicals. The international price of fertilizer increased by 150% between April 2021 and April 2022.

Implications for India

• Export and imports in the agriculture sector constituted 13% of gross value added in agriculture during 2020-21. Therefore, some transmission of an increase in global prices on domestic prices is inevitable.
• This transmission of global prices to the domestic market can be moderated through trade policy and other This is precisely what India has been doing to balance the interests of producers and consumers and in protecting the economy against excessive volatility in international prices.
• The policy of having a buffer stock of food staples has also been very helpful in maintaining price stability, especially in the wake of global food crises.

Wheat export restrictions

• A closer examination of data reveals that India’s action to ban or restrict food exports is not disrupting its normal exports. India was a very small exporter of wheat, with its share in the global wheat trade ranging between 0.1% to 1% during 2015- 16 to 2020-21.
• Despite the ban, the export of wheat this year will be much higher than the average wheat export from India in recent years.
• The international market is looking for around 50 million tonnes of wheat to compensate for the disruption in wheat exports from Russia and Ukraine. This is close to half the wheat production in the country and more than two-thirds of the wheat that comes to the market.

• If India had not imposed a ban on wheat export, it would have resulted in a severe shortage of wheat within the country. No responsible country would jeopardise its own food security by allowing excess exports.

Q2. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring is related to

1. Pollution
2. Women empowerment
3. Global warming
4. Coral reefs

Answer (a)

Explanation:

The global environmental discourse has been shaped by four events.

• The first three were the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring in 1962, Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb in 1968, and the Club of Rome’s The Limits to Growth in early 1972.
• The fourth was Indira Gandhi’s speech at the first-ever United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm 50 years ago today.
• Her address, which looked at environmental issues from a development perspective and at developmental challenges from an ecological standpoint, has gone into history as a milestone.

Q3. Which of the following happened during time of Indira Gandhi?

1. Ramsar Convention
2. Passing of the Wildlife Protection Bill 1972
3. Establishment of    the    United    Nations          Environment Programme

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (d)

Explanation:

A naturalist

• Indira Gandhi had already established her credentials as a naturalist when she spoke at Stockholm.
• She had reactivated the Indian Board of Wildlife in July 1969
• Hosted the Tenth General Assembly of the International Union for Conservation of Nature
• She had started paying attention to protecting sanctuaries
• Deputed the famed ornithologist Salim Ali to the Ramsar Convention to protect wetlands
• She had launched India’s first species conservation programme at Gir for the Asiatic Lion in January 1972 and had started preparations for Project Tiger, which came into being in April 1973.
• The Wildlife Protection Bill was ready to be enacted by Parliament and it became law in September 1972.
• Discussions with States to bring legislation to deal with water pollution had been initiated and this would materialise two years later when pollution control boards would also come into being.

Q4. Which of the following is/are correctly matched?

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (a)

Explanation:

• The Centre started the second phase of distribution of fortified rice in April. A total of 90 districts have been covered, and the Centre is targeting 291 districts.
• The pet scheme of PM started in October 2021 and aims to supply fortified rice to beneficiaries of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, or PM-POSHAN, scheme
• Asked about the health risks involved in the consumption of fortified rice, which has added nutrients, and the warnings experts had given to the Centre against such a scheme, the government said the benefits far outweighed the harmful A comprehensive concurrent evaluation mechanism had been put in place.
• One AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) professor said in his presentation that though there were some rare risks involved in fortified rice, the benefits were far more.
• A disclaimer of rice fortification has been put in India unlike in other countries so that people are aware of what they are  consuming.

  

Economics of Malnutrition and Food fortification:

• The cost of fortification was getting reduced as the programme expanded its ambit. Malnutrition cost the country at least ₹77,000 crores annually in terms of lost productivity, illness and death. The country lost about 1% of its GDP from anaemia.
• One rupee spent on nutritional interventions in India could generate ₹34.1-₹38.6 in public economic returns.
  

  

Q5. Which of the following is NOT correctly matched?

Select the answer from codes given below

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (b)

Explanation:

Pair 2 and 3 are not correctly matched

Q6. Consider the following statements about the Amaravati school of Sculpture

1. It was a largely indigenously developed art form developed by the Sunga Dynasty
2. Mainly white limestone was used
3. The art reached its height under the Ikshvaku dynasty

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (b)

Explanation:

Flourished in Deccan in the 2nd century BCE, developed by the Satvahana dynasty with Amaravati as the main centre. It is known for its superb reliefs, which are among the world’s finest examples of narrative sculpture. In addition to the ruins of the great stupa, or relic mound, at Amarāvati, the style is also seen in the stupa remains at Jaggayyapeta, Nāgārjunīkoṇḍa, and Goli, in Andhra Pradesh state, and as far west as Ter, Mahārāshtra state. The style also spread to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), as seen at Anurādhapura, and to most of Southeast Asia.

The material used: White Limestone

Origin: It was a largely indigenously developed art form developed by the Satavahana Dynasty. The Amarāvatī stupa began about 200 BC and underwent several renovations and additions. Many of the surviving narrative reliefs and decorative plaques are in the Government Museum, Madras, and the British Museum. A depiction of the monument on a railing slab indicates the appearance of the stupa at the end of the 2nd century AD. The four centuries over which the style developed were also a period of change from aniconic to an iconic representation of the Buddha, and at Amarāvatī both methods of depiction appear together on one slab—the iconic being represented by images of the seated and standing Buddha, and the aniconic by an empty throne symbolizing his presence.

Climax: The art reached its height under the Ikshvaku dynasty, which ruled Nagarjunasagar. The historical importance of the art is that it became the basis for Hindu temple art. Amaravati sculptures and craftsmen were the ones who were employed in the construction of the earliest temple in Nagarjunasagar.