Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 16.05.22

Q1. S.G. Vombatkere vs Union of India case recently in news is linked to

1. Marital rape
2. LGBTQs
3. Electoral bonds
4. Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code

Answer (d)

Explanation:

In abeyance of Section 124A, a provisional relief

• In a brief order delivered in G. Vombatkere vs Union of India, a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India effectively suspended the operation of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.
• The provision, which criminalises sedition, has been used by successive regimes, including by governments post- Independence, to suppress democratic dissent.
• The Court has directed governments, both at the level of the Union and the States, to keep “all pending trials, appeals and proceedings” arising out of a charge framed under Section 124A “in abeyance”.

Q2. Sedition under 124A is

1. Non-bailable offense
2. Offense against state
3. Declared unconstitutional in Kedar Nath Singh vs the State of Bihar

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Offences against the State

1. Nestled inside a chapter in the penal code dealing with “Offences against the State”, Section 124A defines sedition as any action — “whether by words, signs, or visible representation” — which “brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India”.
2. The word “disaffection”, the provision explains, “includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity”. The section carries with it the prospect of life in prison.
3. What is more, right from its inception, the offence has been treated as non-bailable. This means that a person arrested without trial has no inherent right to bail. He or she must apply to a judge to seek release.

Kedar Nath Singh vs the State of Bihar:

1. In 1962, in Kedar Nath Singh vs the State of Bihar, the Supreme Court found that Section 124A was defensible as a valid restriction on free speech on grounds of public order.
2. However, while upholding the clause, the Court limited its application to “acts involving intention or tendency to create disorder, or disturbance of law and order, or incitement to violence”.

3. Quite apart from the limitations that it read in — which are by themselves ill-defined — the decision ignored the otherwise wide amplitude of the words used in Section 124A.
4. It failed to recognise that terms such as “disaffection towards the government”, which are fundamentally vague, ought to have no place in a penal statute, and that, all along, the intention behind criminalising sedition was to quell the right to dissent.
5. A supposed circumscription of the ambit of the offence was, therefore, never going to be effective.

Govt offers farm drones cheap to spur adoption

1. A range of incentives has opened up India’s agriculture sector for the commercial use of drones. New federal guidelines for a scheme called Kisan Drone have provisioned substantial subsidies for farmers and organisations for unmanned aerial vehicles.
2. Drones could prove transformative, making farming smart and efficient, although experts say the costs involved are still high and prohibitive for smallholders.
3. Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia launched a drone experience studio at the state-run think tank NITI Aayog. He unveiled two policies – Drone Shakti and Kisan Drone. The former seeks to spur adoption in non-farm sectors.
4. Technology should be welcomed in a country where farm incomes are low, about one-third of those of non-agricultural Yet, those actually using advanced technologies are less than 1%.

In manufacturing, technology has spread fast, a process called technology diffusion, data show. This is why, according to the World Bank’s estimates cited by its president Jim Yong Kim in a 2016 speech, automation threatens 69% of today’s jobs in India.

Innovation stifled in Agriculture:

1. In agriculture, however, innovation is still bottled up at the The Kisan Drone scheme seeks to augment drone usage in three areas: land mapping, spraying of crop nutrients and remote monitoring of crops.
2. Farmers’ producer organisations would be eligible to receive grants of up to 75% of the cost of the drone for forwarding The government will also offer ₹6,000 per hectare to implementing agencies that do not want to purchase drones but will hire drones for demonstrations.
3. These grants for the promotion of drone technologies will be available till March 2023.
4. Drone-hiring centres will also receive special funding to provide agricultural services through This includes 40% of the basic cost of the drone and its attachments, or ₹4 lakh, whichever is lower.
5. To be eligible, hiring centres and hi-tech hubs would have to be established by cooperative societies of farmers and rural Graduates in agricultural sciences can establish hiring centres and will be eligible to receive 50% of the cost of a drone.

Q3.     Consider the  following statements about Lazzarus Devasahayam

1. He has been declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican recently
2. He belonged state of kerala and converted to Christianity in the 18th century in the then kingdom of Travancore

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer (c)

Explanation:

Pope declares 18th-century Indian man a saint

1. Devasahayam, an Indian man who converted to Christianity in the 18th century in the then kingdom of Travancore, was declared a saint by Pope Francis at the Vatican.
2. While preaching, he particularly insisted on the equality of all people, despite caste differences. This aroused the hatred of the higher classes, and he was arrested in After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752.
3. However, there was some confusion about Devasahayam’s last name in the Vatican press While one added Devasahayam’s last name as ‘Pillai’, the other named him Lazzarus Devasahayam.
4. In keeping with the Church and state rules, caste names are dropped after a person is anointed as a priest.

Devasahayam had taken the name ‘Lazarus’ after embracing Christianity in 1745 in Vadakankulam. According to the website of the Diocese of Kottar, ‘Martyr’ Devasahayam was born in 1712 at Nattalam in the present district of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. He was named Neelakandan and his surname ‘Pillai’ referred to his caste.

Q4. Consider the following statements

1. LPG subsidies are on rise in last 5 years
2. The subsidy on domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through direct benefit transfer (DBT) has been increased in many markets like Delhi

 Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer (d)

Explanation:

Govt trims subsidies on LPG by up to 86% in three years

1. Even as the price of a cooking gas cylinder continues to rise, breaching ₹1,000 for the first time this month, the government has reduced subsidies on it by as much as 86% in the past three years, from ₹29,628 crores in 2019-20 to an estimated ₹4,000 crore in the current financial year, official data show.
2. The subsidy on domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through direct benefit transfer (DBT) has been stopped in many markets, including Delhi, since May 2020, when it was priced at ₹581.50 per 14.2kg cylinder. It continues to subsidise additional transportation costs to consumers in remote areas, which is often less than ₹50 per cylinder, four people aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.