Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 17.05.22

Q1. Consider the following statements

1. RBI is the debt manager for the government
2. Tolerating inflation helps the government by lowering the real value of its interest outgo (interest payments adjusted for inflation).
3. In prioritising its debt management role, the central bank ends up compromising its inflation-fighting role

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer (d)

Explanation

• RBI's ability to make the right call on inflation is hamstrung by the extraordinary burden of public debt it has to Raising interest rates makes borrowing dearer for the country’s biggest debtor, the government.
• Tolerating inflation helps the government by lowering the real value of its interest outgo (interest payments adjusted for inflation).
• As the government’s debt manager, RBI has a strong incentive to tolerate inflation as long as possible and keep yields on long-dated government securities as low as possible.
• In prioritising its debt management role, the central bank ends up compromising its inflation-fighting role.

Separate public debt management offices

1. The conflict between the debt management and inflation management role is not unique to India. Some countries have managed this conflict by carving out separate public debt management offices. Such proposals have been made in India too, but haven’t been carried through.
2. Given that RBI-finance ministry relations have improved considerably over the past few years, the time is perhaps ripe to revisit this proposal. RBI should view this step as a way to free itself from a heavy burden.
3. Without having to worry about managing the government’s borrowing costs, RBI can focus better on its primary mandate of maintaining price and financial stability.

Q2. Consider the following statements

1. The aerial spraying of endosulfan used to be practised on cashew plantations in Kerala
2. It is a banned persistent organic pollutants (POP) under stockholm convention
3. It became a highly controversial agrichemical due to its acute toxicity, potential for bioaccumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer (d)

Explanation

1. The Supreme Court has slammed the Kerala government for doing “virtually nothing” for endosulfan pesticide exposure victims affected by the aerial spraying of endosulfan cashew plantations in Kasaragod.

2.The court said the State’s inaction was “appalling” and amounted to a breach of the top court’s 2017 judgment, which had ordered it to pay ₹5 lakh each to the victims

3.Endosulfan is an off-patent organochlorine insecticide and acaricide that is being phased out globally. It became a highly controversial agrichemical due to its acute toxicity, potential for bioaccumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor.

Q3. Which of the following lead to excess iron concentration in body?

1. Thalassemia
2. Sickle cell anaemia
3. Malaria

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 (d)

Explanation:

1. Distribution of iron-fortified rice through government schemes as a “silver bullet” to curb anaemia must stop in States such as Jharkhand which have large tribal populations that suffer from sickle-cell anaemia, thalassemia, and tuberculosis, warn activists. For such people, an overload of iron can create adverse health issues, they say.
2. Fortified rice is being distributed under Central government- funded schemes such as the public distribution system (PDS); PM-Poshan (erstwhile mid-day meal scheme) at schools; and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS or Anganwadi services), consent is not being obtained from beneficiaries.
3. In a fact-finding exercise, the activists discovered that neither field functionaries nor beneficiaries had been educated about the potential harms, and there were no warning labels despite the food regulator’s rules on fortified foods.
4. PDS dealers and frontline workers too have not been informed beforehand about the potentially harmful effects of fortified rice.
5. The fact-finding team discovered that among the beneficiaries who received fortified rice in the State were also patients diagnosed with thalassemia, sickle cell disease, and tuberculosis, and there may be many more who have been not diagnosed yet.

Challenges:

1. Thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and malaria are conditions where there is already excess iron in the body, whereas TB patients are unable to absorb Consumption of iron- fortified foods among patients with these diseases can reduce the immunity and functionality of organs.
2. Jharkhand is an endemic zone of sickle cell disorder and thalassemia, with a prevalence of 8%-10%, which is twice the national Jharkhand is also an endemic zone for malaria — in 2020, the State ranked third in the country in malaria deaths.

Why Forward:

1. Focus on diversified diets and locally available food for iron deficiency.
2. Monitoring and fine-tuning fortified rice to avoid toxicity
3. Exploring bio-fortification

Q4. Which of the following are powers/functions of the Chief of Defence Staff?

1. The CDS is the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister and Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC).
2. The CDS functions as Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA)
3. The CDS will exercise military command over the three Service Chiefs
4. The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in operations and logistics

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer (c)

Explanation:

Chief of Defence Staff and top-level military reforms

1. The Government’s decision in 2019 to create the post of a CDS, a long-pending demand to bring in tri-service synergy and integration, is the biggest top-level military reform since independence.
2. The post of CDS is the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief and then Army Chief Gen.
3. The CDS would is also the Principal Military Adviser to the Defence Minister and Permanent Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC). In addition, the DMA was created as the fifth department in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) with the CDS functioning as its Secretary.

The mandate of CDS:

1. The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in “operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office ”
2. He will act as the Principal Military Adviser to Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters. However, the three Chiefs will continue to advise the Defence Minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective Also, the CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs.
3. The CDS is also meant to bring about synergy and optimise procurements, training and logistics and facilitate the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/ theatre commands.
4. The CDS will also evaluate plans “for ‘Out of Area Contingencies’, as well other contingencies such as Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). The specialised tri-service divisions — special operations, defence cyber and defence space — were also brought under the ambit of the CDS.