Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 28.04.22

Q1. Which of the following can be used as transport fuel?

1. H-CNG
2. Ammonia
3. Hydrogen
4. Methanol
5. Compressed Biogas

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

a. 1 and 4 only
b. 1, 3 and 4 only
c. 2, 3 and 4 only
d. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Answer : d

Why is the Question ?

Energy independence through hydrogen
Hydrogen: The new age fuel
1. It is touted as India’s gateway to energy independence. Hydrogen has a multifaceted role to play in the futuristic energy landscape, be it energy storage, long-haul transport, or decarbonisation of the industrial sector.
2. In the long run, two envisioned prominent fuels are hydrogen and electricity. Though both are energy vectors, hydrogen can be stored on a large scale and for a longer duration explicitly affirming its huge potential to become a great balancer to the ever-increasing supply of variable renewable energy.
3. It will complement and accelerate renewables into India’s clean energy transition, thereby supporting India’s ambitious plan to achieve 500 GW of renewable capacity by 2030.
4. Hydrogen has a major role to play in the decarbonisation of India’s transport sector. The advantages of fuel cell vehicles over battery electric vehicles are faster fuelling and longdriving range thereby making them ideal for long-haul transportation which is a major constraint with Li-Ion batteries.
5. In the industrial segment, hydrogen can de-carbonise ‘hardto-abate’ sectors such as iron and steel, aluminium, copper etc. It is a huge prospect to produce fuels such as methanol, synthetic kerosene and green ammonia.
Five-step strategy: Demand side
1. On the demand side, a five-step strategy should be devised. Firstly, to create an initial demand, a mandate should be given to mature industries such as refining and fertilisers, with adequate incentives.
2. Secondly, industries manufacturing low emission hydrogenbased products inter alia green steel and green cement need to be incentivised by government policies.
3. Thirdly, blending hydrogen with natural gas can act as a big booster shot which can be facilitated by framing blending mandates, and regulations and promoting H-CNG stations.
4. Further, to promote FCEVs, hydrogen fuel stations may be planned on dedicated corridors where long-distance trucking is widespread.
5. Lastly, the concept of carbon tariffs needs to be introduced on the lines of European countries.

Transport sector:
1. On the transportation front, ammonia, having a high energy density could be promoted as a mode of transportation.
2. A hydrogen transportation system could also be built on the foundation created for natural gas by using its existing infrastructure. Additionally, hydrogen transportation projects may be integrated with PM Gati Shakti Master Plan.

Q2. The report “The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery” has been released by

a. United Nations Economic and Social Council
b. Jointly by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank
c. The United Nations Development Programme
d. The World Economic Forum

Answer : b

Why is the Question ?

Building back to avert a learning catastrophe
1. A joint report by UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank, ‘The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery’, released in December 2021 had estimated that in the first 21 months of the pandemic, schools in countries around the world were either partially or fully closed for an average of 224 days.
2. During the same period, schools in the Indian States were closed for physical classes, for almost twice the duration, i.e., between 450 days to 480 days.
3. Since the publication of this report, the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) of the SARS-CoV-2-led surge globally, and the resultant third wave of COVID-19 in India further delayed the re-opening of schools.

4. By March or early April 2022, when re-opened, schools in India had cumulatively closed for physical classes for around 570 days to 600 days — one of the longest school closures in the world.

Q3. The PM SVANidhi is meant for

a. Street vendors
b. Tribals
c. Minority students
d. Minority women

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?

PM SVANidhi
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs launched a scheme PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) to empower Street Vendors by not only extending loans to them, but also for their holistic development and economic upliftment. The scheme intends to facilitate collateral free working capital loans of up to INR10,000/- of one-year tenure, to approximately 50 lakh street vendors, to help resume their businesses in the urban areas, including surrounding peri-urban/rural areas.

Q4. Which of the following are taxes/levies/commissions on the base price of petrol?

1. Excise duty
2. Value-added tax
3. Dealer’s commission

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

a. 1 and 2 only
b. 1 and 3 only
c. 2 only
d. 1, 2 and 3

Answer : d

Why is the Question ?

PM urges Oppn states to reduce VAT on fuel

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged several Opposition-ruled states to cut taxes on petrol and diesel in order to reduce the economic burden on citizens, citing similar reductions by the Union government earlier — an appeal that sparked a furious war of words and statistics between the Centre and opposition parties.

Q5. The Digital Services Act (DSA) to regulate big tech based social and e-commerce was recently seen in news. It is passed by

a. France
b. Germany
c. European Union
d. Italy

Answer : c

Why is the Question ?

DSA: A historic agreement
The Digital Services Act (DSA):
1. European lawmakers agreed on new rules for digital services, sealing the contours of law likely to give a foundation to how social media and e-commerce are governed globally.
2. Overall, the Digital Services Act (DSA) builds on the conditional immunity given to online service providers under European law.
3. The premise is simple: Companies can keep an intermediary status so long as they do not knowingly allow illegal content on their services.
4. DSA now tightens the penalties for companies not acting promptly enough if illegal speech is brought to their notice. This is different from American law with broader immunities.

Significant new protections:
1. DSA will compel large digital companies to disclose how they profile their users, the mechanism by which their content recommender systems work, and give opt-out options. In other words, it will for the first time open algorithms to scrutiny.
2. Another step significant in combating user behaviour manipulation is in DSA banning so-called dark patterns, or the practice of influencing people’s choices in, say, making a purchase or opening an article through the clever user interface tricks.
3. Additionally, companies will be obligated to disclose how they decide to take down content and how advertisers target users. Targeted advertising aimed at children will be completely prohibited, the rules propose.
Landmark legislation
1. DSA is landmark legislation since nation-States have grappled with the challenge of coming up with rules for companies such as Facebook (now Meta) and Amazon, which are headquartered under a single foreign jurisdiction but influence societies and businesses beyond national borders.
2. Historically, this has meant that these companies are more responsive to, say, when speech is manipulated to cause an insurrection at the US Capitol, but not when it is used to further genocide in Myanmar.
3. Equally challenging have been attempts to understand technological harms, some of which did not exist until recently. For instance, the online business model today hinges on surveillance of user behaviour to maximise the accuracy of advertisements, the main source of revenue.

4. DSA promises to be a template to at least dam some of these problems, even as global tech regulation will likely need constant evolution.