Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 29.04.22

Q1. Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980) is linked to

a. Capital punishment in Terrrorism related offences
b. Restraint in punishment of Death penalty
c. LGBTQ rights
d. Sexula harrassment at workplace

Answer : b

Why is the Question ?

Revisiting death penalty jurisprudence
Routine use of death penalty:
1. Recently the Supreme Court decided to critically examine the routine and abrupt way in which trial judges often impose the death penalty on convicts.
2. The challenge before the Court in the instant case of Irfan vs State of Madhya Pradesh was to identify the mitigating circumstances and to ensure a convict-centric approach so that the imposition of capital punishment becomes rarer, and fairer, and principled.
3. The Court seemed to think that an individualistic approach that examines the social, economic, emotional, and genetic components that constituted the offender rather than the offence, would go a long way in evolving a just and judicious sentencing policy.
4. According to the Court, “a ‘one size fit for all’ approach while considering mitigating factors during sentencing should end”.
5. The Bench indicated the need for mitigation experts to assist trial courts in reaching a correct conclusion on whether one should be sent to the gallows or not.
Needed, a different acumen
1. According to Section 354(3) in the Code of Criminal Procedure, while imposing capital punishment, the judge should specify “the special reasons” for doing so.
2. It was in Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980) that the Constitution Bench suggested a humane and reformist framework in the matter.
3. It said that the gallows could be resorted to only in the rarest of rare cases, that too when “the alternate option is unquestionably foreclosed”.
4. Thus, Bachan Singh requires the trial courts not only to examine the gravity of the offence but also the condition and the ‘reformability’ of the accused.
5. The Court, in Bachan Singh, refused to declare the death penalty as unconstitutional.
The poor are most affected
1. In India, as elsewhere, the poor, rather than the rich, are sent to the gallows. The numbers of the uneducated and the illiterate sentenced to death outweigh those who are educated and literate.
2. In Williams vs Taylor (2000), the U.S. Supreme Court said that the failure of the defence lawyer in highlighting the mitigating factors that could lead to avoidance of capital punishment makes the legal assistance ineffective.

3. The Court may have to revisit Bachan Singh itself in so far as it refused to declare the death penalty as violative of the right to life envisaged under Article 21 of the Constitution.
4. Across the world, 108 nations have abolished the death penalty in law and 144 countries have done so in law or practice, according to the Amnesty Report of 2021.

Q2. Consider the following statements with regard to the Declaration for the Future of the Internet

1. It was signed by many countries including European Union nations, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as partners
2. India and USA are not among these countries

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?

a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer : b

Why is the Question ?

Group of 60 nations backs US push for ‘open’ internet
1. The Internet must remain open, protect the human rights of all people, and should not be used to further digital authoritarianism, a group of 60 mostly Western countries said in a joint declaration, calling for efforts to ensure “the use of digital technologies reinforces, not weakens, democracy and respect for human rights”, offers “opportunities for innovation”, and helps societies connect.
2. The Declaration for the Future of the Internet was signed by 60 partners, according to officials in the US, which headed the effort, counting European Union nations, Australia, New Zealand and Japan as partners.
3. India was not among these countries.
Need for declaration:
1. A senior US administration official indicated that the declaration was aimed at combatting a growing “splintering” of the Internet, with countries like Russia and China on the other side of the spectrum with policies that censor swathes of the cyberspace for their citizens.
2. Among other things, the declaration urges countries to refrain from “internet shutdowns or degrading domestic Internet access, either entirely or partially” and not misuse or abuse “the Internet or algorithmic tools or techniques for unlawful surveillance, oppression, and repression… including developing social score cards or other mechanisms of domestic social control or pre-crime detention and arrest”.

Q3. Which of the following countries observed the highest number of Internet shutdown?

a. India
b. Myanmar
c. North Korea
d. China

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?

Internet shutdown report
1. The internet advocacy group Access Now, in the latest edition of its internet shutdown report, said there was an increase in the number of instances globally when countries shut down the nternet in 2021 compared to the year before.

2. India saw fewer shutdown instances in 2021, but still remained the world’s biggest offender for the fourth straight year, the report said.

Q4. Consider the following statements with regard to Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC

1. It would be a government created e-commerce ecosystem for everyone
2. It aims to allow small merchants and retailers to plug in and gain the reach and economies of scale of giants
3. Ratan tata will give leadership to the creation of this platform

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?

Nilekani to take on e-com giants with open network
1. Nandan Nilekani is helping PM Narendra Modi build an open technology network that seeks to level the playing field for small merchants in the country’s fragmented but fast-growing $1 trillion retail market.
2. Its stated purpose is to create a freely accessible online system where traders and consumers can buy and sell everything from 23-cent detergent bars to $1,800 airline tickets.
3. But its unspoken objective is to eventually curb the powers of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart, whose online domination has alarmed small merchants and local family stores that form the nation’s retail backbone.
4. As the two global giants have captured 80% of the online retail market with aggressive discounts and promotion of preferred sellers, the kirana shops are fearful of an uncertain future.
5. Despite online commerce accounting for just about 6% of the overall retail market, they are anxious they will be eventually snuffed out, meeting a fate similar to many family-owned businesses in the US and elsewhere.
Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC
1. The not-for-profit system, which goes by the unwieldy name of Open Network for Digital Commerce, or ONDC, seeks to address those concerns.
2. Never attempted anywhere else, it aims to allow small merchants and retailers to plug in and gain the reach and economies of scale of giants.
3. Essentially, the government would create its own e-commerce ecosystem for everyone, designed to loosen the stranglehold of companies like Amazon that dictate which brands get access to prime consumers and on what terms.
4. India has become a battlefield for some global retail behemoths that are either shut out of China or are struggling to compete with local rivals there.

Q5. Which of the following countries are member of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance?

1. India
2. France
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Canada

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer : c

Why is the Question ?

Xi’s ‘Global Security Initiative’ looks to counter Quad grouping
1. A new Global Security Initiative put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping will look to counter the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy and the Quad — the India, U.S., Australia, Japan grouping — according to Chinese officials.
2. Mr. Xi last week first proposed what he called a Global Security Initiative, speaking at the Boao Forum in China, warning against “hegemonism, power politics and bloc confrontation”.
3. Beijing said that the grouping was equivalent to the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance involving the Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S. and U.K. and the AUKUS pact, as a key element in what he called U.S. plans to build an “Asian NATO”
4. The members of the Quad have rejected the notion that it is an Asian NATO or a military alliance, and pointed to its broadbased cooperation, including on vaccines and technology.
5. External Affairs Minister earlier said that India was not a treaty ally of the U.S.

Q6. Which of the follwoing countries border with Ukraine?

1. Belarus
2. Poland
3. Slovakia

4. Latvia
5. Lithuania

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer : b

Why is the Question ?