Daily Current Affairs (MCQ's) | 05-07-2022

Q1. The question of disqualification of a member of the assembly, arising on the ground of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule is decided by

1. Speaker of the assembly
2. Election commission of India
3. Governor
4. President of India

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Disqualification under the Tenth Schedule

• The Anti-Defection Law was passed in 1985 through the 52nd amendment to the It added the Tenth Schedule to the Indian Constitution. The main intent of the law was to combat “the evil of political defections”.
• According to it, a member of a House belonging to any political party becomes disqualified for being a member of the House, if:
• he voluntarily gives up his membership of such political party; or
• he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by his political party without obtaining prior permission of such party and such act has not been condoned by the party within 15 days.

Exceptions to the Disqualification on the Ground of Defection

• If a member goes out of his party as a result of a merger of the party with another party. A merger takes place when two-thirds of the members of the party have agreed to such merger.
• If a member, after being elected as the presiding officer of the House, voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or rejoins it after he ceases to hold that office. This exemption has been provided in view of the dignity and impartiality of the office.

Powers of Speaker with regard to Anti-Defection Law

• Any question regarding disqualification arising out of defection is to be decided by the presiding officer of the House.
• After the Kihoto Hollohan case (1992) the Supreme Court declared that the decision of the presiding officer is not final and can be questioned in any court. It is subject to judicial review on the grounds of malafide, perversity,etc.

Q2. A recent landslide disaster around river Ijei happened in the state of

1. Manipur
2. Assam
3. Meghalaya
4. Nagaland

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Q3. The Reserve Bank of India’s Forex reserves includes

1. Foreign currency assets
2. Gold reserve
3. Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
4. Reserve with the International Monetary Fund

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer (d)

Explanation:

Regarded as the health meter of a country, Foreign Exchange reserves or Forex reserves are assets such as foreign currencies, gold reserves, treasury bills, etc retained by a central bank or other monetary authority that checks the balance payments and influences the foreign exchange rate of its currency and maintains stability in financial markets.

RBI is the custodian of the Foreign exchange reserves in India. In 2020, India’s forex reserves crossed the $500-billion mark for the first time in history due to higher foreign direct investment, and foreign institutional investment. Low oil prices also helped reduce outflows. This gave India an adequate cushion to combat external shocks.

The biggest contributor to this reserve is foreign currency assets followed by the gold, SDR, and reserve with the International Monetary Fund.

This reserve is held to provide backup support to the government liabilities like; various bank reserves deposited with the central bank by the government or financial institutions and the issuance of local currency by the Central Bank. RBI is the custodian of the Foreign exchange reserves in India.

Q4. Which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. Valmiki Tiger Reserve is in Bihar
2. Diclofenac ingestion leads to the death of vultures

Select the correct answer from the codes given below

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

Answer (c)

Explanation

Conservation plan chalked out after 150 vultures spotted in Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve. A rescue centre for vultures will be set up in the reserve’s Ganauli range to increase the number of vultures

• Authorities in Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) have started planning for the conservation of vultures after 150 of the birds were sighted recently in the protected area.

• Different species of vultures including Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis) were among the 150 individuals spotted in VTR, according to Roy.
• A rescue centre for vultures will be set up in the Ganauli range according to the conservation plan. This will help increase the number of vultures.
• Besides, the local community, living in nearby villages, will be made aware of the conservation of vultures. A campaign will be launched through street meetings, seminars at villages and other means.
• The development would boost the government plan to develop a vulture-safe zone in the state.

A diclofenac-free zone

• The state government has been planning to create a diclofenac-free zone for the conservation of vultures in areas bordering Vultures from the Himalayan range visit areas in Bihar bordering Nepal during winters.
• The government will have to ensure that there is no use of diclofenac in the 10-km radius of the vulture safe zone.
• However, vultures in Bihar are very difficult to spot today, unlike till early 2000. Like elsewhere, vultures used to play a vital role in the state by consuming animal carcasses before they decomposed or raised a stink.
• But after diclofenac was introduced as an anti- inflammatory medicine for livestock, vultures became its victims. Experts said vultures died after consuming the flesh of animals that were administered diclofenac. It resulted in a drastic decline of the vulture population.

Q5. Hope probe for exploration of weather dynamics on Mars is launched by

1. Saudi Arabia
2. Israel
3. USA
4. UAE

Answer (d)

Explanation:

Explained: What UAE’s Hope orbiter tells us about discrete auroras on Mars

The Hope Probe, the Arab world’s first mission to Mars, took off from Earth in July 2020 and has been orbiting the Red Planet since February 2020. The primary objective of the mission is to study Martian weather dynamics.

Hope probe:

1. The UAE’s Hope spacecraft, which is orbiting Mars since February this year, has captured images of glowing atmospheric lights in the Red Planet’s night sky, known as discrete auroras.
2. The UAE Space Agency said on its website that the data gathered by the orbiter “include far and extreme ultraviolet auroral emissions which have never been imaged before at Mars. ”
3. Unlike auroras on Earth, which are seen only near the north and south poles, discrete auroras on Mars are seen all around the planet at night time.

Q6. Buxwaha diamond mining project is proposed in the state of

1. Madhya Pradesh
2. Odisha
3. Karnataka
4. Chhattisgarh

Answer (a)

Explanation:

The proposed diamond mine in the Buxwaha protected forest region in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh may have a greater ecological impact on the region than projected so far. The project threatens to further deplete the already scarce water reserve of the drought-prone Bundelkhand region to excavate about five million tonnes of diamond-bearing kimberlite ore per annum.