Daily Current Affairs (MCQ's) | 15-09-2022

Q1. Consider the following statements about the Gross domestic product (GDP) calculation methodology currently prevalent in India

1. The current base year for GDP calculation is 2011-2012
2. Only the factory level database is used for GDP calculation in India

Which of the above is/are correct?

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

Answer (a)

Explanation:

The difference between computing methodology of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) before the year 2015 and after the year 2015

1. Change of base year from 2004-2005 to 2011-2012
2. Replacing Factor Cost with Market Prices: India will measure GDP by the gross value added (GVA) method – a way of calculating GDP at basic prices instead of at factor cost.
3. The industry-wise estimates will be presented as gross value added (GVA) at basic prices while GDP at market prices will be referred to simply as GDP
4. Broadening of the database: Previous data was sampled from the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), which comprised about two lakh But the new database draws data from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA21) where more than five lakh odd companies registered. In simple terms, while the earlier data gave only a factory-level picture, the new data looks at the enterprise level.
5. Also, the new database is much more comprehensive covering financial institutions and regulatory bodies like- SEBI, PFRDA, and IRDA. Local organisations and institutions are well represented in this series.
6. The new method is statistically more robust since it estimates more indicators such as consumption, employment, and the performance of enterprises, and incorporates factors that are more responsive to current changes.
7. Earlier data only included value-added in farm produce but the new data includes value addition in Livestock as well.

Q2. Planning Commission was established in 1950 to fulfil the vision given in

1. The Preamble
2. The Directive Principles of State Policy
3. Fundamental Rights
4. Bombay plan 1944

Answer (b)

Explanation:

The Planning Commission was established by an executive decision of the Government of India in 1950 in accordance with article 39 of the constitution which is a part of directive principles of state policy. The Advisory Planning Board constituted in 1946 under the chairmanship of

K.C Neogi gave recommendations for the establishment of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission is a non-constitutional and non- statutory body and is responsible to formulate five years plan for social and economic development in India.

Article 39 is considered as one of the very important provisions of part IVth (i.e., Directive principle of state policy) in the constitution of India whose main objective is to provide the direction or guidelines in other words, to the state which has a relation in policymaking. It describes the area where the state must have to take into consideration of work to grow as a welfare state where the interest of every person has some important effects or taken into consideration in other words. All the policies which are to be established must be under the preview of this article as this is considered as the pioneer of policy establishment.

Article 39 comes under the ambit of the socialist type of moral principle. Along with Article 39 (certain policies shall be taken into consideration by the state), Article 38 (protection of social order), Article 41(Right to work and education and in public assistance), Article 42 (maternity relief and the human condition) Article 43 (participation of workers in industries management) and Article 45 (for childhood care especially, educations for the children below six years of age) are the part of this type of principle.

Article 39 states that the Indian constitution shall be directing this policy for securing citizens following –

1. The first part gives adequate livelihood to every citizen, including all men and women, and these rights are equal.
2. Secondly, resource distribution of community (including ownership and control) for the common good as for the welfare of the society.
3. thirdly, the economic system operation shall not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment in short safety of the person who is citizens of the country,
4. Every person has equal pay for equal work irrespective of sex.
5. the fifth point defines that the strength of the men or women or workers who get involved themselves in working is not going to be abused including the tender age of children, and also no citizens including the children were not actually got fore bt any type of economic necessity in involving any avocation which not suits to their ages or strength.
6. That the last point explains about the children's safety that every child must get an opportunity or facilities to develop themselves in a very healthy manner, and along with that every children’s reputation or dignity in another word shall be secured against any kind of exploitations or immoral and material abandonment.

So in a nutshell, Article 39 of the constitution describe that while framing policies, i.e., the state would strive to provide adequate means of livelihood to every person including women, equal pay for equal work, which is very important as earlier women get lesser from men as it was a stereotype that women has less energy in comparison to men but state comes into the picture directly and make this moral principle in part IV of the Constitution of India, next is a resource distribution, and finally the safety of citizen, their healthy development including of children is all provision which state must take himself into consideration for making any kind of rules or policies.

Q3. Which of the following is the current age of the earth?

1. Meghalayan Age
2. Greenlandian Age
3. Northgrippian Age
4. Jurassic Age

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Geologists have classified the last 4,200 years as being a distinct age in the story of our planet. They are calling it the Meghalayan Age, the onset of which was marked by a mega-drought that crushed a number of civilisations worldwide. The International Chronostratigraphic Chart, the famous diagram depicting the timeline for Earth's history (seen on many classroom walls) will be updated.

Geologists divide up the 4.6-billion-year existence of Earth into slices of time. Each slice corresponds to significant happenings - such as the break- up of continents, dramatic shifts in climate, and even the emergence of particular types of animals and plant life.

We currently live in what is called the Holocene Epoch, which reflects everything that has happened over the past 11,700 years - since dramatic warming kicked us out of the last ice age. But the Holocene itself can be subdivided, according to the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS).

It is the official keeper of geologic time and it proposed three stages be introduced to denote the epoch's upper, middle and lower phases.

These all record major climate events. The Meghalayan, the youngest stage, runs from 4,200 years ago to the present. It began with a destructive drought, whose effects lasted two centuries, and severely disrupted civilisations in Egypt, Greece, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and the Yangtze River Valley. It was likely triggered by shifts in ocean and atmospheric circulation.

The Meghalayan Age is unique among the many intervals of the geologic timescale in that its beginning coincides with a global cultural event produced by a global climatic event.

The middle phase of the Holocene will be referred to as the Northgrippian and runs from 8,300 years ago up to the start of the Meghalayan. The onset for this age was an abrupt cooling, attributed to vast volumes of freshwater from melting glaciers in Canada running into the North Atlantic and disrupting ocean currents. The oldest phase of the Holocene - the exit from the ice age - will be known as the Greenlandian.

To win a classification, a slice of geological time generally has to reflect something whose effects were global in extent and be associated with a rock or sediment type that is clear and unambiguous.

For the famous boundary 66 million years ago that marks the switch in the period from the Cretaceous to the Palaeogene, this "golden spike" is represented by traces in sediments of the element iridium. This was spread across the planet in the debris scattered by the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

For the Meghalayan, the spike is epitomised in a perturbation in the types, or isotopes, of oxygen atoms present in the layers of a stalagmite growing from the floor of Mawmluh Cave in the northeastern state of Meghalaya in India. This two-step change is a consequence of weakening monsoon conditions.

"The isotopic shift reflects a 20-30% decrease in monsoon rainfall," explained Prof Mike Walker of the University of Wales, UK, who led the international team of Holocene scientists that developed the division proposal.

The two most prominent shifts occur at about 4,300 and about 4,100 years before present, so the mid-point between the two would be 4,200 years before present, and this is the age that we attribute to the [Meghalayan golden spike].

Q4. Consider the following statements about landforms created by the Groundwater

1. Physical or mechanical removal of materials by moving groundwater is significant
2. The work of groundwater can be seen easily in all types of rocks
3. Ground water    landforms    are    commonly   referred     to                as         Karst topography

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer (c)

Explanation:

Physical or mechanical removal of materials by moving groundwater is insignificant in developing landforms. That is why, the results of the work of groundwater cannot be seen in all types of rocks. But in rocks like limestones or dolomites rich in calcium carbonate, the surface water as well as groundwater through the chemical process of solution and precipitation deposition develop varieties of landforms. These two processes of solution and precipitation are active in limestones or dolomites occurring either exclusively or interbedded with other rocks.

Any limestone or dolomitic region showing typical landforms produced by the action of groundwater through the processes of solution and deposition is called Karst topography after the typical topography developed in limestone rocks of Karst region in the Balkans adjacent to Adriatic sea. The karst topography is also characterised by erosional and depositional landforms.

Q5. With reference to ‘palm oil’ considered the following statement?

1. The palm oil tree is native to Northeast India
2. Palm oil tree is considered invasive in India by some experts
3. Palm oil is a raw material for some industries producing lipstick and perfumes.
4. Palm oil can be used to produced biodiesel.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

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

Answer (c)

Explanation:

Given the widespread destruction of rainforests and native biodiversity caused by oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, environmental experts and politicians are warning that the Centre’s move to promote their cultivation in India’s northeastern states and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be disastrous.

Other concerns include the impact on community ownership of tribal lands, as well as the fact that the oil palm is a water-guzzling, monoculture crop with a long gestation period unsuitable for small farmers. However, the government says land productivity for palm oil is higher than for oilseeds, with the Agriculture Minister giving an assurance that the land identified for oil palm plantations in northeastern States is already cleared for cultivation.

“The palm is an invasive species. It’s not a natural forest product of northeastern India and its impact on our biodiversity as well as on soil conditions has to be analysed even if it is grown in non-forest areas. Any kind of monoculture plantation is not desirable,” said Bibhab Talukdar, a biologist who heads the Guwahati-based conservation organisation Aaranyak, advising caution in introducing oil palm.

But the scientific community has pointed out that oil palm plantations are the major driver of biodiversity losses and damage to endangered and vulnerable species. It has reminded the government of the earlier Oil Palm plantation in Andamans in the mid-1970s which saw the displacement of many of India’s last remaining isolated, endangered and indigenous tribes such as the Jarawa and Onge.

In the NE, while government spokespersons claim that plantations will take place only in lands identified for agriculture, Mr.Rajamanickam said, past experience shows that given the shortage of cultivable land, fresh plantations would inevitably lead to deforestation or conversion of forest fringe areas. It will mean encroachment into forest lands and subsequent deforestation as witnessed earlier.

There are several other impacts of extensive Oil Palm cultivation in tropical forest regions as well. These include greenhouse gas emissions related to deforestation or land-use change, negative impact on sub-soil water and water quality, invasive species associated with oil palm and pest spillover effects. It is for these dangers, the AIPSN has called for re- imagining and re-casting of goals of domestic oil production by focussing on other oil seeds such as groundnut, soybean and mustard.