Daily Current Affairs (MCQ's) | 23-07-2022

Q1. The Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. The SDR is defined as a basket of currencies. Which of the following currency is not part of the current SDR basket?

1. Yen
2. Pound sterling
3. Euro
4. Russian Ruble

Answer (d)

Explanation:

The SDR was initially defined as equivalent to 0.888671 grams of fine gold—which, at the time, was also equivalent to one U.S. dollar. After the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, the SDR was redefined as a basket of currencies.

Currencies included in the SDR basket have to meet two criteria: the export criterion and the freely usable criterion. A currency meets the export criterion if its issuer is an IMF member or a monetary union that includes IMF members, and is also one of the top five world exporters. For a currency to be determined “freely usable” by the IMF, it has to be widely used to make payments for international transactions and widely traded in the principal exchange markets. Freely usable currencies can be used in Fund financial transactions.

The SDR basket is reviewed every five years, or earlier if warranted, to ensure that the basket reflects the relative importance of currencies in the world’s trading and financial systems. The reviews cover the key elements of the SDR method of valuation, including criteria and indicators used in selecting SDR basket currencies and the initial currency weights used in determining the amounts (number of units) of each currency in the SDR basket.

Q2. Which of the following Indian research station is situated in Antarctica?

1. BHAVINI
2. Himadri
3. HIMANSH
4. Bharati

Answer (d)

Explanation:

India presently has two research stations at Antarctica namely 'Maitri' and 'Bharati'. New station 'Bharati' has just been constructed and established in March, 2013. At both the stations, research and investigations are undertaken to understand the Polar processes and phenomenon.

Q3. Consider the following statements

1. Indian is a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty of 1963
2. Arctic is ocean while Antarctica is continent

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer (c)

Explanation:

The Arctic is an ocean, covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. ("Perennial" refers to the oldest and thickest sea ice.) Antarctica, on the other hand, is a continent, covered by a very thick ice cap and surrounded by a rim of sea ice and the Southern Ocean.

Antarctic Bill passed in LS

• The Lok Sabha passed the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 amid clamour from the Opposition to have more discussion.
• There were no amendments to the text of the Bill that was passed after a voice vote. Such a law was necessary under India’s obligations as a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty of 1963.
• The Antarctic Bill's aim is to regulate visits and activities to Antarctica as well as set ground rules for potential disputes that may arise among those present on the continent. The Bill also prescribes penal provisions for certain serious violations.
• Under its provisions, private tours and expeditions to Antarctica would be prohibited without a permit or written authorisation by a member country. A member country is one of the 54 signatories of the Treaty.
• The Bill also lays out a structure for government officials to inspect a vessel, and conduct checks of research facilities. It also directs creating a fund called the Antarctic fund that will be used for protecting the Antarctic environment.
• The Bill also extends the jurisdiction of Indian courts to Antarctica and lays out penal provisions for crimes on the continent by Indian citizens, foreign citizens who are a part of Indian expeditions or are in the precincts of Indian research stations.

Q4. Consider the following statements

1. The right to privacy is a fundamental right for Indian citizens
2. It includes the right to be forgotten

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

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

Answer (c)

Explanation:

Expanding the right to privacy

• India’s Supreme Court this week gave its first order enforcing an Indian citizen’s right to be forgotten when it directed the court registry to begin the process on how the details of a married couple, locked in litigation, can be removed from online search engines.
• The right was laid down by the top court in its landmark Puttaswamy judgment of 2017 when it held privacy as a fundamental right for Indian citizens.
• The court said such a right was crucial in today’s age when information is widely Humans forget, but the internet does not forget and does not let humans forget.

Global examples:

• The concept first reached global prominence when the European Court of Justice ruled in connection with a case in Spain, ordering Google to remove personal details as sought by a Spanish citizen.
• The right to privacy of the person — defined as the data subject — trumped the economic interest of the search service provider, the court
• This was later backed by a statute when the European Union (EU) enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) —   Article 17 codified the rights of EU citizens to ask an online search engine to remove references to their information under certain conditions.

Because the GDPR does so, the world’s largest search engine, Google, offers EU citizens a personal information removal request form. For Indians, it is not practical to knock on the court’s doors every time they want to exercise the same right, which they have been entitled to for more than five years now.

Q5. Chinar trees that can be 1000 years old are mostly found in

1. Jammu and Kashmir
2. Tripura
3. Kerala
4. Sunderban

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Census finds much older, larger Chinar trees than records show

• The ongoing census and geo-tagging of Kashmir’s majestic Chinars have brought to the fore the existence of trees that are much older and larger.
• Census and geo-tagging will go a long way in protecting this variety of trees.
• Several older trees have been found in central Kashmir, one of which appears to be nearly 1,000 years old.
• The number of Chinar in the Valley has, however, reduced over the decades, from an estimated 42,000 to below 20,000, owing to natural and man-made factors.
• Chinar is the only living fossil in Kashmir and is part of our Till now, there was no conservation plan or policy to protect this tree. We want to tag this plant to preserve it for the future