Daily Current Affairs (MCQ's) | 30-08-2022

Q1. Which of the following metros has been found to be the most unsafe for women as per data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB)?

1. Bangaluru
2. Delhi
3. Chennai
4. Hyderabad

Answer (b)

Explanation:

Delhi's most unsafe metro for women

The national capital recorded the highest number of rape cases among all 19 metropolitan cities with an average of three rapes being reported every day of the last year, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB) showed.

• women among all the metropolitan cities. In 2021, crimes against women rose by 40% over the previous year, with 1,226 incidents of rapes and 136 incidents of dowry deaths.
• The city also recorded the highest incidents of crimes against children and senior citizens in the country.
• In the category of crimes against women, Delhi also topped the list of metropolitan cities in cases of cruelty by husbands or relatives, reporting 4,674 such instances in 2021.
• Senior police officers said most incidents of rape and assault on women are carried out by people known to the victims, which are not directly preventable by the  police.
• Around 95% of the crimes against women are carried out by their relatives and hence do not amount to crimes related to law and order. The police are not in direct control of such incidents.

Q2. Consider the following statements

1. While bail is a matter of right in bailable offences, in non-bailable offences, the grant of bail is at the discretion of the judge.
2. The jurisprudence of bail in post-independent India, is anchored on the bedrock of Article 21 of the Constitution

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:

The jurisprudence of bail

The Supreme Court has time and again reiterated that “bail is the rule and jail is the exception”

• The jurisprudence of bail in post-independent India, is anchored on the bedrock of Article 21 of the Constitution which states that liberty can be deprived only through the procedure established by law, which must be “just, fair and reasonable”.
• Prolonged detention of an accused pending trial may convert the process itself into a punishment rendering a finding of acquittal practically useless as the accused would have suffered much of the punishment by then. This is why the grant of bail is fundamentally important. 

• Grant of regular bail is usually guided by what is referred to as the triple test — the ascertainment of whether the accused is at flight risk; the possibility of tampering with the evidence and influencing witnesses..

The basic presumption

• The presumption of innocence is a foundational postulate in India’s criminal jurisprudence. This is the main reason why an accused is usually released on bail pending investigation and trial except for a few offences.
• While bail refers to the conditional release of a person from confinement or custody during investigation and trial, it can also be sought during the appellate stage to prevent endless internment during the pendency of appeal though the benefit of the presumption of innocence is not available at the latter stage.
• In the ever-enduring words of Justice Krishna Iyer, “The issue of ‘Bail or Jail’ — at the pre-trial or post-conviction stage — although largely hinging on judicial discretion, is one of liberty, justice, public safety and burden of the public treasury, all of which insist that a developed jurisprudence of bail is integral to a socially sensitised judicial process.

Grant of bail as the rule:

• A conjoint reading of Section 436 (bailable offences)and 437 (non- bailable offences) of the CrPC makes it clear that the wisdom of the legislature is to secure bail as the rule and jail as the exception.
• The CrPC defines “bailable offence” as an offence which is shown as bailable in the First Schedule of the CrPC, or which is made bailable by any other law for the time being in force; and “non-bailable offence” means any other offence.
• While bail is a matter of right in bailable offences, in non-bailable offences, the grant of bail is at the discretion exercised by the judge taking note of the factual aspects of the case.
• It was held by the Calcutta High Court in 1923 “ that the discretionary power of the Court to admit to bail is not arbitrary, but is judicial”, and “is governed by established principles.”(Nagendra vs KinEmperor)

Q3. Idate commission is linked to

1. Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic Tribes
2. Scheduled Caste
3. Scheduled Tribe
4. Backward castes

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Tribe categorisation work delays benefits under SEED

• The Union Social Justice Ministry received 402 applications online from across the country for benefits under the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic (SEED) Tribes.
• More than 10 crores of Indians from 1,400 communities belong to these groups, showing the latest estimates available to the government.

Welfare options

• The scheme aims to provide free competitive exam coaching to students, health insurance and financial assistance for housing and uplift clusters of these communities through livelihood initiatives.
• The Ministry has allocated ₹200 crores for this scheme to be spent over five financial years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

  

Categorization needs:

• While the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) and Tribal Research Institutes are studying 267 uncategorised communities to classify them under SC, ST, or OBC, inconsistencies have been hindering the processing of SEED applications.
• The categorisation of these communities by the Idate Commission left room for inaccuracies as outlined by the commission in its 2018 report.
• For instance, some communities such as the Banjara were under the SC list in Delhi, the ST list in Rajasthan and the OBC list in Uttar The commission said some communities were under different lists in different districts even within a State.

Government officials said the categorisation of DNTs, NTs and SNTs is essential for the implementation of SEED because there is no schedule in the Constitution providing for their reservation. “So, we are asking State governments to uniformly categorise these communities under SC, ST, or OBC lists and then provide a sub-categorisation in their certificates, declaring them as either DNT, NT, or SNT.

Q4. Who is the author of The Satanic Verses?

1. Arvind Adiga
2. Salman Rushdie
3. Arundhati Roy
4. Frantz Fanon

Answer (b)

Explanation:

The Satanic Verses is the fourth novel by American-British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters.

Q5. Consider the following statements about the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)

1. It is a statutory body under the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955
2. It protects Human Rights as enshrined in the Indian Constitution only

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 (d)

Explanation:

• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India was established on 12 October The statute under which it is established is the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 as amended by the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2006.

• It is in conformity with the Paris Principles, adopted at the first international workshop on national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights held in Paris in October 1991, and endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations by its Regulations 48/134 of 20 December 1993.
• The NHRC is an embodiment of India’s concern for the promotion and protection of human rights.
• Section 2(1)(d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act (PHRA), 1993 defines Human Rights as the rights relating to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or embodied in the International Covenants and enforceable by courts in India.

Q6. Consider the following statements about the 6th schedule areas

1. All the Northeastern states have scheduled areas under 6th schedule
2. The 6th schedule areas are independent of the executive authority of the state
3. The Councils under the schedule are endowed with civil judicial power only

Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?

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

Answer (d)

Explanation:

1. India’s population consists of 100 million tribal people who have constitutionally been addressed via two distinct avenues i.e Fifth and Sixth Schedule.
2. The Fifth Schedule applies to the overwhelming majority of India’s tribes in nine States, while the Sixth Schedule covers areas that are settled in the four northeastern States bordering China and Myanmar.
3. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration of the tribal areas in the four northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram as per Article 244.
4. The Governor is empowered to increase or decrease the areas or change the names of the autonomous While executive powers of the Union extend in Scheduled areas with respect to theiradministration in Vth schedule, the VIth schedule areas remain within executive authority of the state.
5. The acts of Parliament or the state legislature do not apply to autonomous districts and autonomous regions or apply with specified modifications and exceptions.
6. The Councils have also been endowed with wide civil and criminal judicial powers, for example establishing village courts etc. However, the jurisdiction of these councils is subject to the jurisdiction of the concerned High Court.