10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: August 18, 2020

All of the above are part of the Doctrine of Proportionality.

In the nine-judge Bench judgement of the Supreme Court in Justice KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, in which the Court upheld privacy as a fundamental right, proportionality can be ascertained on the basis of the following:

-the action must be sanctioned by law;

-the proposed action must be necessary in a democratic society for a legitimate aim;

-the extent of such interference must be proportionate to the need for such interference;

-there must be procedural guarantees against abuse of such interference.

Both statements are correct.

The UK government has launched a £3 million Innovation Challenge Fund in India to support scientists in academia and industry to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat to our environment.

The Fund invites tech innovators with connections to the AI-Data cluster in Karnataka and the Future Mobility cluster in Maharashtra to submit research and development proposals for tackling COVID-19 or which promote a greener planet. At least 12 grants up to £250,000 are expected to be awarded.

In April 2018, the Indian and British Prime Ministers announced the formal creation of the UK-India Tech Partnership.

These grants are part of a wider initiative under the Tech Partnership known as ‘Tech Clusters’. Tech Clusters will support the development of Indian Tech Clusters by breaking down barriers to growth, including building international links.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus.

An RNA virus is a virus that has RNA (ribonucleic acid) as its genetic material. RNA viruses replicate their genomes using virally encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp).The RNA may be either double- or single-stranded.

Statement 2 is correct. The SARS-COV-2 has spike proteins which binds with the Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on cell membranes in human body.

Option 1 is correct. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with PiramalSwasthya, the Centre of Excellence has developed this Tribal Health and Nutrition Portal ‘Swasthya’, a one-stop solution presenting all information pertaining to tribal health and nutrition related to Scheduled Tribe people.

Option 2 is correct. ‘Going Online as Leaders (GOAL)’ Programme is an initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with Facebook. Through the GOAL Programme, the Ministry aims to mentor 5000 Tribal Youth across India and enable them to become village-level digital young leaders for their communities.

Option 3 is incorrect. SVAMITVA (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas) scheme is a new initiative of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. It aims to provide rural people with the right to document their residential properties so that they can use their property for economic purposes.

To enhance the safety of cheque payments, Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce a mechanism of Positive Pay for all cheques of value Rs 50,000 and above.

Statement 1 is correct. It is aimed to end cheque frauds including altering, counterfeiting and forging of the financial instruments by confirming details with details electronically uploaded information by issuer.

Statement 2 is correct. The Positive Pay system demands that an account holder electronically uploads the details of the high value cheque through the bank’s net banking system.

The details are cross checked with details provided by the issuing party or the individual. Only a match will lead to the drawee’s bank clearing the cheque and in the event of a ‘no match’ scenario, the issuing authority/individual will be contacted for verification, cancellation or withdrawal of the cheque.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, USA.

In July 1913, observers in Furnace Creek, California—Death Valley—watched the thermometer reach 56.7°C (134°F) and declared it to be the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth. It recently hit a high of hits 54.4C.

Option 2 is correctly matched. The Taklamakan Desert is a desert in Southwest Xinjiang in Northwest China. The surface of the mountain is said to reach temperatures of 50 to 80°C (122 to 175°F) in the summer

Option 3 is correctly matched. The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut, is a large salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran.

Statement 1 is correct. As per the special provisions for NCT of Delhi under article 239AA of the Constitution, there shall be a Council of Ministers consisting of not more than ten per cent. of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly.

Statement 2 is correct. The Chief Minister of NCT of Delhi is appointed by the President and other Ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly

Emerging industry that is gaining favor with investors and is expected to be an engine of future economic growth through steadily rising generation of employment and profits is referred colloquially as Sunrise Industry.

A sunrise industry is a new business or business sector showing potential for substantial and rapid growth.

Notable characteristics of sunrise industries include high-growth rates and a lot of start-ups and venture capital funding.

All of the above are legal provisions mandating minimum age standards for marriages in India.

-In 2019, the Delhi high court had also sought the government’s response to a plea that proposed a uniform age for marriage for both men and women.

-The Union Ministry for Women and Child Development recently set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.

The Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.

The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.

The Global Gender Gap Report published by the World Economic Forum since 2006 is designed to “measure gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries rather than the actual levels of the available resources and opportunities in those countries.”

As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020 rankings, India ranks 112 among 153 countries. China was ranked 106 while Iceland topped the table.