10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: August 24, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 mandates for creation of the National Council for Transgender Persons.

The NCT consists of Union Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson), representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, and Human Resources Development, NITI Aayog, and the National Human Rights Commission among others. State governments are also represented.

Further the Council also consists of five members from the transgender community and five experts from non-governmental organisations.

Statement 2 is correct. The council has following functions:

-advising the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons;

–monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons;

–reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments;

-redressing grievances of transgender persons.

Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid, and polio.

Diarrhoea is the most widely known disease linked to contaminated food and water but there are other hazards. In 2017, over 220 million people required preventative treatment for schistosomiasis – an acute and chronic disease caused by parasitic worms contracted through exposure to infested water.

In 2017, 71% of the global population (5.3 billion people) used a safely managed drinking-water service – that is, one located on premises, available when needed, and free from contamination.

In 2010, the UN General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation.

# Data Source: World Health Organisation Website.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standard Body of India under the Ministry for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. BIS is responsible for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Statement 2 is correct. ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 165 national standards bodies.

BIS is a member of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and through the Indian National Committee (INC) is a member of International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). BIS is also a member of regional standards bodies like Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC) and South Asian Regional Standards Organization (SARSO).

# The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently prepared a draft standard for the drinking water supply system, which aims to act as a benchmark for maintaining water quality and developing a uniform process for states opting to implement it.

Statement 1 is correct. The Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana provides relief to the extent of 25% of the average per day earning during the previous four contribution periods to be paid up to maximum 90 days of unemployment once in lifetime, in case the Insured Person (IP) is rendered unemployed.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana is a welfare measure being implemented by the Employee’s State Insurance (ESI) Corporation.

The Scheme was made effective from 01-07-2018 on pilot basis for a period of two years initially.

# The ESI Corporation has recently decided to extend the scheme for one more year upto 30th June 2021. It has been decided to relax the existing conditions and the amount of relief for workers who have lost employment during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

Both statements are correct. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 provides for:

–Non-discrimination against a Transgender Person in educational institutions, employment, healthcare services etc.

–Recognition of identity of Transgender Persons and to confer upon them right to self-perceived gender identity.

-Provision of right of Residence with parents and immediate family members.

-Provision for formulation of welfare schemes and programmes for education, social security and health of Transgender Persons.

– A transgender person may make an application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the gender as ‘transgender’.

-The Act recognizes the offences against transgender persons such as forced or bonded labour, denial of use of public places, removal from household, and village; physical, sexual, verbal, emotional or economic abuse.  Penalties for these offences vary between six months and two years, and a fine.

-Provision for National Council for Transgender Persons to advice, monitor and evaluate measures for the protection of their rights.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Treaty of Sugauli, the treaty that established the boundary line of Nepal with India, was signed on 2 December 1815 and ratified by 4 March 1816 between the East India Company and Kingdom of Nepal following the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16.

# Treaty of Salbai was signed in 1782, by representatives of the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company to settle the outcome of the First Anglo-Maratha War.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Lord Hastings (Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings) served as Governor-General of Bengal from 1813 to 1823.

By the Charter Act of 1833, the post of Governor-General of Bengal converted into “Governor-General of India”.

# NOT Warren Hastings (1772-1785).

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh

Option 2 is correctly matched. The Jawahar Sagar Dam is the third dam (after Gandhi Sagar Dam and Rana Pratap Sagar Dam) in the series of Chambal Valley Projects on the Chambal River,

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. The Salal Dam is a run-of-the-river hydropower project on the Chenab River in the Reasi district of the Jammu and Kashmir. It was the first hydropower project built by India in Jammu and Kashmir under the Indus Water Treaty regime.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is an annual flagship report jointly prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO to inform on progress towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide in depth analysis on key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Statement 2 is correct. Since 2017, SOFI presents two key measures of food insecurity: the conventional measure called the Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) and a new measure called the Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity (PMSFI).

The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is an estimate of the proportion of the population whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life. It is expressed as a percentage. This indicator measures progress towards SDG Target 2.1.

# SDG Target 2.1: By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.

The Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) through the Voices of the Hungry (VoH) project.

FAO launched the Voices of the Hungry (VOH) project in 2013 to provide up-to-date information about food insecurity that is policy-relevant and actionable.

Drawing on similar tools in the USA and Latin America, the project developed the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) and innovative analytic methods aiming to provide a new global standard for measuring food insecurity (access) that is valid, endorsed at the international level, and used for global and country monitoring.

The FIES is a measure of access to food at the level of individuals or households.  It measures severity of food insecurity based on people’s responses to questions about constraints on their ability to obtain adequate food.

The FAO commissions Gallup to include FIES questions in the Gallup World Poll (FAO-GWP) survey conducted in more than 140 countries across the world.

Nuakhai Juhar is an ancient festival celebrated in Odisha to welcome the new crop of the season. The festival is particularly important in the life and culture of Western Odisha.

Nuakhai Juhar is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat and is a greeting exchanged on the special day. Nuakhai is a combination of two words, ‘nua’ meaning new and ‘khai’ means eat, and it thus signifies “eating of new rice”. People worship food grain on this auspicious day.