10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : December 5

Statement 1 is incorrect. The CAT Committee can consider complaints about breaches of the rights of individuals under the Convention, but only if a state recognises that the Committee has the authority to do this.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Though India had signed the U.N. Convention Against Torture in 1997, it is yet to ratify it.

Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, (PMNRF) accepts voluntary contributions from Individuals, Organizations, Trusts, Companies and Institutions etc. All contributions towards PMNRF are exempt from Income Tax under section 80(G). Thus, statement 1 is correct.

PMNRF provides relief only to the citizens of India. Hence contributions wherein the donor mentions that the amount is meant for the foreign citizens/calamities abroad, are not accepted in the Fund. Thus, statement 2 is correct.

PDMA is empowered to create by-laws. Thus, statement 1 is correct.

PDMA manages the issue, reissue and trading of Government securities, manages and advises the Central Government on its contingent liabilities and undertakes cash management for the central government including issuing and redeeming of short term securities and advising on its cash

management. Thus, statement 2 is correct.

PDMA was proposed to be established in India through the Finance Bill, 2015. As a corollary of the decision to create a PDMA, the RBI or the Central Bank in India was given the task of inflation targeting under a monetary policy framework agreement. However, the creation of PDMA was put on hold due to the difference of opinion on the matter and the relevant clauses were dropped from the Finance Bill, 2015 while the latter was passed.

PDMA is considered to be set up with the objective of “minimising the cost of raising and servicing public debt over the long-term within an acceptable level of risk at all times, under the general superintendence of the central government”. This will guide all of its key functions, which include managing the public debt, cash and contingent liabilities of Central Government, and related activities.

Asian Harmonization Working Party (AHWP) is established as a non-profit organization. Its goals are to study and recommend ways to harmonize medical device regulations in the Asian and other regions and to work in coordination with the Global Harmonization Task Force, APEC and other related international organizations aiming at establishing harmonized requirements, procedures and standards. Thus, statement 1 is correct.

The Working Party is a group of experts from Medical Device Regulatory Authorities (“Regulatory Authorities”) and the medical device industry including government agencies not Medical Device Regulatory Authorities (“Industry”). Thus, statement 2 is correct.

Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry area of land becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife. It is caused by a variety of factors, such as through climate change and through the overexploitation of soil through human activity. When deserts appear automatically over the natural course of a planet’s life cycle, then it can be called a natural phenomenon; however, when deserts emerge due to the rampant and unchecked depletion of nutrients in soil that are essential for it to remain arable, then a virtual “soil death” can be spoken of,  which traces its cause back to human overexploitation. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem.

Graded Response Action Plan defines the measures to taken based on air quality on the basis of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the atmosphere. Based on the air quality the grades have been classified as Emergency, Severe, Very Poor and Moderate poor. It will be enforced by Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA). Thus, statement 1 is correct.

The GRAP aims to curb pollution levels across NCR, neighbouring states have also initiated a series of steps. Thus, statement 2 is incorrect.