10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: January 14, 2021

Both statements are correct and provided for under Article 121 and 122 of the Constitution.
Article 121: No discussion shall take place in Parliament with respect to the conduct of any Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court in the discharge of his duties except upon a motion for presenting an address to the President praying for the removal of the Judge.
Article 122: Courts not to inquire into proceedings of Parliament. (1) The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
(2) No officer or member of Parliament in whom powers are vested by or under this Constitution for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order, in Parliament shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.

Major decisions with respect to the significant appointments, issues of national security, defence expenditure of India, are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in India.
The Prime Minister chairs the CCS which comprises the Minister of External affairs, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Defence.
Among other functions it also considers all cases involving capital expenditure of more than rupees one thousand crore in respect of Department of Defence Production; and Department of Defence Research and Development. CCS on Wednesday approved the manufacture of 83 Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a cost of around Rs 47,000 crore.

Statement 1 is correct. Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is a single engine, light weight, highly agile, multi-role supersonic fighter. It has quadruplex digital fly-by-wire Flight Control System (FCS) with associated advanced flight control laws. The aircraft with delta wing is designed for ‘air combat’ and ‘offensive air support’ with ‘reconnaissance’ and ‘anti-ship’ as its secondary roles.
Statement 2 is incorrect. It is powered by the General Electric GE F414-INS6 of the US.
The Kaveri engine for the indigenous jet was undertaken by Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), however, the thrust to the weight ratio of Kaveri is below required figure for Tejas aircraft. Due to this, the DRDO was forced to steer the Kaveri engine away from the LCA programme.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.

–Andhra Pradesh Drought Mitigation Project aims improve farmers’ practices in using and producing drought-tolerant crop varieties, as well as in managing soil fertility and moisture.

Duration: 2016 – 2022, Total Project Cost: US$ 148.84 million, IFAD Financing: US$ 75.5 million

–Fostering Climate Resilient Upland Farming Systems in the North East is designed to provide farmers with better jhum cultivation practices, assist jhumia households to adopt alternative farming systems, particularly settled farming, support improved market access and value chain development.

Duration: 2017 – 2024, Total Project Cost: US$ 168.51 million, IFAD Financing: US$ 76.55 million

–Odisha Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Livelihoods Improvement Programme aims to achieve better living conditions and to reduce poverty for the most vulnerable in Odisha’s heavily forested Eastern Ghats and Northern Plateau regions.

Duration: 2015 – 2024, Total Project Cost: US$ 130.4 million, IFAD Financing: US$ 51.21 million

# The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in association with Andhra Pradesh Drought Mitigation Project recently organized a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet with Millet Exporters and FPOs of Millet for establishing marketing linkages.

Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) is one of the largest public health programmes targeting close of 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually.
It is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions and largely responsible for reduction of vaccine preventable under-5 mortality rate.
Under UIP, immunization is providing free of cost against 12 vaccine preventable diseases:
Nationally- Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Meningitis & Pneumonia caused by Hemophilus Influenza type B
Sub-nationally- Rotavirus diarrhoea, Pneumococcal Pneumonia and Japanese Encephalitis; of which Rotavirus vaccine and Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine are in process of expansion while JE vaccine is provided only in endemic districts.

Both statements are correct.
The Special Marriage Act is a civil law enacted in 1954 that allows the solemnisation of marriages between any two individuals without religious customs, rituals, or ceremonial requirements. It creates provisions for the marriage of interfaith couples without religious conversions — a requirement for marriages under personal laws such as the Hindu or the Muslim marriage acts.
Section 5 of the Special Marriage Act requires parties to give a 30-day public notice of their intention to marry. The public notice is displayed at the office of the marriage officer, inviting potential objections to the marriage.
# The Allahabad High Court has ruled that couples seeking to solemnise their marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 can choose not to publish the mandatory 30-day notice of their intention to marry.

Statement 1 is correct. As per the National Education Policy 2020 an autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration, and so on, both for school and higher education. The NETF will have the following functions:
–provide independent evidence-based advice to Centra and State Government agencies on technology-based interventions;
–build intellectual and institutional capacities in educational technology;
–envision strategic thrust areas in this domain; and articulate new directions for research and innovation.
Statement 2 is incorrect. All India Council for Technical Education is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education. NETF is not envisaged to replace the AICTE.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a working group under chairmanship of Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI on digital lending — including online platforms and mobile apps — to study all aspects of digital lending activities in the regulated financial sector as well as by unregulated players.
The working group will evaluate digital lending activities and assess the penetration and standards of outsourced digital lending activities in RBI regulated entities; identify the risks posed by unregulated digital lending to financial stability, regulated entities and consumers; and suggest regulatory changes to promote orderly growth of digital lending.
It will also recommend measures for expansion of specific regulatory or statutory perimeter and suggest the role of various regulatory and government agencies. It will also recommend a robust fair practices code for digital lending players.

Statement 1 is correct. Nominal gross domestic product is gross domestic product (GDP) evaluated at current market prices. It is a measurement of economic output that doesn’t adjust for inflation. GDP is the monetary value of all the goods and services produced in a country.
Nominal GDP differs from real GDP in that it does not account for the effects of inflation or deflation.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the First Advance Estimates of National Income at both Constant (2011-12) and Current Prices, for the financial year 2020-21.
Nominal GDP or GDP at Current Prices in the year 2020-21 is likely to attain a level of Rs 194.82 lakh crore, as against the Provisional Estimate of GDP for the year 2019-20 of Rs 203.40 lakh crore, released on 31st May 2020. The growth in nominal GDP during 2020-21 is estimated at -4.2 per cent.

National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY along with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Ministry of Education is jointly launching CollabCAD Software, a collaborative network, computer-enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design for students and faculty of Engineering Graphics Curriculum.

This initiative aims to provide a great platform to students across the country to create and modify 3D digital designs with a free flow of creativity and imagination. This software would also enable students to collaborate over designs across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.