10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: September 26, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. The Social Security Code 2020 states that the central government will set up a Social Security Fund for social security and welfare of the unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers.

Further, state governments will also set up and administer separate social security funds for unorganised workers.  The 2020 Bill also makes provisions for registration of all three categories of workers – unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers.

Statement 2 is correct. The code states that the Central Government shall, by notification, constitute a National Social Security Board for unorganised workers under chairmanship of the Union Minister for Labour and Employment.

The National Social Security Board shall perform the following functions:

-recommend to the Central Government for formulating suitable schemes for different sections of unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers;

-advise the Central Government on such matters arising out of the administration of this Code as may be referred to it;

-monitor such social welfare schemes for unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers as are administered by the Central Government;

-review the record keeping functions performed at the State level;

-review the expenditure from the fund and account.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Broadly, Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds – Standing Committees and ad hoc Committees. The Standing Committees are elected or appointed every year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less, on a continuous basis. The ad hoc Committees are appointed as need arises and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to them.

Statement 2 is correct. The three Financial Committees – Committees on Estimates, Public Accounts and Public Undertakings – constitute a distinct group as they keep a vigil over Government expenditure and performance.

While members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with Committees on Public Accounts and Public Undertakings, the members of the Committee on Estimates are drawn entirely from the Lok Sabha.

The Public Accounts Committee scrutinises appropriation and finance accounts of Government and reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General. It ensures that public money is spent in accordance with Parliament’s decision and calls attention to cases of waste, extravagance, loss or nugatory expenditure.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The PCA was established by the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, concluded at The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace Conference.

The 1899 Convention was revised at the second Hague Peace Conference in 1907.

India is a contracting party to the 1899 convention.

Statement 2 is correct. The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans, to ensure the conservation and equitable usage of resources and the marine environment and to ensure the protection and preservation of the living resources of the sea.

When signing, ratifying, or acceding to UNCLOS, a State may make a declaration choosing one or more of the following means for settling such disputes:

-the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany;

-the International Court of Justice in Hague, Netherlands;

-ad hoc arbitration (in accordance with Annex VII of UNCLOS); or

-a “special arbitral tribunal” constituted for certain categories of disputes (established under Annex VIII of UNCLOS).

Pursuant to Article 287(3) of UNCLOS, arbitration under Annex VII is the default means of dispute settlement if a State has not expressed any preference with respect to the means of dispute resolution. PCA has administered all but one of the UNCLOS Annex VII arbitrations to date, including the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (Bangladesh v. India) 2014.

Statement 1 is correct. National Service Scheme (NSS) is an extension of activities to the higher education system to orient the student youth to community service while they are studying in education institutions

Statement 2 is incorrect. The scheme is under the aegis of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. National Service Scheme starts from 11th standard onwards.

# The awards for the best National Service Scheme (NSS) units at higher secondary and vocational higher secondary schools, programme officers, and volunteers for the 2019-20 academic year have been declared recently.

Statement 1 is correct. A fuel cell is like a battery in that it generates electricity from an electrochemical reaction. It uses the chemical energy of hydrogen or another fuel to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity.

Statement 2 is correct. In hydrogen fuel cell; electricity, water, and heat are the only products.

# Fuel cell working:

A fuel cell consists of two electrodes—a negative electrode (or anode) and a positive electrode (or cathode)—sandwiched around an electrolyte.

A fuel, such as hydrogen, is fed to the anode, and air is fed to the cathode. In a hydrogen fuel cell, a catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules into protons and electrons, which take different paths to the cathode.

The electrons go through an external circuit, creating a flow of electricity. The protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, where they unite with oxygen and the electrons to produce water and heat.

# The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has notified the Standards for Safety Evaluation of vehicles being propelled by Hydrogen Fuel Cells.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security – Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft travelled to and is currently orbiting a near-Earth asteroid, called Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36).

Statement 2 is correct. The OSIRIS-REx aims to bring at least a 2.1-ounce sample back to Earth for study. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth.

The mission launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. On Oct. 20, the mission will perform the first attempt of its Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event.

The spacecraft is scheduled to depart Bennu in 2021 and it will deliver the collected sample to Earth in 2023.

Shinku La is a mountain pass on the border between Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh. A 13.5-km Shinku La Tunnel is proposed to connect the Union Territory of Ladakh with tribal Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

Zoji La is a high mountain pass in union territory of Ladakh. Located in the Drass, it connects the Kashmir Valley to its west with the Drass and Suru valleys to its northeast and the Indus valley further east

Fotu La is a mountain pass on the Srinagar-Leh highway in the Zanskar Range of the Himalayas in Ladakh. It is one of two high mountain passes between Leh and Kargil, the other being Namika La.

Adjournment of Debate: Adjournment on a motion adopted by the House, of the debate on a Motion/Resolution/Bill on which the House is then engaged until a future day or sine die as specified in the motion.

Adjournment of the sitting of the House: Termination of the sitting of the House which meets again at the time appointed for the next sitting.

Adjournment sine die: Termination of a sitting of the House without any definite date being fixed for the next sitting.

Prorogation: The termination of a session by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.

Statement 1 is correct. As per the Reserve Bank of India Act; the Central Government shall, in consultation with the Bank, determine the inflation target in terms of the Consumer Price Index, once in every five years. Further, the Monetary Policy Committee shall determine the Policy Rate required to achieve the inflation target.

Statement 2 is correct.  The Monetary Policy Committee consists of:

-the Governor of the Bank—Chairperson, ex officio;

-Deputy Governor of the Bank, in charge of Monetary Policy—Member, ex officio;

-one officer of the Bank to be nominated by the Central Board—Member, ex officio; and

-three persons to be appointed by the Central Government—Members.

No person shall be appointed as a Member, in case such person:

-has completed the age of seventy years on the date of appointment as Member;

-is a Member of any Board or Committee of the Bank or is an employee of the Bank;

-is a public servant as defined under the Indian Penal Code;

-is a Member of Parliament or any State Legislature;

-has been at any time, adjudged as an insolvent;

-has been convicted of an offence which is punishable with an imprisonment for a term of one hundred and eighty days or more;

-is physically or mentally incapable of discharging the duties of a Member of the Monetary Policy Committee; or

-has a material conflict of interest with the Bank and is unable to resolve such conflict.

# ‘the Bank’ above means the Reserve Bank of India.

Statement 1 is correct. The Chittagong armoury raid took place on 18 April 1930 and was an attempt at raiding the armoury of police and auxiliary forces, led by freedom fighter Surya Sen.

Pritilata Waddedar joined the freedom movement and worked with revolutionaries like Surya Sen and Nirmal Sen. She was involved in several revolutionary acts like the famous Chittagong armoury raid and attack on the Pahartali European club at Chittagong in 1932.

Statement 2 is incorrect. During the attack on the Pahartali European club at Chittagong in 1932, she received bullet injury. However, she consumed cyanide before the British police could capture her.