10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | April 29 2021

• Statement 1 is correct: To be truly secular, a state must not only refuse to be theocratic but also have no formal, legal alliance with any religion. The separation of religion-state is, however, a necessary but not a sufficient ingredient of a secular state. A secular state must be committed to principles and goals which are at least partly derived from non-religious sources. These ends should include peace, religious freedom, freedom from religiously grounded oppression, discrimination and exclusion, as also inter-religious and intra-religious equality
• Statement 2 is correct: Inspired mainly by the American model, separation of religion and state is understood as mutual exclusion: the state will not intervene in the affairs of religion and, in the same manner, religion will not interfere in the affairs of the state
• Statement 3 is incorrect: The complexity of Indian secularism cannot be captured by the phrase “equal respect for all religions”. If by this phrase is meant peaceful coexistence of all religions or interreligious toleration, then this will not be enough because secularism is much more than mere peaceful coexistence or toleration.

• Also, Indian secularism allows for principled state intervention in all religions. Such intervention involves disrespect to some aspects of every religion. For example, religiously sanctioned caste-hierarchies are not acceptable within Indian secularism. The secular state does not have to treat every aspect of every religion with equal respect. It allows equal disrespect for some aspects of organised religions.

• The wastage multiplier factor is the factor (number) that a country multiplies its estimated vaccine needs by, in order to allow for some doses being wasted.
• For example: At least 10% of Covid-19 vaccines procured by the Centre may face “programmatic wastage”, according to the vaccination plan guidelines released by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs Ministry. This means nearly 10 in every 100 vaccines purchased by the Centre may suffer damage in different phases of vaccine management.

• Statement 1 is correct: While in humans antibiotics are primarily used for treating patients, they are used as growth promoters in animals, often because they offer economic shortcuts that can replace hygienic practices. Globally, use of antibiotics in animals is expected to increase by 67% by 2030 from 2010 levels.
• Statement 2 is correct: Antimicrobial resistance occurs naturally over time, usually through genetic changes. However, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is accelerating this process.
• Statement 3 is correct: The Chennai Declaration is a document, prepared by representatives of various stakeholders and eminent experts in India, to tackle the challenge of anti-microbial resistance from an Indian perspective.

• Statement 1 is correct: Project, launched by the Indian Army, aims to provide better training and educational facilities to disadvantaged Ladakhi students. Also, the projects aim to give them the opportunity to study in the best educational institutes.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army will implement the project. They will also have a partnership with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and National Integrity and Educational Development Organization (NIEDO), an NGO.

Products of NPCI:

1. RuPay: It is a domestic card scheme of India that has a magnetic stripe along with an EMV chip. The card is now accepted at all ATMs and has been issued cooperative banks and Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in India.
2. National Common Mobility Card: It enables customers to make use of their existing Debit/Credit card for payments across all segments including metro, bus, suburban railways, toll, parking, smart city and retail. The service area feature of this card supports operator specific applications e.g. monthly passes, season tickets, etc
3. Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM): Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a mobile payments application based on NPCI’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). It provides the facility to easily send or receive money from other customers using the UPI.
4. Unified Payments Interface (UPI): Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was introduced on 2016 as an instant inter-bank payment system. This payment system was developed to provide a mobile platform for instant transfer of funds between two bank accounts.
5. Bharat Bill Payment System: The Bharat Bill Payment System is an initiative taken by NPCI along with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for payment of all bills. It will provide an interoperable and accessible bill payment service to its customers

The pan-India new umbrella entity(NUE) or entities will focus on retail payment systems with a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore.

However, the RBI will not permit any single promoter or group to hold more than 40% investment in the NUE. Also, the NUE should maintain a minimum net worth of Rs. 300 crore at all times.

Statement 1 is correct. This zone is a seismically active area, so it falls into the highest Seismic Hazard Zone V.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Kopili fault zone is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault. It is extending from the western part of Manipur to the tri-junction of Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

Statement 3 is correct. The zone is associated with collisional tectonics because of the Indian Plate subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate.Subduction is a geological process in which one crustal plate is forced below the edge of another.

The Patents Act,1970: The act has two key specific provisions that could be potentially invoked to regulate the pricing of the vaccine. The two provisions are:

• Section 100: It gives the central government the power to authorise anyone (a pharma company) to use the invention for the purposes of the government. Basically, this provision enables the government to license patents of the vaccine to specific companies. This is done to speed up manufacturing and ensuring equitable pricing.
• Section 92: It deals with compulsory licensing. It says that the government without the permission of the patent holder can provide license under the following situations:

• Circumstance of national emergency; or
• Circumstance of extreme urgency; or
• Case of public non-commercial use.

• Classical swine fever(CSF) also known as hog cholera. It is a contagious viral disease of domestic and wild swine(pigs).
• Caused by: It is caused by a virus of the genus Pestivirus of the family Flaviviridae.
• Transmission: The most common method of transmission is through direct contact between healthy swine and those infected with the CSF virus.
• Humans are not affected by this virus. Swine are the only species known to be susceptible.
• Treatment: The disease has a 100% mortality. However, Vaccination can prevent the spread of the disease.

• AMR is a phenomenon by which bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses evolve and become resistant to presently available antimicrobial treatment.
• The infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.