10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | April 4 2021

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying
in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional
unity.
Statement 1 is incorrect. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South
Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia,
including Myanmar and Thailand.
Bhutan and Nepal are land-locked countries.
Statement 2 is correct. After a span of 17 years of the founding of BIMSTEC, Permanent
Secretariat was established in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2014 to serve the BIMSTEC Member
States.

Both statements are correct.
Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has initiated Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs), a sub-scheme under Pradhan Mantri AWAS Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U). This will provide ease of living to urban migrants/ poor in Industrial Sector as well as in non-formal urban economy to get access to dignified affordable rental housing close to their workplace.
The ARHC scheme will be implemented through two models:
-Utilizing existing Government funded vacant houses to convert into ARHCs through Public Private Partnership or by Public Agencies
-Construction, Operation and Maintenance of ARHCs by Public/ Private Entities on their own vacant land

Statement 1 and 2 are correct. The Suez Canal crosses the Suez isthmus in Egypt. It is about 193km (120 miles) long and incorporates three natural lakes. The Isthmus of Suez is the only land bridge between the African and Asian continents which used to form a single continental mass.
The canal connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas and divides Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula.

Statement 3 is incorrect. It was opened for navigation in 1869. Egypt nationalized the canal in July 1956. The Canal was closed few times; the last time was the most serious one when Egypt closed down the Suez Canal which trapped fifteen international ships in the canal for more or less eight years. The Canal was then reopened for navigation in June 1975.

# Egypt’s Suez Canal has been blocked by a large container ship. But it has been removed recently

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 have been passed in both houses of the Parliament recently.
Statement 1 is incorrect. While the original Act allows the Legislative Assembly to make Rules to regulate the procedure and conduct of business in the Assembly. The Bill provides that such Rules must be consistent with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the LokSabha.
Statement 2 is correct. The Act requires the LG to reserve certain Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly for the consideration of the President. These Bills are those: (i) which may diminish the powers of the High Court of Delhi, (ii) which the President may direct to be reserved, (iii) dealing with the salaries and allowances of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and members of the Assembly and the Ministers, or (iv) relating to official languages of the Assembly or the NCT of Delhi.
The Amendment Bill requires the LG to also reserve those Bills for the President which incidentally cover any of the matters outside the purview of the powers of the Legislative Assembly

Statement 1 is correct. Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders are open borders with visa free regime.
Statement 2 is incorrect. India and Myanmar have an arrangement called Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows locals on both sides to go upto 16 km across the other side and stay up to 14 days.
# India sealed all entry points along the border with following the February 1 coup when the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government.

Option 1 and 2 are correct. The Akash is a mid-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) system built by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Dhanush is a 155×45 Calibre indigenous gun developed by Ordinance Factory Board (OFB) for Indian Army.
Option 3 is incorrect. Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a precision-guided missile developed by French defence major Safran.
# Many significant projects including 155mm Artillery Gun system ‘Dhanush’, Bridge Laying Tank, Thermal Imaging Sight Mark-II for T-72 tank, Light Combat Aircraft ‘Tejas’, ‘Akash’ Surface to Air Missile system, Submarine ‘INS Kalvari’, ‘INS Chennai’, Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvette (ASWC), Arjun Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle, Landing craft utility, etc. have been produced in the country in last few years.

As per the Central Water Commission (CWC) report entitled “Reassessment of Water Availability in India using Space Inputs”, the average annual water resources potential in the country is assessed as 1999.20 BCM.
Water being a State subject, initiatives on water management including conservation and water harvesting in the Country is primarily States’ responsibility.
A number of States have done notable work in the field of water conservation/harvesting. Of these, mention can be made of ‘MukhyamantriJalSwavlambanAbhiyan’ in Rajasthan, ‘JalyuktShibar’ in Maharashtra, ‘SujalamSufalamAbhiyan’ in Gujarat, ‘Mission Kakatiya’ in Telangana, NeeruChettu’ in Andhra Pradesh, JalJeevanHariyali in Bihar, ‘Jal Hi Jeevan’ in Haryana among others.

Monetary policy refers to the policy of the central bank with regard to the use of monetary instruments under its control to the maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.
There are several direct and indirect instruments that are used for implementing monetary policy:
— Repo Rate: The (fixed) interest rate at which the Reserve Bank provides overnight liquidity to banks against the collateral of government and other approved securities under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF).
— Reverse Repo Rate: The (fixed) interest rate at which the Reserve Bank absorbs liquidity, on an overnight basis, from banks against the collateral of eligible government securities under the LAF.
— Marginal Standing Facility (MSF): A facility under which scheduled commercial banks can borrow additional amount of overnight money from the Reserve Bank by dipping into their Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) portfolio up to a limit at a penal rate of interest.
— Open Market Operations (OMOs): These include both, outright purchase and sale of government securities, for injection and absorption of durable liquidity, respectively.
Other instruments include Bank Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) and Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS).

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
Statement 1 is incorrect. The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot.
Statement 2 is correct. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.

The RajyaSabha has approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 on 16th March 2021. The Bill was approved in LokSabha on 17th March 2020.
Salient features of amendments:
— Currently, abortion requires the opinion of one doctor if it is done within 12 weeks of conception and two doctors if it is done between 12 and 20 weeks. The Bill allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks. (Statement 1 is incorrect)
–Enhancing the upper gestation limit from 20 to 24 weeks for special categories of women which will be defined in the amendments to the MTP Rules and would include survivors of rape, victims of incest and other vulnerable women (like differently-abled women, minors) etc. (Statement 2 is correct)
–Upper gestation limit not to apply in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by Medical Board. The composition, functions and other details of Medical Board to be prescribed subsequently in Rules under the Act.
–Name and other particulars of a woman whose pregnancy has been terminated shall not be revealed except to a person authorized in any law for the time being in force.