10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | April 12 2021

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Constitution under Article 324 mandates the Election Commission, to conduct elections inter alia to the Parliament and the State Legislatures.

Local Body elections are conducted by the State Election Commissions.

Statement 2 is correct. The Supreme Court in its judgment dated 5th July 2013 in S. Subramaniam Balaji Vs Govt. of Tamil Nadu and Others directed the Election Commission to frame guidelines with regard to the contents of election manifestos in consultation with all the recognized political parties.

After consultation with the Political Parties, the Commission, in the interest of free and fair elections, hereby directs that Political Parties and Candidates while releasing election manifestos for any election to the Parliament or State Legislatures, shall adhere to the following guidelines:

— The election manifesto shall not contain anything repugnant to the ideals and principles enshrined in the Constitution and further that it shall be consistent with the letter and spirit of other provisions of Model Code of Conduct.

— The Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution enjoin upon the State to frame various welfare measures for the citizens and therefore there can be no objection to the promise of such welfare measures in election manifestos. However, political parties should avoid making those promises which are likely to vitiate the purity of the election process or exert undue influence on the voters in exercising their franchise.

— In the interest of transparency, level playing field and credibility of promises, it is expected that manifestos also reflect the rationale for the promises and broadly indicate the ways and means to meet

the financial requirements for it. Trust of voters should be sought only on those promises which are possible to be fulfilled.

The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, now under scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee governs the processing of personal data by government, companies incorporated in India, and foreign companies dealing with personal data of individuals in India.

Statement 1 is correct. The central government may direct data fiduciaries to provide it with any non-personal data and anonymised personal data (where it is not possible to identify data principal) for better targeting of services.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Sensitive personal data may be transferred outside India for processing if explicitly consented to by the individual, and subject to certain additional conditions. However, such sensitive personal data should continue to be stored in India. Certain personal data notified as critical personal data by the government can only be processed in India.

Universal basic income is a program where every citizen receives a periodic payment, regardless of whether they’re working and earning an income or not. It has several pros and cons to it:

Pros:

–Workers could afford to wait for a better job or better wages and people would have the freedom to return to school or stay home to care for a relative

–May help remove the “poverty trap” from traditional welfare programs

–Citizens could have simple, straightforward financial assistance that minimizes bureaucracy

Cons:

–Inflation could be triggered because of the increase in demand for goods and services

–Free income may not incentivize people to get jobs, and could make work seem optional

–Free income could perpetuate the falling labor force participation rate

The Lilavati Award is an initiative of the technical education regulator, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and it aims to recognise efforts by AICTE-approved institutions to treat women with ‘equality and fairness’.

Based on the theme ‘Women Empowerment’, AICTE finalized the winners from a total of 456 entries who competed across 6 sub themes, which include, Women’s Health, Self-Defense, Sanitation and Hygiene, Literacy, Women Entrepreneurship, and Legal Awareness.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has the unique distinction of being the only grant-giving agency in the country which has been vested with two responsibilities: that of providing funds and that of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education.

The UGC`s mandate includes:

–Promoting and coordinating university education.

–Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities.

–Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.

–Monitoring developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.

–Serving as a vital link between the Union and state governments and institutions of higher learning.

–Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary for improvement of university education.

DIKSHA is a unique initiative which leverages existing highly scalable and flexible digital infrastructures, while keeping teachers at the center. It is built considering the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time student teachers enroll in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.

It can be accessed after scanning the QR code provided in their NCERT books. Students having access to DIKSHA app will be able to understand concepts in easy and interactive manner.

There are features through which lessons can be revised Parents having access to DIKSHA app in their mobiles can follow classroom activities and clear doubts outside school hours. It is a comprehensive platform for hassle free interaction of all the stakeholders involved.

States, government bodies and even private organisations, can integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) was set up by an act of Parliament during 1972.

MPEDA is given the mandate to promote the marine products industry with special reference to exports from the country. It is envisaged that this organization would take all actions to develop and augment the resources required for promoting the exports of “all varieties of fishery products known commercially as shrimp, prawn, lobster, crab, fish, shell-fish, other aquatic animals or plants or part thereof.

Statement 2 is correct. The Act empowers MPEDA to regulate exports of marine products and take all measures required for ensuring sustained, quality seafood exports from the country.

In 2017, the Government of India appointed a 10-member Committee of Experts headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India “to identify key data protection issues in India and recommend methods of addressing them”.

The terms of reference of the Committee were to “to study various issues relating to data protection in India”, and “to make specific suggestions for consideration of the Central Government on principles to be considered for data protection in India and suggest a draft data protection bill”.

The Committee submitted its report, along with a Draft Personal Data Protection Bill to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in July 2018.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is an international treaty which was adopted and signed in 1982. It lays down a comprehensive regime of law and order in the world’s oceans and seas establishing rules governing all uses of the oceans and their resources.

It replaced the four Geneva Conventions of April, 1958, which respectively concerned the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the continental shelf, the high seas, fishing and conservation of living resources on the high seas.

The Convention has created three new institutions on the international scene:

– the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,

– the International Seabed Authority,

– the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

Veklury (remdesivir) is a nucleotide analog invented by Gilead, building on more than a decade of the company’s antiviral research. Veklury has broad-spectrum antiviral activity both in vitro and in vivo in animal models against multiple emerging viral pathogens, including Ebola, SARS, Marburg, MERS and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Seven Indian companies are producing Injection Remdesivir under voluntary licensing agreement with M/s. Gilead Sciences, USA. Government of India has prohibited the exports of Injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the COVID-19 situation improves.

#Veklury is the brand name.