10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: July 24, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. As declared under Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the General Financial Rules (GFR) have been amended to disallow global tender enquiries in procurement of Goods and Services of value of less than Rs 200 crores.

Statement 2 is incorrect. As per the amended the General Financial Rules 2017; any bidder from such countries sharing a land border with India will be eligible to bid in any procurement whether of goods, services or works only if the bidder is registered with the Competent Authority.

The Competent Authority for registration will be the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Further, political and security clearance from the Ministries of External and Home Affairs respectively will be mandatory.

Exemptions: Medical supplies for containment of COVID-19 global pandemic till 31st December 2020.

Countries to which Government of India extends lines of credit or provides development assistance are also exempted.

State governments have been asked to do the same, for which the Union government has invoked article 275(1) of the Constitution that says “the executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose”.

Statement 1 is incorrect. In January, 2019, China’s robotic spacecraft Chang’e 4 made a soft landing in the South Pole-Aitken Basin area of the moon, otherwise known as the “far side” or “dark side.

Tianwen-1 is a mars probe launched by China recently by the Long March-5 rocket, China’s largest and most powerful launch vehicle.

Statement 2 is correct. The Tianwen-1 probe consists of three parts, an orbiter, lander and a rover. The orbiter will remain in the Martian orbit for experiments and to relay signals to earth while the lander and rover are to make an autonomous descent and landing on the Martian surface.

NASA sent multiple orbiters to Mars before attempting a landing. China’s previous attempt of journey to Mars called Yinghuo-1, in a Russian spacecraft in 2011 failed shortly after launch.

Both statements are correct.

The art of Madhubani paintings is a traditional fashion of paintings developed in the Mithila region in Bihar, India (and also stretching into Nepal). Madhubani paintings also known as Mithila paintings have been practiced traditionally by the women of the region through the centuries.

The traditional Madhubani art is achieved by the use of fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments.

The colors are prepared manually by the artists. The black color by mixing blight with cow dung; yellow by turmeric and Banyan leaf milk; blue is extracted from indigo; the red of the Kusum flower; the green leaf of the applewood tree; the white from rice powder; and orange of the Palash flower.

The themes and designs of the art mainly consists of worshipping of deities, such as the episode of Radha and Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Ganesha, Laxmi, Saraswati, the monkey, the sun, the moon, the plant of Tulasi, the Deep, wedding scenes and other social events.

Statement 1 is correct. Article 12 of the Army Act states that “no female shall be eligible for enrolment or employment in the regular Army, except in such corps, department, branch or other body forming part of, or attached to any portion of, the regular Army as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify in this behalf.”

Similar provisions exist in Air Force Act, 1950 and Indian Navy Act, 1957.

Government of India from time to time has allowed the entry of women in certain cadres initially for 5 years and later enhanced it to 14 years and now permanent commission has been allowed in certain streams.

Statement 2 is correct. Article 21 of the Army Act provides the Central Government may make rules restricting the right of any person subject to this Act-

-to be a member of, or to be associated in any way with, any trade union or labour union, or any class of trade or labour unions or any society, institution or association, or any class of societies, institutions or associations.

-to attend or address any meeting or to take part in any demonstration organised by anyone for any political or other purposes.

-to communicate with the press or to publish or cause to be published any book, letter or other document.

All of the above are correct regarding India-Korea historical linkages.

According to ‘SamgukYusa’ or ‘The Heritage History of the Three Kingdoms’ written in the 13^th century, a Princess from Ayodhya (Suriratna) came to Korea, married King Kim-Suro, and became Queen Hur Hwang-ok in the year 48 AD.

Korean Buddhist Monk Hyecho (or Hong Jiao) visited India from 723 to 729 AD and wrote travelogue ‘Pilgrimage to the five kingdoms of India’ which gives a vivid account of Indian culture, politics & society.

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore composed a short poem ‘Lamp of the East’ in 1929 about Korea’s glorious past and its promising bright future. He wrote:

“In the golden age of Asia

Korea was one of its lamp bearers,

And that lamp is waiting to be lit once again

For the illumination of the East.”

Source of the question and data: Ministry of External Affairs brief on India – Republic of Korea Bilateral Relations.

Statement 1 is correct. The Bandung Conference, 1955 has been considered as the most immediate antecedent of the founding of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, which finally came into being six years later.

This First Summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was convened by the leaders of India, Indonesia, Egypt, Syria and Yugoslavia in Belgrade, 1961. This gathering was attended by the Heads of State and Government of 25 countries and observers from another three nations.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The online NAM Contact Group Summit 2020 on the theme of “United against COVID-19” was hosted by the current Chairman of NAM, President of Republic of Azerbaijan.

The objective of the Summit was to promote international solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to mobilize efforts of States and international organizations to address the pandemic.

The Siddis are an ethnic group inhabiting some states in India, including Karnataka. Its members are believed to be descendants of Bantu peoples from Southeast Africa that were brought to the Indian subcontinent as slaves by Portuguese merchants.

Census 2011 recorded majority of the Siddis in Karnataka following Hinduism. There are a significant number of Siddis following Islam and Christianity.

The African descendants brought in India are mainly divided into three distinct groups namely the Sheedi in Pakistan’s Sindh province, the Siddis in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Hyderabad and the Ceylon Kaffirs in Sri Lanka.

The Bru are tribal groups in north eastern states of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram. Many of them fled from Mizoram to Tripura in 1997 in the wake of inter-community violence.

Statement 1 is correct. World Food Programme (HQ: Rome, Italy) is a fully-fledged UN programme since 1965 that aims to eradicate hunger and malnutrition.  It is the world’s largest humanitarian agency. The programme assists almost 100 million people in around 83 countries each year.

Statement 2 is correct. The World Food Programme (WFP) is governed by the WFP Executive Board, which consists of 36 Member States and provides intergovernmental support, direction and supervision of WFP’s activities.

The 18 members are elected by the Economic and Social Council and 18 by the FAO Council. Each State Member serves a three-year term and is eligible for re-election. India is currently a member with term expiring in 2021.

WFP works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Article 100 of the constitution provides that the Chairman or Speaker, or person acting as such, shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.

Statement 2 is incorrect. As per the article 94 of the Constitution a member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of the People may be removed from his office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House:

Provided that no resolution for the removal shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.

Similar provisions exist for state legislatures.

The World Health Organization(WHO) has recently launched a new COVID-19 Law Lab initiative.

The COVID-19 Law Lab is a database of laws that countries have implemented in response to the pandemic. It includes state of emergency declarations, quarantine measures, disease surveillance, legal measures relating to mask-wearing, social distancing, and access to medication and vaccines.

The initiative gathers and shares legal documents from over 190 countries across the world to help states establish and implement strong legal frameworks to manage the pandemic.

It aims to ensure that laws protect the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities and that they adhere to international human rights standards.

The new Lab is a joint project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University.