10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: January 16, 2021

Statement 1 is incorrect. As per Article 324 of the Constitution, the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President is vested in the Election Commission of India.

Statement 2 is correct. Many instances have come to the notice of the Election Commission of India wherein Chief Electoral Officers and some other officials working directly in the office of Chief Electoral Officers have been victimised after the elections are over. Commission has addressed a communication to all concerned recently stating: –

–The state/UT governments shall invariably obtain prior approval of the Commission, if any disciplinary action is initiated against the Chief Electoral Officers and other officers up to Joint Chief Electoral Officer during their tenure and also up to one year from the expiry of last election conducted by them.

–Commission has also directed that the State/UT government shall not reduce facilities such as vehicle, security and other facilities/amenities provided to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer for proper discharge of his/her duties.

Thiruvalluvar, also called Valluvar, was an ancient Tamil poet-saint known as the author of the Tirukkural (“Sacred Couplets”).

Silappathikaram, (The Jeweled Anklet), an epic poem in Tamil, was written in the 5th–6th century AD by Prince Ilanko Adikal.

Manimekalai, the sequel to the Shilapaddikaram was written by Kulavanigam Chittalai Shattanar.

Both statements are correct.

A Drone swarm is a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that work together to achieve a specific goal. The flight of the drones is controlled either manually, i.e. by remote control operations, or autonomously by using processors deployed on the drones

Swarms of drones are increasingly being requested to carry out missions that cannot be completed by single drones. Particularly in the field of civil security, strong needs emerge in terms of surveillance and observation of hostile, distant or extended areas.

#The Indian Army carried out a live demonstration of Drone Swarming capability using 75 indigenously designed and developed drones which executed an array of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled simulated offensive missions and close support tasks during the Army Day Parade held at Delhi Cantt on 15 January 2021.

One Plane Summit was organized by France, in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank on 11 January 2021. It focused on biodiversity to mobilize commitments to protect ecosystems and make links to human health.

Convened under the theme of “Let’s act together for nature!”, the Summit brought together heads of state and government, leaders of international organizations, financial institutions, companies and NGOs, all ready to demonstrate that their commitments are leading to concrete actions to preserve and restore biodiversity, and to lead systemic transformations of economies.

Every year Indian Army celebrates 15th January as ‘Army Day’.

The event commemorates the day when General (later Field Marshal) K M Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post Independence.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) is an initiative by Ministry of MSME to promote Cluster development.

Statement 2 is correct. Objectives of the scheme:

–To organize the traditional industries and artisans into clusters to make them competitive and provide support for their long term sustainability

–To enhance marketability of products of clusters by providing support for new products, design intervention and improved packaging, and also the improvement of marketing Infrastructure

–To equip traditional artisans of the associated clusters with improved skills and capabilities through training and exposure visits

–To build innovative and traditional skills, improved technologies, advanced processes, market intelligence and new models of public-private partnerships, so as to gradually replicate similar models of cluster- based regenerated traditional Industries.

Statement 1 is correct. Covishield from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have been granted of permission for restricted use in emergency situation subject to certain regulatory conditions.

Statement 2 is correct. CoWIN, an online digital platform developed by Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, will be used to drive the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country.

It will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across National, State, and District levels while conducting vaccination sessions. It will help them track beneficiary coverage, beneficiary dropouts, sessions planned v/s sessions held and vaccine utilization

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Kalapani territory is an area part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state, but is also claimed by Nepal.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Susta is a disputed territory between Nepal and India. It is administered by India as part of West Champaran district of Bihar.

Statement 1 is incorrect. In the last financial year (2019-20), India attracted $14.67 billion in FDI from Singapore, whereas it was $8.24 billion from Mauritius; the top two sources of FDI in India.

Other large sources of FDI in India in recent years include USA, Mauritius, Netherlands, UK, France and Japan.

Statement 2 is incorrect. India’s trade deficit with China has been decreasing for the last couple of years according to new figures from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).

The Committee to Review Governance of Boards of Banks in India chaired by P J Nayak, the former CEO and Chairman of Axis Bank, was constituted by the RBI Governor in 2014.

Recent reports suggest that the upcoming budget may include proposals for a Bank Investment Company (BIC), anchoring the government’s shareholding in its banks. It was proposed by the P J Nayak Committee constituted by the RBI in 2014 to examine governance at public and private sector banks.

The committee had recommended that the Government should set up a Bank Investment Company (BIC) to hold equity stakes in banks which are presently held by the Government. BIC should be incorporated under the Companies Act, necessitating the repeal of statutes under which these banks are constituted, and the transfer of powers from the Government to BIC through a suitable shareholder agreement and relevant memorandum and articles of association.