10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | March 22 2021

Statement 1 is correct. Article 324(2) states that the Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time-to-time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Article 32(5) states that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court and the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment:

Provided further that any other Election Commissioner or a Regional Commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.

Statement 1 is correct. Article 22(1) od the Constitution provides that no person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be, of the grounds for such arrest nor shall he be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal practitioner of his choice.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Section 41D of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) states that an accused is entitled to “meet an advocate of his choice during interrogation, though not throughout interrogation”.

Statement 1 is correct. The “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” Campaign will be undertaken across the country, in both rural and urban areas, with the theme “catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls”.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It will be implemented from 22nd March 2021 to 30th November, 2021 – the pre-monsoon and monsoon period in the country.

It will be launched as a Jan Andolan to take water conservation at grass-root level through people’s participation. It is intended to nudge all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures suitable to the climatic conditions and subsoil strata, to ensure proper storage of rainwater.

After the event, Gram Sabhas will be held in all Gram Panchayats of each district (except in the poll bound states) to discuss issues related to water and water conservation. Gram Sabhas will also take ‘Jal Shapath’ for water conservation

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority was set up as an attached office of the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals on 29th August 1997. It has been entrusted inter-alia, with the following functions:

–To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 1995/2013.

–To undertake and/or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/formulations.

–To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps.

To collect/maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc. for bulk drugs and formulations.

–To render advice to the Central Government on changes/revisions in the drug policy and in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.

# NPPA recently fixed the price of 81 medicines including off-patent anti-diabetic drugs allowing due benefits of patent expiry to the patients.

Statement 1 is correct. Study in India is a programme of the Govt of India that aims to attract international students to higher education institutions in India.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It caters to NIRF Top 100 institutes in any category except medical institutes, along with a NAAC accreditation of 3.26 or above and those which have been empaneled by UGC, be it government or private. All institutes fulfilling these criteria, partner with Study in India, including Institutes of Eminence and Institutes of National Importance.

Select 117 institutions are partners under the programme that was launched in 2018. Admissions are merit based and done through a common portal.

# In a review meeting of the Education Ministry’s Study in India Programme with partner institutions yesterday, Secretary Higher Education said that the criteria for institutions partnering under the programme will soon be revised so that more institutions that have the necessary infrastructure and academic quality can join the programme.

Improvements in the ease of doing business will enable faster future growth of the state economy. Therefore, the government of India had in May 2020, decided to link grant of additional borrowing permissions to States who undertake the reforms to facilitate ease of doing business. The reforms stipulated in this category are:

–Completion of first assessment of ‘District Level Business Reform Action Plan’

–Elimination of the requirements of renewal of registration certificates/approvals/licences obtained by businesses under various Acts.

–Implementation of computerized central random inspection system under the Acts wherein allocation of inspectors is done centrally

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India had in May, 2020 enhanced the borrowing limit of the States by 2 percent of their GSDP. Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen centric reforms by the States.

The four citizen centric areas for reforms identified were (a) Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System, (b) Ease of doing business reform, (c) Urban Local body/ utility reforms and (d) Power Sector reforms.

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.

PovcalNet was developed by staff of the World Bank’s Development Research Group to allow users to replicate the calculations made by the World Bank’s researchers.

PovcalNet also allows you to calculate the poverty measures under different assumptions and to assemble the estimates using alternative economy groupings or for any set of individual economies of the user’s choosing.

# A new study by the Pew Research Center based on an analysis of the World Bank’s PovcalNet database estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionately deleterious impact on living standards in India and China in 2020, with the sharp economic contraction in the former pushing as many as 7.5 crore people into the ranks of the poor.

Statement 1 is correct. In order to accelerate initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges related to water resources, the General Assembly proclaimed the 2018-2028 as the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development”.

Statement 2 is correct. World Water Day, held on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater. The idea for this international day goes back to 1992, the year in which the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro took place. That same year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993.

The theme of World Water Day 2021 is valuing water.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The house sparrow is widespread across the world, inhabiting every continent, except Antarctica, China and Japan. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, and was introduced to South Africa, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, India and Central Asia, where its population thrived under a variety of environmental and climatic conditions.

It is known to stay close to human habitations, and is therefore among the most commonly found bird species in urban cities.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It is listed as species but with decreasing population trend in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.