UPSC Daily Quiz | 29 July 2024

Explanation: 

Relevance: UGC has launched a project to develop 22,000 books in Indian languages.

ASMITA Project

• • ASMITA stands for ‘Augmenting Study Materials in Indian Languages through Translation and Academic Writing.’ 
  • It is a collaborative effort of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti to promote Indian languages in education. (Hence, statement 1 is correct)

• The ASMITA Project aims to develop 22,000 books in 22 scheduled languages in the next five years. (Hence, statement 2 is correct)

Hence, both the statements given above are correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Subject: Current Affairs | Schemes

Level of Difficulty: Easy | Factual

References:

https://www.thehindu.com/education/ugc-launches-project-to-develop-22000-books-in-indian-languages/article68412814.ece

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2033732#:~:text=ASMITA%2C%20led%20by%20UGC%20in,years%20in%2022%20scheduled%20languages.

Explanation: 

Relevance: India has assured Mauritius of continued support in the Chagos Islands territorial dispute with the United Kingdom (UK).

• Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean are disputed between Mauritius and the United Kingdom.
• Chagos Islands comprise around 58 small, low-lying islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
• Salomon, Diego Garcia and Nelsons are among the key islands. Diego Garcia is also home to a U.S. naval support facility.
• Chagos Islands are currently controlled by the U.K. as British Indian Ocean Territory.
• In 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its advisory opinion directed the United Kingdom (UK) to unconditionally withdraw from the Islands.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Subject: Current Affairs | Geography: Places in News

Level of Difficulty: Easy | Factual

References:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/india-supports-mauritius-in-chagos-sovereignty-dispute-with-uk/articleshow/111792956.cms

Explanation:  

Relevance: Melting ice caps are causing Earth's days to lengthen at an unusually fast pace, according to a new study.

• The team of international scientists looked at a 200-year period, between 1900 and 2100, using observational data and climate models to understand how climate change has affected day length in the past and to project its role in future. They found the impact of climate change on day length has increased significantly.
• Climate change-fueled sea level rise caused the length of a day to vary between 0.3 and 1 milliseconds in the 20th century. Over the past two decades, however, the scientists calculated an increase in day length of 1.33 milliseconds per century, "significantly higher than at any time in the 20th century."
• If planet-heating pollution continues to rise, warming the oceans and accelerating ice loss in Greenland and Antarctica, the rate of change is set to soar, the report found. If the world is unable to rein in emissions, climate change could increase the length of a day by 2.62 milliseconds by the end of the century - overtaking the natural impacts of the moon.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Subject: Current Affairs | Environment: Climate Change

Level of Difficulty: Easy | Factual

References:

https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/climate-change-extending-length-of-earth-days-at-unprecedented-rate-study-finds-9457520/#:~:text=Under%20the%20worst%2Dcase%20scenario,2100%2C%20compared%20to%20the%20baseline.&text=Although%20this%20increase%20might%20not,Earth%20navigation%2C%E2%80%9D%20said%20Adhikari.

Explanation:  

Relevance: The Supreme Court of India has agreed to list petitions challenging the Money Bill route being taken by the Union Government to pass certain bills in the Parliament.

• The term Money Bill is defined under Article 110 of the Indian Constitution. (Hence, statement 1 is not correct)

• A Bill is deemed to be a Money Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with:

• The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax.
• The regulation of the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Government of India, etc.

• As per Article 109 of the Constitution, a Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha. (Hence, statement 2 is correct)

• Decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is final on the question if a Bill is a Money Bill or not. (Hence, statement 3 is not correct)

So, only one of the statements given above is correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Subject: Current Affairs | Indian Polity

Level of Difficulty: Easy | Factual

References:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-to-consider-setting-up-bench-to-hear-pleas-against-passage-of-laws-as-money-bills/article68405773.ece

Explanation:  

Relevance: The newly formed Union Government has reconstituted the NITI Aayog since the term of the Aayog, barring the position of the chief executive officer, is co-terminus with the term of the government.

• On January 1, 2015, the NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was established as the successor to the Planning Commission. (Hence, statement 1 is not correct)
• However, it must be noted here that the NITI Aayog, like that of the Planning Commission, was also created by an executive resolution of the Government of India (i.e., Union Cabinet). Hence, it is also neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body. (Hence, statement 2 is not correct)

• In other words, it is a non-constitutional or extra-constitutional body (i.e., not created by the Constitution) and a non-statutory body (not created by an Act of the Parliament). 

• • The Prime Minister of India is the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog. Its Governing Council comprises the Chief Ministers of all the States, Chief Ministers of Union Territories with Legislatures (i.e., Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir) and Lt. Governors of other Union Territories.  
  • A key component of the Nehruvian socialism—the economic approach adopted by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru—the Five-Year Plans have been laid to rest in 2017. The 12th Plan, the last of the Five-Year Plans, is coming to an end on March 31, 2017.

• The decades-old Five-Year Plans have been replaced by a three-year action plan, which will be part of a seven-year strategy paper and a 15-year vision document. (Hence, statement 3 is not correct)

So, none of the statements given above are correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

Subject: Current Affairs | Indian Polity

Level of Difficulty: Easy | Factual

References:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/government-reconstitutes-niti-aayog-no-change-in-the-top-positions/articleshow/111790245.cms?from=mdr