Daily Current Affairs for UPSC

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC 2023

Q) ‘Pota Cabins’ is an innovative educational initiative that provides residential schooling for children in which of the following states affected with Left-wing extremism in India?

Andhra Pradesh
West Bengal
Jharkhand
Chhattisgarh

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC – 5 August April 2023

Explanation:

Option (4) is correct: Pota Cabins is an innovative educational initiative that provides residential schooling for children in LWE-affected areas of Chhattisgarh.
The cabins are made of impermanent materials, such as bamboo and mud, and can be easily transported to new locations. This makes them ideal for areas where the security situation is volatile.
Pota Cabins have had a significant impact on the lives of children in LWE-affected areas. The cabins have provided a safe and secure environment for learning, and have helped to reduce the dropout rate among children.
Pota Cabins have also helped to improve the literacy rate in these areas. One of the challenges facing Pota Cabins is the lack of funding.
The cabins are relatively inexpensive to build, but the cost of transporting them to new locations can be high.
Another challenge is the need for trained teachers. Pota Cabins relies on volunteers to teach the children, but there is a shortage of qualified volunteers in these areas.

Q) Consider the following statements about Clouded Leopard:

They are endemic to the Western Ghats in India.
They are categorized as Vulnerable in IUCN red list.
The mainland clouded leopard is often likened to the Ice Age sabretooth.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
1 and 3 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Explanation:

Recently, two scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have found that the clouded leopard in western Assam’s Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve seemed to play a mysterious game in the tropical canopy forests.

Statement 1 is incorrect but Statements 2 and 3 are correct: Clouded Leopard is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. They are categorized as Vulnerable in IUCN red list. The clouded leopard is categorised into two species:
Mainland clouded leopard distributed from central Nepal to peninsular Malaysia: The mainland clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is often likened to the Ice Age sabretooth because it has the largest canines in proportion to its skull size among all cat species.
Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) native to Borneo and Sumatra

In India, it is found in Sikkim, northern West Bengal, Meghalaya subtropical forests, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. It is the State animal of Meghalaya.

Q) Consider the following statements about Financial Action Task Force (FATF):

It is an inter-governmental body.
It was established in 1989 in Paris.
India was the founding member of FATF.
It is the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Only one
Only two
Only three
All four

Explanation:

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is trying to prevent overuse of counter-terror financing rules in non-profit sector.

Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct but Statement 3 is incorrect: Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body that has developed standards to prevent and combat money laundering and terror financing. It was established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris to develop policies against money laundering. The objective of FATF is to establish international standards, and to develop and promote policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. FATF members include 37 countries, including the United States, India, China, Saudi Arabia, UK, Germany, France. India became a member of FATF in 2010. The FATF is looking to revise its current recommendations aimed at safeguarding non-profit organisations (NPO) from being abused for terrorist financing. The draft amendments seek to address the problem of over-application of preventive measures to the NPO sector in some countries, recognizing the negative impact this can have on legitimate NPO activities.

Q) Starlink Project, a broadband network to provide space internet to the remotest corner of world, is launched by which of the following?

China National Space Administration
Space Exploration Technologies Corp.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Explanation:

Option (2) is correct: Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launch service provider and satellite communications. SpaceX’s (the company owned by Elon Musk) Starlink is helping Ukraine in the fight against Russia by providing thousands of Starlink satellite internet devices to Ukraine without any charge. It also emerged as a crucial communication tool for Ukraine’s armed forces because their own mediums of communication were compromised by Russian hackers. The “Starlink” is a SpaceX project to build a broadband network to provide space internet (i.e satellite based) to the remotest corner of world. It is done by a constellation of low earth orbit satellites. The Starlink satellites are deployed in the altitude band of 350 km to 1,200 km in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The LEO extends up to 2,000 km above the Earth’s surface.

Q) Consider the following statements:

As per the Constitution of India, Hindi in Devanagari script is the official language of Union Government in India.
The State Government can determine what shall be the language of each Court within the State other than the High Court.
The Governor, with the prior consent of the Chief Justice of India, can authorise the use of Hindi, in addition to English, for judgements made by the High Court for that State.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

1 and 2 only
1 and 3 only
2 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Explanation:

Statement 1 is correct: Article 343 (1) of the Indian Constitution states that the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script and the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals.
Statement 2 is correct: The Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 states that the State Government may determine what shall be the language of each Court within the State other than the High Court. Moreover, according to the Code of Civil Procedure (1908), every court that is subordinate to an HC must use the language that was in use at the time the Code was adopted until the State Government directs otherwise.
Statement 3 is incorrect: The Official Languages Act 1963: It dealt with optional use of Hindi or other official language in judgements, etc., of High Courts. The Governor of a state can, with the President’s consent, authorise the use of Hindi or the official language of the State, in addition to the English, for the purposes of any judgement, decree or order made by the HC for that State. However, it shall be accompanied by an English translation issued under the HC’s authority.