Weekly Current Affairs: Quizzes, 01 to 06 January, 2024

EXPLANATION: 

• The Supreme court has recently directed the Centre to probe and take suitable action if the losses suffered by Indian investors due to the “short selling” done by US based firm “Hindenburg” in the Adani group stocks through U.S.traded bonds and Non-Indian traded derivative instruments involved any infraction of law.
• The Centre has appointed “AM Sapre committee” which has found out that the trend observed in volatility in the Indian market in comparison with the global volatility index has  been consistent since the COVID-19 pandemic and was maintained even during the period when volatility was observed in the Adani stocks. 
• Short selling is a sale of securities which the seller does not own but borrows from another entity, with the hope of repurchasing them at a later date with a lower price, thus attempting to profit from an anticipated decline in the price of the securities.
• Thus, option D is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

National Import Export Record for the Yearly Analysis of Trade (NIRYAT) 2023: 

• India’s highest exports is to the region of Europe - $63 billion followed by North American Free Trade Agreement regions (NAFTA) (56 billion), West Asia North Africa regions (46 billion), ASEAN (25 billion), Africa, North East Asia. 
• Highest export in goods is Engineering Goods followed by Petroleum Products, Gems And Jewellery, Drugs And Pharmaceuticals, Electronic Goods, Organic and Inorganic Chemicals, Ready-made garments of all textiles, Cotton yarn & Handloom Products, Rice and marine products. 
• Thus, option D is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

• As per Indian Cyber crime prevention center (ICCPC), the official website of G20 summit saw 16 lakh cyberattacks per minute. 
• This is called as Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack where website is crashed  by sending multiple requests to the infrastructure thus overwhelming its infrastructure 
• Cryptojacking: Hacking of device and illicitly using it for mining cryptocurrency
• Pegasus attack: It is a “Zero day” attack where the victim has no knowledge of services being used by the hacker.
• CERT-In under IT Act 2008:
  • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MoEIT)
  • Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
  • Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents.

Thus, option A is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

• The Prime Minister recently inaugurated the Kochi–Lakshadweep submarine optical fiber cable project.
• It will connect the islands to high speed internet for the first time, after years of relying on limited satellite bandwidth. 
• It will connect Kavaratti, the capital of Lakshadweep with other islands such as Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Chetlet, Kalpeni, Minicoy, Androth, Kiltan, Bangaram and Bitra. 
• Thus, option C is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

• WHO’s has set goal of reducing cancer mortality by 25% by 2025.
• Recently, new research has found that the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (Cervarix) reduces the risk of Cervical Cancer significantly in women.
• Cervical cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in the cells of the cervix i.e; the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
• Various strains of the Human papillomavirus (HPV) play a role in causing most cervical cancer.
• Marsupials are a group of mammals that possess a duplexuterus.
• It is during the period of Ovulation in the menstrual cycle when the cervix moves higher. 
• Thus, option B is correct.

EXPLANATION:

Various agencies has been exempted from providing information to ensure National security & maintain cordial foreign relations by listing it under 2nd schedule of the Right to Information Act 2005:

• Intelligence Bureau
• Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) including its technical wing
• Aviation Research Centre
• Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
• Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
• Directorate of Enforcement (ED)
• Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
• Special Frontier Force
• Border Security Force (BSF)
• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
• Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
• Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
• National Security Guard (NSG)
• Assam Rifles
• Thus, option D is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

EUROPA CLIPPER MISSION: 

• It is a mission by the US Space agency NASA which aims to explore the Europa i.e; one of the largest moons of the planet Jupiter.
• Europa is slightly smaller than the earth’s moon, with a surface that is made of ice.
• The interest of scientific community lies in the prospect of Europa harbouring a saltwater ocean which may contains more than twice the volume of water contained in the oceans of the Earth
• Thus Europa can act as a suitable habitat for extra-terrestrial life.
• The mission will be launched on the private space agency SpaceX’s Falcon heavy rocket.
• Thus, option B is correct.

EXPLANATION:

Recently, the Supreme Court of India has emphasized the crucial role of the district judiciary in upholding justice and declared its independence as an integral part of the Constitution's basic structure.

DISTRICT JUDGE: 

1. The district judiciary refers to the judicial system at the district level in India which is the first level of the judiciary and is responsible for hearing and deciding on cases at the local level.
2. The district judiciary is composed of district courts and other lower courts, which are presided over by district judges and other judicial officers.
3. Articles 233-237 of the Indian Constitution deal with the provisions related to subordinate courts.
4. The district judge is the highest judicial authority in the district. He possesses original and appellate jurisdiction in both civil as well as criminal matters. 
5. When he deals with civil cases, he is known as the district judge and when he hears the criminal cases, he is called as the sessions judge.
6. The session’s judge could impose life imprisonment as well as capital punishment on a convicted felon. However, such a sentence should be confirmed by the High Court
7. District Judge is appointed, posted & promoted by the Governor of the State 
8. District Judge has both Judicial as well as administrative power
9. A District Judge has supervisory power over Subordinate courts 
10.  As per the Qualifications required:
    1. He should have been an advocate or pleader for 7 years. Thus statement (D) is incorrect.
    2. He should be recommended by the High court.
    3. He shouldn’t already be in service of Centre or state.

EXPLANATION:

With the recent suspension of Members of Parliament (MPs), the Role of Speaker of Lok Sabha has become important from perspective of the examination. 

OFFICE OF SPEAKER OF LOK SABHA: 

1. Since the Indian System of Government follows the Westminster Model of Britain, the Parliamentary proceedings of the country are headed by a presiding officer, who is called the Speaker.
2. India’s first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru had said that in a parliamentary democracy, the Speaker represents the dignity and the freedom of the House.
3. The House elects its presiding officer by a simple majority of members present, who vote in the House.
   1. As Ruling party holds majority in the house (273 seats and plus), usually Speaker is elected from the member of Ruling party. 
4. POWERS OF SPEAKER: 
   1. The Speaker conducts business in Lok Sabha by ensuring discipline and decorum among members.
   2. S/he guards the rights and privileges of the members of Lok Sabha, deciding who should speak at what time, the questions to be asked, the order of proceedings to be followed, among others.
   3. A Speaker uses his/her power to vote, in order to resolve a deadlock:
      1.  That is, when the House initiates a voting procedure, the speaker does not cast a vote in the first instance.
      2.  It is only when the two sides receive equal number of votes that the Speaker's vote breaks the deadlock, making his/her position impartial.
   4. In the absence of a quorum (1/10th of total members of the house) in the House, it is the duty of the Speaker to adjourn the House or to suspend any meeting, until a quorum is met.
   5. The Speaker decides the agenda that must be discussed in a meeting of the Members of the Parliament.
   6. A Speaker can also disqualify a Member of Parliament from the House on grounds of defection (under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution).
   7. The Speaker presides over the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
   8. Once a Money Bill is transmitted from the Lower House to the Upper House, the Speaker is solely responsible for endorsing his or her certificate on the Bill. His/her decision is considered final.
   9. Except for the no-confidence motion, all other motions which come before the House come only after the Speaker permits them.
   10. The Speaker also decides on granting recognition to the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
5. COMMITTEES NOT HEADED BY SPEAKER: 
   1. Committee on Private Member Bill 
   2. Committee on absence of Member & Public undertaking - The Chairman of these committees are appointed by the Speaker among member.

Thus 2 and 4 statements are correct options.

EXPLANATION: 

As per Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023 published by Concern Worldwide of Ireland and Welthungerhilfe (a German non-profit organization): 

• India ranks 111th out of 125 countries (further slipped below 4 positions since 2022) below Sri Lanka (60), Nepal (69), Bangladesh (81) & Pakistan (102). Hence, statement (1) & (4) are incorrect. 
• As per the Index, India has the highest Child wasting rate (18%) in the world. Hence, statement (2) is correct. 
• The Hunger Index measures countries’ performance on 4 component indicators – 
  • CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of 5 who have low height for their age: 35.5 % 
  • CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of 5 who have low weight for their height: 18.7 %.  Hence, statement (3) is correct. 
  • CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of 5: 4%
  • UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient.