Weekly Current Affairs Quizzes: 18/10/2021 to 23/10/2021

EXPLANATION: 

• Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833. Nobel was also very interested in social and peace-related issues and held views that were considered radical during his time. Alfred Nobel’s interests are reflected in the prize he established. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
• The Nobel Prize is awarded in 6 distinguished fields like in the field of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Economy and in Peace. It is not awarded in the field of Mathematical Science. Hence statement 2 is not correct. 
• In accordance with Alfred Nobel's will, the Peace Nobel Prize is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, instead of the Sweden Nobel committee. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is a five-member committee, formed by the Parliament of Norway. Hence statement 3 is also not correct. 

EXPLANATION: 

• India adopted a 2% DST (digital services tax) also called the Equalization levy in 2020. 
• It applies only to non-resident companies, and covers online sales of goods and services to, or aimed at, persons in India. Thus, option (a) is correct.
• Earlier in 2016, Equalization Levy was introduced to tax payments for digital advertisement services received by non-resident companies without a permanent establishment here, if it exceeded ₹ 1 lakh a year. (This tax rate is 6 %).
• Later in the 2020-21 Budget, it was widened by including e-commerce companies. For this purpose, the tax rate is 2 % (plus a surcharge). 
• The growth of the digital economy has been paired with policy debates about the taxes that digital companies pay and where they pay them. Many digital business models do not require a physical presence in countries where they have sales, reaching customers through remote sales and service platforms. 

EXPLANATION: 

• GST was introduced on July 1, 2017 (by the 101st Constitutional amendment) as the biggest indirect tax reform by subsuming around 17 indirect taxes like excise duty, VAT, service tax, luxury tax, etc. 
• Indirect taxes that were not subsumed include Basic Custom Duty, Anti-Dumping Duty, Central Excise on Petroleum Products, VAT on alcohol for human consumption, etc. Hence none of the above options is subsumed in GST.   
• GST is currently levied on all products (except petroleum products, alcohol, real estate & electricity) in four slabs of 5, 12, 18, and 28%.

EXPLANATION:

• Cooperative banks in India are registered under the Cooperative Society Acts of the State government. Hence option (b) is correct. 
• RBI recently released the cybersecurity vision framework for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) and proposed a five-pillared strategic approach GUARD, viz.

      Oversight:
          G- Governance

          U - Utile Technology Investment

           A - Appropriate Regulation and Supervision

           R - Robust Collaboration

           D - Developing necessary IT, cyber security skills set

• Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020 requires Cooperative banks for prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the issuance of shares and securities to its members or to any other person residing within its area of operation.

EXPLANATION:      

• The provisions of PSL apply to every Commercial Bank and Primary (Urban) Co-operative Bank (UCB), licensed to operate in India by the Reserve Bank of India. All scheduled commercial banks and foreign banks (with a sizable presence in India) are mandated to set aside 40% of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANDC) for lending to these sectors. Regional rural banks, cooperative banks, and small finance banks have to allocate 75% of ANDC to PSL.
• The concept of ‘Priority sector lending’ focuses on the idea of increasing the lending of the banks towards a few specified sectors and activities in the economy and is decided by RBI. These are Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Export Credit, Education, Housing, Social Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, and Others i.e. Certain loans for the upliftment of weaker sections (Weaker Sections – small and marginal farmers, labourers, Artisans, Person with Disabilities, Distressed women etc). Hence option (c) is correct.  

EXPLANATION: 

• • The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is the integrated intelligence master database structure for counter-terrorism purposes connecting databases of various core security agencies under the Government. NATGRID came into existence after the 2008 Mumbai attack. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• It is a master database of 21 databases designed to provide real-time information to fight terror and crime. PM Modi is expected to launch the National Intelligence Grid in September 2021. Hence, statement 2 is correct. 
• These data sources include records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and financial transactions, and telecommunications. In the following years, more than 1,000 organizations will be further integrated into the NATGRID. It will now be getting access to the Income Tax Department's PAN records and individual taxpayers' data. Hence, statement 3 is not correct. 

EXPLANATION: 

• Commercial Papers are short-term debt securities issued by Corporate, Primary Dealers, and All India Financial Institutions. They are issued either in the form of a promissory note or in a dematerialized form through any of the depositories approved by and registered with SEBI. They cannot be issued by Banks. The same nature of debt security, when issued by banks, is known as certificates of Deposit. Hence statement 1 is incorrect. 
• Commercial papers are a form of unsecured, short-term debts commonly issued by companies to finance their payrolls, payables, inventories, and other short-term liabilities. They are unsecured money market instruments issued in the form of promissory notes and were introduced in India for the first time in 1990. Thus statement 2 is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

• A Green Bond is a type of fixed-income instrument that is specifically earmarked to raise money for climate and environmental projects. These bonds are typically asset-linked and backed by the issuing entity’s balance sheet, so they usually carry the same credit rating as their issuers’ other debt obligations.​ Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It was in 2015 that India stepped into the Green Bond market with YES Bank issuing the first Green Bond for financing renewable and clean energy projects. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• India has the second-largest emerging Green Bond market after China. Hence, statement 3 is correct. 

EXPLANATION: 

• National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) is intended to resolve stressed loan assets above Rs 500 crore each, amounting to about Rs 2 lakh crore. As per industry practice, it will pay up to 15% of the agreed value for the loans in cash and the remaining 85% would be securities receipts. The NARCL will acquire assets by making an offer to the lead bank. Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.

• A bank that buys the bad loans of other lenders and financial institutions to help clear their balance sheets. The bad bank then resolves these bad assets over a period of time. When the banks are freed of the NPA burden, they can take a more positive look at the new loans. GoI Guarantee of up to Rs 30,600 crore will back Security Receipts (SRs) issued by NARCL. The guarantee will be valid for 5 years. The condition precedent for invocation of guarantee would be resolution or liquidation. Hence statement 3 is correct. 

EXPLANATION:

• Manipur Tamenglong orange along with Hathei, a special chilli variety have acquired the GI Tag. This orange variant belongs to the Tamenglong district of Manipur, which is also known as ‘The Orange Bowl of Manipur’. The orange has a bright orange colour and weighs about 232.76 grams on average. Tamenglong orange is quite juicy with 45 percent juice content.
• Hathei chilly, commonly known as the Sirarakhong chilly, is almost 9-inches in size and bright red in colour. The village also has a folk song dedicated to the chilli, in which they compare the worth of the chilli to a prized shawl of the Tangkhul Naga tribe known as ‘Khuilang’. 
• Thus, option (c) is correct.

EXPLANATION: 

• 5G has been deployed in 35+ countries and continuing. Hence statement 1 is incorrect.
• 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connect new industries. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.
• 5G networks are cellular networks, in which the service area is divided into small geographical areas called cells. All 5G wireless devices in a cell are connected to the Internet and telephone network by radio waves through a local antenna in the cell. Hence statement 3 is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Land ports are also called borders stations for import and export and they house the customs and border protection, and other inspection agencies responsible for the enforcement of the country's law pertaining to such activities. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Land ports authority of India is a statutory body created through the land ports authority of India act, 2010 and works under the ministry of home affairs.
• ICP Petrapole, the largest land port in South-Asia, is the most important for passengers coming from Bangladesh. It is also the 9th largest international immigration port of India, handling about 23 lakh passengers annually. Hence, statement 2 is correct.