Daily Current Affairs Quiz: October 28,2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• Goa has achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Electricity for every household. The original ODF protocol was issued in the year 2016. According to it, a city or ward is notified as ODF city or ward if not a single person is found defecating in the open, at any point of the day.
• Goa has also become the first state to provide tap water to every household under the “Har Ghar Jal Mission”. Apart from that, Goa achieved a 100 per cent target to provide free ration to the poor and needy. It has also completed 100 per cent first dose of covid-19 vaccination.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2021 has been awarded to the Zimbabwean author and a filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga for a “new Enlightenment”, a work on violence in her country and all over the world by Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, an association of German book publishers and booksellers.
• Dangarembga is the first black woman to win the German Peace Prize. She has won the PEN Pinter prize 2021. Her debut novel, Nervous conditions were the first to be published in English by black women from Zimbabwe.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Vigilance Awareness Week 2021 has been organised by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) from 26 October to 01 November 2021.
• The annual event is celebrated during the week in which the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel falls, which is held on October 31. The theme of Vigilance Awareness Week 2021: ‘Independent India @75: Self Reliance with Integrity‘.
• The week-long celebration aims to promote integrity, transparency and accountability amongst public servants and create awareness about the existence, causes and gravity of corruption and the threat posed by it to society as a whole.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SPM) in Kolkata has become the first Major Indian Port to get a Radio over Internet Protocol (ROIP) System. The ROIP was inaugurated by Vinit Kumar, Chairman of SPM, on October 25, 2021.
• SMP, Kolkata has been constantly maintaining its pivotal position in Indian Major Ports for the past 152 years. ROIP system is a long-range marine communication solution, to aid especially during storms and inclement weather.
• Using the ROIP mode of communication, the vessels at Sandheads can be directly communicated via Radio, from Kolkata. The solution shall cover the entire Hugli River Estuary from Kolkata to Sandheads, and will have base stations at 4 Locations: Kolkata, Hugli point, Haldia and Sagar Pilot Station.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation has released Krishi Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) 2.0 to facilitate movement of agricultural produce by air.

• It lays out the vision of improving value realization through better integration and optimization of agri-harvesting and air transportation and contributing to agri-value chain sustainability and resilience under different and dynamic conditions.
• Earlier, ahead of UDAN Day (21^stOctober), the Ministry of Civil Aviation flagged off 6 routes, expanding the aerial connectivity of North-East India, under the UDAN Scheme.

About:

• Krishi UDAN was launched in August 2020, on international and national routes to assist farmers in transporting agricultural products so that it improves their value realisation.
• Krishi UDAN 2.0 will focus on transporting perishable food products from the hilly areas, northeastern states and tribal areas.
• It will be implemented at 53 airports across the country mainly focusing on northeast and tribal regions and is likely to benefit farmers, freight forwarders and airlines.
  • Opted airports not only provide access to regional domestic markets but also connect them to international gateways of the country.

Main Features:

Waiver:

• Facilitate and incentivize movement of agri-produce by air transportation by giving a full waiver of landing, parking, Terminal Navigation and Landing Charges and Route Navigation Facilities Charges for domestic airlines.

Hub and Spoke Model:

• Strengthen Cargo related infrastructure at airports and off airports by facilitating the development of a hub and spoke model and a freight grid.
  • The hub and spoke model refers to a distribution method in which a centralized “hub” exists.

Resource Pooling:

• Resources-Pooling through establishing a convergence mechanism i.e. collaboration with other government departments and regulatory bodies.
  • It will provide freight forwarders, airlines and other stakeholders with Incentives and concessions to enhance air transportation of Agri-produce.

E-KUSHAL:

• An online platform named E-KUSHAL (Krishi Udaan for Sustainable Holistic Agri-Logistics) would also be developed to facilitate information dissemination to all stakeholders regarding the transportation of agricultural produce.
• The ministry has also proposed convergence of E-KUSHAL with the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

Expected Benefits:

New Avenues of Growth for Agriculture:

• This scheme will open up new avenues of growth for the agriculture sector and help attain the goal of doubling farmers’ income by removing barriers in supply chain, logistics and transportation of farm produce.

Decrease Food Wastes:

• It will help solve the problem of wastage of agricultural food wastes in the country.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has appointed an expert committee [to be overseen by a retired apex court judge (Justice Raveendran Committee)] in the Pegasus case.

• Under the case, the Union Government is alleged to have used spyware for surveillance on private citizens.

Supreme Court Judgment:

Judicial Principle Against Bias:

• The court rejected the government’s plea to set up its own probe.
• The court asserted that the government appointment of probe would violate the settled judicial principle against bias, i.e., that ‘justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done’,”

Formation of Expert Committee:

• On account of the government’s inaction to file a detailed response to the allegations made by the petitioners, the Court has constituted a panel of experts under former SC judge Justice R V Raveendran.

Terms of Recommendation:

• The court has also asked the Raveendran committee to make recommendations on a legal and policy framework to protect citizens against surveillance and enhance cyber security of the country.
• The court has set seven terms of reference for the committee, which are essentially facts that need to be ascertained to decide the issue.

Issues Addressed by the SC:

Right to Privacy:

• The court reiterated that right to privacy is as sacrosanct as human existence and is inalienable to human dignity and autonomy.
  • The Right to Privacy was held as a part of fundamental rights by the Supreme Court in K S Puttaswamy case, 2017.
• Any surveillance or snooping done on an individual by the state or any outside agency is an infringement of that person’s right to privacy.

Surveillance on Free Speech:

• The Court has drawn a link between surveillance and self-censorship.
  • The knowledge that one is under the threat of being spied on leads to self-censorship and potential chilling effect.
• The chilling effect surveillance can produce is an assault on the vital public-watchdog role of the press, which may undermine the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information (Free Speech).
• It further held that, an important and necessary corollary of such a right is to ensure the protection of sources of information.

National Security as a Ground to Block Citizen’s Rights:

• The Court has ruled that the state does not get a “free pass every time the spectre of ‘national security’ is raised”.
• This also means “no omnibus prohibition can be called for against judicial review” if the matter impinges on national security.
• Hence, any violation of that right by the state, even in national interest, has to follow procedures established by the law.
• Further, the order is a strong rebuttal of the government’s specious and self-serving use of national security as a ground to criminalise the forms of dissent.