PRELIMS CURRENT AFFAIRS-01/07/24

01.With reference to eSankhyiki portal, Consider the following statements:

1. The objective of this portal is to establish a comprehensive data management and sharing system for ease of dissemination of official statistics in the country.
2. It has two modules namely Data Catalogue Module and Macro Indicators Module
3. The Macro Indicators Module has seven data products, namely National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production,etc

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 3 only
4. 2 and 3 only

Answer:  (a)1 and 2 only

In News:The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Launches eSankhyiki Portal for Enhanced User Experience and Ease of Data Access

Explanation:

• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is the nodal Ministry for integrated development of the national statistical system in the country in tune with the global statistical practices and data dissemination standards.
•  MoSPI is committed to enhancing user experience and data accessibility through use of cutting-edge technologies and the adoption of global best practices. 
• In line with this mandate, the Ministry has developed an eSankhyiki portal (https://esankhyiki.mospi.gov.in) to provide real-time inputs for planners, policy-makers, researchers and the public at large. 
• The objective of this portal is to establish a comprehensive data management and sharing system for ease of dissemination of official statistics in the country.Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The eSankhyiki Portal has two modules namely  Data Catalogue Module and Macro Indicators Module.Hence statement 2 is correct.

Data Catalogue Module: 

• This module catalogues the major data assets of the Ministry at one place for ease of access. This module allows users to search within datasets, including within tables, and download data of interest to increase its value and re-usability. 
• The module has seven data products, namely National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, Annual Survey of Industries, Periodic Labour Force Survey, Household Consumption Expenditure Survey and Multiple Indicator Survey.Hence statement 3 is incorrect.
•  The Data Catalogue section already includes over 2291 datasets along with specific metadata and visualization for each dataset for user convenience.

Macro Indicators Module: 

• This module offers time series data of key macro indicators with features for filtering and visualizing data enabling ease of access for the users. 
• The module also allows users to download custom datasets, visualizations and sharing them through APIs, thereby increasing the re-usability of data.
•  The first phase of the module includes four major products of MoSPI: National Accounts Statistics, Consumer Price Index, Index of Industrial Production, and Annual Survey of Industries, encompassing the data of last ten years. The portal currently hosts more than 1.7 million records.

Source:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2029708

02.With reference to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Consider the following statements:

1. It deals directly with the rural agricultural borrowers, gives those loans and collects repayments of loans given and also undertakes distribution and marketing functions.
2. It has General Body to exercise the control over board as well as management
3. It serves as the final link between the ultimate borrowers on the one hand and the higher financing agencies, namely the Scheduled Commercial Banks, and the NABARD on the other hand.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1,2,3

Answer:  (d)1,2,3

In News:Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah addresses 76th AGM of Kheda District Central Cooperative Bank Limited

Explanation:

• Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah today addressed the 76th Annual General Meeting of Kheda District Central Cooperative (KDCC) Bank Limited, Nadiad, Gujarat through video conferencing and inaugurated the new building of the bank (Sardar Patel Sahkar Bhavan) constructed at a cost of Rs 18 crore 70 lakh.
• Many dignitaries including the Minister of Cooperation of Gujarat and the Chairman of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) were present on this occasion.
• Primary Agricultural Credit Societies are the grass root level arms of the short-term co-operative credit structure. 
• PACS deals directly with the rural (agricultural) borrowers, give those loans and collect repayments of loans given and also undertake distribution and marketing functions.Hence statement 1 is correct.
• They occupy a predominant position in the co-operative credit structure and form its base. 
• It serves as the final link between the ultimate borrowers on the one hand and the higher financing agencies, namely the Scheduled Commercial Banks, and the RBI/NABARD on the other hand.Hence statement 2 is correct.

Organisational Structure of PACS

• General Body of PACS: Exercise the control over board as well as management.Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Management Committee: Elected by the general body to perform the work as prescribed by the society’s rules, acts, and by-laws.
• Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary: Work for the benefit of the members by performing their roles and duties as assigned to them.
• Office Staff: Responsible for performing day to day work.

Source:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2029705

03.National Indicator Framework Progress Report, 2024 released by 

1. NITI aayog 
2. Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation
3. RBI
4. Department of Financial Services

Answer:  (b)Ministry of Statistics and Program implementation

In News:Release of SDG publications on the occasion of 18th Statistics Day celebrated on 29th June 2024

Explanation:

• On the occasion of 18th Statistics Day, on 29th June 2024, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the following publications on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
• Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework Progress Report, 2024
• Data Snapshot on Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework, Progress Report, 2024
• Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework, 2024.Hence option(b) is correct.
• Endorsing India’s commitment to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while responding to national priorities, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has developed the National Indicator Framework (NIF) for SDGs, in consultation with concerned Ministries/ Departments, UN Agencies and other stakeholders, to facilitate monitoring of the SDGs at national level. 
• Based on the updated SDGs-NIF, every year on Statistics Day (i.e., on 29th June) MoSPI releases the Progress Report on SDGs with time series data along with two more SDG publications which are derived from the progress report.
• The SDGs NIF serves as the backbone for monitoring SDGs at the national level, offering valuable guidance to policymakers and the implementing agencies of various schemes and programs. 
• The major data sources for these SDG national indicators are administrative data, surveys and censuses. Primarily secondary data from concerned line Ministries is used for the compilation of the indicators.

Source:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2029710

04. Consider the following:

1. Sido
2. Kanhu Murmu
3. Channd-Bhairav
4. Phulo-Jhano

How many of the above leaders are associated with the Santal Hul rebellion?

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. Only three
4. All four

Answer:  (d)All four

In News:Why the Santal Hul has been ignored in public memory

Explanation:

• On June 30, 1855 brothers Sido and Kanhu Murmu, along with brothers Channd-Bhairav and sisters Phulo-Jhano, led an uprising in the forested hills of Damin-i-koh (present-day eastern Jharkhand).Hence option(d) is correct.
•  The Santal uprising, remembered simply as Hul (‘rebellion’ in Santali), was against exploitative moneylenders (mahajans)and landowners (zamindars), and their colonial masters. Unfortunately, the Hul has been rather ignored in public history, not only compared to uprisings elsewhere in India, but also compared to the Munda rebellion, some 45 years later.
• The legendary surrealist Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory represents the fluidity and the mutability of dreams, where time is a malleable and social construct.
• Dreams provided the underlying inspiration for two rebellions, separated by a period of four decades, in Jharkhand (at the time a part of Bengal) to free its people from the shackles of colonialism in Jharkhand.
• These dreams, both metaphorically and physically, were informed by religiosity, and underpinned the moral legitimacy of the rebels to undo prevailing wrongs — Santal leaders Sido and Kanhu Murmu, and later, another tribal icon, Birsa Munda, received divine command of the Thacoor (God) to fight against injustice, and for independence.
• So powerful were their clarion calls that both the Santal Hul and the Munda Ulgulan (the ‘Great Tumult’) ushered in large-scale changes in the revenue administration and justice system.
• The records of Kanhu’s interrogation establish that it was Thacoor’s call that inspired Sido and Kanhu to take up arms against oppressive zamindars, rapacious mahajans, and negligent administrators, and strive for self-rule or Santal Raj. Being “possessed” by Bonga (Santali deities) was not uncommon among the Santals, and resulted in swift action by the community as per the deity’s wishes.

Source:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-history/expert-explains-santal-hul-ignored-public-memory-9422950/

05.Consider the following statements:

1. The Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act of 1876 enacted by the British, which prohibits the transfer of Adivasi lands to non-Adivasis.
2. The land can only be inherited as per the Act, thus retaining the rights of Santhals to self-govern their land.
3. The Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, enacted by the British in 1908 a result of the Birsa Movement, allows land transfers within the same caste and certain geographical areas with the approval of the District Collector.

How many of the above statements are correct?

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. All three
4. None

Answer:  (c)All three

In News:What is the Santhal Hul and the land tenancy Acts of tribal lands

Explanation:

• Santhal Hul of 1855 was a revolt against imperialism led by four brothers, Sidho, Kanho, Chand, and Bhairav Murmu, along with sisters Phulo and Jhano. 
• June 30 is the 169th anniversary of the beginning of the revolt, one of the first peasant uprisings against British colonial oppression.
• The Santhals also fought against the upper castes, zamindars, darogas, and moneylenders, described by the umbrella term ‘diku’, in an attempt to safeguard the economic, cultural, and religious aspects of their lives.
• In 1832, certain areas were delimited as ‘Santhal Pargana’ or ‘Damin-i-Koh’, which comprises present-day Sahibganj, Godda, Dumka, Deoghar, Pakur, and regions of Jamtara, in present-day Jharkhand. 
• The area was allocated to the Santhals displaced from Birbhum, Murshidabad, Bhagalpur, Barabhum, Manbhum, Palamau, and Chhotanagpur, all areas of the Bengal Presidency.
• While the Santhals were promised settlement and agriculture in Damin-i-Koh, what followed was the repressive practice of land-grabbing and begari (bonded labour) of two types: kamioti and harwahi.
• The Murmu brothers, who saw themselves as acting on the Santhal God Thakur Bonga’s divination, led around 60,000 Santhals against the East India Company and engaged in guerrilla warfare that continued for almost six months before being finally crushed on January 3, 1856. More than 15,000 Santhals were killed, and 10,000 villages were laid to waste.
• The British hanged Sidhu to death on August 9, 1855, followed by Kanhu in February 1856. The insurrection ended, but the impact it left was everlasting.
• The Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act of 1876 (SPT Act) enacted by the British, which prohibits the transfer of Adivasi lands (urban or rural land) to non-Adivasis, was the result of the Hul.Hence statement 1 is correct. 
• The land can only be inherited as per the Act, thus retaining the rights of Santhals to self-govern their land.Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, (CNT Act) enacted by the British in 1908 a result of the Birsa Movement, allows land transfers within the same caste and certain geographical areas with the approval of the District Collector. Hence statement 3 is correct.
• This Act also restricts the sale of Adivasi and Dalit land, while allowing land transfers between Adivasi individuals from the same police station and Dalits in the same district.

Source:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/santhal-hul-land-tenancy-acts-9424054/

06. Consider the following statements:

1. A nova explosion is the dramatic instance of a star exploding as it interacts with another, nearby star.
2. A supernova is the final explosion that utterly destroys stars.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer:  (c)Both 1 and 2

In News:How to see the September 2024 nova explosion without a telescope

Explanation:

• A nova explosion is the dramatic instance of a star exploding as it interacts with another, nearby star. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• It’s a one of many, repeated moments during the long, slow, death of two neighbouring stars in the same system.
• Astronomers are waiting for the fiery explosion of T Coronae Borealis, also dubbed the “Blaze Star” and known to astronomers as “T CrB”.
• The system contains two stars — a white dwarf and a red giant. The white dwarf is an incredibly dense remnant of a once larger star. It’s about the size of planet Earth but with the same mass as our sun.
•  Its neighbor, the red giant, is in its final years of existence and is slowly being stripped of hydrogen by the gravitational pull of the denser white dwarf.
• This star “cannibalism” causes a tremendous buildup of pressure and heat, which eventually triggers a huge thermonuclear explosion. The explosion doesn’t completely destroy the stars, however, and so this event repeats over time. It can carry on for hundreds of thousands of years.
• For T CrB, this nova event happens roughly every 80 years — it’s a like Halley’s Comet event every 76 years — so, astronomers call T CrB a “recurrent” nova. They believe T CrB’s prior eruptions were observed as long ago as December 1787 and even in October 1217 AD.
• A supernova is the final explosion that utterly destroys stars. In a nova event, the dwarf star remains intact, which is why nova events typically repeat themselves.Hence statement 2 is correct.
• Different nova events have different cycles, ranging from a few years to hundreds of thousands of years.

Source:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/september-2024-nova-explosion-9424836/

07. Consider the following statements:

1. Under Article 352 of the Constitution, the President may, on the advice of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, issue a proclamation of emergency if the security of India or any part of the country is threatened by “war or external aggression or armed rebellion
2. Parliament may by law extend the (five-year) term of Lok Sabha one year at a time, make laws on subjects in the State List, and extend the Union’s executive powers to the states.
3. The President can modify, with parliamentary approval, constitutional provisions on the allocation of financial resources between the Union and states.

How many of the above statements are Incorrect?

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. All three
4. None

Answer:  (d)None

In News:The story of the Emergency

Explanation:

• On June 25, India entered the fiftieth year of the imposition of the Emergency, an extraordinary 21-month period from 1975 to 1977, which saw the suspension of civil liberties, curtailment of press freedom, mass arrests, the cancellation of elections, and rule by decree. 
• The Emergency, which was vigorously opposed by The Indian Express, was a dark chapter in modern Indian history that left a wide-ranging and lasting impact on Indian politics.
• The Emergency refers to the period from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977, during which the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used special provisions in the Constitution to impose sweeping executive and legislative consequences on the country.
• Almost all opposition leaders were put in jail. 
• Fundamental rights, including the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a), were curtailed, which led to pre-censorship of the press.
• The declaration of Emergency converts the federal structure into a de facto unitary one, as the Union acquires the right to give any direction to state governments, which, though not suspended, come under the complete control of the Centre.
• Parliament may by law extend the (five-year) term of Lok Sabha one year at a time, make laws on subjects in the State List, and extend the Union’s executive powers to the states.Hence statement 2 is correct. 
• The President can modify, with parliamentary approval, constitutional provisions on the allocation of financial resources between the Union and states.Hence statement 3 is correct.
• Under Article 352 of the Constitution, the President may, on the advice of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister, issue a proclamation of emergency if the security of India or any part of the country is threatened by “war or external aggression or armed rebellion”.Hence statement 1 is correct.
• In 1975, instead of armed rebellion, the ground of “internal disturbance” was available to the government to proclaim an emergency. 
• In its press note, the government said certain persons were inciting the police and armed forces to not discharge their duties — an apparent reference to Jayaprakash Narayan’s call to police not to follow orders that were “immoral”.

Source:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-history/explained-the-story-of-the-emergency-9421688/

08. Consider the following statements:

1. The Government of India Act, 1935 during the British rule created a federal structure for the first time in our polity.
2. 42nd constitutional amendment 1976 shifted ‘education’ from the State list to the concurrent list

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer:  (c) Both 1 and 2

In News:Should education be brought back to the State list? 

Explanation:

• The Government of India Act, 1935 during the British rule created a federal structure for the first time in our polity.Hence statement 1 is correct. 
• The legislative subjects were distributed between the federal legislature (present day Union) and provinces (present day States). Education, which is an important public good, was kept under the provincial list. 
• After independence, this continued and education was part of the ‘State list’ under the distribution of powers.
• However, during the Emergency, the Congress party constituted the Swaran Singh Committee to provide recommendations for amendments to the Constitution. One of the recommendations of this committee was to place ‘education’ in the concurrent list in order to evolve all-India policies on the subject. 
• This was implemented through the 42nd constitutional amendment (1976) by shifting ‘education’ from the State list to the concurrent list.Hence statement 2 is correct.
•  There was no detailed rationale that was provided for this switch and the amendment was ratifed by various States without adequate debate
• The Janata Party government led by Morarji Desai that came to power after Emergency passed the 44th constitutional amendment (1978) to reverse many of the controversial changes made through the 42nd amendment. One of these amendments that was passed in the Lok Sabha but not in the Rajya Sabha was to bring back ‘education’ to the State list.

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/should-education-be-brought-back-to-the-state-list-explained/article68352970.ece

09. Consider the following Countries:

1. Turkmenistan
2. Uzbekistan
3. Tajikistan
4. Iran

How many of the above statements are correct?

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. Only three
4. All four

Answer:  (d)All four

In News:Taliban members meet Afghanistan, UN envoys in Doha

Explanation:

• Representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime began meetings on Sunday with UN officials as they attended talks in Doha with special envoys to the Central Asian country for the first time, a UN spokesperson said. 
• The two-day, UNhosted meeting in Qatar is the third of its kind in the gas-rich emirate in just over a year but the first to include Taliban authorities.
•  UN officials and over 20 envoys, including the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan, were expected to meet with the Taliban government’s delegation led by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
• Afghanistan is a country located in the southern region of Central Asia. The country covers a total area of 252,000 square miles, has a population size of approximately 34.65 million, and a large number of these individuals live in the capital city of Kabul.
•  Afghanistan is covered by several types of terrain, including deserts in the south, plains in the north, and the Hindu Kush mountains extend throughout most of the country.
•  Afghanistan is the ninth largest landlocked country in the world and shares its borders with six countries and one disputed territory. 
• The countries that share borders with Afghanistan: Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, China, and Iran.Hence option(d) is correct.

Source:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/taliban-govt-representatives-meet-un-afghanistan-envoys-in-doha/article68352729.ece

10.Who among the following rulers of medieval Gujarat surrendered Diu to Portuguese?(2020)

1. Ahmad Shah
2.  Mahmud Begarha
3. Bahadur Shah
4. Muhammad Shah

Ans: (c)Bahadur Shah

Explanation:

• Early in the 16th century, the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, came under immense pressure when his kingdom was invaded by the second Mughal Emperor Humayun.
• At that juncture, he decided to remain on conciliatory terms with the Portuguese, who had arrived in India at the end of the 15th century, and were at the time an energetic and ambitious maritime power.
• In 1534, the Shah signed the Treaty of Bassein with the Portuguese, ceding Diu to the latter, as well as other territories of his empire such as Vasai and the islands that today form Mumbai. The Portuguese obtained Daman from th
• e Shah in 1559.Hence, option (c) is correct.