Daily Current Quiz for UPSC: 16th July 2024

Ans: B

Exp:

The Supreme Court last week declared Assam resident Md Rahim Ali a citizen of India, throwing out the decision of a Foreigners’ Tribunal in the state.

About Foreigners’ Tribunal:

• • FTs established through the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 under the Foreigners Act, 1946.
  • Statement 1 is incorrect: They were established in 1964 by an executive order of the Home Ministry, even though under Article 323B of the Constitution, tribunals may be established by “the appropriate legislature” by “law”.
  • Statement 2 is correct: Originally enacted by the Central government, but amended in 2019 to grant states the power to establish FTs.

• Purpose and Need for FT:

• • FTs enable state administration to refer suspected foreigners for adjudication.
  • Superintendents of police and district commissioners empowered to detect suspected foreigners.
  • Election Commission of India can refer cases of Doubtful voters to FTs.
  • Persons excluded from the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) can appeal to FTs to prove citizenship.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Currently, FTs exist only in Assam, while in other states, illegal immigrants are dealt with by local courts under the Foreigners Act, 1946

Ans: A

Exp: 

100 years ago the first human EEG was produced as a marvel of physics and neurobiology that opens a simple window into the human brain.

About Electroencephalography (EEG)

• Invention and History:

• • • Statement 1 is correct: The first human EEG was produced by German physiologist Hans Berger in 1924, marking its centenary this year.
    • Prior to Berger’s breakthrough, incremental advances occurred across Europe. British physician Richard Caton detected electrical activity in monkey and rabbit brains in 1875, and Polish peer Adolf Beck observed fluctuating brain activity in dogs and rabbits.
    • Vladimir Pravdich-Neminsky produced the first mammalian EEG (of a dog’s brain) in 1912.

• About: 

• • • Statement 2 is incorrect: Electroencephalography (EEG) records brain activity by placing small sensors (electrodes) on the scalp. These electrodes pick up electrical signals generated by neurons.
    • Researchers correlate EEG data with different brain activity levels and modes, distinguishing between normal and abnormal states.
    • Common clinical applications include diagnosing epilepsy, assessing anesthesia effects, monitoring sleep patterns, and confirming brain death.

• How Does an EEG Work?:

• • Brain cells (neurons) exchange ions, molecules, and proteins with their surroundings. When many neurons simultaneously generate electrical activity, it creates a wave.
  • Metal electrodes on the scalp track voltage changes as these waves pass, creating an electroencephalogram.

Ans: B

Exp:

According to IUCN, Indian leopard suspected to have decreased by 24.5% over last 3 generations.

About Indian leopard:

• Range: Widespread up in Asia. Most of India west into Pakistan, Afghanistan, through Himalayan foothill – across China, Russia.
• Habitat and Ecology: Upto 3000m, extent into river valley – Tropical to temperate broad leaf, coniferous, grassland, cold steppe to desert.
• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has published the “Status of Leopards in India 2022″ report.
  • This survey encompassed 20 states across India, concentrating on approximately 70% of the anticipated leopard habitats.

• Statement 2 is correct: According to the Status of Leopards in India 2022 report, Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of leopards, followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Ans: D

Exp:

In March, NaBFID outbid State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender by assets, for a ₹9,000-crore loan to National Highways Authority of India’s infrastructure investment trust, making public sector banks (PSBs) that typically dominate such projects take notice.

About National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development:

• Establishment: Founded by the Government of India in April 2021.

• • • Recognized as the nation’s 5th All India Financial Institution (AIFI).

• Objectives:
  • Developmental and Financial Goals: Aims to foster long-term non-recourse infrastructure financing.
  • Facilitates credit flow and enhances accessibility to infrastructure finance.
  • Role in Infrastructure: Addresses financing gaps in India’s infrastructure sector.
• Other AIFIs in India:
  • National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
  • National Housing Bank (NHB).
  • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI).
  • Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank). Hence, option (d) is correct.

Ans: B

Exp:

Supreme Court directed states/UTs and their High Courts to file fresh affidavits on the establishment and functioning of Gram Nyayalayas.

About Gram Nyayalayas:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 has been enacted to provide for the establishment of the Gram Nyayalayas at the grass roots level.
  • Purpose: Providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps, ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen due to social, economic or other disabilities.

• Statement 2 is correct:  In our country, Article 39A of the Constitution directs the State to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and shall provide free legal aid to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. Thus, Article 39-A provides constitutional scope for Gram Nyayalaya.

• Statement 3 is correct: The salient feature of the Gram Nyayalayas Act includes:
  • The Gram Nyayalaya shall be a mobile court and shall exercise the powers of both Criminal and Civil Courts.