UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 22nd November 2021

Solution (a)

India is among countries with the lowest quit rates for smoking. The quit rates for men are less than 20%, states a report released by ‘The International Commission to Reignite the Fight Against Smoking’, which makes specific recommendations to achieve the goal of ending smoking worldwide.

China and India are home to more than 500 million tobacco users between the ages of 16 and 64. India ranks second with 250,002,133 smokers between the age of 16 and 64. Tobacco prevalence in India is three times higher among men than women. India also accounts for some of the highest rates of smokeless tobacco use and oral cancer in the world.

The commission, which has members from the U.S., the U.K., South Africa, Indonesia and India, examines several important issues, including the trends in tobacco use, challenges to cessation efforts, the emergence of technological innovations, the role of physicians, the function of industry, economic and regulatory policy, smoking and youth, and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mission: The commission was established to recommend a set of actions to accelerate an end to adult smoking and other toxic tobacco use.

The Commission was established with the belief that efforts to prevent premature death and disease from tobacco use require much greater imagination and ambition. 

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/india-among-countries-with-lowest-quit-rates-for-smoking-report/article37566741.ece

Solution (c)

Russia test-fires new hypersonic missile Zircon from submarine

Zircon is intended to arm Russian cruisers, frigates and submarines. It is one of several hypersonic missiles under development in Russia.

Hypersonic weapons such as Russia’s 3M22 Zircon fly so fast and low — at speeds of up to 6 times the speed of sound and at a low atmospheric-ballistic trajectory — that they can penetrate traditional anti-missile defense systems.

The missile flies with an advanced fuel that the Russians say gives it a range of up to 1,000 kilometers. And it’s so fast that the air pressure in front of the weapon forms a plasma cloud as it moves, absorbing radio waves and making it practically invisible to active radar systems. 

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/russia-test-fires-new-hypersonic-missile-from-submarine/article36820524.ece

Solution (a)

With National Education Policy mandate, Odisha bats for mother tongue of tribals

The new National Education Policy lays emphasis on imparting teaching in mother tongue in primary classes

The ‘Samhati’ project aims to alleviate the linguistic barriers that tribal pupils confront in early grades or elementary school.

The ST and SC Development Department of the Odisha State government has already started working on project called ‘Samhati’ to address the language issues faced by tribal students in early grades or elementary classes. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) along with the Academy of Tribal Language and Culture (ATLC), Bhubaneswar are implementing the project.

Now, under Samhati, it has been decided that all teachers of primary level would be provided functional knowledge of tribal languages and way of communicating with tribal students. In the first phase, 1,000 teachers would be asked to obtain these language skills.

Of the 21 languages in Odisha, Santhali — the only language which has been included in eighth schedule of Constitution — is taught in its own ol chiki script while rest of tribal languages have Odia scripts.

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/with-national-education-policy-mandate-odisha-bats-for-mother-tongue-of-tribals/article37588923.ece

Solution (a)

Smartphones with the latest Qualcomm chipsets can now latch on to NavIC. 

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is the regional geo-positioning system designed in the country by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to provide accurate positioning in India and 1,500 km around the Indian mainland.

NavIC is India’s own navigation system, similar to the U.S.’ GPS. It works based on the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). 

There are currently eight IRNSS satellites in geosynchronous and geostationary orbits. The IRNSS-1A launched in 2013 was India’s first navigation satellite.

NavIC is designed for position accuracy better than 20 meters in India, its primary coverage area. An area of 1,500 km from the Indian boundary will also be covered by this system.

NavIC will provide drivers and other users in India with visual and voice navigation. Its primary beneficiaries will be Indian mariners and fishermen, who are being provided with NavIC handsets.

Article Link:

https://www.isro.gov.in/irnss-programme

Solution (b)

The Supreme Court quashed a Bombay High Court decision to acquit a man charged with assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) solely on the grounds that he groped the child over her clothes without ‘skin-to-skin’ contact.

Section 7 mandates that “whoever with sexual intent touches the vagina, penis, anus or breast of the child or makes the child touch the vagina, penis, anus or breast of such person or any other person, or does any other act with sexual intent which involves physical contact without penetration is said to commit sexual assault”.

The Bench said the most important ingredient in Section 7 was the sexual intent of the offender and not skin-to-skin contact.

Salient features of the Act

The Act is gender neutral and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage so as to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child.

The Act defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age.

It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as sexual harassment and pornography

People who traffic children for sexual purposes are also punishable under the provisions relating to abetment in the Act. 

The Act prescribes stringent punishment graded as per the gravity of the offence, with a maximum term of rigorous imprisonment for life, and fine.

It defines “child pornography” as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a child which include photograph, video, digital or computer generated image indistinguishable from an actual child, and image created, adapted, or modified, but appear to depict a child;’

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/skin-to-skin-touch-with-sexual-intent-amounts-to-assault-under-pocso-holds-supreme-court/article37555081.ece