UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 18th December 2021

Solution (d)

Children in conflict with the law are entitled to prompt legal proceedings under the Juvenile Justice Act. Despite that, hundreds of cases remained pending before the six JJBs in the city, forcing the High Court to step in and ensure speedy justice

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, was brought in with the purpose of conducting criminal trials of minors or children in conflict with law (CCLs) who are accused of petty or serious offences before the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs).

Child in Conflict with Law” has been defined under Section 2 (l3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as a child who is alleged or found to have committed an offence and has not completed eighteen years of age on the date of commission of such offence.

However, according to data recently provided by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) before the High Court, as many as 1,903 cases of petty offences — those between six months and one year and more than a year old — were pending before six JJBs 

The Juvenile Justice Act states that inquiry pertaining to minors involved in petty offences, for which imprisonment is a maximum of three years, shall stand terminated if it remains inconclusive till six months. 

 The JJB is supposed to verify the child’s age within a period of 30 days from the first production.

Petty offences can be classified as anything from chain snatching and vehicle theft to burglaries and drug trafficking or distribution

After being presented before the board, the juveniles, especially those involved in petty offences, are generally granted bail and handed over to their parents. They are sent to an observation home only when the family is untraceable or on the court’s discretion.

According to the Act, the JJB can also ascertain the child’s age from physical appearance

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/minor-cases-major-delays/article37947995.ece

Solution (a)

The Finn’s weaver bird, numbering less than 500 in India is primarily found in Terai grasslands, in Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh, apart from a few pockets in Assam.

The Finn’s weaver (Ploceus megarhynchus) which until now was listed as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List has been uplisted to “endangered” category.

Endemic to the Indian subcontinent 

Finn’s Weaver or Finn’s Baya (Ploceus megarhynchus) builds nests on tops of trees or in reeds. According to ornithologists, they breed from May to September and line the inside of their nests, unlike other weaver birds.

Article Link:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/a-pleasant-surprise-claim-experts-on-rare-sighting-of-finn-s-weaver-birds-in-uttarakhand/story-oJwCRLFewMEH57bQvhXmZI.html

Solution (c)

The ZBNF method is meant to reduce input costs by eliminating the need for expensive fertilizers and pesticides, and also protect soil health and conserve water resources.

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) is a set of farming methods, and also a grassroots peasant movement, which has spread to various states in India. It has attained wide success in southern India, especially the southern Indian state of Karnataka where it first evolved.  The movement in Karnataka state was born out of collaboration between Mr Subhash Palekar, who put together the ZBNF practices, and the state farmers association Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), a member of La Via Campesina (LVC).

‘Zero budget’ farming promises to end a reliance on loans and drastically cut production costs, ending the debt cycle for desperate farmers. The word ‘budget’ refers to credit and expenses, thus the phrase ‘Zero Budget’ means without using any credit, and without spending any money on purchased inputs. ‘Natural farming’ means farming with Nature and without chemicals. 

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/zero-budget-natural-farming-back-on-top-of-government-agenda/article37948720.ece

Solution (a)

Government is implementing Bhartiya Prakritik Krishi Padhati (BPKP) as a sub scheme of Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) since 2020-21 for the promotion of traditional indigenous practices. 

The scheme mainly emphasizes on exclusion of all synthetic chemical inputs and promotes on-farm biomass recycling with major stress on biomass mulching; use of cow dung-urine formulations; plant-based preparations and time to time working of soil for aeration. 

Under BPKP, financial assistance of Rs 12200/ha for 3 years is provided for cluster formation, capacity building and continuous handholding by trained personnel, certification and residue analysis.

As of now, an area of 4.9 lakh ha is covered in 8 states and Rs. 4980.99 lakh has been released. Telangana has not taken up natural farming so far under BPKP programme. 

It is considered as a cost- effective farming practices with scope for raising employment and rural development.

Article Link:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1737751

Solution (c)

The U.S. Navy tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in West Asia, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

The test saw the USS Portland test-fire its Laser Weapon System Demonstrator at the target in the Gulf of Aden, the body of water separating East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.

Previously, the Portland used the laser to bring down a flying drone in May 2020.

The Gulf of Aden sits along the southern coast of war-torn Yemen, which has been at war since Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized its capital, Sanaa, in 2014. 

The war also has bled into the surrounding waterways, like the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb, which connects the sea to the Gulf of Aden. These waterways lead to the Suez Canal and onto the Mediterranean Sea, making them crucial for international shipping and global energy supplies.

The Bab-el-Mandeb is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-tests-laser-weapon-in-west-asia/article37963913.ece