UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 8th December 2021

Solution (b)

Telangana State develops smartphone based e-voting solution

It followed the Commission mooting e-voting facility for certain sections of voters. The list comprised persons with disabilities (PWD), senior citizens, those employed in notified essential services, polling personnel, IT professionals as well as those sick.

The solution leverages Artificial Intelligence for a three-factor authentication of valid voter — name matching with Aadhaar, liveness detection of individual and image matching with EPIC database.

Blockchain technology has been used to secure the de-identified and encrypted votes so that they are maintained as immutable record.

The ‘TSEC eVote’ Android app is a security hardened mobile application to prevent tampering and binds a device ID and phone number to a specific citizen registration process so that only the same device can be used during voting, thus enhancing security. 

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/ts-develops-smartphone-based-e-voting-solution/article36865780.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-move-for-e-voting-law-minister-kiren-rijiju/article37824414.ece

Solution (d)

Tharoor moves Bill for permanent HC Benches in State capitals

In Kerala, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh the State High Court is situated outside the capital city.

The buildings of Bombay High Court (as part of the Victorian and art deco ensemble of Mumbai) and Punjab and Haryana High Court (as part of the architectural work of Le Corbusier) are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Calcutta High Court is the oldest high court in the country, established on 2 July 1862.

The work of most high courts primarily consists of appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Articles 226 and 227 of the constitution. Writ jurisdiction is also an original jurisdiction of a high court.

Each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a district and sessions judge. He is known as district judge when he presides over a civil case and session’s judge when he presides over a criminal case. He is the highest judicial authority below a high court judge.

Article Link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_courts_of_India

Solution (b)

Indonesia volcano eruption kills 14, damages 11 villages

Semeru, or Mount Semeru is an active volcano in East Java, Indonesia. It is located in a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate subducts under the Eurasia plate. It is the highest mountain on the island of Java. 

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/indonesia-semeru-volcano-eruption-many-dead/article37849027.ece

Solution (b)

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the largest regional security organization in the world. In recent years, it has regained importance as a platform for dialogue between East and West.

 Its headquarters are in Vienna.

The OSCE comprises 57 participating States, including the countries of Europe and the successor states to the Soviet Union, as well as the United States, Canada and Mongolia. The OSCE’s decisions are reached by consensus, i.e. with the approval of all participating States. The decisions in which the participating States commit themselves to common values, ideas and goals are politically, but not legally, binding. The OSCE emerged from the Conference on Security and Cooperation in 1990 with the Charter of Paris.

Beyond its participating States, the OSCE conducts dialogues with partner countries in the Mediterranean region (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan) and with Asian partner countries (Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Afghanistan), as well as Australia. These cooperation partners also attend meetings of the OSCE bodies.

The OSCE’s objective is to enhance security in Europe through cooperation and dialogue between the European and the eastern and western neighboring countries. 

Article Link:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/putin-demands-nato-guarantees-not-to-expand-eastward

https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/internationale-organisationen/osze-node

Solution (c)

A member of parliament (MP) who is not a minister is a private member. The Bills introduced by private members are referred to as Private Member’s Bills. The Bills introduced by ministers are called government Bills. The government bills have the backing of the government and reflect its legislative agenda. Whether the Private Bill has to be admitted or not is decided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

The first and foremost requirement in the case of a Private Member’s Bill is that it should be within the legislative competence of the Parliament. In other words, the subject of the Bill should relate to the subjects included in the Union or Concurrent List contained in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.

The Private Member’s Bills are either drafted by the Member of Parliament (MP) or his staff. The MP who wants to move a Private Member’s Bill has to give at least a month’s notice, for the House Secretariat to examine it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation. While a government Bill can be introduced and discussed on any day, a private member’s bill is only introduced and discussed on Fridays.

No Private Member’s Bill has been passed by the Parliament since 1970

Article Link:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tharoor-moves-bill-for-permanent-hc-benches-in-state-capitals/article37832344.ece