DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 29th May 2023

Syllabus

•     Prelims: Science and Technology

Context: Iran unveiled a new Liquid-Fuel Ballistic Missile named “Khorramshahr-4” with a range of 2,000 Kilometers.

About Khorramshahr-4 Ballistic Missile:

• The Khorramshahr has the heaviest payload of Iran’s ballistic missile fleet.
• The Khorramshahr-4 is named after an Iranian city that was the scene of heavy fighting during theIran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
• Khorramshahr-4 Missile has a 2,000-kilometre range and can carry 1,500-kilogram warhead.
• The Khorramshahr-4 missile has a navigational aid system and can transport a large warhead.
• According to official accounts, the enemy’s defense systems cannot detect, intercept, or take action to destroy the warhead due to its fast speed when it strikes the target.
• This missile is the most recent iteration of the Khorramshahr family of point-blank missiles, which do not require final-stage guidance.
• The ability to target precisely when in mid-flight (above the atmosphere) distinguishes this missile from its earlier iterations.

SOURCE: Times of India

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

Q1. What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news? (2018)

1. An Israeli radar system
2. India’s indigenous anti-missile programme
3. An American anti-missile system
4. A defense collaboration between Japan and South Korea.

Syllabus

•     Prelims: Science and Technology

Context: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is collaborating with the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, to build the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) that is scheduled to be launched later this year.

About X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat):

• According toISRO, “XPoSat will study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.”
• The spacecraft will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit.
• The primary payload POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) will measure the polarimetry parameters (degree and angle of polarization).
• POLIX is expected to observe about 40 bright astronomical sources of different categories during the planned lifetime of XPoSat mission of about 5 years.
• This is the first payload in the medium X-ray energy band dedicated for polarimetry measurements.
• The XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) payload will give spectroscopic information on how light is absorbed and emitted by objects. It would observe several types of sources, such as X-ray pulsars, black hole binaries, low-magnetic field neutron star, etc.
• X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is India’s first, and only the world’s second polarimetry mission that is meant to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.
• The other such major mission is NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) that was launched in 2021.
• IXPE carries three state-of-the-art space telescopes.
• Each of the three identical telescopes hosts one light-weight X-ray mirror and one detector unit.
• These will help observe polarized X-rays from neutron stars and super massive black holes.
• By measuring the polarisation of these X-rays, we can study where the light came from and understand the geometry and inner workings of the light source.

Must Read: Indian Space Association

SOURCE: Indian Express

Syllabus

•   Prelims: Economy

Context: The government provided an exemption from angel tax to pension and sovereign wealth funds, among others investing in India from 21 countries.

About the Angel Tax:

• Angel tax is the tax payable by privately held companies on the issue of shares at a rate higher than the fair market value.
• In India, the ‘angel tax’ was first introduced in
• It aims to deter the generation and use of unaccounted money through the subscription of shares of a closely held company at a value that is higher than the fair market value of the firm’s shares.
• Section 56(2) (VIIB) of the Income Tax Act, deals with angel tax.
• Under Section 56(2) (vii) (b) of the Income Tax Act, if a closely held company issues shares at a price exceeding fair market value, the difference is to be taxed as income from other sources.
• The tax affects angel investment the most and therefore is popularly called the angel tax.
• An angel investor is usually a high-net-worth individual who funds startups at the early stages, often with their own money.

About the Recent Exemption from Angel Tax;

• The Finance act, 2023 amended the angel tax provision of the Income Tax Act, bringing foreign investment under its ambit.
• Before the amendment, the provision applied only to investments by Indian residents and funds not registered as alternative investment funds (AIFs).
• India exempted investments by non-resident entities such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from 21 countries from the so-called ‘angel tax leaving out Mauritius, Singapore, and Luxembourg among others that account for significant equity inflow into the country.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued the notification exempting foreign central banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowment funds from 21 countries from the levy.
• The 21 countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US.
• Mauritius has the highest share in cumulative foreign direct equity investment since April 2000 at 26%, followed by Singapore with 23%.
• Investments by non-resident investors including multilateral entities, foreign banks and insurers, foreign portfolio investors and entities registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India will not face the angel tax.
• The exemption will also be available to foreign investments in startups registered with the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) but no changes have been made to the eligibility conditions to register.

SOURCE: Economic Times

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

Q1. Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?

1. Certificate of Deposit
2. Commercial Paper
3. Promissory Note
4. Participatory Note

Syllabus

•    Prelims: Polity

Context: Recently, A public interest litigation (PIL) was filled against the forest department in view of the alleged hurdles created by forest officials in Khanapur, Karnataka in implementing government projects. The complainant has alleged that by holding up development work, the forest department has denied villagers of their constitutional right to life and livelihood.

About Public Interest Litigation (PIL):

• Public interest Litigation (PIL) means litigation filed in a court of law, for the protection of “Public Interest”.
• Any matter where the interest of public at large is affected can be redressed by filing a Public Interest Litigation in a court of law.
• Public interest litigation is not defined in any statute or in any act.
• It has been interpreted by judges to consider the intent of public at large.
• Justice Krishna Iyer laid the groundwork for the concept of Public Interest Litigation in India in the case of Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs. Abdul Thai case, 1976.
• The objective of PIL is to provide common people with access to the courts in order to seek redress in legal matters.
• An Indian citizen may file a PIL, if it is not filed in a private interest but rather in a larger public interest. In some circumstances, even the Court may take on a matter if it is one of significant public concern and assign an advocate to handle it.
• Any citizen can file a public case by filing a petition;
• Under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution in the supreme court ,
• Under Article 226 in the High Court and
• Under section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the magistrate court.
• A PIL can only be brought against the State and not against any individual.
• The Government and Parliament of India, each State’s Government and Legislature, and all local or other authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India are all included in the definition of a state.

Must Read: PIL under Scrutiny

SOURCE: Times of India

Syllabus

Prelims: Cyber Attack

Context: Microsoft has uncovered stealthy and targeted malicious activity, focused on post-compromise credential access and network system discovery aimed at critical infrastructure organizations in the United States.

About Volt Typhoon:

• The Volt Typhoon is an alleged hacking group that mainly specializes in espionage and information gathering.
•  It is believed that the group is backed by China.
• Volt Typhoon so far appears to be focused on stealing information from “organizations that hold data that relates to the military or government in the United States.
•   Microsoft and other researchers pointed out that Volt Typhoon was a quiet operator that hid its traffic by routing it through hacked network equipment like home routers and expunged evidence of intrusions from victim’s logs.
• Microsoft assesses with moderate confidence that this Volt Typhoon campaign is pursuing development of capabilities that could disrupt critical communications infrastructure between the United States and Asia region during future crises.
•   Volt Typhoon has been active since mid-2021 and has targeted critical infrastructure organizations in Guam and elsewhere in the United States.
•   In this campaign, the cyber-attack affected organizations span the communications, manufacturing, utility, transportation, construction, maritime, government, information technology, and education sectors.
•  Volt Typhoon tries to blend into normal network activity by routing traffic through compromised small office and home office (SOHO) network equipment, including routers, firewalls, and VPN hardware.
•   They have also been observed using custom versions of open-source tools to establish a command and control (C2) channel over proxy to further stay under the radar.

Must Read: National Cyber Security Strategy

SOURCE:  Times of India

PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION

Q1. The terms ‘WannaCry, Petya and EternalBlue’ sometimes mentioned in the news recently are related to

1.  Exoplanets
2. Cryptocurrency
3. Cyber attacks
4.  Mini satellites

Syllabus

•     Prelims:  Art and culture

Context: Recently, the ‘Divya Kala Shakti’ Program was inaugurated at the Rudraksha Convention & Cultural Centre in Varanasi.

About Divya Kala Shakti Program:

•  Divya Kala Shakti is a Cultural Program by Children &Youth with Disabilities.
•    Divya Kala Shakti’ programme was organized in various parts of the country since 2019, at the national level and in other regions of the country.
•     Divya Kala Shakti aims at developing confidence among the persons with disabilities and appreciated the efforts of their hard work of parents and teachers.
•     The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is entrusted with organizing the Divya Kala Shakti.
•    This time, the sixth DIVYA KALA SHAKTI program was organized in the city of Varanasi, where approximately 100 artists from six states, namely West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, performed in the program.

SOURCE: PIB

Syllabus

•    Prelims: Indian History 

Context:   Prime Minister of India, Lok Sabha Speaker & various ministers pay floral tribute to V. D. Savarkar on his 140th birth anniversary on 28 May.

About Vinayaka Damodar Savarkar:

•  Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist, and writer.
•     VD Savarkar was born on 28th May, 1883 in Bhagur, a village near Nashik in Maharashtra.
•  Leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal. inspired him.
•   He was also influenced by the protests against the partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi movement.
•    Savarkar joined the Hindu Mahasabha (President from 1937 to 1943) and popularized the term Hindutva.
•       He and his brother, Ganesh Damodar Savarkar founded a secret society called Abhinav Bharat Society in 1904.
•     He also involved himself with organizations such as India House and the Free India Society while he was in London.
•  His autobiography is “The Story of My Transportation for Jail”.
• He also wrote a book ‘Hindutva: who is Hindu?’.
•   In 1911, Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans, also known as Kala Pani and the charges were alleged for his connections with the revolutionary group India House and for revolting against the Morley-Minto reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909) and later he was released in 1924.
•     After his release from jail, he worked on the abolishment of untouchability in Ratnagiri and he advocated for the use of Hindi as a national language.
•   Serving as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha political party, he opposed the Quit India movement in 1942.
•  He was a critic of the Indian National Congress and its acceptance of India’s partition.
•   He died on 26th February 1966 due to fasting on his own wish of death.

SOURCE: newsonair.gov.in

Syllabus

•    Prelims: Environment

Context: Recently, Department of Land Resources (DoLR), reviewed the Implementation of REWARD programme.

About REWARD:

•   The program is being implemented to introduce modern watershed practices in the Department of Land Resources in the Ministry of Rural Development and in the states of   in Karnataka and Odisha.
•   It is a World Bank-assisted watershed development program that is being implemented from 2021 to 2026.
•  The development objectives are;
•  To strengthen the capacities of national and state institutions to adopt improved watershed management for increasing farmers’ resilience to climate change,
• Promote higher productivity and better incomes and
•  Support value chains in selected watersheds of participating states.
•    The funding pattern is 70:30, between World Bank and States whereas it is 50:50 between the World Bank and the Department of Land Resources.
•    At the central level, the scope of the REWARD program covers management, monitoring, communication and knowledge sharing functions by Department of Land Resources.
•   At the State level, the REWARD program will be contiguous in scope to the Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana 2.0 and support implementation of key science-based activities and demonstrations.
•  The progress would be reviewed and plan of action are discussed in the Implementation Support Mission (ISM) and its components include:
•  Strengthening of Centre for Excellence on the watershed component, which was established in Bengaluru under the REWARD program.
•    Organizing a National level workshop on science-based watershed management, development of protocols for the expansion of Land Resource Inventory (LRI) across the country on a pilot basis, providing LRI-based digital advisory services to farmers and exposure visits of REWARD officials.

SOURCE:  The Print

Q1. With reference to X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), consider the following statements:

1. X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is the world’s first polarimetry mission that is meant to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.
2. The spacecraft will carry two scientific payloads in a low earth orbit.
3. The primary payload POLIX will measure degree and angle of polarization.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

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

Q2.  Consider the following statements:

1. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), recently exempted foreign central banks, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowment funds from 21 countries from the levy of Angel Tax.
2. The Finance Act, 2023 amended the Angel Tax provision of the Income Tax Act to bring the foreign investment under its ambit.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

1. Both Statement- I and Statement- II are correct and Statement- II is the correct explanation for Statement – I.
2. Both Statement- I and Statement- II are correct and Statement- II is not the correct explanation for Statement – I.
3. Statement- I is correct but Statement- II is incorrect.
4. Statement- I is incorrect but Statement- II is correct.

Q3. With reference to Public interest Litigation (PIL), consider the following statements;

1. Any matter where the interest of public at large is affected can be redressed by filing a Public Interest Litigation in a court of law.
2. Any citizen can file a public case by filing a petition under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution in the High Court.
3. Justice Krishna Iyer laid the groundwork for the concept of Public Interest Litigation in India in the case of Mumbai Kamagar Sabha vs. Abdul Thai case, 1976.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

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

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’ 29th May 2023 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs.st

Q.1) – c 

Q.2) – c

Q.3) – d