QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 02 DECEMBER 2017

Solution: c.

US oil refineries that are unable to sell a dirty fuel waste product at home are exporting vast quantities of it to India instead.

• Petroleum coke, the leftover from refining Canadian tar sands and other heavy crude, is cheaper and burns hotter than coal. But it also contains more planet-warming carbon and far more heart- and lung-damaging sulphur — a key reason few American companies use it.
• Refineries are sending it around the world instead, especially to energy-hungry India, which last year got almost a fourth of the fuel grade “petcoke” from the US.
• The petcoke burned in countless factories and plants is contributing to dangerously filthy air in India.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/oZPvLWUl4bJ7XxYGinws6O/Pollutionchoked-India-importing-dirty-fuel-petcoke-from-U.html;

Also, recently in the news (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-for-nationwide-ban-on-furnace-oil-pet-coke/article20534514.ece): “The Supreme Court … requested all States and Union Territories to move forward towards a nationwide ban on the use of pet coke and furnace oil to power up industries, in a bid to fight pollution.”

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Solution: d.

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 provides a time-bound process for resolving insolvency in companies and among individuals. Insolvency is a situation where individuals or companies are unable to repay their outstanding debt.
• On the other hand, the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 establishes a Resolution Corporation to monitor financial firms (these include banks, non-banking financial companies, insurance companies, pensions funds, stock exchanges, and depositories), anticipate risk of failure, take corrective action, and resolve them in case of such failure. The Corporation will also provide deposit insurance up to a certain limit, in case of bank failure.

http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Financial%20Resolution%20Bill,%202017/Legislative%20Brief%20Financial%20Resolution%20Bill%202017.pdf;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/fm-seeks-to-allay-depositors-fears-hints-at-review-of-bill/article21245600.ece;

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Solution: a.

Data released on Thursday show that economic growth as measured by the gross domestic product rebounded to 6.3% in the three months through September, from a three-year low of 5.7% in the preceding quarter. The reversal in direction apart, what is equally noteworthy is that this revival was coterminous with the nationwide roll-out of the goods and services tax from July 1.

Interestingly, it was manufacturing that was in the vanguard of the rebound, with gross value added for the sector recovering smartly from the first quarter’s anaemic 1.2% growth to post a healthy 7% expansion.

Agriculture remains in a slump, and this in a ‘normal’ monsoon year — GVA growth in the sector, which includes forestry and fishing, slowed to 1.7%, from 2.3% in the first quarter, and was considerably weaker than the 4.1% pace posted in the year-earlier period.

Experts also point to the slowdown in the services sector, especially finance, transport, and hotels, all of which saw growth slowing in the second quarter compared with the first quarter.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/growth-rebounds-to-63-in-september-quarter/article21225392.ece;

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/fragile-momentum/article21244424.ece;

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Solution: c.

A Coimbatore-based orthopaedician’s PIL (Dr. S. Rajasekaran v. Union of India case) on Thursday led to the Supreme Court to insist on all States and Union Territories to frame a Road Safety Policy and the setting up of lead agencies to work as secretariats of State Road Safety Councils to co-ordinate on activities such as licensing issues like driving licences, registration of vehicles, road safety and features of vehicles.

The court has made it mandatory for States and Union Territories to establish Road Safety Fund, the corpus of which would come from traffic fines collected. The money would be used to meet the expenses for road safety.

The court has also directed framing Road Safety Action Plans by March 31 (2018) to reduce the number of road accidents, as well as the fatality rate.

The court found that most of the States and Union Territories have already framed a road safety policy, though some have not; some also have not constituted the Road Safety Council as yet. The court gave them time January 31, 2018.

The Justice Radhakrishnan panel (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/sc-panel-gives-states-june-30-deadline-to-enforce-road-safety/article7235785.ece) would fix the responsibility and functions of the councils. These councils would periodically review the laws and take appropriate remedial steps wherever necessary.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-tightens-the-screw-on-road-safety/article21210650.ece;

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/accident-prone/article21244425.ece;

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Solution: d.

The chief election commissioner and the two other election commissioners have equal powers and receive equal salary, allowances and other perquisites, which are similar to those of a judge of the Supreme Court. In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief Election Commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Commission by majority.

Any other election commissioner or a regional commissioner cannot be removed  from  office

except on the recommendation of the chief election commissioner.

Source/improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/way-to-remove-poll-commissioners-vague/article21244300.ece;

Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth;

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