Day-541 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Answer: B
Explanation:
Context: The UNDP’s 2023 Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) provides insights into the persistence of the biases and their impact on various aspects of women’s lives.
Statement 1 is incorrect: It is published annually by the United Nations Development Programme.
Statement 2 is correct: The UNDP tracked people’s attitudes towards women in four dimensions: political, educational, economic and physical integrity. The UNDP reports that nearly 90% of people still hold at least one bias against women.
Additional information:
Findings in gender social norms 2023:
▪ Political Participation and Representation: Biases in gender social norms contribute to a lack of equality in political participation. Approximately half of the world’s population believes men make better political leaders, while two in five believe men make better business executives.
▪ Economic Empowerment: Despite progress in education, gender gaps in economic empowerment persist. The increase in women’s education has not translated into better economic outcomes. In 59 countries where adult women are more educated than men, the average income gap is 39%.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Context: In a first of its kind move, the government has come up with Senior Able Citizens for Re-Employment in Dignity(SACRED) Portal, an online employment exchange platform to cater to senior citizens seeking job opportunities.
Statement 1 is correct: It is a portal developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The portal provides opportunities for senior citizens to find suitable jobs and work options that match their preferences and skills.
Additional information:
▪ SACRED Portal empowers the senior citizens and provide them with opportunities for re-employment.
▪ This portal specifically targets citizens aged 60 years and above, focusing on the needs and requirements of this age group.
▪ The SACRED Portal employs a virtual matching system that aligns the preferences of senior citizens with private enterprises seeking experienced individuals.
▪ Through job opportunities, the SACRED Portal helps senior citizens attain financial security and reduces their dependence on external support.

Answer: B
Explanation:
Context: Operation Ajay has been launched to facilitate the evacuation of Indians after a series of attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants.
Operations – Related events
1) Operation Kaveri – Evacuation of citizens during crisis in Sudan
2) Operation Ajay – Evacuation of citizens during crisis in Israel
3) Operation Rahat – Evacuation of citizens during crisis in Yemen
▪ Operation Kaveri: Operation Kaveri is a code name for India’s evacuation effort to bring back its citizens stranded in Sudan amid intense fighting between the army and a rival paramilitary force there. The operation involves the deployment of Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha, a stealth offshore patrol vessel, and two Indian Air Force C-130J special operations aircraft on standby in Jeddah.
▪ Operation Ajay: Operation Ajay is to bring back Indians from Israel as the conflict escalated with Israel retaliating against Hamas’s attack.
▪ Operation Rahat: In 2015, a conflict raged between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels. Thousands of Indians were stranded and Yemen was not accessible by air due to a no-fly zone announced by Saudi Arabia. Under Operation Raahat, India evacuated nearly 5,600 people from Yemen.
▪ Operation Devi Shakti: It was India’s complex mission to evacuate its citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul after its swift takeover by the Taliban.

Answer: C
Explanation:
Context: Recently, the European Parliament has approved the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. The regulation will come into force after formal approval by member states.
Statement 1 is correct: Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation is an European Union initiative as the world’s first comprehensive set of rules that aims to bring largely unregulated cryptocurrency markets under government regulation.
Statement 2 is incorrect: MiCA will not regulate digital assets that would qualify as transferable securities and function like shares or their equivalent and other crypto assets that already qualify as financial instruments under existing regulation. It will also exclude nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
Additional information:
Assets Covered under MiCA:
● The MiCA legislation will apply to crypto assets. These are broadly defined as “a digital representation of a value or a right that uses cryptography for security. And is in the form of a coin or a token or any other digital medium which may be transferred and stored electronically.
● This definition implies that it will apply not only to traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum but also to newer ones like stablecoins.
● MiCA will also establish new rules for three types of stablecoins.
Assets Out of MiCA’s Scope:
● MiCA will also not regulate central bank digital currencies issued by the European Central Bank and digital assets issued by national central banks of EU member countries when acting in their capacity as monetary authorities.

Answer: A
Explanation:
Context: Doha Political Declaration has been adopted by world leaders to fast-track progress in least developed countries.
Statement 1 is correct: It is a 10-year plan to put the world’s 46 most vulnerable countries back on track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
LDCs are a group of countries identified by the United Nations as having the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. These countries are characterized by high levels of poverty, low levels of human capital, and limited access to basic services, such as healthcare and education.
Currently, there are 46 countries on the United Nations’ list of LDCs.
Africa (33);
Asia (9);
Caribbean (1): Haiti;
Pacific (3): Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Statement 2 is incorrect: It consisted of six key focus areas:
▪ eradicating poverty;
▪ leveraging the potential of science and technology;
▪ addressing climate change;
▪ environmental degradation;
▪ recovering from COVID-19 pandemic;
▪ building resilience against future shocks for risk-informed sustainable development
Additional information:
● 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) concluded with adoption of the ‘Doha Political Declaration’ by the world leaders.
● The declaration is a key outcome of the second part of LDC5 conference held under the theme “From Potential to Prosperity” in Qatar.
Need for the Declaration:
● The 46 LDCs are being hit the hardest by multiple crises including the Covid-19 Pandemic, Climate Crisis, growing Inequalities, rising Debt Burdens and economic shocks.
● They have contributed minimally to Carbon Dioxide Emissions, but disproportionately bear the burden of climate change impacts.
● These countries, which include 33 African nations, face the challenge of high debt costs while having inadequate liquidity to provide essential services.