Daily Current Affairs MCQ- August 3, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

The conservationists to script India's first captive breeding success story of the Himalayan vultures inside the Assam State Zoo in Guwahati. 

• The Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis ) or Himalayan griffon vulture is an Old World vulture.
• It is one of the two largest Old World vultures and true raptors.
• It is a typical vulture which has a bald white head, wings that are very wide and short tail feathers.
• Distribution: It is native to the Himalayas and the adjoining Tibetan Plateau and also found in the Central Asian mountains.
• These are diurnal and mostly solitary species.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Near Threatened

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Minister of State for Education informed the Lok Sabha about the Gender Inclusion Fund (GIF), mentioned in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020.

• The Gender Inclusion Fund will be utilised to ensure that all kids receive a high-quality education.
• It will also be used to guarantee that amenities such as secure and sanitary vending machines are included on GIF’s infrastructure checklist. 
• The NEP focuses on ‘Equitable and Inclusive Education’ which reverberates the idea that no child should be left behind in terms of educational opportunity because of their background and socio-cultural identities.
• It has taken into account the concerns of the Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs) which includes girls and transgender individuals.
• NEP prescribes to approach gender as a cross-cutting priority to achieve gender equality in education with the partnership of states and local community organizations.
• The objectives of NEP for equitable and quality education for girl children are being met through specific provisions under Samagra Shiksha 2.0 by allocating dedicated resources for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs).
• Under Samagra Shiksha, various interventions have been targeted for providing quality education to girls, which include:
• Opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls,
• Free uniform and text-books to girls up to class VIII,
• Additional teachers and residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas,
• Appointment of additional teachers including women teachers,

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, a team of researchers at the Center for Data Driven Discovery, California Institute of Technology has developed ZARTH app that allows anyone with a smartphone to ‘hunt’ for transients.

• The ZTF Augmented Reality Transient Hunter ( ZARTH) is built along the lines of the augmented reality mobile game.
• It allows the user to do serious science while playing a game.
• Features
• The app uses the open-source Sky Map and adds data daily from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF)’s robotic telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California.
• Palomar is also home to one of the oldest, largest, and most powerful telescopes in the world: the 200-inch Hale reflector.
• The ZTF scans the entire northern sky every two days and uses the data to make large area sky maps that have important applications in tracking near-earth asteroids and studying supernovae.
• The app is loaded daily with transients detected in real-time by the ZTF.
• The transients include flaring stars (variable stars that flare up for a short while), white dwarf binaries (burnt remains of dead stars that orbit one another and often merge and explode in supernovae), active galactic nuclei, and several other types.
• The app ranks transients by their rarity and importance, and players can compete with each other to score points and earn daily credits, which are duly listed on the leaderboards.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Central government is working on a proposal to launch a fresh InvIT for national highways where domestic retail investors can hold units of the trust.

• It is collective investment scheme similar to a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of money from individual and institutional investors in infrastructure projects 
• These are like mutual funds in structure which can be established as a trust and registered with Sebi.
• An InvIT has 4 parties namely; Trustee, Sponsor(s) and Investment Manager and Project Manager.
• While the trustee (certified by Sebi) has the responsibility of inspecting the performance of an InvIT, sponsor(s) are promoters of the company that set up the InvIT.

What is NHAI InvIT?

• It is the infrastructure investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to support the government’s National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
• It is a Trust established by NHAI under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) regulations.

Key facts about National Highways Authority of India

• It was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1988 under the administrative control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• It has been set up as a Central Authority to develop, maintain and manage the National Highways entrusted to it by the Government of India.
• The Authority consists of a full-time Chairman and not more than five full-time Members and four part-time Members who are appointed by the Central Government.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Health Minister recently informed the Rajya Sabha that the Centre’s telemedicine application eSanjeevani has completed 14,17,81,384 teleconsultations. 

About eSanjeevani:

• It is a cloud-based integrated telemedicine solution of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India.
• It is a telemedicine app that provides both doctor-to-doctor and doctor-to-patient telecommunication.
• It is being designed, developed, deployed, and maintained by The Centre for Development and Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Mohali.
• Two modules of eSanjeevani:
• eSanjeevani AB-HWC:
• The doctor-to-doctor telemedicine platform, being implemented at all the Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in the country under the Ayushman Bharat (AB) Scheme of Government of India.
• It operates on a Hub-and-Spoke model wherein the ‘Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centers’ (HWCs) are set up at the state level, which is connected with the hub (comprising MBBS/ Specialty/Super-Specialty doctors) at the zonal level. 
• It was rolled out in 2019.
• eSanjeevani OPD:
• It is the Patient-to-Doctor remote consultation services rolled out in 2020 amid the first lockdown imposed to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, while the Outpatient Departments (OPDs) in the country were closed.
• It enables people to get outpatient services in the confines of their homes.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry recently set a new target for its PM SVANidhi scheme for street vendors.

About PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme:

• It was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on June 01, 2020.
• Purpose: To provide affordable Working Capital loans to street vendors to resume their livelihoods that have been adversely affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
• It is a micro-credit facility that provides street vendors with a collateral-free loan of Rs 10,000 with low rates of interest (below 12%) for a period of one year, aiding the vendors in getting back on their feet financially.
• The duration of the scheme initially was until March 2022. It has been extended till December 2024, with a focus on enhanced collateral-free affordable loan corpus, increased adoption of digital transactions and holistic socio-economic development of the Street Vendors and their families. 
• Who is Eligible for the Loan?
• All vendors who have been vending from or before (March 24, 2020) and with a certificate of vending can avail the loan.
• As per the Street Vendors Act 2014, the Town Vending Committees (which comprises the local authorities and vendors from an area) issue a certificate of vending after a survey has been conducted of all the vendors.
• Scheme Benefits:
• Vendors can avail of a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year.
• On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on a quarterly basis.
• There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan.
• The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month.
• The vendors can avail the facility of escalation of the credit limit on timely/ early repayment of loan.
• Implementation agency: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) 

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Aviation security body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) recently informed all the airports across the country to not promote any kind of advertisement or commercial at security checks.

About Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS):

• It was initially set up as a Cell in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in January 1978 on the recommendation of the Pande Committee, constituted as a reaction to the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight on 10th September 1976.
• It was reorganized into an independent department under the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 1st April 1987.
• The aim of BCAS is to safeguard civil aviation operations against acts of unlawful interference.
• The main responsibilities of BCAS include laying down standards and measures with respect to the security of civil flights at international and domestic airports in India.
• It is the authoritarian unit for civil aviation security in India. It is controlled by an officer of the rank of Director General of Police and is designated as Commissioner of Security.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• It has got four Regional Offices located at International airports i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
• Functions:
• Laying down Aviation Security Standards in accordance with Annex 17 to the Chicago Convention of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for airport operators, airline operators, and their security agencies responsible for implementing AVSEC measures.
• Monitoring the implementation of security rules and regulations and carrying out a survey of security needs.
• Ensure that the persons implementing security controls are appropriately trained and possess all competencies required to perform their duties.
• Planning and coordination of Aviation security matters.
• Surprise/Dummy checks to test the professional efficiency and alertness of security staff.
• Mock exercise to test the efficacy of Contingency Plans and operational preparedness of the various agencies.

Hence both statements are correct.

According to the regional government the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus), has been extinct in the historic region of Andalusia in the extreme south of Iberia since 2020.

• It is a subspecies of Grey wolf that has been isolated from mixing with other wolf populations for over a century.
• These form the largest wolf population in Western Europe.
• It is native to the Iberian Peninsula comprising Spain and Portugal.
• They inhabit forests, inland wetlands, shrublands, grasslands, pastures, and mountainous areas.
• They live, hunt, and travel in small packs. Each pack includes the alpha male and female with their young as well as older offspring.
• The alphas are the leaders of the pack, establishing the group's territory, selecting the den sites, tracking down, and hunting prey. 
• They are mainly carnivores.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Vulnerable

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) unveiled JALDOST airboat.

• It is an airboat that operates on water.
• It is designed to remove excess aquatic weed and floating waste from water bodies.
• It has a closed airtight pontoon type hull to make it inherently unsinkable.
• According to NAL, it has a hybrid propulsion system, comprising air propulsion and paddle wheel propulsion.
• How it works?
• The ability to travel through weed makes JALDOST an ideal platform to collect them and bring them to the shore.
• A steel mesh belt conveyor system fixed in the front collects the waste. The collected waste falls on the horizontal deck conveyor.
• After reaching the shore, the collected waste is unloaded by a rear conveyor system to trucks or tractors.
• NAL has developed two versions of the airboat — JALDOST Mark-1 and an upgraded version JALDOST Mark-2.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In Japan, conservative voices are hinting that Russian and Ukraine war could give Japan a chance to take control of disputed Kuril Islands.

• These are a set of four islands situated between the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean near the north of Japan's northernmost prefecture, Hokkaido. 
• Both Russia and Japan claim sovereignty over them though the islands have been under Russian control since the end of World War II.
• The Soviet Union had seized the islands at the end of World War II and by 1949 had expelled its Japanese residents.
• Tokyo claims that the disputed islands have been part of Japan since the early 19th century.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.