Daily Current Affairs MCQ- December 23, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Indian Naval Ships Ranvijay and Kavaratti and submarine INS Sindhukesari arrived in Singapore to participate in the 30th edition of the Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX).

• It is an annual bilateral Naval exercise between the Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN).
• It is being conducted since 1994.
• It holds the distinction of being the longest continuous naval exercise that Indian Navy has with any other country.
• SIMBEX-2023 is being conducted in two phases - Harbour Phase at Singapore from 21 to 24 September 2023, followed by a Sea Phase.
• Besides Ranvijay, Kavaratti and Sindhukesari, Long-Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8I is also participating in the exercise.
• The Harbour Phase will witness a wide range of professional interactions, cross-deck visits, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEE) and sports fixtures, aimed at enhancing interoperability and mutual understanding between the two navies.
• The Sea Phase of SIMBEX 23 will involve complex and advanced air defence exercises, gunnery firings, tactical manoeuvres, anti-submarine exercises and other maritime operations.
• Units of both the navies will endeavour to hone their war-fighting skills while consolidating their capability to undertake multi-discipline operations jointly in the maritime domain.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

India’s solar mission Aditya L1 has started studying energetic particles in the solar wind from space with the help of a device named Supra Thermal & Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS).

• It is a sub-system of the ASPEX (Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment) payload on the spacecraft.
• The key aim of STEPS is to study the environment of energetic particles from the spacecraft’s position on the L1 point till it will function.
• The data from STEPS in the long term will also help us understand how space weather changes.
• It comprises six sensors, each observing in different directions and measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions.
• The data collected during the Earth’s orbits helps scientists to analyse the behaviour of particles surrounding the planet, especially in the presence of its magnetic field.
• It was developed by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL ) with support from the Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Prime Minister of India greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai Juhar.

• It an important social festival of Western Odisha and adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand.
• The word nua means new and khai means food.
• Objective: It is an agricultural festival which is observed to welcome the new rice of the season.
• It is observed on the fifth day of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhaadra (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
• What are the rituals?
• Nuakhai is understood to have nine colours and as a consequence nine sets of rituals are followed as a prelude to the actual day of celebration.
• People offer the newly harvested crop called Nabanha to their respective presiding deities.
• After offering the Nabanha, people relish different types of delicacies prepared from the newly harvested crop.
• The Nuakhai Juhar is a major ritual of the festival.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

In the last one month, seven leopard cubs at Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru have died after being infected by feline panleukopenia virus.

• It is a highly contagious viral disease infects cats.
• It is also known as Feline Distemper which is a life-threatening infectious disease. 
• It infects and kills the rapidly growing and dividing cells in the body, including cells in the bone marrow, intestines, and skin, and in a developing fetus.
• Symptoms
• Once infected by Feline panleukopenia virus, the intestine of the animal gets completely affected.
• They develop severe diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration which ultimately leads to death.
• It spreads faster and the infected animal dies within four to five days.
• Treatment 
• There is no specific treatment for feline panleukopenia.
• Dehydration is treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy while clinical signs of vomiting and diarrhea are treated with prescription medications.
• Antibiotic therapy is often instituted to help control any secondary bacterial infections due to low white blood cell counts. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Israel’s Defence Ministry recently unveiled its next-generation tank, the artificially intelligent Barak Tank.

About Barak Tank:

• The Barak, or Lightning, is a fifth-generation main battle tank developed by Israel.
• It was developed jointly by the Israel Defense Ministry’s (IDF) Armored Vehicles Directorate and the IDF’s Ground Forces and Armored Corps.
• Features:
• It includes Artificial Intelligence based sensing and processing capabilities.
• The Barak includes touch screens and an operational application store to help with missions. 
• IronVision:
• The tank commander will be equipped with a helmet known as IronVision, resembling those used by fighter jet pilots.
• The device would enable real-time target location using artificial intelligence and 360-degree scanning via head movement.
• This will enable soldiers to overcome inherent visibility challenges, thereby enhancing mission effectiveness and safety.
• Weaponry:
• It includes a 120mm smoothbore gun. This gun can fire high-penetration projectiles and guided ammunition at distances of up to four kilometres.
• The additional weaponry consists of a pair of 7.62mm machine guns, an additional 7.62mm machine gun installed on the right side of the turret, and a 60mm mortar.
• It features the advanced Windbreaker missile defense system.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Most species of the famously large Rafflesia flower are now at risk of extinction, new research warned recently.

About Rafflesia:

• Rafflesia is a genus of parasitic flowering plants native to Southeast Asia.
• These plants are renowned for producing the largest individual flowers in the world, both in terms of size and weight.
• They are often referred to as "corpse flowers" due to their foul odour.
• Distribution: They inhabit specialised localities in the tropical rainforests of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, southern Thailand and the Philippines.
• There are 42 known species of Rafflesia, and the most famous species within this genus is Rafflesia arnoldii.
• Features:
• They are massive and can reach up to 3 feet (almost 1 meter) in diameter and weigh up to 7 kg.
• Parasitic Lifestyle:
• They are parasitic, meaning they do not have leaves, stems, or roots like traditional plants.
• Instead, they depend on a host vine called Tetrastigma for nutrients and support.
• Rafflesia's only visible part is the flower.
• Limited Blooming Period: They have a short blooming period, often lasting only a few days to a week.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

The Central Government recently said that companies/entities may be given around a year’s time, and even some more to smaller organisations or startups, to comply with norms of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023.

About Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023:

• The DPDP Act is a legal framework introduced in India to safeguard the personal data of individuals and ensure that their data is shared only with their consent. 
• It regulates the processing of digital personal data and outlines various provisions to protect individuals’ privacy in the digital age.
• Applicability:
• It applies to the processing of digital personal data within the territory of India collected online or collected offline and later digitized.
• It is also applicable to processing digital personal data outside the territory of India if it involves providing goods or services to the data principals within the territory of India. 
• Evolution:
• The conceptual basis of the DPDP Act is the report of the Expert Committee set up under the chairmanship of Justice BN Srikrishna, which led to the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Act in 2019. 
• After several iterations and consultations, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, was introduced and subsequently passed by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. 
• Key Stakeholders:
• Data Principal (DP): – the data owner.
• DP could be individuals or entities whose data is to be protected.
• The DP has to give written consent to generate and process the data indicating the specific purpose of its use.
• DP can withdraw the consent at any time or can restrict its use. 
• Data Fiduciary– A data collecting, storing, and sharing entity.
• A data fiduciary also acts as a “Consent Manager” who enables a DP to give, manage, review, and withdraw consent through an accessible, transparent, and interoperable platform.
• The Central Government may notify any Data Fiduciary or class of Data Fiduciaries as Significant Data Fiduciaries, on the basis of an assessment of relevant factors when they turn out to be systemically significant. 
• Data Processor–an entity processing the data on behalf of a data fiduciary. Both, Data fiduciary and data processor could also be the same in certain small entities. 
• Data Protection Officer (DPO):  – could be any individual appointed as DPO by a Data Fiduciary under the provisions of this Act. 
• Other Provisions:
• Citizen’s Rights: Under data principal rights, individuals also have the right to information, right to correction and erasure, right to grievance redressal, and right to nominate any other person to exercise these rights in the event of the individual’s death or incapacity.
• Establishment of a Data Protection Board of India (DPBI): 
• It will function as an impartial adjudicatory body responsible for resolving privacy-related grievances and disputes between relevant parties.
• As an independent regulator, it will possess the authority to ascertain instances of non-compliance with the Act’s provisions and impose penalties accordingly. 
• The appointment of the chief executive and board members of the Data Protection Board will be carried out by the central government.
• An appeal against any order of the DPBI shall lie with the High Court. The High Court could take up any breach Suo moto. 
• No civil court shall have the jurisdiction to entertain any suit or take any action in respect of any matter under the provisions of this Act and no injunction shall be granted by any court or other authority in respect of any action taken under the provisions of this Act.  
• Penalty for infringement: 
• The Act does not impose criminal penalties for non-compliance.
• The financial penalty could range from as high as Rs. 250 crores to a data fiduciary or data processor to as low as Rs.10000 to a data principal (the owner of data).
• Conflict with existing laws: 
• The provisions of the DPDP Act will be in addition to and not supersede any other law currently in effect. 
• However, in case of any conflict between a provision of this Act and a provision of any other law currently in effect, the provision of this Act shall take precedence to the extent of such conflict.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently directed credit information companies (CICs) to set out a common data quality index (DQI) for commercial and microfinance segments.

About Credit Information Companies (CICs):

• CICs collect public data, credit transactions and payment histories of individuals and companies regarding loans and credit cards, among others.  
• Their primary function is to gather data from various sources, such as banks, financial institutions, lenders, and other credit-granting entities, and then compile this data into credit reports.
• Banks, non-banking financial institutions refer to the CIC's report and score to decide borrowers' creditworthiness before granting a loan or issuing a credit card.
• CICs in India are licensed by the RBI and governed by the Credit Information Companies Regulation Act, 2005 (CICRA)and various other rules and regulations issued by the RBI. 
• As per Section 15 of the CICRA, every Credit Institution (like banks) should be a member of at least one CIC. 
• CICRA also stipulates that a CIC may seek and obtain information from its members only.
• Thus, if a bank seeks information from a CIC, it will get the information given by other institutions (to CIC) only.
• At present, four credit information companies are given certificates of registration by the RBI. These companies are Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL), Equifax Credit Information Services Private Limited, Experian Credit Information Company of India Private Limited and CRIF High Mark Credit Information Services Private Limited.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) launched the mobile application and the web portal for GCES (General Crop Estimation Survey).

• This revolutionary portal and mobile application have been designed to transform agricultural practices across the nation.
• It has been developed by Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
• It has been developed for leveraging technology to enhance the reach, scope, and outcome of government actions in the course of development.
• The automation of the GCES process will ensure on time reporting of crop statistics and accuracy of the data.
• Key Features
• Comprehensive Information: The portal and the app provide a comprehensive repository of yield estimation including village wise GCES plan and plot details where the crop cutting experiments conducted, post are harvesting crop weight and driage weight of the crop.
• Geo-referencing: It is one of the key features of the mobile application, which enables the primary worker to draw the boundary of the experimental plot and upload photos of the plot as well as of the crops through it. This feature will ensure transparency and accuracy of the data as well.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) under Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, would be launching the phase 2 of the ‘Promotion of Tribal Products for North East Region’ (PTP-NER 2.0) scheme, from 21st September to 10th November, 2023.

• It is a Central Sector scheme which was launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Vision: To strengthen livelihood opportunities for tribal artisans through increased efficiency in procurement, logistics and marketing of tribal products.
• It will be implemented in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
• It is being implemented in two phases:
• In the First Phase of the scheme, 8 states and 38 districts were covered. Organisation of 64 Tribal Artisans Empanelment Melas (TAeM) were done by the teams of TRIFED and North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC).
• In the Second Phase of the scheme, 29 districts will be covered by the teams of TRIFED and NEHHDC to reach out to tribal artisans and showcase their cultural heritage.
• Implementing Partners: North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation (NEHHDC), India Post under the Department of Posts, and other North Eastern State Government Departments/ Agencies.
• India Post will provide logistics support in order to meet the scheme's goals.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.