Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 16, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, The Prime Minister of India has lauded the new initiative of celebrating ‘Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’ as ‘God Bharai' ceremony in Dausa, Rajasthan.

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme launched in 2017.
• The scheme is to provide maternity benefits to women belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society.
• The maternity benefit is to be provided to a woman for the first two living children provided the second child is a girl.
• Under this scheme monetary benefit of Rs. 5,000 is given to the expecting mothers from the time of the initial stage of pregnancy to till the time the child is born.
• Additionally, Rs. 1,000 is provided under the Janani Suraksha Yojana post-institutional delivery.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, NASA released an image showcasing the jellyfish galaxy JO206 which was captured by the Hubble telescope.

• It trails across the universe about 700 million light-years away from our planet.
• It is in the constellation Aquarius.
• Jellyfish galaxies resemble their marine namesakes and that is evident in the image.
• At the bottom right in the image “tentacles” of bright star formation that trails the main disc of the galaxy are visible.
• The Aquarius constellation is one of the 12 zodiac constellations.
• The constellation’s name means “the water-bearer” (or “cup-bearer”) in Latin.
• It lies in the region of the sky which is sometimes referred to as the Sea, because it contains a number of other constellations with names associated with water.
• It is the 10th largest constellation in the sky, occupying an area of 980 square degrees.
• It is one of the 15 equatorial constellations.
• It is located in the fourth quadrant of the southern hemisphere (SQ4) and can be seen at latitudes between +65° and -90°.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, in the annual Group of Seven (G7) Summit the G7 Hiroshima Leaders’ Communiqué initiated the Hiroshima AI Process (HAP).

• It is an effort by the G7 bloc to determine a way forward to regulate artificial intelligence (AI).
• It also encourages international organisations such as the OECD to consider the analysis of the impact of policy developments and the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) to conduct practical projects.
• Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• Launched in June 2020 with 15 members, GPAI is the fruition of an idea developed within the G7.
• At present, it has 29 members and India is also a member of this initiative.
• Its secretariat is at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) certifies 98 trainers trained under the SANKALP programme.

• The Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) programme was launched in 2018.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• It is a World Bank loan-assisted project and is aligned with the overall objectives of the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM).
• The project focuses on transforming the overall skilling ecosystem of India, covering both central and state-level agencies for improved outcomes.
• It also encourages innovative best practices at the local level, resulting in enhanced access, quality and capacity in the skilling ecosystem and improved access to and completion of skills training for female trainees and other disadvantaged groups.
• Strategy: Under SANKALP four key result areas have been identified viz –
• Institutional Strengthening (at National, State & District level)
• Quality Assurance Quality Assurance of skill development programs;
• Inclusion of marginalised population in skill development; and
• Expanding Skills through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, officials from the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) have brought back 1 lakh girls into the mainstream education system under the `Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav’’.

• It was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), in partnership with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF.
• Objective: Enhancing enrolment and retention of girls between 11-14 years of age in school.
• The initiative intends to build on the existing schemes and programmes like Schemes for Adolescent Girls (SAG), BetiBachaoBetiPadhao (BBBP) and National Education Policy (NEP) to work on a comprehensive system for out-of-school girls.
• Now Ministry of Women and Child Development has decided to club together three programmes under a new scheme — Anganwadi services, poshan Abhiyan and scheme for adolescent girls — since all these had the same nutritional targets.”
• In the new scheme, a new category is created in which adolescent girls between 14 and 18 years are covered. 

Hence both statements are not correct.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India recently said that Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) must inevitably prepare themselves for auditing AI-based governance systems and look for opportunities to adopt AI into their audit techniques.

About Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs):

• They are public oversight institutions which audit a government’s use of public funds.
• They are a critical link in a country’s accountability chain.
• By scrutinizing public financial management and reporting they provide assurance that resources are used as prescribed .
• Most SAIs derive their mandate from the constitution and/or legislation.
• SAIs undertake financial audits of organizations’ accounting procedures and financial statements, and compliance audits reviewing the legality of transactions made by the audited body. 
• They also conduct performance audits to scrutinize the efficiency, effectiveness or economy of government’s undertakings.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is India’s SAI.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Researchers have recently discovered 20 new species of Sea lettuce along the Baltic and Scandinavian coasts.

About Sea Lettuce:

• Sea lettuce (Ulva lactuca) is commonly referred to as seaweed.
• It is a genus of green algae usually found growing on rocky shores of seas and oceans around the world.
• Some species of Sea lettuce also grow in brackish water rich in organic matter or sewage and can accumulate heavy metals. 
• It usually grows attached by a small discoid holdfast to rocks and shells, but it can also grow in a free-floating, non-attached form, sometimes in prolific masses.
• It needs a lot of sunlight to flourish.
• It is perennial, and grows all year, although the largest blooms occur during the summer.
• Large masses of sea lettuce are often an indicator of nutrient pollution in the water.
• In some parts of the world, people eat sea lettuce in soups and salads.
• Features:
• It resembles leaves of green lettuce.  The color is often bright green but can range from dark green to almost yellow. 
• The leaves can be narrow or broad and single or multi-lobed.  They’re often rounded or oval with ruffled edges and riddled with holes or perforations. 
• They are rich in iodine and vitamins A, B, and C .

Hence both statements are correct.

Astronomers have recently captured four images of the same background supernova being gravitationally lensed by the immense gravitational well of the foreground supernova.

About Gravitational Lensing:

• It occurs when a massive celestial body, such as a galaxy cluster, causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime for the path of light around it to be visibly bent, as if by a lens.
• The body causing the light to curve is accordingly called a gravitational lens.
• An important consequence of this lensing distortion is magnification, allowing us to observe objects that would otherwise be too far away and too faint to be seen.
• Theory:
• Gravitational Lensing was first predicted in 1915 by Albert Einstein, which involves the bending of light by objects of great mass.
• According to Einstein’s general theory of relativity, time and space are fused together in a quantity known as spacetime.
• Within this theory, massive objects cause spacetime to curve, and gravity is simply the curvature of spacetime.
• As light travels through spacetime, the theory predicts that the path taken by the light will also be curved by an object’s mass.
• Gravitational lensing is a dramatic and observable example of Einstein’s theory in action.
• Extremely massive celestial bodies such as galaxy clusters cause spacetime to be significantly curved. In other words, they act as gravitational lenses.
• When light from a more distant light source passes by a gravitational lens, the path of the light is curved, and a distorted image of the distant object — maybe a ring or halo of light around the gravitational lens — can be observed.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Leptospirosis has emerged as an important infectious disease in the world which tends to have large outbreaks after heavy rainfall or flooding.

• It is a potentially fatal zoonotic bacterial disease.
• The disease is caused by a bacterium called Leptospira interrogans, or Leptospira.
• It is more prevalent in warm, humid countries and both urban and rural areas. 
• It is a contagious disease in animals but is occasionally transmitted to humans in certain environmental conditions.
• The carriers of the disease can be either wild or domestic animals, including rodents, cattle, pigs, and dogs.
• The cycle of disease transmission begins with the shedding of leptospira, usually in the urine of infected animals.
• According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, infected animals can continue to excrete the bacteria into their surroundings for a few months, but sometimes up to several years.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, an advanced wound care product developed by the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), named Cholederm, has won the approval of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) as a Class D medical device.

• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation is the Central Drug Authority for discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940.
• It works under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for -
• Approval of Drugs.
• Conduct Clinical Trials.
• Laying down the standards for Drugs.
• Control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country.
• Along with state regulators, it is jointly responsible for the grant of licences to certain specialised categories of critical Drugs such as vaccines and sera, etc.
• Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI): DCGI is the head of the department of the CDSCO of the Government of India responsible for approval of licences of specified categories of drugs such as blood and blood products, IV fluids, vaccines and sera in India.
• DCGI also sets standards for the manufacturing, sales, import, and distribution of drugs in India.

Hence both statements are correct.