Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 22, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024.

• It is an important tool in the global fight against antimicrobial resistance.
• Background
• In 2017, WHO developed the first BPPL to guide investment into the R&D of new antibacterials and it listed 13 bacterial pathogens (phenotypes).
• It was developed with the multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) method (15).
• MCDA is a decision-making scientific method that mounts and evaluates alternatives based on multiple criteria, facilitating systematic and transparent decision-making in complex options
• The 2024 WHO BPPL covers 24 pathogens, spanning 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. 
• The 2024 list categorizes these pathogens into critical, high, and medium priority groups to inform research and development (R&D) and public health interventions.
• Significance
• The WHO BPPL acts as a guide for prioritizing R&D and investments in AMR, emphasizing the need for regionally tailored strategies to effectively combat resistance.
• It targets developers of antibacterial medicines, academic and public research institutions, research funders, and public–private partnerships investing in AMR R&D, as well as policy-makers responsible for developing and implementing AMR policies and programs.

What is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)?

• It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and deaths.
• It is driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The summer solstice heralds the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere and marks the day with the most daylight for the year.

• In Latin, "Solstice" means "sun stands still".
• It is an annual astronomical phenomenon that brings the longest day of the year. 
• On the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, receiving the full glare of the sun's rays.
• During the solstice, the Earth’s axis — around which the planet spins, is tilted in a way that the North Pole is tipped towards the Sun and the South Pole is away from it.
• Typically, this imaginary axis passes right through the middle of the Earth from top to bottom and is always tilted at 23.5 degrees with respect to the Sun.
• What happens during the solstice?
• This day sees the Earth receiving a greater amount of energy from the Sun.
• Each year, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere falls on one of two days: June 20 or June 21. In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice happens on Dec. 21 or Dec. 22.
• The date varies because the Gregorian calendar has 365 days, with an extra leap day added in February every four years. 
• The amount of light received by a specific area in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer solstice depends on the latitudinal location of the place.
• The further north one moves from the equator, the more light one receives during the summer solstice. At the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set during the solstice.

Hence both statements are correct.

Many Parkinson’s disease researchers are focused on reducing the prevalence of Synuclein alpha (SNCA) proteins in neurons as a therapeutic measure.

• It is a mysterious protein which is present in healthy cells of human body.
• It is notorious for its involvement in age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
• Features of SNCA
• It is abundant in neurons, especially in dopaminergic neurons. It is found near the nuclei of these cells and at the junctions between two neurons.
• It’s capable of misfolding as well as forming filamentous structures.
• So unlike most other proteins, which take up predictable three-dimensional structures, SNCA can fold in multiple ways. Misfolded proteins don’t function correctly.
• SNCA is present in 2 ways as aggregates in cells: one that interferes with the structural integrity of cells’ nuclei and another that allows the cell to degrade misfolded proteins.
• In these two the former are related to diseased states while the latter is important for healthy cells.
• Over time, these two SNCA populations in the cells: one was around the nuclei, shapes like filaments tens of micrometres long, much like Lewy bodies.
• The other population was also around the nuclei but as much smaller clumps called aggresomes. Such aggresomes are formed when cells localise misfolded proteins into a small bunch (like collecting the trash in a corner) for further processing.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Google at the company’s annual developer conference, presented an early version of Project Astra.

• It is a new multimodal AI agent developed by Google.
• It is capable of answering real-time questions fed to it through text, video, images, and speech by pulling up the relevant information.
• It can see the world, remember where one has left a thing and even answer if a computer code is correct by looking at it through the phone’s camera.
• It even answers if a computer code is correct by looking at it through the phone’s camera.
• It is more straight-forward, there is no range of emotional diversity in its voice.
• It is not limited to smartphones. Google also showed it being used with a pair of smart glasses.
• Project Astra can learn about the world, making it as close as possible to a human-assistant-like experience. 

What is multimodal model  AI?

• A multimodal model is a ML (machine learning) model that is capable of processing information from different modalities, including images, videos, and text.
• For example, Google's multimodal model, Gemini, can receive a photo of a plate of cookies and generate a written recipe as a response and vice versa.
• This model expands on generative capabilities, processing information from multiple modalities, including images, videos, and text. Multimodality can be thought of as giving AI the ability to process and understand different sensory modes.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Three youths from Konaseema district, Andhra Pradesh, tragically drowned to death in the Godavari River recently.

About Godavari River:

• It is India's second-longest river after the Ganga and the third-largest in India, drains about 10% of India's total geographical area. 
• It is also called `Dakshina Ganga`, which translates into South Ganges River.
• Course:
• The origin of the Godavari River is in Brahmagiri Mountain at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district of Maharashtra. 
• It runs for a length of about 1,465 kilometers.
• It finally empties itself into the Bay of Bengal at Narasapuram in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh.
• The river mainstem, travels through three states:Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, while its basin includes Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, parts of Chattisgarh, and Odisha.
• It has a drainage basin of some 121,000 square miles (313,000 square km)
• The basin is bounded by theSatmala hills, the Ajanta range, and the Mahadeo hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west.
• The Godavari basin receives its maximum rainfallduring the Southwest monsoon.
• Tributaries: The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha, the Wainganga, the Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), the Indravati, the Maner, and the Sabri.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The India-Japan partnership for their joint moon mission, Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX), is likely to take flight in a few years, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in an interview recently.

About Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX):

• It is a collaborative endeavor between ISRO and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
• The mission is scheduled to launch in 2025.
• This mission will take off aboard Japan’s H3 rocket.
• Primary Goal: To explore the moon’s southern polar region, investigating the presence of water and other elements, potentially in the form of surface ice.
• It aims to showcase innovative surface exploration technologies. The special focus is on vehicular transport and lunar night survival.
• It features both a lander and a rover. JAXA is responsible for developing and operating the rover, and ISRO for developing and operating the lander that will carry the rover.
• The rover will drive on its own to search for areas where water is likely to be present and sample the soil by digging into the ground with a drill.
• The plan is to acquire data by analyzing the collected samples in detail with observation equipment mounted on the rover.
• The rover will be equipped with instruments for measuring the water content ofregolith (lunar sand), drilling, and sampling, as well as with other world-first and world-leading technologies for the driving system and batteries.
• The roverwill carry not only the instruments of ISRO and JAXA but also those of the US space agency NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

After five days of discussions to strengthen crime prevention, criminal justice responses and cooperation, the 33rd session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, came to a conclusion recently.

About Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ):

• CCPCJ is a commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• It acts as the principal policy making body of the United Nations (UN) in the fields of crime prevention and criminal justice. 
• Membership: The CCPCJ has 40 member states that are elected by ECOSOC and is chaired by a Bureau.
• ECOSOC provided for CCPCJ mandates and priorities in resolution 1992/22, which includes the following:
• International action tocombat national and transnational crime, such as organized crime, economic crime and money-laundering
• Promoting the role of criminal lawin protecting the environment
• Crime prevention in urban areas, including juvenile crime and violence
• Improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administration systems
• CCPCJ also offers Member States a forum for exchanging expertise, experience,and information in order to develop national and international strategies and to identify priorities for combating crime.
• It also acts as preparatory bodyand as implementing body for the quinquennial United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
• In 2006, the General Assembly adopted resolution 61/252, which further expanded the mandates of CCPCJ to enable it to function as a governing body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and to approve the budget of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Fund, which provides resources for technical assistance in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice worldwide.
• The Commission maintains close linkswith the research institutes belonging to the UN Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme Network (PNI).
• The network has been developed to assist the international community in strengthening cooperation in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice.

Hence both statements are correct.

Dr. Ashvini Keshavan, an Indian-origin neurologist and Senior Clinical Research and Honorary Consultant Neurologist Fellow at University College London (UCL), has been selected to be part of Britain’s research team on dementia. The team, called ADAPT (Alzheimer’s disease Diagnosis And Plasma pTau217), will focus on the biomarker p-tau217, which reflects the levels of two proteins found in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease: amyloid and tau. The team will conduct a clinical trial to see if measuring p-tau217 in the blood can increase the rate of diagnosis for Alzheimer’s disease in people with early dementia, as well as in those with mild, progressive memory problems.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) is investigating Mahadev Online Book, an allegedly illegal betting application, and its promoters for suspected violation of GST rules and non-payment of tax.

• The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) now renamed as Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).
• It is an apex intelligence organization functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, Department of Revenue, and Ministry of Finance.
• It is entrusted with the task of collection, collation, and dissemination of intelligence relating to the evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the duties of Central Excise and Service Tax on an all India basis.
• Functions of DGGI
• Intelligence gathering: It is responsible for gathering intelligence about potential violations of the GST law. This includes collecting information from various sources, such as GST returns, financial statements, and other documents.
• It develops intelligence, especially in new areas of tax evasion through its intelligence network across the country and disseminates such information, by issuing Modus Operandi Circulars and Alert Circulars to sensitize the field formations about the latest trends in duty evasion.
• Investigation: It has the power to conduct investigations into suspected cases of GST evasion or non-compliance. This may involve summoning persons, examining records, and carrying out searches and seizures.
• Enforcement: It is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the GST law. This includes taking legal action against offenders, imposing penalties, and recovering any taxes or duties due.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Major political party issued a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House tomorrow as the Prime Minister of India will reply to the Motion of Thanks on Presidential address delivered recently.

• A whip in parliamentary parlance is a written order that party members be present for an important vote, or that they vote only in a particular way.
• The term is derived from the old British practice of “whipping in” lawmakers to follow the party line.
• The importance of a whip can be inferred from the number of times an order is underlined.
• Appointment: 
• In India all parties can issue a whip to their members.
• Parties appoint a senior member from among their House contingents to issue whips — this member is called a Chief Whip, and he/she is assisted by additional Whips.
• Types of whips: 
• One-line whip: A one-line whip, underlined once, is usually issued to inform party members of a vote, and allows them to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line.
• Two-line whip: A two-line whip directs them to be present during the vote.
• Three-line whip: A three-line whip is the strongest, employed on important occasions such as the second reading of a Bill or a no-confidence motion, and places an obligation on members to toe the party line.
• Defiance of whip
• In India, rebelling against a three-line whip can put a lawmaker’s membership of the House at risk.
• The anti-defection law allows the Speaker/Chairperson to disqualify such a member; the only exception is when more than a third of legislators vote against a directive, effectively splitting the party.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.