Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 7, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

India has been elected president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) General Conference (GC) for the third successive term.

• It was established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO.
• The AIBD currently has 92 member organisations from across 44 countries, including 26 government members (countries) represented by 48 broadcasting authorities and broadcasters.
• It also has 44 affiliates (organisations) represented by 28 countries and regions in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America.
• India is one of the founding members of this organization.
• The Prasar Bharati, India’s public service broadcaster, is the representative body of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India, at AIBD.
• It is not a UN specialized body.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)  clarified that addition of protein binders in milk and milk products are not permitted. 

• These are biological agents have emerged as an important and required class of ingredients to manufacture a wide range of new food products, especially semi-solid orsolid foods.
• These are known to affect the digestibility of the protein bound and thus can affect the biological and nutritive value of milk proteins.
• Protein binding also influences the bioavailability and distribution of active compounds.

What is milk protein?

• It is a good source of essential amino acids.
• They are easily digestible and do not contain any anti-nutritional factors like many plant-based proteins.

Hence both statements are correct.

The first public sector caravan park in Kerala to come up at Bekal fort of Kerala.

• It is exquisitely designed and built with dark maroon laterite stones.
• It is the largest and best preserved Fort in the whole of Kerala.
• The fort is endowed with impressive walls and ramparts which are again interrupted by massive bastions.
• While the bastions are equipped with several large and small openings for guns, the walls are interspersed with windows and peepholes. These were used to spot the enemy from afar in the past
• A unique and eye-catching feature is a lone bastion, projecting out into the sea.
• It was built in the 17th century.
• This historic monument offers a superb view of the Arabian Sea from its tall observation towers, which were occupied by gigantic cannons till afew centuries ago.
• Originally constructed by the rulers of the ancient Kadampa Dynasty, the Fort changed hands over the years to the Kolathiri Rajas, the Vijayanagara Empire, Tipu Sultan and finally, the British East India Company.
• The most prominent structure inside the fort is the observation tower built by Tipu Sultan.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, a new dragonfly species has been discovered in the verdant landscapes of Wayanad and it has been given the scientific nomenclature Epithemiswayanadensis.

• It is also known as Red-rumpedHawklet.
• It starts flying exclusively during the month of October.
• This species was found amidst the foliage of shrubs flourishing along a shaded streamside marsh near Wayanad’s forested terrain, as well as parts of the Nilgiri Coorg landscapes within the Western Ghats.
• Appearance: This newfound species is distinguished by its darker pigmentation, a restricted red coloration on the abdomen, and the absence of the yellow antehumeral stripe.
• This is the first instance of an Indian dragonfly being documented with genetic evidence substantiating morphological distinctions.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

The Supreme Court (SC) recently said it is considering having a sign language interpreter for the hearing impaired during Constitution bench hearings.

About Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court:

• Generally, most of the cases before the SC are heard by a division bench (2 or 3 judge members).
• If a case is likely to have a larger national impact or it is likely to decide the law for good, a constitution bench is formed.
• Constitution bench gives an overarching view on a question of law and defines a path the law will take in the future.
• Article 145(3) of the Constitution makes it clear. It says “any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution” must be decided by a Bench of at least five judges.
• In India, these benches are temporary and are dissolved once a legal question or issue is settled.
• Size:
• It will have five or more judges of the SC.
• A larger bench is constituted either depending on the importance of the issue or if there is a need to review the judgment of a smaller bench. 
• For instance, a seven-judge bench is constituted if a need is felt to review the judgment of a five-judge bench.
• To date, the largest-ever Constitution Bench was that of 13 judges in the case Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. The Kesavananda Bharati judgment, delivered on 24 April 1973, in a historic 7:6 majority decision, propounded the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution, which holds that certain fundamental features of the Constitution cannot be amended by parliament.
• Who forms the Constitution bench and when?
• The Chief Justice of India has the power to set up a Constitution bench, and he is the one who refers cases to it.
• Currently, there are four situations when such a bench can be formed.
• First, if a case involves a “substantial question of law” related to the interpretation of the Constitution.
• Second, a bench can be formed if the President seeks SC’s opinion on a law or fact. In this case, however, the apex court’s decision is not binding on the President, and they can take a different point of view.
• Third, a Constitution bench can be formed when a two-judge bench and later a three-judge bench deliver conflicting judgements on the same issue.
• Lastly, it can be formed if a three-judge bench delivers a judgement that is different from the judgement delivered by a previous three-judge bench on an issue.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently extended the Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme by another two years and will include beneficiaries of the PM Vishwakarma scheme.

About Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Scheme:

• It was first launched by the RBI in January 2021 for a period of three years.
• Objective: Increasing the number of payment acceptance devices multifold in the country.
• PIDF is a fund set up by the RBI, in consultation with major authorised card networks, to facilitate the development of payment acceptance infrastructure in tier-3 to tier-6 cities and the north-eastern states of India.
• The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will also be given special focus.
• Beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi Scheme in Tier-1 and 2 centres were later included in August 2021. 
• Funding:
• The PIDF is funded by the RBI and the major authorized card networks in India.
• The scheme provides financial assistance to banks and non-bank financial companies (NBFCs) for the deployment of PoS terminals and other payment acceptance infrastructure in eligible regions.
• Allocation:
• When establishing criteria for fund allocation, the primary objective will be to identify and assist merchants who have not yet adopted payment acceptance technology, specifically those who lack any payment acceptance devices.
• These merchants may be eligible to receive one physical and one digital acceptance device each through the program.
• Merchants providing essential services (transport, hospitality, etc.), government payments, fuel pumps, PDS shops, healthcare, kirana shops, street vendors, etc., may be covered, especially in the targeted geographies.
• Governance: 
• The PIDF will be governed through an Advisory Council and managed and administered by the RBI.
• The implementation of targets shall be monitored by the RBI with assistance from card networks, the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and the Payments Council of India (PCI).

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Researchers recently discovered previously unknown self-sustained oscillations in the Fischer-Tropsch process that could someday allow for more efficient fuel production.

About Fischer – Tropsch (FT) process:

• FT process is the process where synthesis gas (H₂ and CO) is converted into a mixture of hydrocarbons, oxygenates, water, and carbon dioxide.
• It was first developed in the 1920s and was named after its discoverers, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch.
• It involves the reaction of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H₂) gases. These gases are typically derived from various sources, including coal, natural gas, or biomass, through the process of gasification.
• FT process:
• Synthesis gas (syngas) is the feed material for a FT process.
• The FT reaction is usually a catalytic reaction at high temperatures and high pressure and the typical catalysts used are based on iron or cobalt.
• FT process is the catalytic polymerization and hydrogenation of CO, which produces a synthetic crude oil (syncrude). 
• Syncrude is a multiphase mixture of hydrocarbons, oxygenates, and water.
• The next step is the refining of the syncrude into products that are traditionally produced from conventional crude oil, such as transportation fuels and petrochemicals.
• Applications:
• It has several important applications, including the production of synthetic fuels and chemicals.
• The hydrocarbons produced by the FT process can be refined and used in place of more conventional liquid fuels derived from crude oil.
• Generally, these products are of higher quality than those derived through conventional means, having no sulphur or aromatics.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA, Bangalore) under the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India, have discovered a unique star named HE 1005-1439 classified as a Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) star.

• The researchers used high-resolution spectroscopic data acquired using High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) attached to SUBARU telescope (Japan) to analyze the star's surface chemical composition.
• The team found that the iron content of the star is thousand times less than that of the sun and it is heavily enriched with neutron-capture elements.
• The star which defies previous classifications and challenges previous understanding of star formation processes shows signs of having been formed through the combination of two different neutron-capture processes - the slow (s-) and intermediate (i-) neutron-capture processes.
• It can help understand how different star formation processes influence the elemental composition of stars.
• Elements beyond iron are created due to reactions in nuclear astrophysics called neutron capture processes.
• The slow (s-) process is believed to occur in low-mass stars during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase and the rapid (r-) process is believed to occur in Supernovae and Neutron Star mergers.
• One of the proposed sites for intermediate (i-) process is low-metallicity low-mass AGB stars.
• Understanding the relative contributions of these processes to the elemental composition of stars is important for understanding the chemical evolution of galaxies and the origins of the elements in the universe.

Key facts Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) star:

• These stars are characterized by diverse heavy elements abundance patterns and are primarily classified into four groups, based on which groups of heavy elements are more abundant.
• These are mostly dwarf stars, sub-giant stars, or giant stars, and stars that belong to these evolutionary stages cannot produce elements heavier than iron.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited under the Ministry of Power, has secured a coveted place in the esteemed Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Global Standard Index, effective from 1st September 2023.

• It is owned by the multinational investment management and financial services company Morgan Stanley.
• It is an investment research firm that provides stock indexes, portfolio risk and performance analytics, and governance tools to institutional investors and hedge funds.
• It is a leading provider of critical decision support tools, including stock indexes, and services for the global investment community.
• MSCI indices facilitate the construction and monitoring of portfolios in a cohesive and complete manner, avoiding benchmark misfit. It has over 160,000 indices in its portfolio.
• MSCI has indexes for countries, regions, emerging markets, developed markets, small cap, all cap and even Islamic indexes.
• It selects stocks for its equity indexes that are easily traded and have high liquidity, with companies having high free float getting more weightage.
• It prefers stocks that have active investor participation, and are without owner restrictions.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Mushkbudji Rice received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

• It is short bold aromatic rice grown in higher reaches of Kashmir valley.
• The cooked rice is unique and possesses a harmonious blend of taste, aroma and rich organoleptic properties.
• It is mainly is grown in areas of Sagam, Panzgam and Soaf Shali of district Anantnag and Beerwah belt of district Budgam.
• The consumption of aromatic rice in Kashmir has now been limited to special occasions, marriages, and festivals.

Hence, option d is the correct answer.