Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 12, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will hear a landmark case brought by a group of small island states seeking protection of the world's oceans from catastrophic climate change.

• It is an independent judicial body established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• Composition
• The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members.
• Members elected by secret ballot by the States Parties to the Convention.
• Each State Party may nominate up to two candidates.
• Jurisdiction
• It has jurisdiction over any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, and over all matters specifically provided for in any other agreement which confers jurisdiction on the Tribunal.
• Disputes relating to the Convention may concern the delimitation of maritime zones, navigation, conservation and management of the living resources of the sea, protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine scientific research.
• The Tribunal is open to States Parties to the Convention (i.e. States and international organisations which are parties to the Convention).
• It is also open to entities other than States Parties, i.e., States or intergovernmental organisations which are not parties to the Convention, and to state enterprises and private entities.
• The seat of the Tribunal is in the City of Hamburg, Germany. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Under the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), the Ministry of Education is pushing States to open Vidya Samiksha Kendras (VSKs).

• Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSKs) is a data repository which will have data from all schemes run by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
• The control rooms of this Kendras will collect data to track key performance indicators as well as analyse data collated from govt schemes ‘using AI & machine-learning.’
• This repository will include regularly updated data from
• The PM-POSHAN mid-day meal programmes;
• Teacher training data from National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement portal;
• Textbook content from Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing;
• School dropout and attendance-related data on Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+);
• Students’ learning outcomes from National Achievement Survey;
• Performance Grading Index which evaluates school education system at the State/U.T. level.
• Funding: The Centre has allocated funds ranging from 2 to 5 crore rupees to each State for adopting and establishing VSKs.
• Significance:
  • The idea of developing VSKs is also to map the school location layer with the population layer to assess the Gross Access Ratio.
  • It can help plan for new schools, or for industry clusters to understand skilling requirements of the area, and help plan higher educational institutions based on demand and future scenarios.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways will attend the Eastern Economic Forum which is being held at the Russian port city of Vladivostok.

• It was established in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.
• It is a key international platform for establishing and strengthening ties within the Russian and global investment communities.
• For comprehensive expert evaluation of the economic potential of the Russian Far East, the investment opportunities it offers, and business conditions within advanced special economic zones.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Recently, the European Commission has designated six technology giants – Alphabet , Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft – as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

• It is a groundbreaking European law aiming to prevent large online platforms that connect consumers with content, goods, and services from abusing their market power.
• The European Commission believes that keeping the big internet companies in check can lead to more competition and choice, greater innovation, better quality, and lower prices.
• Key Measures
• Tighter restrictions on how digital gatekeepers can use people’s data—users must give their explicit consent for their activities to be tracked for advertising purposes.
• Messaging services and social media platforms teaming up and sharing users. This could mean, for example, Meta-owned WhatsApp users being able to send messages directly to a completely different messaging service, such as Telegram.
• Presenting users with the option to uninstall preloaded applications on devices.
• Gatekeepers are banned from ranking their own products or services higher than others in online searches.
• According to the rules, any service offered by the company that meets two criteria are gatekeeper designated. These are:
• They have a market value of at least EUR 75 billion (approximately $82 billion), and
• Either own a social platform or app that is used by at least 45 million people every month or have at least 10,000 active business users.
• The bulk of the DMA will become enforceable during 2023.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Gene-drive technology has been used in outdoor but controlled conditions in India, Brazil, and Panama to genetically manipulate mosquitoes.

• A gene drive is a type of genetic engineering technique that modifies genes.
• This technology was conceived by Austin Burt, professor at Imperial College London.
• This technique could be an effective way to eradicate nuisance species, such as malaria-causing mosquitoes. 
• Under this technique mosquitoes will selectively inherit some genes, rather than the inheritance to follow the rules of Mendelian genetics.
• In this a protein cuts the mosquito’s DNA at a part that doesn’t encode a particular sequence in the genome.
• This triggers a natural mechanism in the cell containing the DNA to repair it and forces the cell to incorporate a sequence, called the drive sequence, into the damaged portion.

Hence both statements are correct.

Unique terracotta figurines in different states of preservation have been found in recent archaeological explorations conducted in the megalithic dolmen site at Mudu Konaje, near Moodbidri, in Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka state.

• Megalithic culture is known for its different types of burials and use of iron in India. Dolmen is one among them.
• Features
• Under a dolmen, huge stone slabs known as orthostats were erected in clockwise order, which created a square room.
• This square chamber was closed by an another huge stone slab as a cap stone.
• Generally, on the Eastern slab, a round or U-shaped entrance known as port-hole was created.
• It was known by different names in South India like Kalmane, Pandavara Mane, Moriyara Mane and Moriyara Betta etc which reveals its popularity among the common people.

Key findings in Mudu Konaje site

• The figurines were datable to 800-700 BC.
• It was the biggest megalithic dolmen site which consisted nine dolmens on the slope of a stone hill.
• Of the eight figurines found, there are two cow bovines, one mother goddess, two peacocks, a horse, a hand of a mother goddess, and an unknown object.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor asked fintech entities to form a Self-Regulatory Organisation (SRO).

About Self Regulatory Organisation:

• It is a non-governmental organisation that sets and enforces rules and standards relating to the conduct of entities in the industry (members).
• Aim: Protecting the customer and promoting ethics, equality, and professionalism.
• These are typically collaborating with all stakeholders in framing rules and regulations.

What are the functions of an SRO?

• The recognised SRO will serve as a two-way communication channel between its members and the RBI.
• It will work towards establishing minimum benchmarks and standards and help instill professional and healthy market behaviour among its members.
• These will impart training to the staff of its members and others and will conduct awareness programmes.
• It will establish a uniform grievance redressal and dispute management framework across its members.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has dismissed an appeal filed by Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd. challenging the Order passed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) with regard to violation of the rights of consumers by the company.

• It is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
• The Commission is headed by a sitting or a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India or a sitting or retired Chief Justice of the High Court.
• The Act mandates the establishment of Consumer Protection Councils at the Centre as well as in each State and District to promote consumer awareness.
• The Central Council is headed by the Minister In-charge of the Department of Consumer Affairs in the Central Government, and the State Councils by the Minister In-charge of Consumer Affairs in the State Governments.
• It also provides for a 3-tier structure of the National Commission, the State Commissions and the District Commissions for speedy resolution of consumer disputes.
• Its head office is in New Delhi.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, scientists developed a new methodology, called Equal Contrast Technique (ECT), to analyze images of the Sun in white light can help obviate temporal and latitudinal variations in observations related to instrument and sky conditions.

• It is known that there are large numbers of regions of weak magnetic field on the sun which vary with time.
• These can be studied using magnetograms and Ca-K line images of the sun as there is strong correlation between the magnetic field and the Ca-K line intensity of the region on sun.
• The magneto-grams are available for short period and the characteristics of the instrument are changing with time.
• Ca-K line images are available for long period at Kodaikanal observatory (KO), for more than 100 years with no change in the optics of the instrument.
• Similarly, other observatories in the world, such as Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) have this type of data for about 70 years.
• Using the data obtained at Kodaikanal observatory the scientists have shown that correlation between derived plage area (bright region in the sun’s chromosphere) from the Ca-K images and sunspot number is excellent, even on daily basis, over a period of about 100 years for the first time.
• Significance:
• This type of accurate analysis of the historic time series of Ca-K images can be useful for reliable and accurate investigation of variations on the sun and the effect of this on the climatic condition of the earth.
•  It helps in understanding the dynamics of the sun, solar cycle variations, dynamo processes in the convection zone and resulting long term climatic variations on the earth.

What is Magnetogram?

• It is an image taken by an instrument which can detect the strength and location of the magnetic fields on the Sun.
• In a magnetogram, grey areas indicate that there is no magnetic field, while black and white areas indicate regions where there is a strong magnetic field.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, Tejas, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) LSP-7 successfully fired the ASTRA missile off the coast of Goa on August 23, 2023. 

• It is an indigenous Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air missile.
• It is to engage and destroy highly maneuvering supersonic aerial targets.
• It is designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Research Centre Imarat (RCI) and other laboratories of DRDO.
• The indigenous Astra BVR firing from home grown Tejas fighter is a major step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

Hence both statements are correct.