Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 15, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs secretary said that India has become an OIML certificate-issuing authority.

• The OIML stands for International Organisation of Legal Metrology which was established in 1955.
• It is an international standard-setting body.
• It develops model regulations, standards and related documents for use by legal metrology authorities and industry.
• It plays a crucial role in harmonising national laws and regulations on performance of measuring instruments like clinical thermometers, alcohol breath analysers, radar speed measuring instruments, ship tanks found at ports, and petrol dispensing units.
• India became a member of the OIML in 1956. In the same year, India signed the metric convention.
• Headquarter: Paris

What is the OIML certificate?

• It is a system for issuing, registering and using OIML certificates, and their associated OIML type evaluation/test reports, for instruments like digital balance, clinical thermometers, etc.
• With the addition of India, the number of countries authorised to issue OIML certificates has increased to 13.
• Other certificate issuing countries: Australia, Switzerland, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden and Slovakia. 
• It is a single certificate accepted worldwide.
• Indian domestic manufacturers can now export their weighing and measuring instrument worldwide without incurring additional testing fees, resulting in significant cost savings.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-create data-driven digital public good which includes DiCRA.

• Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) is a collaborative digital public good which provides open access to key geospatial datasets pertinent to climate resilient agriculture.
• It   is curated by UNDP and partner organizations to inform public investments in agriculture, already provides intelligence on climate resilience for 50 million hectares of farmland across India.
• It is guided by the digital public good principles of open access, open software, open code and open APIs.
• It uses cutting edge data science and machine learning to identify farms that are resilient to climate change and those that are highly vulnerable.
• Advantages
• By partnering for enhancing and scaling its use, NABARD will host and maintain the DiCRA platform and use its key geospatial datasets for policy making, research and development activities, with UNDP's technical support.
• This five-year technical cooperation is envisaged to foster collective climate action, create innovative platforms and new product offerings to enhance economic empowerment in rural India.
• Such open data innovations can highlight best practices, optimize agriculture investments and shelter populations from risk.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the NASA's James Webb Space Telescope found tentative evidence which suggests signs of life on a distant exoplanet, K2-18b. 

• It was first discovered in 2015 more than 120 light-years from Earth during the space agency's K2 mission.
• It is 8.6 times bigger than Earth.
• It could be a "Hycean" world with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a surface covered by ocean water.
• Now, a new investigation with the Webb telescope has revealed traces of carbon-bearing molecules in its atmosphere, including methane and carbon dioxide.

Key points about the James Webb Space Telescope

• This telescope was built in collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency.
• It was launched in December 2021.
• It is presently at a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit.
• It's the largest, most powerful infrared space telescope ever built.
• Objectives: It will examine every phase of cosmic history; from the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our Solar System.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Recently, the Chief Justice of India announced the onboarding of the Supreme Court on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) in open court.

• The NJDG portal is a national repository of data relating to cases instituted, pending and disposed of by the courts across the length and breadth of the country.
• In this portal one may access case related information, statistics such as institution, pendency and disposal of cases, case-types, year-wise break-up of the Supreme Court of India.
• It is a database of orders, judgments and case details of 18,735 District & Subordinate Courts and High Courts created as an online platform under the e-Courts Project.
• It has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in close coordination with the in-house software development team of the Computer Cell, Registry with an interactive interface and analytics dashboard.
• The entire database shall be periodically updated on the NJDG portal.
• NJDG works as a monitoring tool to identify, manage & reduce pendency of cases.
• It helps to provide timely inputs for making policy decisions to reduce delays in disposing of cases and helps in reducing case pendency.
• It also facilitates better monitoring of court performance and systemic bottlenecks, and, thus, serves as an efficient resource management tool. To track cases related to land disputes.

What is e-Courts Project?

• It was conceptualised on the basis of the “National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary – 2005” submitted by e-Committee, Supreme Court of India.
• E-committee is a body constituted by the Government of India in pursuance of a proposal received from the Hon'ble the Chief Justice of India to constitute an eCommittee to assist him in formulating a National Policy on computerisation of the Indian Judiciary and advise on technological communication and management-related changes.
• It is a Pan-India Project, monitored and funded by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India for the District Courts across the country.

Hence both statements are correct.

An international team of researchers documented the discovery of a 265-million-year-old fossil of the species Pampaphoneus biccai which was found in Brazil.

• It belongs to the early therapsid clade called dinocephalians.
• It lived just before the largest extinction event in the history of Earth. That event eliminated 86 per cent of all animal species across the globe.
• Before the extinction event, dinocephalians were one of the major groups of large terrestrial animals that thrived on land.
• They were medium to large-sized creatures with both carnivorous and herbivorous representatives.
• They had thick cranial bones, which led to the group's name which translates to "terrible head" in Greek.
• These animals are rare in other parts of the world but well-known in South Africa and Russia.
• It is the only known species in Brazil.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

A Supreme Court (SC) Bench recently imposed a cost of ₹2,000 on an advocate-on-record (AoR) for sending a young junior to appear before the Bench without any papers.

About Advocate-on-Record (AoR):

• The concept of AoR was introduced by the SC with the power given to it under Article 145(1) of the Indian Constitution, which states that the SC may, from time to time, make rules for regulating the practices and procedures in the court.
• “Advocate on record” is a title given to an advocate who can represent a cause or pleading before the SC.
• Only these advocates are entitled to file any matter or document before the SC. They can also file an appearance or act for a party in the SC. 
• No other High Court in India has a similar provision.
• Order IV rule 5 of the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 lays down the requirements to be fulfilled to become an AoR. They are as follows:
• The Advocate is required to be enrolled with any State Bar Council.
• The Advocate is required to have a prior experience of at least 4 years.
• The Advocate has undergone a training of 1 year under a senior AoR.
• The Advocate has appeared for the examination conducted by the SC.
• The Advocate is required to have an office in Delhi within a radius of 10 miles from the SC house and give an undertaking to employ a clerk, who shall be a registered clerk, within one month of being registered as an advocate on record.
• Once registered, an AOR is issued a unique identification number that must be used on all documents filed in the SC.

Whether an Advocate is allowed to assist in a matter held before the SC?

• An advocate is allowed to assist, brief, collect all documents related to the case and help in the drafting as well.
• He can also argue and plead a case with the instructions of an AoR.
• Only the filing of a case under his Vakalatnama is restricted.

Hence both statements are correct.

World Lymphoma Awareness Day is observed every year on 15 September.

About Lymphoma:

• Lymphoma is a type of cancer that originates in the lymphatic system, which is a part of the body's immune system.
• The lymphatic system includes lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, the spleen, tonsils, and the bone marrow.
• Lymphomas are characterized by the abnormal growth and proliferation of lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, which can form tumors in various parts of the body.
• It’s considered a blood cancer because the condition starts in white blood cells (lymphocytes) in your lymphatic system.
• Lymphomas can be aggressive (fast-growing) or indolent (slow-growing).
• It can spread rapidly from the lymph nodes to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system. As cancerous lymphocytes spread into other tissues, the immune system cannot defend against infections as effectively.
• There are two main types of lymphoma:
• Hodgkin Lymphoma (HL):
• It is a relatively rare type of lymphoma that is characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells, which are large, abnormal cells found in the affected lymph nodes.
• It often has a predictable pattern of spreading through the lymphatic system.
• Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL):
• It is a more common and diverse group of lymphomas that can originate in various lymphatic tissues throughout the body.
• Unlike Hodgkin lymphoma, NHL does not involve Reed-Sternberg cells and has a more varied and less predictable pattern of growth.
• Cause: The cause of lymphoma is not fully understood, but it is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
• Signs and symptoms of lymphoma may include:
• Painless swelling of lymph nodes in the neck, armpits or groin
• Persistent fatigue
• Fever
• Night sweats
• Shortness of breath
• Unexplained weight loss
• Itchy skin
• Treatment: The course of treatment depends on the type of lymphoma a person has and the stage it has reached. Common lymphoma treatments include:
• Chemotherapy.
• Radiation therapy.
• Targeted therapy
• Immunotherapy.
• CAR T-cell therapy.
• Stem cell (bone marrow) transplantation.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

British-made Storm Shadow missiles were recently used in a Ukrainian strike that damaged a Russian submarine and ship at a major naval port in Crimea.

About Storm Shadow Missile:

• Storm Shadow/SCALP is a long-range cruise missile with stealth capabilities, jointly developed by the UK and France.
• The missile is intended to strike high-valued stationary assets such as airbases, radar installations, communications hubs and port facilities. 
• Able to be operated in extreme conditions, the weapon offers operators a highly flexible, deep-strike capability based on a sophisticated mission planning system.
• The Storm Shadow is also in service with the air forces of Egypt, India, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 
• Features:
• It is typically launched from the air.
• The missile weighs 1.3 tonnes and is just over 5m long.
• Powered by a turbo-jet engine, the missile travels at speeds of more than 600mph.
• It carries a 450kg conventional warhead to a range of up to 200 miles (300km).
• It is equipped with fire-and-forget technology and fully autonomous guidance. 
• The missile is fitted with a passive imaging infrared seeker.
• The missile is programmed with every detail of the targetand the path to be taken to reach the target prior to its launch.
• Once launched, the missile drops to a low altitude to avoid detection by enemy radar before latching onto its target with the infrared seeker.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Recently, cabinet gave approval for the continuation of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) with an approved outlay of Rs.8139.50 crore.

• It has been approved by the Government of India as a new Central Sector Scheme in 2017.
• Under the scheme guidelines of NESIDS, 100% centrally funding is provided to the State Governments of North Eastern Region.
• The funding is provided for the projects of physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power and connectivity enhancing tourism and Social infrastructure relating to primary and secondary sectors of education and health.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) will soon announce the results of the research award proposals it had invited to study the impact of various schemes and public policy initiatives of the Union government. 

• It was established in the year of 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country on the recommendation of Prof. V. K. R. V. Rao Committee.
• It is an autonomous organisation funded by the Ministry of Education
• Functions: It provides grants for projects, fellowships, international collaboration, capacity building, survey, publications etc. to promote research in social sciences in India. 
• The Council aims to:
• Review the progress of social science research and give advice to its users;
• Sponsor social science research programmes and projects and administer grants to institutions and individuals for research in social sciences

Hence both statements are correct.