Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 19, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Over 70 years after it went extinct in India, the cheetah returned to the country on September 17, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday.

• The cheetah has an ancient history in the country, with a Neolithic cave painting of a ‘slender spotted feline being hunted’ having been found at Chaturbunj Nala in Mandasur, Madhya Pradesh.
• The name ‘cheetah’ is believed to have originated from Sanskrit word chitrak, which means ‘the spotted one’.
• In India, the cheetah population used to be fairly widespread. The animal was found from Jaipur and Lucknow in the north to Mysore in the south, and from Kathiawar in the west to Deogarh in the east.
• The cheetah is believed to have disappeared from the Indian landscape in 1947 when Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya princely state hunted down and shot the last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in India. The cheetah was officially declared extinct by the Indian government in 1952.
• While over-hunting was a major contributing factor for the cheetah’s extinction, the decimation of its relatively narrow prey base species and the loss of its grassland-forest habitat also played a role.

Hence both statements are correct.

Sri Lanka will revive its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India and upgrade it to a “a comprehensive economic and technological partnership”, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, signalling Colombo’s willingness to revisit a stalled pact.

• The current Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) came into effect in 2000 and several rounds of bilateral discussions later, Colombo and New Delhi are yet to reach an agreement on its upgraded version.
• Mr. Wickremesinghe, as Prime Minister between 2015 and 2019, attempted to sign an upgraded trade pact with India, but was unsuccessful.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

As part of efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking to fly an AN-32 transport aircraft modified to operate on 10% blended biodiesel for 200 flight hours in the next six months.

• The aircraft took flight on biodiesel blended with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for the first time in December 2018.
• A second aircraft, a Dornier, was now undergoing ground tests after it had been cleared by the original manufacturer of the engine, Honeywell, for use of 50% biofuel.
• The global aviation industry is one of the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The fuel consumption of the IAF for 2021-22 was 6.2 lakh kilo litres, which contributed 15 lakh tonnes of carbon dioxide.
• On the civil aviation front, an official from aircraft manufacturer Airbus said it had plans to offer 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) compatibility on its commercial aircraft latest by 2030.

Hence both statements are correct.

A Mumbai-based businessman will fund the facelift of Kedarnath temple’s sanctum sanctorum, which will now be gold-plated. Currently the sanctum sanctorum of one of the famous Char Dham temples is covered with 230 kilograms of silver.

• Kedarnath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple is located on the Garhwal Himalayan range near the Mandakini river, in the state of Uttarakhand.
• The temple is one of the four major sites in India's Chota Char Dham pilgrimage of Northern Himalayas and is the first of the Panch Kedar pilgrimage sites.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with leaders of SCO nations participated in the 22nd SCO Summit at Samarkand in Uzbekistan.

• Besides leaders of SCO member states, observer states, Secretary General of the SCO, Executive Director of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), President of Turkmenistan and other invited guests attended the meet.
• India has been working closely with Uzbekistan towards the success of their Chairship.
• On the side-lines of the SCO Summit, Prime Minister Modi held informal meetings with a number of leaders on matters of mutual interest. He also took part in bilateral meetings held after the summit with Russia, Uzbekistan and Iran.
• The SCO Summit 2022 was first held in Shanghai in June 2002. There are eight members, out of which six are founding members. The last two countries – India and Pakistan – joined as full members in 2017.
• Member countries are: China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India is going to host 9th session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture from 19th to 24th of this month.

• The Treaty is a legally binding comprehensive agreement adopted in November 2001 at Rome during the 31st session of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which entered into force in June 2004.
• During the event an extensive deliberation on how to preserve, conserve and maintain the germplasm, biodiversity, and food and agriculture will be held. Deliberation will also be held on how to exchange and share the tolerant germplasm through a multilateral system.
• The event will also witness a discussion on farmers' and breeders' rights.
• Representatives of nearly 262 countries are expected to participate in this seven-day-long event.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh presented INSPIRE awards to 60 Start-Ups and financial support to over 53 thousand students.

• The award is instituted by the Department of Science and Technology and these innovators will be extended complete incubation support for their entrepreneurship journey.
• During the year 2020-21, while the country was battling with the severe impact of COVID-19, the annual INSPIRE Awards - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) competition attracted an unprecedented 6.53 Lakh ideas and innovations from all States.
• The scheme aims to help build a critical human resource pool for strengthening, expanding the science and technology system and increase the research & development base.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

India scripted a new world record of maximum number of blood donations in a single day on the occasion of the 72nd birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi under 'Raktdaan Amrit Mahotsav'.

• This was the largest country-wide Blood Donation Drive. The campaign was aimed at increasing awareness regarding regular non-remunerated voluntary blood donations and ensure that blood or its components are available, accessible, affordable and safe.
• As per 2021 statistics, India’s annual requirement is around 1.5 crore units.
• In India, the regulatory framework for blood donation and blood bank management rests with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, while technical bodies like the National Blood Transfusion Council and National AIDS Control Organisation formulate guidelines and recommendations for transfusion medicine and blood bank management.

Hence both statements are correct.

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anupriya Patel, attended East Asia Summit Economic Ministers’ Meeting in Siem Reap City of Cambodia.

• The meeting saw representation from all 10 ASEAN countries as well as eight partner countries including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US.
• The East Asia Summit (EAS) is the Indo-Pacific's premier forum for strategic dialogue.
• The EAS has 18 members - the ten ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) along with Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States. ASEAN leads the forum, and the chair position rotates between ASEAN Member States annually.
• The EAS calendar culminates in the annual Leaders' Summit, which is usually held alongside ASEAN Leaders' meetings in the fourth quarter of every year.
• In addition to the Leaders' Summit, meetings of EAS Foreign Ministers and Economic Ministers are held annually.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the National Logistics Policy that seeks to address challenges facing the transport sector and bring down the logistics cost for businesses from 13-14% to a single digit.

• The policy is aimed at bringing down the time & cost of transportation of industrial products. It will also prevent damage to agricultural products by providing faster transportation.
• The Unified Logistics Interface Platform will bring all digital services related to the transportation sector into a single portal, freeing the exporters from a host of very long and cumbersome processes.
• Under the policy, a new digital platform - Ease of Logistics Services - has also been started.
• PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan will work in tandem with the National Logistics Policy.
• The Policy, which focuses on re-engineering, digitisation and multimodal transport, will further boost ‘ease of doing business for all industries and stakeholders.

Hence both statements are correct.