Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 12, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

The forest department is monitoring an outbreak of mange among a pack of Asiatic wild dogs in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris.

• It is a skin disease of animals caused by mite infestations, characterized by inflammation, itching, thickening of the skin, and hair loss.
• The most severe form of mange is caused by varieties of the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, which also causes human scabies.
• Some form of mange is known in all domestic animals, although many varieties of mange mites infest only one species.
• Transmission: They are transmitted between animals by direct contact and by objects that have been in contact with infected animals. Most forms of mange are treatable.

Key facts about Asiatic wild dogs

• It is a wild canid found in the forests of central, south, and southeast Asia. 
• Other Names: Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red wolf, red dog and mountain wolf.
• Distribution
• They are found throughout Eastern and Southeastern Asia. 
• They can be seen as far north as Siberia, as far south as some Malaysian islands, and as far west as the Indian peninsula. 
• They are found in three clusters across India, namely the Western and Eastern Ghats, the central Indian landscape and North East India. The Western and Eastern Ghats is a stronghold region for dholes.
• Habitat:  Dholes are animals that inhabit dense jungles, steppes, mountains, scrub forests, and pine forests.
• Conservation status
• IUCN Red List: Endangered
• The Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule II
• CITES: Appendix II

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Following its launch, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has evolved by leaps and bounds  and also recently announced API access to GPT-4 with Vision.

• It is also referred to as GPT-4V which allows users to instruct GPT-4 to analyse image inputs.
• It has been considered OpenAI’s step forward towards making its chatbot multimodal — an AI model with a combination of image, text, and audio as inputs.
• It allows users to upload an image as input and ask a question about it. This task is known as Visual Question Answering (VQA).
• It is a Large Multimodal Model or LMM, which is essentially a model that is capable of taking information in multiple modalities like text and images or text and audio and generating responses based on it.
• Features
• It has capabilities such as processing visual content including photographs, screenshots, and documents. The latest iteration allows it to perform a slew of tasks such as identifying objects within images, and interpreting and analysing data displayed in graphs, charts, and other visualisations.
• It can also interpret handwritten and printed text contained within images. This is a significant leap in AI as it, in a way, bridges the gap between visual understanding and textual analysis.
• Potential Application fields
• It can be a handy tool for researchers, web developers, data analysts, and content creators. With its integration of advanced language modelling with visual capabilities, GPT-4 Vision can help in academic research, especially in interpreting historical documents and manuscripts.
• Developers can now write code for a website simply from a visual image of the design, which could even be a sketch. The model is capable of taking from a design on paper and creating code for a website.
• Data interpretation is another key area where the model can work wonders as the model lets one unlock insights based on visuals and graphics.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, an international team of researchers’ discovered first fractal molecule in nature.

• It is a never-ending pattern which is infinitely complex and self-similar across different scales.
• In essence, a fractal is a pattern that repeats forever, and every part of the fractal, regardless of how zoomed in or zoomed out you are, it looks very similar to the whole image.
• They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. 
• Fractals are distinct from the simple figures of classical, or Euclidean, geometry—the square, the circle, the sphere, and so forth.
• Some of the more remarkable examples of such patterns include the design of human fingerprints, the stumps of trees, in the shells of snails, the system of human veins, the network of rivers as seen from high up, the splitting of veins in a plant leaf, the edges of a snowflake etc.
• They are capable of describing many irregularly shaped objects or spatially nonuniform phenomena in nature, such as coastlines and mountain ranges.
• Applications: Fractals are useful in modeling structures (such as eroded coastlines or snowflakes) in which similar patterns recur at progressively smaller scales, and in describing partly random or chaotic phenomena such as crystal growth, fluid turbulence, and galaxy formation.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, health officials in the United States have recalled several lots of hand sanitisers and aloe gels over the risk of methanol exposure.

• It appears as a colorless fairly volatile liquid with a faintly sweet pungent odor like that of ethyl alcohol.
• It is also known as also known as wood alcohol. It can completely mix with water.
• Production: Preparing methanol is based on the direct combination of carbon monoxide gas and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. Increasingly, syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide derived from biomass, is used for methanol production.
• Benefits
• Lower production costs—Methanol is cheap to produce relative to other alternative fuels.
• Improved safety—Methanol has a lower risk of flammability compared to gasoline.
• Increased energy security—Methanol can be manufactured from a variety of domestic carbon-based feedstocks, such as biomass, natural gas, and coal.
• Applications: Used to make chemicals, to remove water from automotive and aviation fuels, as a solvent for paints and plastics, and as an ingredient in a wide variety of products.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

While refusing to condone the delay of 5659 days in preferring an appeal, the Supreme Court recently laid down eight principles by providing harmonious construction to Sections 3 and 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963. 

About Doctrine of Harmonious Construction:

• It is an essential rule for interpreting statutes.
• It states that when there’s a conflict between two or more statutes or between different parts or provisions of a statute, we should interpret them in a way that harmonises them.
• This means that when there are inconsistencies, we should try to reconcile the conflicting parts so that one part doesn’t negate the purpose of another.
• It is rooted in the fundamental legal principle that every statute is created with a specific purpose and intent. Therefore, it should be understood as a whole.
• The intention of the legislature is that every provision should remain operative. 
• But when two provisions are contradictory, it may not be possible to effectuate both of them, and as a result, one will be rendered futile as against the settled basic principle of ‘ut res magis valeat qauam pereat’ (that a thing is better understood so that it may have an effect than that it should be made void).
• Therefore, the court should interpret the laws in a way that removes the inconsistency and allows both provisions to remain in force, working together harmoniously.
• The goal is to give effect to all the provisions. To avoid conflicts, the interpretation of the statute should be consistent with all its parts.
• If it’s impossible to harmoniously interpret or reconcile the different parts or provisions, then it’s the responsibility of the judiciary to make the final decision and give its judgment.
• In the landmark case of Commissioner of Income Tax v. M/S Hindustan Bulk Carriers (2000), the Supreme Court established five fundamental principles governing the rule of harmonious construction:
• Courts should make every effort to avoid conflicts between seemingly conflicting provisions and should attempt to interpret these provisions in a way that harmonises them.
• A provision in one section of the law should not be used to nullify a provision found in another section unless the court is unable to find a way to reconcile their differences despite diligent effort.
• In cases where it’s impossible to completely reconcile inconsistencies between provisions, the courts must interpret them in a manner that gives effect to both provisions to the greatest extent possible.
• Courts must consider that an interpretation rendering one provision redundant or useless goes against the essence of harmonious construction and should be avoided.
• Harmonizing two contradictory provisions means preserving and not destroying any statutory provision or rendering it ineffective.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

The Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA recently confirmed the attachment of assets worth Rs 751.9 crore belonging to the National Herald newspaper.

About Adjudicating Authority under the PMLA:

• Under PMLA, an adjudicating authority determines within 180 days whether the properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are involved in money laundering or not.
• Functioning:
• Section 5 of the PMLA provides for the attachment of any property that is suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of crime in a case of any offence that is listed in the schedule of the law. 
• The attachment order is issued if the ED Director feels that “such proceeds of crime are likely to be concealed, transferred, or dealt with in any manner which may result in frustrating any proceedings relating to confiscation of such proceeds of crime”.
• This provisional attachment order is valid fora period of 180 days. 
• It must be confirmed within this time by an adjudicating authority appointed by the central government, failing which the property is automatically released from attachment.
• Because the initial attachment is provisional, the accused can continue to enjoy the property until the adjudicating authority confirms the attachment, after which the ED has the power to claim possession.
• What happens after the Adjudicating Authority confirms the attachment?
• The accused has the right to challenge the adjudicating authority’s confirmation order at the PMLA’s Appellate Tribunal within 45 days.
• If the Appellate Tribunal too confirms the order, the accused can file a plea in the High Court, and so on.
• Unless the property is released along the way, it shall remain out of boundsfor the owner until the trial is completed. 
• Following final confirmation, in the case of a residential property, the ED will ask the owner to vacate the premises along with his belongings, and will take over possession.
• In case of a conviction, the trial court may order confiscation of the attached property and vest the rights to the property with the central government.
• Attached properties may remain locked for years as the legal process continues, and may start to crumble and decay.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Close to 100 hectares of forest were destroyed in a fire in the Sulthan Bathery forest range under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) recently.

About Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS):

• Location: It is located in Wayanad, Kerala, in the southern trenches of the Western Ghats.
• It is an integral part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Established in 1973, the sanctuary covers an area of approximately 344.44 sq. km,
• It is bordered by the protected areas of Nagarhole and Bandipur in Karnataka on the northeastern side and Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu on the southeastern side.
• Tribes living in these forests include some scheduled adivasis, such as Paniyas, Kattunaikkans, Kurumas, Ooralis, Adiyans, and Kurichiyas.
• Flora:
• It is a mosaic of the Western Ghats' significant vegetation types, ranging from moist deciduous to dry deciduous and semi-evergreen patches.
• Teak, rosewood, eucalyptus, and silver oak plantations cover roughly one-third of the sanctuary.
• Marshy lands also mark their presence in the sanctuary.
• Fauna:  
• It is also home to animals like elephants, panthers, tigers, jungle cats, civet cats, monkeys, wild dogs, bisons, deer and bears.
• It is known for having the largest population of tigers in Kerala. 

Hence option d is the correct answer.

A tiny "sungrazer" comet was discovered, photographed and destroyed during the recent total solar eclipse.

About Sungrazing Comets:

• Sungrazing comets are a special class of comets that come very close to the sun at their nearest approach, a point called perihelion.
• To be considered a sungrazer, a comet needs to get within about 850,000 miles from the sun at perihelion. 
• Many come even closer, even to within a few thousand miles.
• Being so close to the sun is very hard on comets for many reasons. 
• They are subjected to a lot of solar radiation, which boils off their water or other volatiles. 
• The physical push of the radiation and the solar wind also helps form the tails. 
• As they get closer to the sun, the comets experience extremely strong tidal forces, or gravitational stress. 
• In this hostile environment, many sungrazers do not survive their trip around the sun.
• Although they don't actually crash into the solar surface, the sun is able to destroy them.
• Most usually evaporate in the hot solar atmosphere.
• Orbit: Most of the sungrazing comets observed follow a similar orbit, called the Kreutz Path, a single orbit that takes 800 years to complete.
• They collectively belong to a population called the Kreutz Group.
• These Kreutz comets are fragments from a single large comet that was shattered thousands of years ago.
• The far end of the Kreutz path lies 160 times farther from the sun than the orbit of Earth.

Hence both statements are correct.

In a bid to manage the teeming population of invasive chital (spotted deer) in Ross Island the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration recently sought help from the Wildlife Institute of India.

• These are the species whose introduction and/or spread outside their natural past or present distribution threaten biological diversity.
• These include animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms, and can influence all kinds of ecosystems.
• These species need an introduction either through natural or human intervention, survive on native food resources, reproduce at a fast rate, and edge out native species in the competition over resources.
• Invasive species act as disruptors in the food chain and disturb the balance of the ecosystem. In habitats where there is no competition, invasive species can dominate the entire ecosystem.
• Characteristics: Common characteristics of IAS include rapid reproduction and growth, high dispersal ability, phenotypic plasticity (ability to adapt physiologically to new conditions), and ability to survive on various food types and in a wide range of environmental conditions.
• Areas more susceptible for Invasive Alien species are;
• Native ecosystems that have undergone human-induced disturbance are often more prone to alien invasions because there is less competition from native species.
• Islands are especially vulnerable to IAS because they are naturally isolated from strong competitors and predators.
• Islands often have ecological niches that have not been filled because of the distance from colonizing populations, increasing the probability of successful invasions.
• The list of invasive wildlife in India is dominated by certain species of fish such as the African catfish, Nile tilapia, red-bellied piranha, and alligator gar, and turtle species such as the red-eared slider.

Hence both statements are correct.

Government of India has come up with a new digital platform called CDP-SURAKSHA to disburse subsidies to horticulture farmers under the Cluster Development Programme (CDP).

• System for Unified Resource Allocation, Knowledge, and Secure Horticulture Assistance (SURAKSHA) is a platform which will allow an instant disbursal of subsidies to farmers in their bank account by utilising the e-RUPI voucher from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• Features: Database integration with PM-KISAN, cloud-based server space from NIC, UIDAI validation, eRUPI integration, local government directory (LGD), content management system, geotagging, and geo-fencing.
• Working
• The platform allows access to farmers, vendors, implementing agencies (IA), and cluster development agencies (CDAs), and officials of the National Horticulture Board (NHB).
• A farmer can login using their mobile number and place an order for planting material such as seeds, seedlings, and plants based on their requirement.
• Once the demand has been raised by the farmer, the system will ask them to contribute their share of the cost of planting material. The subsidy amount paid by the government will appear on the screen automatically.
• After the farmer pays their contribution, an e-RUPI voucher will be generated. This voucher will then be received by a vendor, who will provide the required planting material to the farmer.
• Once the ordered planting material is delivered to the farmer, they have to verify the delivery through geo-tagged photos and videos of their field.
• It is only after the verification that the IA will release the money to the vendor for the e-RUPI voucher.
• The vendor will be required to upload an invoice of the payment on the portal.
  The IA will collect all the documents and share them with the CDA for subsidy release, then only the subsidy will be released to the IA.

What is e-RUPI?

• The voucher is a one-time payment mechanism that can be redeemed without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the merchants accepting e-RUPI.
• It can be shared with the beneficiaries for a specific purpose or activity by organisations or government via SMS or QR code.

Hence option d is the correct answer.