Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 13, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

India is the fourth highest donor to UN Democracy Fund, which funds at least 68 projects worldwide linked to the Open Society Foundation.

• It was created by the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world.
• It is used to empower civil society, promote human rights, and encourage the participation of all groups in democratic processes.
• India is a founding member of UNDEF.
• Funding: It subsists entirely on voluntary contributions from Governments.
• Advisory Board: It is constituted by the Secretary-General and includes
• UN Member States who have made the largest cumulative financial contributions to the Fund over the previous three years.
• International civil society organizations.
• Individuals serving in a personal capacity.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, physicists in Japan while studying the atoms of heavy elements discovered a previously unknown isotope of uranium-241.

• Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist.
• It is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the periodic table, with atomic number 92.
• It has the highest atomic weight of all naturally occurring elements.
• It occurs naturally in low concentrations in soil, rock and water, and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.
• Uranium ore can be mined from open pits or underground excavations.
• In India, Jaduguda in the Singhbhum Thrust Belt (in the state of Jharkhand, formerly part of Bihar) is the first uranium deposit to be discovered in the country in 1951 and several uranium occurrences have also been found in the Cuddapah basin of Andhra Pradesh.
• In the Mahadek basin of Meghalaya in the Northeastern part of the country, sandstone-type uranium deposits like Domiasiat, Wahkhyn, and Mawsynram provide near-surface flat ore bodies amenable to commercial operations.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, Scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India, have designed an efficient SERS substrate.

• It was discovered by C.V. Raman in 1928 to study the vibrational, rotational, and low-frequency modes of the molecules.
• Principle: The principle behind Raman spectroscopy is that the monochromatic radiation is passed through the sample such that the radiation may get reflected, absorbed, or scattered.
• The scattered photons have a different frequency from the incident photon as the vibration and rotational properties vary.
• Types of Raman Spectroscopy are
• Resonance Raman Spectroscopy (RRS)
• Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS)
• Micro-Raman Spectroscopy

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, the Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy released the report of the State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) 2021-22 in New Delhi.

• It is developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with Alliance for an Energy-Efficient Economy (AEEE).
• SEEI 2021-22 has an updated framework of 50 indicators aligned with national priorities. Programme-specific indicators have been included this year to track outcomes and impacts of state-level energy efficiency initiatives.
• The State Energy Efficiency Index (SEEI) 2021-22 is given to all Indian states based on their energy efficiency initiatives.
• 5 states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Telangana - are in the Front Runner category (>60 points).
• 4 states - Assam, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Punjab - are in the Achiever category (50-60 points).
• Further, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Chandigarh are the top-performing states in their respective state groups.
• Telangana and Andhra Pradesh showed the most improvement since the last index.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, Union Home Minister launches a vibrant villages program on the China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

• It is a Central Sponsored Scheme implemented over the financial Years 2022-23 to 2025-26.
• The programme will provide funds for the development of essential infrastructure and the creation of livelihood opportunities in 19 Districts and 46 Border blocks of 4 states and 1 UT along the northern land border of the country - Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and UT of Ladakh.
• The programme will help in improving the quality of life of people living in identified border villages and encourage people to stay in their native locations thereby reversing the outmigration from these villages and adding to the security of the border.
• Focus Areas: Road connectivity, drinking water, electricity including solar and wind energy, mobile and internet connectivity and healthcare infrastructure and wellness centres etc.  
• Vibrant Village Action Plans will be created by the district administration with the help of Gram Panchayats and 100 % saturation of Central and state schemes will be ensured.
• There will not be an overlap with Border Area Development Programme.

Hence both statements are not correct.

Recently, The Election Commission grants national party status to Aam Aadmi Party.

• The Election Commission has recognised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party and withdrew the national party status of the All India Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).
• The EC has also removed state party status granted to Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh, Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in Andhra Pradesh, People's Democratic Alliance in Manipur, Pattali Makkal Katchi in Puducherry, Revolutionary Socialist Party in West Bengal and Mizoram People's Conference in Mizoram.
• Now the country has six national parties- Bahujan Samaj Party, Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)and National People’s Party.
• According to the Election Commission, any of these three conditions need to be met if a party is to be called a "national party".
• A party's candidates in a minimum of four states must get at least 6 per cent of the total votes polled in each of those states in the last national election. In addition to this, it should have won four seats in the Lok Sabha.
• A party should win a minimum of 2 per cent of the total seats in the Lok Sabha. The party's candidates should have been elected from not less than three states.
• A party is recognised as a "state party" in at least four states.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Indian-American mathematician CR Rao was awarded International Prize in Statistics, in 2023.

• The International Prize in Statistics is awarded every two years by a collaboration among five leading international statistics organisations.
• The prize recognises a major achievement by an individual or team in the statistics field.
• The prize is modelled after the Nobel prizes, Abel Prize, Fields Medal and Turing Award and is called Math’s Nobel.
• Rao, a prominent Indian-American mathematician and statistician was born to a Telugu family in Hadagali, Karnataka.
• He is currently a professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University and Research Professor at the University at Buffalo.
• Rao has received many honours, like Padma Bhushan (1968) and Padma Vibhushan (2001).
• In his remarkable 1945 paper published in the Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society, Rao demonstrated three fundamental results that paved the way for the modern field of statistics and provided statistical tools heavily used in science today.
• The first, known as the Cramer-Rao lower bound, 2^nd known as the Rao-Blackwell and the third result provided insights that pioneered a new interdisciplinary field that has flourished as “information geometry.”

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Astronomers have recently made the most detailed map ever of mysterious dark matter using the universe’s very first light

About Dark Matter:

• What is it? Dark matter is a hypothetical invisible mass thought to be responsible for adding gravity to galaxies and other bodies.
• How much is dark matter?
• According to NASA, Dark matter seems to outweigh visible matter roughly six to one, making up about 27% of the universe.
• Roughly 68% of the universe is dark energy. Dark matter makes up about 27%. The rest visible matter is 5% of the universe.
• Why called dark matter? It is called so because unlike normal matter (i.e. stars and galaxies), dark matter does not interact with the electromagnetic force.
• Detection: As it does not interact with the electromagnetic force, thus it does not absorb, reflect or emit light or electromagnetic radiation of any kind. And this makes it extremely hard to spot/detect. It can be detected only through its gravitational effects.
• Importance: Its gravitational force prevents stars in our Milky Way from flying apart.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In 56th session of UN's Commission on Population and Development,held at New York, deputy Secretary-General warned that the goal of achieving quality education for all by 2030 is "seriously off track".

About UN Commission on Population and Development:

• A Population Commission was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946,which was renamed as the Commission on Population and Development by the General Assembly in 1994.
• The Commission is composed of 47 Member countries.
• Member countries are elected by the Economic and Social Council for a period of four years on the basis of geographic distribution.
• Commission was constituted as three-tiered intergovernmental mechanism that plays the primary role in the follow-up to the implementation of the programme of Action.

The meetings of commission was held typically every two or three years until 1994, after which it has been held once a year.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Central Government has recently notified the National Credit Framework (NCrF) to integrate the learning at multiple axis.

About National Credit Framework:

• It is an umbrella framework for skilling, re-skilling, up-skilling, accreditation & evaluation encompassing our people in educational & skilling institutions and workforce.
• The framework was developed by a high-level committee, including members from the UGC, AICTE, National Council for Vocational Education and Training, NCERT, CBSE and other educational departments.

How will Credit Framework work?

• Every academic assessment right from elementary school level to higher education as well as for vocational training and skill development courses acquired can be creditised and accumulated in the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC).
• As per the framework, even experiential learning including relevant experiences and proficiency/ professional levels and online, digital and blended learning will be creditised.
• Nothing is left unmeasured, as outside of classroom learning, sports and games, yoga, physical activities, performing arts, handicrafts, bag less days will also be part of it.
• The framework has divided the learning ecosystem into eight level, assigning credits based on learning hours and assessments from Class 5 all the way up to PhD level.
• Till Class 12, each subject is assigned 240 hours for self- -study at the school level.
• Vocational education and skill training from level 1 to 8 are also part of the framework.
• As per this system the final certificate/ degree will be awarded post the accumulation of the required number of and types of courses and the associated credits.
• At any point of time, the overall credit points accumulated by a student shall be calculated as ‘total credit points earned’ multiplied by the ‘weightage assigned to the relevant experience acquired by the student’.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.