Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 15, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Zydus Cadila has received approval for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D on 20/08/2021.

• It is the world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA based vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered in humans including Children and adults 12 years and above.
• Developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India under the ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’ and implemented by BIRAC, ZyCoV-D has been supported under COVID-19 Research Consortia through National Biopharma Mission for Preclinical studies, Phase I and Phase II Clinical Trials and under the Mission COVID Suraksha for Phase III Clinical Trial.
• This 3 dose vaccine which when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance. The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.

Hence both statements are correct.

Every kitchen in India makes use of turmeric in its meal, in one form or another. The actual turmeric slices or turmeric powder that we use every day in preparing our meals (as Haldi, Manjal, Pasupu, Arishina, Halud) has about 3% of the active component molecule called curcumin, a polyphenol diketone (and not a steroid).

• Researchers point out that there is another molecule in turmeric called piperine, which is an alkaloid, responsible for the pungency of pepper that we use every day in our cooking, along with turmeric.
• Piperine enhances curcumin absorption in the body. It gives turmeric its multivariate healing and protective power.

Hence both statements are correct.

Moderna, the Massachusetts-based American biotechnology company, has indicated that it may begin human trials for a vaccine for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in September, employing the same m-RNA platform that it has used in its COVID-19 vaccine.

• Formally known as mRNA-1644, it is made in a way to stimulate the B cells of the immune system. These are a class of white blood cells that produce antibodies which can bind to invading bacteria and viruses.
• The larger purpose of stimulating the B cells is to generate what are called broadly neutralising antibodies (bnAbs), which are specialised blood proteins that attach to the surface proteins of HIV and disable them by accessing key but hard-to-reach regions on the virus.
• Over the last decade, there have been advances in identifying new bnAbs from HIV-infected individuals that were seen to target very specific sites in the outer envelope of the HIV.
• Lab-based analysis and tests on animals have improved the understanding of how the knowledge of these sites can be used to make immunogens (or parts of a virus or bacteria that elicit an antibody response from the immune system. In the case of a coronavirus, for instance, the spike protein is an immunogen against which different vaccines elicit antibodies.)
• One such immunogen that has been designed in the lab is eOD-GT8 60mer, developed by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and its partners.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Fintech platform CRED announced the launch of a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending feature called CRED Mint — a service that will allow the company’s users to lend money to other users and make a 9% interest per annum on the amounts they give out as loan.

• In P2P lending, users sitting on idle money provide loans to potential borrowers identified by the service provider. These lenders then receive payments from the borrowers on a set basis — either one time, or in equated monthly instalments.
• P2P lending is not a new feature. Some of the major companies operating in this space include RupeeCircle, Finzy, IndiaMoneyMart, etc. For its P2P lending feature, CRED has tied up with RBI-approved non-banking financial company Liquiloans.
• In 2017, the Reserve Bank of India had brought this service under its regulatory purview.
• Even at the time, there were more than 20 P2P lending players in the market but RBI’s regulations ensured only the serious ones with watertight business models remained in the sector.
• One of the biggest risks associated with this kind of lending is the non-repayment of loans. Given that P2P lending is a form of unsecured loan, there is no guarantee put up by the borrower for the lender to redeem in case of a default.
• However, the unsecured nature of the loan is also the reason behind the high return on investment compared to other debt instruments.

Hence both statements are correct.

National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad notified as Central Drugs Laboratory for testing and batch release of vaccines.

• In public interest it is necessary to establish more facilities to regulate the testing of COVID-19 vaccines for quick release of vaccine batches for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infection.
• Considering this requirement, the Government of India has identified two Autonomous Institutes of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), viz., National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad and National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, for upgradation as Central Drug Laboratories (CDLs).
• The funding support for the same was provided under the PM-CARES funds.
• NIAB has been upgraded as Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) for COVID-19 vaccine testing facility at Hyderabad. The facility at NIAB, Hyderabad, has now been notified as Central Drugs Laboratory for testing and lot release of COVID-19 vaccines vide on 17th August, 2021.
• The facility at NCCS, Pune has already been notified as CDL on 28th June 2021.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project (of 25MW) in India on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

• This is also the first solar project to be set up under the Flexibilisation Scheme, notified by the Government of India in 2018.
• The floating solar installation which has a unique anchoring design is spread over 75 acres in an RW reservoir. This floating solar project has the potential to generate electricity from more than 1 lakh solar PV modules.
• NTPC is also planning to set up a hydrogen-based micro-grid system on a pilot basis at Simhadri.
• The 2000MW coal-based Simhadri Station is the first power project to implement an open sea intake from the Bay of Bengal which has been functional for more than 20 years.

Hence both statements are correct.

India is likely to receive a normal monsoon for the fourth consecutive year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its first Long Range Forecast (LRF) for this year released on April 14.

• The IMD predicts a “normal”, “below normal”, or “above normal” monsoon in relation to a benchmark “long period average” (LPA).
• According to the IMD, the “LPA of rainfall is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like month or season) average over a long period like 30 years, 50 years, etc”.
• The IMD’s latest prediction of a normal monsoon was based on the LPA of the 1971-2020 period, during which India received 87 cm of rain for the entire country on average.
• The IMD has in the past calculated the LPA at 88 cm for the 1961-2010 period, and at 89 cm for the period 1951-2000.
• While this quantitative benchmark refers to the average rainfall recorded from June to September for the entire country, the amount of rain that falls every year varies from region to region and from month to month.
• Therefore, along with the countrywide figure, the IMD also maintains LPAs for every meteorological region of the country — this number ranges from around 61 cm for the drier Northwest India to more than 143 cm for the wetter East and Northeast India.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ukraine claimed to have severely damaged the Russian Black Sea Fleet Flagship ‘Moskva’ off the coast of Odessa via a missile strike on the ship.

• The Ukrainians claim that the Moskva was hit by two anti-ship cruise missiles called the Neptune. Ironically, the design of this missile is based on a Russian Kh-35 cruise missile which goes by the NATO name of AS-20 Kayak.
• the Neptune is a coastal anti-ship cruise missile which is capable of destruction of naval vessels in a range of 300 km.
• Moskva is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy named after the city of Moscow. It has a displacement of 12,490 tons. It is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and carries a crew of around 500 personnel.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The government has designated chief commander of terrorist outfit Al-Umar Mujahideen, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar as a terrorist under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

• He was one of the released terrorists in the year 1999 Indian Airlines Flight hijacking crisis, in exchange for the hostages of Indian Airlines Flight.
• In its notification, Union Home Ministry said, Zargar has been running an incessant campaign from Pakistan to fuel terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and is a threat to peace, not only to India but across the world, with his contacts and proximity to radical terrorist groups.
• The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 (UAPA 2019), amended the UAPA, 1967 and that has made it possible for the Union Government to designate individuals as terrorists without a due process of law.

Hence both statements are correct.

National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) has extended an open invitation to all interested parties for sharing their Expression of Interest (EoI) for developing innovative solutions that shall help build a national digital health ecosystem for India.

• The interested developers/ parties can also make a significant contribution to the national digital health ecosystem development by sharing their Expression of Interest (EoI).

Some illustrative examples of the contribution for this cause are as follows:

• Unified Health Interface (UHI) - NHA intends to develop a digital platform (similar to Unified Payment Interface or UPI) for interoperability between various digital solutions to facilitate various stakeholders using disparate solutions to communicate.
• Health Claims Platform (HCP) - NHA is developing a Health Claims Platform as a public good. Health providers (e g: Hospitals, labs) can submit their e-claims on this platform which can be received by payers (e.g.: Insurers, TPAs) for processing.
• Software as a Service (SaaS) - Various digital health solutions can be used by healthcare providers. These may include solutions such as Hospital Information System (HIS), Hospital (or Health) Management Information System (HMIS) etc.

Hence both statements are correct.