Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 27, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said the time has come to amend the anti-defection legislation in the country to plug existing loopholes.

Anti-defection law

• The 52nd Amendment Act, 1985 provided for the disqualification of the members of Parliament and state legislatures on the ground of defection from one political party to another.
• Through this amendment, a new Schedule i.e. Schedule 10 was added to the Constitution.
• This act is often referred to as the ‘anti-defection law’.
• Later, the 91st Amendment Act, 2003 made one change in the provisions of the Tenth Schedule.
• It omitted an exception provision i.e., disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of split.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A self-amplifying mRNA vaccine — one in which the delivered RNA multiplies inside the body — has shown promising results against Covid-19 in ongoing phase 1/2/3 trials.

• The vaccine, ARCT-154, has been developed by Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings, based in San Diego, California, and its trials are in progress in Vietnam.
• An mRNA vaccine, such as those from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, use messenger RNA that encodes the spike protein of the coronavirus.
• In other words, the mRNA directs the cell to produce copies of the spike protein, so that the immune system will recognise the spike if and when actual infection takes place, and mount a response.
• A self-amplifying mRNA vaccine is an improvement on the traditional RNA platform.
• It encodes four extra proteins in addition to the vaccine antigen, and these enable amplification of the original strand of RNA once inside the cell.
• The basic advantage is that it requires a smaller dose.

Hence both statements are correct.

Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) to Continue as Subsidiary of Coal India Limited.

• Recently unconfirmed reports have appeared in a section of the Media that the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) is being merged with Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL).
• In this regard, the Ministry of Coal has clarified that CMPDIL is a subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL) that provides exploration and consultancy services primarily to the coal sector.
• Keeping in view the scope for its business expansion in other minerals, the Government has plans for its strengthening, for which it is being considered to merge MECL into CMPDIL.
• MECL has domain expertise in non-coal mineral exploration and consultancy. Therefore, such merger and creation of one integrated exploration and consultancy organization with requisite expertise for coal and non-coal sector would result in growth and value addition.
• At the same time, CMPDIL will continue to be a subsidiary of Coal India Limited.

Hence both statements are correct.

Indian astronomers from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, have discovered Gaia 20eae, the latest member of episodically accreting young stars.

• Scientists have spotted a new member belonging to the extremely rare group of young stars that exhibit episodic accretion.
• Such rare stars have gained significant interest in the star-formation community lately and this study could help probe into this group of stars and their formation mechanism in greater detail.
• Episodically accreting young stars are young, low-mass stars that have not initiated hydrogen fusion in their core and are fuelled by gravitational contraction and deuterium fusion (pre-main-sequence phase of the star).
• These pre-main-sequence stars are surrounded by a disc from which it steadily feeds on the matter from the disc-shaped region of gas and dust surrounding the star to gain mass.
• This process is known as mass accretion from the circumstellar disc of the star.
• On occasions their feeding rate increases. This is known as the periods of enhanced mass accretion from their circumstellar disc.
• So far 25 such rare groups of stars have been discovered.

Hence both statements are correct.

• In 2009, the United Nations designated 22^nd April as ‘International Mother Earth Day. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • Earth Day is now globally coordinated by EARTHDAY.ORG, which is a non-profit organization. It was formerly known as Earth Day Network.
• It aims to “build the world’s largest environmental movement to drive transformative change for people and the planet.”
• On 22^nd April 2022, the 52^nd anniversary of Earth Day was celebrated. The theme for Earth Day 2022 is "Invest In our Planet". Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Smart Cities Mission

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, launched in June 2015 to transform 100 cities to provide the necessary core infrastructure and clean and sustainable environment to enable a decent quality of life to their citizens through the application of "Smart Solutions".
• The mission aims to meet the aspirations of India’s population living in cities through various urban development projects.
• Among its strategic components is ‘area-based development’, which includes city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development), plus a pan-city initiative in which ‘smart solutions’ are applied covering larger parts of the city.
• Key focus areas of the scheme include construction of walkways, pedestrian crossings, cycling tracks, efficient waste-management systems, integrated traffic management and assessment. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The scheme also assesses various indices to track urban development such as the Ease of Living Index, Municipal Performance Index, City GDP framework, Climate Smart Cities assessment framework, etc. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• A Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is a corporation formed for the sole purpose of raising investment capital through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • At the time of their IPOs, SPACs have no existing business operations or even stated targets for acquisition. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Such a business structure allows investors to contribute money towards a fund, which is then used to acquire one or more unspecified businesses to be identified after the IPO.
  • Therefore, this sort of shell firm structure is often called a “blank-check company” in popular media.
• Once the money is raised from the public, it is kept in an escrow account, which can be accessed while making the acquisition.
  • If the acquisition is not made within two years of the IPO, the SPAC is delisted, and the money is returned to the investors.

• Recently, the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) launched the Fincluvation Platform to promote innovative solutions in collaboration with fintech startups to accelerate financial inclusion among the underserved and unserved population.
• Fincluvation will be a permanent platform of IPPB to co-create inclusive financial solutions with participating start-ups. Hence, statement 1 and statement 2 are correct.
• It is an Industry first initiative to create a powerful platform to mobilise the start-up community towards building meaningful financial products aimed at financial inclusion.
• Startups are encouraged to develop solutions aligned with any of the following tracks:
  • Creditization - Develop Innovative & Inclusive credit products aligned with the use cases of target customers and take them to their doorsteps through Postal network.
  • Digitization - Bring convenience through convergence of traditional services with Digital Payment Technologies such as making the traditional Money Order service as Interoperable Banking service.
  • Market Led Solution- Any Market-led solutions that can help solve any other problem relevant to IPPB and/or DoP in serving the target customers. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972

• It prohibits the hunting of any wild animal specified in Schedules I, II, III and IV of the Act. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
  • Exception: A wild animal listed under these schedules can be hunted/ killed only after getting permission from the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of the state if:
    • It becomes dangerous to human life or to property (including standing crops on any land).
    • It is disabled or suffering from a disease that is beyond recovery.
• It prohibits the uprooting, damage, collection, possession or selling of any specified plant from any forest land or any protected area. Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • Exception: The CWLW, however, may grant permission for uprooting or collecting a specific plant for the purpose of education, scientific research, preservation in an herbarium or if a person/institution is approved to do so by the central government.

Zika Virus

• Zika virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in monkeys. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• It was later identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific.
• Zika virus disease is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes and can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus.
• Sexual transmission of Zika virus is also possible. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika. Instead, the focus is on relieving symptoms and includes rest, rehydration and acetaminophen for fever and pain.