Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 3, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs dedicated to the nation, a new Web Portal and Mobile App, e-Sampada.

• The new application provides a single window for all these services including allotment for over one lakh government residential accommodations, office space allotment to government organisations, booking of 1,176 holiday home rooms and venues like 5, Ashoka Road for social functions etc.
• In its endeavour to provide ‘One Nation, One System’, the erstwhile four websites (gpra.nic.in, eawas.nic.in, estates.gov.in, holidayhomes.nic.in), and two Mobile Apps (m-Awas & m-Ashoka5) of the Directorate of Estates have been integrated into one.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National Jal Jeevan Mission has launched an innovation challenge in partnership with Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to develop portable devices for water testing.

• Water quality testing is one of the priority areas under Jal Jeevan Mission, the flagship programme of Union Government.
• The aim of the innovation challenge is to ensure that water sources are tested at various locations, at different levels; thereby, helping the policy framers to design programs which address the water contamination issues.
• Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation in partnership with the States to enable every rural home to have tap water connection by 2024.
• The Uniform Drinking Water Quality Protocol, 2019 has specified some important parameters to be monitored for assuring portability of drinking water as per BIS IS 10500:2012 and subsequent amendments.

Hence both statements are correct.

Home Secretary and Secretary DoPT, A K Bhalla released the progress report of e-HRMS (Electronic-Human Resource Management System).

• e-HRMS was launched by Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on 25th December, 2017 and it had 25 applications of 5 modules of the system.
• e-HRMS is also known as Manav Sampada (appropriately name for Human Capital, being the most important factor for the success of any Government, Organisation or Company).
• It is a standard ICT solution for the Government sector, addressing maximum requirements of State Governments related to personnel management.
• It further assists the top management in knowing the exact number of employees, the retirement pattern, additional requirements in coming year for planning recruitments, funds required for retiring employees, re-allocation of surplus employees to other Departments/organisations within the State, ACR/Property Return status, seniority lists etc.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In a paper published in the journal Endangered Species Research, authors described a new whale song, suggesting the existence of a population that was previously unknown.

• Researchers have recorded the unique song off the coast of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea, off the western Chagos Archipalego, and off Madagascar in the southwestern Indian Ocean.
• Since it is the only blue whale song identified by them in the western Arabian Sea, researchers have called it the “Northwest Indian Ocean”.
• Researchers believe the source is either the blue whale or Bryde’s whale since both species have been documented off Oman previously.
• Significance: Given that this song-type has not been reported before, the presence of it across a large geographic region indicates the likely existence of a previously undefined population of blue whales in the Western Indian Ocean.
• Not all whales sing. Only some, such as the baleen whale, have been found to sing songs.
• Whales use songs to communicate and socialise. Their songs can be characterised as clicks, whistles and pulsed calls or a composition of “moans, snores, chirps and cries”.
  • Whales use clicks to navigate and identify their surroundings as the sound bounces off objects, helping whales determine their shapes.
  • Whales use whistles and pulses, on the other hand, during social activities.
• Whale songs can last between 6-35 minutes, and some individual whales have been found to sing for 22 hours.
• Whale songs are typically below 4 kHz in frequency (human hearing range is between 20 Hz to 20 kHz), thus being inaudible to human ears.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students. Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) has launched an online learning platform called the Bharatskills (https://bharatskills.gov.in) in Oct 2019.
• It is a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
• This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highway announced that FASTag is being made mandatory for all vehicles in the country from new year. FASTag will be enforced from 1st of January, 2021.

• The FASTags were launched in the year 2016.
• Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a notification in November this year making FASTag mandatory by 1st of January 2021 in old vehicles also sold before 1st December, 2017 through amendments in CMVR, 1989.
• As per Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, since 1st December 2017, the FASTag had been made mandatory for all registration of new four wheeled Vehicles and is being supplied by the Vehicle Manufacturer or their dealers.
• It had further been mandated that the renewal of fitness certificate will be done only after the fitment of FASTag for the Transport Vehicles.
• For National Permit Vehicles, the fitment of FASTag was mandated since 1st October 2019.
• It has also been mandated that a valid FASTag is mandatory while getting a new 3rd Party Insurance through an amendment in FORM 51 (certificate of Insurance), wherein the details of FASTag ID shall be captured. This shall be applicable w.e.f. 1 April 2021.
• This would be a major step for ensuring that the payment of fees be 100% at Toll Plazas through the Electronic Means only and that the vehicles pass seamlessly through the Fee Plazas. There would be no waiting time at the Plazas and would save fuel.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched 'Swachhata Abhiyan', a mobile application to identify and geotag insanitary latrines and manual scavengers.

• He urged all citizens to download the app, ''Swachhata Abhiyan'', and through it provide the authorities concerned details of any insanitary latrine or manual scavenger they notice.
• This would help in rehabilitating all manual scavengers and replace insanitary latrines with sanitary ones.
• Census 2011 reported that there were over 26 lakh insanitary latrines in the country. Existence of insanitary latrines is the main reason for manual scavenging.
• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, mandates survey of insanitary latrines, their demolition and construction of sanitary ones in their place. The government has been implementing Swachh Bharat Mission for the same purpose.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced the launching of “CoWIN”, a Grand Challenge for strengthening the COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system.

• COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) system is a digitalised platform to be used to effectively roll out and scale up the mechanism for COVID Vaccine Distribution System, nationally.
• It will be launched on the MSH (MeitY Startup Hub) portal, a collaborative platform developed under the aegis of MeitY towards building meaningful synergies in the Indian tech start-up space.
• The challenge invites participation from talented and innovative start-ups and emerging technology specialists to augment and scale the CoWIN platform.
• MoHFW has identified seven (07) focus areas of technology development to holistically address the likely limitations associated with complete and effective vaccine distribution system (VDS) and its seamless administration across India.
• The Challenge kickstarts with registration process at https://meitystartuphub.in on 23rd December 2020 and is open for participants to apply till 15th January 2021.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is expected to launch municipal bonds in January 2021.

• With this, it will become the third Urban Local Body (ULB) in Gujarat to use this method to raise money to fund development work sanctioned under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). It has sought approval for the same from the state government.
• Ahmedabad was the first city in south Asia to launch a municipal bond of Rs 100 crore in 1998. Surat Municipal Corporation was the second city in Gujarat to announce bonds in 2018.
• A municipal bond is a kind of debt instrument where investors offer loans to local governments.
• They are issued by civic bodies for specific projects and usually have a 10-year tenure.
• The ULB pays the annual interest on the bonds to the investor at the decided rate. The difference between a bank loan and a municipal bond is that any institution can secure a bond only if it has favourable credit ratings.
• Benefits: The bond helps raise funds from the stock market. The bond also increases the number of investors available to the civic body, as compared to a loan from a single bank.
• Under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, urban local bodies (ULBs) are encouraged to tap the bond market. Bonds help ensure improved credit profiles, direct transfer of funds by the Centre, transparency and efficient revenue generation.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Two persons died and several took ill in a major ammonia gas leakage at the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) unit at Prayagraj.

• A tri-hydroid of nitrogen (NH₃), ammonia is a building block for ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) that is used in agriculture as a high-nitrogen fertiliser.
• Ammonia is stored for industrial use in liquid form under high pressure or in gaseous form at low temperature.
• Ammonia, which is highly soluble in water, is found in soil, air, and water; it is naturally present in the body and secreted by the kidneys to neutralise excess acid. However, it is highly diluted when in the environment and does not affect the human body to a noticeable level.
• Ammonia is critical in the manufacturing of fertilizers, and is one of the largest-volume synthetic chemicals produced in the world. More than 80 per cent of ammonia made is consumed in the manufacturing of fertilizer, and most of the remainder goes into the production of formaldehyde.
• Ammonia, even in moderate concentration, can cause irritation to eyes, skin, nose and throat.
• Ammonia interacts immediately upon contact with moisture present in the skin, eyes, oral cavity, respiratory tract to form ammonium hydroxide, which is very caustic and disrupts the cell membrane lipids, ultimately leading to cellular destruction.
• The gas is toxic and affects the lungs with a possibility of causing chemical pneumonitis — inflammation of the lung caused by aspirating or inhaling irritants.

Hence both statements are correct.