Daily Current Affairs MCQ- August 7, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

• A recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) titled as-  75 Endemic Birds of India, was recently released on the 108th foundation day of the ZSI.
• India is home to 1,353 bird species, which represents approximately 12.40% of global bird diversity. Of these 1,353 bird species, 78 (5%) are endemic to the country.

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is looking to revise its current recommendations aimed at safeguarding non-profit organisations (NPO) from being abused for terrorist financing.
• Statement 1 is correct: FATF is an inter-governmental body decision-making body established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris to develop policies against money laundering.
• Statement 2 is correct: India became an Observer at FATF in 2006. Since then, it has been working towards full-fledged membership. On June 25, 2010 India was taken in as the 34th country member of FATF.
• The FATF Secretariat is located in Paris.
• The FATF Plenary is the decision making body of the FATF.
  • It meets three times per year.
• FATF has 2 types of lists for classifying countries:  Black List and Grey List.

Recently, the union Ministry of Defence inaugurated the 132nd edition of Durand Cup in Kokrajhar.

• It is Asia’s oldest and the world’s third oldest football tournament, in which top Indian football clubs from across the country participate.
• The inaugural edition took place in Shimla in 1888, when it started off as an Army Cup, open only to the British Indian Army troops in India.
• The tournament is named after its founder Sir Henry Mortimer Durand.
• It was begun as a football tournament for different departments and regiments of the Armed forces of India and the princely states.
• Since independence, the army’s presence is maintained by the participation of several clubs of different regiments of the Indian Armed Forces as guest invitees.
• The Durand Cup tournament is unique where in the winning team walks away with three trophies,
• The Durand Cup (a rolling trophy and the original prize).
• The Shimla Trophy (also a rolling trophy and first given by the residents of Shimla in 1904).
• The President's Cup (for permanent keep and first presented by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first President, in 1956). 

Hence option a is the correct answer.

Recently, the union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology informed the Rajya Sabha about the NIDHI Program.

• National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing innovations (NIDHI) program was launched in 2016.
• It is an umbrella programme conceived and developed by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship division, Department of Science & Technology.
• Aim: To nurture start-ups through scouting, supporting and scaling innovations.
• Key stakeholders: Various departments and ministries of the central government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists and private sectors.
• Funding: By the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB).

Hence both statements are correct.

Direct-to-home (DTH) company Tata Play is set to expand its bandwidth capacity by 50% by adding 24 new Ku-band transponders on the communication satellite GSAT-24.

• It was built by ISRO for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) which was successfully placed into geostationary orbit by the Ariane 5 rocket.
• It is a 24-Ku band communication satellite weighing 4,180 kg with pan-India coverage for meeting DTH application needs.
• It was the first demand driven communication satellite mission undertaken by NSIL post space sector reforms.
• It is configured on ISRO's proven I-3k Bus with a mission life of 15 years.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) recently said several states and Union territories (UTs) are yet to implement the Incident Response System (IRS).

About Incident Response System:

• IRS is a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedure and communications operating within a common organizational structure, with responsibility for the management of assigned resources to effectively accomplish stated objectives pertaining to an incident.
• Functions:
• In line with administrative structure and DM Act 2005, Responsible Officer (RO) is designated at the State and District level as overall in charge of the incident response management.
• RO may delegate responsibilities to the Incident Commander (IC), who in turn will lead/manage the incident through Incident Response Teams (IRTs).
• IRS functions through Incident Response Teams (IRTs) in the field. An IRT is a team comprising all positions of IRS organization; headed by Incident Commander (IC).
• On receipt of Early Warning, RO activates IRTs. In case of a disaster without any warning, local IRT will respond and contact RO for further support, if required.
• IRTs pre-designated at all levels, i.e. State, District, Sub-Division and Tehsil/Block.
• IRT’s lowest administrative unit (Sub-Division / Tehsil / Block) will be the ‘first responder’.
• If the incident becomes complex and beyond the control of local IRT, higher level IRT will be informed / take over the response management. In such cases the lower level IRT will merge with the higher level IRT.
• When lower level of IRT merges with a higher level, IC of lower level may play the role of Deputy IC or Operations Sections Chief (OSC) or any other duty that the IC of higher authority assigns.

Key Facts about National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA):

• Parent body: Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Primary Objective: To coordinate response to natural or man-made disasters and for capacity-building in disaster resiliency and crisis response.
• It is responsible for framing policies, laying down guidelines and best-practices and coordinating with the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) to ensure a holistic and distributed approach to disaster management.
• Origin: NDMA was established through the Disaster Management Act enacted by the Government of India in 2005.
• Organisation setup:
  • The Prime Minister is the ex-officio chairperson of the NDMA, who chairs a 9-member board.
  • The remainder of the board consists of members nominated based on their expertise in areas such as, planning, infrastructure management, communications, meteorology etc.

Hence both statements are not correct.

Rajasthan DGP recently ordered the preparation of a charge sheet against the accused in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl

About Charge Sheet:

• According to Section 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), a charge sheet is a report generated by police officers after investigating a case.
• It contains all the stringent records right from the commencement of investigation procedure of lodging an FIR to till the completion of investigation and preparation of final report.
• It contains the names of the people brought in the custody, the charges they are brought in for and the identity of the accusers.
• Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court of law, prosecution proceedings against the accused begin.
• Time limit for filing a Charge Sheet:
  • It is to be filed within 60 days from the date of arrest of the accused in cases triable by lower courts and 90 days in cases triable by Court of Sessions.
  • If the charge sheet is not filed within the prescribed time mentioned above, the accused has a right to default bail.
• A charge sheet is distinct from the First Information Report (FIR).

What is the First Information Report (FIR)?

• It is a written document prepared by a Police officer based on information given by an aggrieved person or any other person either in writing or made orally about the commission of a Cognizable Offence.
• Investigation is started only after filing of the FIR.
• Who can file an FIR? Anyone can file a FIR, whether it is the victim, victim’s family or friends, or any witness to a crime.
• An FIR can only be lodged in case of cognizable offences.

What is a Cognizable Offence?

• It is one in which the police may arrest a person without warrant.
• The police are authorized to start investigation into a cognizable case on their own and do not require any orders from the court to do so.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

According to a recent research report, the global Technical Textile market size is expected to reach USD 272.3 billion by 2030.

About Technical Textiles:

• Technical Textiles are textile products that are manufactured primarily for their functionality and use rather than aesthetic appeal.
• They are designed to have high levels of physical, mechanical, thermal, and/or chemical properties for use in specific applications within industrial sectors such as earthworks, construction, civil engineering, transport, defense, medical, and healthcare.

Technical Textiles Mission in India:

• The Ministry of Textiles has launched NTTM to increase the penetration level of technical textiles in India while leveraging the extraordinary growth rate of the sector.
• The aim of the mission is to position India as a global leader in Technical Textiles.
• The mission will comprise the following four components:
  • Research, Innovation and Development;
  • Promotion and Market Development;
  • Export Promotion;
  • Education, Training, Skill Development;
• Implementation: The NTTM has been approved with an implementation period of four years starting from FY 2020-21 till FY 2023-24. The total outlay of the mission is INR 1480 Cr.
• Target: The Mission has a target to take the domestic market size of the technical textile sector to $ 40-50 Bn by the year 2024 with an average growth rate of 15-20% per annum.

Hence both statements are correct.

Kotak Mahindra Group recently merged the investment advisory business and alternate fund management business that will have a $18-billion cumulative assets under management.

About Assets Under Management:

• What is it? AUM is the total market value of investments a financial institution owns or manages on behalf of its clients.
• These assets can include various types of financial products, such as mutual funds, hedge funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), pension funds, and other investment vehicles.
• AUM can be calculated in different ways, depending on the firm’s discretion.
• The calculation is done on the basis of either the total capital that the firm handles or calculating the Individual client’s money.
• AUM fluctuates daily reflecting the variable returns from stocks, mutual funds and change in prices of fixed investment.
• Importance of AUM:
  • AUM helps to build the market value of the firm.
  • It can be used as a market tool to attract potential new customers. The higher a firm's AUM is, the more likely people are to trust them and invest with them.
  • A fund's management fees and expenses are often calculated as a percentage of AUM.

What is Book value and Market value of a company?

• A company's book value is the amount of money shareholders would receive if assets were liquidated and liabilities paid off. The book value of an asset is strictly based on the company’s balance sheet.
• The market value is the value of a company according to the markets based on the current stock price and the number of outstanding shares.
• When the market value is less than book value, the market doesn't believe the company is worth the value on its books.
• A higher market value than book value means the market is assigning a high value to the company due to expected earnings increases.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Using some 2-D carbides or nitrides of transition metals, a team of scientists have computationally designed a new composite quantum material that exhibits an exotic quantum property called Rashba splitting, in colossal scale, in a metallic environment. 

Key findings:

• Scientists focused their computational research on 2-D quantum materials, which are materials with confined geometry in one of the directions. 2-D materials are important as they are easier to assimilate in devices.
• This material can help interfacing with other substrates (2D substrates like graphene) in spintronic devices like spin transistors, spin diodes, and spin filters that take advantage of electron spin, a quantum property of electrons, to achieve higher performance.
• The team focused on creating composite 2-D quantum materials, which are quantum materials exhibiting two apparently different quantum properties, but connected by the basic requirement of symmetries.
• In their study, by proper choice of materials ingredients, the workers managed to demonstrate the existence of two distinct quantum phenomena, - Rashba effect, (a momentum-dependent splitting of spin bands) and nonlinear anomalous Hall effect, arising from anomalous velocity of the electrons, in the same 2-D material.
• With the 2D composite material designed computationally, the scientists hope that the challenges of manufacturing Janus MXenes in the lab and at a large scale will be gradually overcome to bring benefits for devices, energy security, and the economy.

Hence, option d is the correct answer.