Daily Current Affairs MCQ- December 12, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Web browsers translate code into the dynamic web pages that form the backbone of our online experiences.

• The browser is an application that people use to send and receive messages via the internet.
• It is a program that runs on your device, with its purpose being to fetch information in different formats from the internet and show it on the device.
• It also does the reverse, receiving your input (say, a click), translating it to code, and transmitting it to some other machine across the internet.
• In 1990, the English computer scientist Tim Berner-Lee s introduced the concept of the World Wide Web also named ‘WorldWideWeb’.
• Modern web browsers have multiple core components
• Request and response – When we enter a website’s address (in the form of the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL) into your browser’s address bar.The browser sends a request to a server, asking for the contents of the specific web page you’re interested in.
• This request travels through a network of servers, upon reaching the server, the request is received and processed. The server then formulates a response containing the information (or data) required to construct the web page.
•  Deconstructing the response – The response from the server is not a singular entity. Instead, it is an amalgam of various files. Typically, these files have information encoded in three languages:  HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): It provides the architectural blueprint of a webpage.
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): This information imparts style and aesthetics to the HTML structure by controlling attributes like colour schemes, fonts, spacing, and positioning. CSS ensures that the webpage comes into its unique visual identity.
• JavaScript: It is the dynamic engine, making web pages interactive and responsive. It allows interactive elements like pop-ups, forms, animations, and real-time updates, creating an engaging user experience.
•  Rendering –This involves deciphering the HTML to understand the structural arrangement, applying CSS for stylistic finesse, and executing JavaScript to infuse interactivity.
•  Managing data – Browsers serve as adept custodians of your digital footprint, so they also implement instruments like cookies and cache to enhance your online experience.
• Cookies are small snippets of data stored on your computer by websites you visit.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, marine biologists at the University of Southampton have developed a technique to decode the chemistry of otoliths.

• The otolith is a stony lump in the fish ear.
• These are much like tree rings which reveal fishs’s age.
• Different forms or isotopes of oxygen in the otolith indicate the temperature the fish experienced when it was alive.
• Carbon isotopes reveal how quickly food was converted into energy. Fish carry their fitness trackers in their ears.
• They are commonly known as "earstones," are hard, calcium carbonate structures located directly behind the brain of bony fishes. 
• There are three types of otoliths, all of which aid fish in balance and hearing:
• Sagitta: The largest of the 3 pairs of otoliths, sagitta is involved in the detection of sound and the process of hearing, or converting sound waves into electrical signals
• Asteriscus: This type of otolith is involved in the detection of sound and the process of hearing.
• Lapillus: This type of otolith is involved in the detection of gravitational force and sound
• Different species have otoliths of different shapes and sizes; and cartilaginous fishes, such as sharks, skates, and rays, have none. 
• Significance
• Features of otoliths can be used to identify the species, size, age, growth rate, and season of death of an individual fish.
• Analysis of the oxygen isotope values of fish otoliths can provide information on the temperature of the water in which the fish lived.
• While studying concentrations of trace elements such as barium can indicate the salinity levels of the water.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut photographed an uncommon occurrence termed a red sprite.

• A red sprite represents an extraordinary meteorological phenomenon categorized as a Transient Luminous Event (TLE).
• Sprite is also an acronym for Stratospheric/mesospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification. 
• Occasionally dubbed red lightning, it occurs above thunderclouds at altitudes between 40 and 80 kilometres (25 - 50 miles) above the Earth's surface.
• Lightning flashes normally go downward from the clouds to the ground.
• However, a sprite goes in the other direction, going into the atmosphere, a bit like backwards lightning.
• It happens incredibly quickly - in about a millisecond - which can make it tricky for scientists to capture and observe them.
• Also, as the red sprites form above thunder clouds, they are not easily studied from Earth and are mostly seen from space.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The first-of-its-kind Nature Interpretation Centre at the Eastern Ghats Biodiversity Centre along the periphery of the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary in Visakhapatnamin was inaugurated.

• It is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
• It is named after the local hillock " Kambalakonda " acting as a green lung for citizens of Vizianagaram, is this large and sprawling sanctuary.
• Topography: It is considerably hilly with steep slopes.
• Vegetation: It hosts dry evergreen forests, a highly-threatened and unique forest type seen only in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India.
• Flora:
• It has wonderful plants like Tectona grandis, Randia dumetorum, Grewaia tiliaefolia, Abrus precatorius, etc.
• One of the most stunning flowers found in the region includes the Indian screw tree. Other flowers and fruits like flowers of the Bush plum tree, Jungle berry bunches can be found all across the landscape.
• Fauna: Mammals like Leopard, Barking Deer, Jackal and Avifauna includes Paradise flycatcher, Tree pie, Quails, Partridges, etc.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

As part of an animal exchange programme recently executed by the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) with Kakatiya Zoological Park in Warangal, IGZP has received two new species, Mouse Deer and Chousingha.

Key Facts about Chousingha:

• The four-horned antelope, or chousingha, is a small antelope found in India and Nepal.
• Scientific Name: Tetracerus quadricornis 
• Distribution:
• It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• They are found in woodland areas throughout India.
• Features:
• They are the smallest antelopes found in Asia.
• As the name suggests, Chousingha can be identified by the four horns, as against other bovids, which have two horns.
• They are usually diurnal and solitary by nature; however they can be spotted in loose groups of three to four.
• Animals are sedentary, inhabiting more-or-less the same region throughout their lives.
• They have a yellowish-brown to reddish coat and are slender, with small legs and a short tail.
• Conservation Status:
• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) recently proposed to permit companies to issue non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and non-convertible redeemable preference shares (NCRPS) with the face value of Rs. 10,000 as against the current system of Rs one lakh face value.

What are Preference Shares?

• Preference shares, more commonly referred to as preferred stock, are shares of a company’s stock with dividends that are paid out to shareholders before common stock dividends are issued.
• If the company enters bankruptcy, preferred stockholders are entitled to be paid from company assets before common stockholders.
• Non-Convertible v/s Convertible Preference Shares:
• Preference shares that can be easily converted into equity shares are known as convertible preference shares.
• Non-Convertible preference shares are those shares that cannot be converted into equity shares.
• Redeemable v/s Non-Redeemable Preference Shares:
• Redeemable preference shares are those shares that can be repurchased or redeemed by the issuing company at a fixed rate and date. These types of shares help the company by providing a cushion during times of inflation.
• Non-redeemable preference shares are those shares that cannot be redeemed or repurchased by the issuing company at a fixed date. Non-redeemable preference shares help companies by acting as a lifesaver during times of inflation.
• Other Types:
• Cumulative preference shares: Some preference shares also receive arrears of dividends, which are called cumulative preference shares.
• Participating preference shares: These help shareholders demand a part in the company’s surplus profit at the time of the company’s liquidation after the dividends have been paid to other shareholders. However, these shareholders receive fixed dividends and get part of the surplus profit of the company along with equity shareholders.
• Non-Participating preference shares: These do not benefit the shareholders the additional option of earning dividends from the surplus profits earned by the company, but they receive fixed dividends offered by the company.
• Adjustable Preference Shares: In the case of adjustable preference shares, the dividend rate is not fixed and is influenced by current market rates.

Hence both statements are correct.

Archaeologists have recently used radiocarbon dating to analyze the oldest true wooden frame saddle in East Asia, revealing how the rise of Mongolian steppe cultures was likely aided by advances in equestrian technology.

About Radiocarbon Dating:

• Radiocarbon dating, or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials as old as approximately 60,000 years.
• First developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, the technique is based on the decay of the carbon-14 isotope (Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon). 
• It has been used for historical studies and atmospheric science.
• It can be used on any object that used to be alive. That includes pieces of animals, people, and plants, but also paper that was made from reeds, leather made from animal hides, logs that were used to build houses, and so forth.
• How does it work?
• Carbon 14 is continually being formed in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on nitrogen 14 atoms. It is rapidly oxidized in air to form carbon dioxide and enters the global carbon cycle.
• Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14 from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes into their tissues.
• When they die, the carbon-14 starts to change into other atoms over time. 
• Scientists can estimate how long the organism has been dead by counting the remaining carbon-14 atoms.
• Carbon-14 has a half-life of about 5,730 years. That means half the atoms in a sample will change into other atoms, a process known as “decay,” in that amount of time.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Recently, the Indian Armed Forces contingent comprising 45 personnel reached Hanoi, Vietnam to take part in the Joint Military Exercise VINBAX-2023.

• It was instituted in 2018 and the first edition was conducted at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.
• It is an annual training event conducted alternatively in India and Vietnam.
• Last edition was conducted at Chandimandir Military Station in August 2022.
• This year’s exercise will be conducted at Hanoi, Vietnam.
• The Indian contingent comprises 39 personnel from an Engineer Regiment of Bengal Engineer Group and six personnel of Army Medical Corps are participating.
• Aim of the exercise is to foster collaborative partnership, promote inter- operability and share best practices between the two sides under Chapter VII of United Nations Charter on Peace Keeping Operations.
• The exercise will be conducted as a Command Post Exercise cum Field Training Exercise with focus on deployment and employment of an Engineer Company and a Medical Team.
• Both sides will conduct technical military operations in accordance with scenarios akin to worldwide deployment of United Nations’ contingents

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Researchers discover a 407-million-year-old fungus fossil, Potteromyces asteroxylicola in the Rhynie Chert, marking the oldest evidence of fungi causing diseases. 

• It was found infecting the ancient plant Asteroxylon mackiei, showcasing a predator-prey interaction that occurred while the plant was alive.
• The unique reproductive structures of Potteromyces, known as conidiophores, stood out with their unusual shape and formation, leading to its designation as a new species.
•  Its reproductive structures, known as conidiophores, had an unusual shape and formation.
• Rhynie Chert site in Scotland is known for its well-preserved Early Devonian communities of plants and animals, including fungi and bacteria.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

As per a study, rising global temperatures could lead to an increase in the nesting range of green turtles in the Mediterranean Sea.

• The Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is one of the largest sea turtles and the only herbivore among the different species.
• They are in fact named for the greenish color of their cartilage and fat, not their shells.
• In the Eastern Pacific, a group of green turtles that have darker shells are called black turtles by the local community.
• They graze on seagrasses and algae, which maintains the seagrass beds and makes them more productive.
• These species migrate long distances between feeding grounds and the beaches from where they hatched.
• They are potentially particularly susceptible, as the sex of their offspring is dependent on incubation temperature.
• Distribution: Green turtles are found mainly in tropical and subtropical waters.
• Conservation status  
• IUCN: Endangered
• CITES: Appendix 1
• Threats: Habitat loss, fisheries by catch and illegal trade etc.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.