Daily Current Affairs MCQ- December 8, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

India is hosting the Annual Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit from December 12 – 14, 2023.

• It is a multi-stakeholder initiative which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• It was launched in June 2020.
• Membership in GPAI is open to all countries, including emerging and developing countries.
• Member countries: At present it has 28 member countries including the European Union.
• India is one of the founding members of GPAI.
• Secretariat: Its secretariat is hosted at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris.
• Structure
• It has a Council and a Steering Committee.
• It has two Centres of Expertise: One in Montreal and another in Paris.
• These Centres of Expertise will facilitate GPAI’s four working groups and their research and practical projects, across various sectors and disciplines.
• The working groups will initially focus on four themes:
• Responsible AI 
• Data Governance 
• the Future of Work 
• Innovation and Commercialization 

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Conference of Parties (COP28) President Dr. Sultan Al Jaber and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the official launch of the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC).

• It is a dedicated initiative for the oil and gas sector.
• It aims to induce substantial impact in addressing climate challenges.
• Currently, 50 companies, collectively responsible for over 40 percent of global oil production, have committed to the OGDC.
• National Oil Companies have shown historic participation, constituting over 60 percent of the total signatories, marking a noteworthy shift towards decarbonization within this sector.
• It is integral to the Global Decarbonization Accelerator (GDA).

Hence option a is the correct answer.

An organisation of the Hatti community in Himachal Pradesh will organise a protest march on December 16 to press their demand for the implementation of a law giving the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the community.

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who take their name from their traditional occupation of selling home-grown crops, vegetables, meat, and wool at small-town markets known as ‘haats’.
• Hatti men traditionally don a distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.
• The Hatti homeland straddles the Himachal-Uttarakhand border in the basin of the Giri and Tons rivers, both tributaries of the Yamuna.
• The Tons marks the border between the two states, and the Hattis living in the Trans-Giri area in today’s Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur. Jaunsar Bawar was conquered by the British in 1814.
• The two Hatti clans, in Trans-Giri and Jaunsar Bawar, have similar traditions, and inter-marriages are common.
• They are governed by a traditional council called ‘khumbli’ which decide community matters.
• According to the 2011 census, members of the community numbered 2.5 lakh but at present population of the Hattis are estimated at around 3 lakh.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has issued a drug safety alert for doctors and patients about the use of painkiller mefenamic acid can lead to Drug Reactions with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) Syndrome.

• It is a type of drug allergy that can occur as a reaction to a large variety of medications.
• It is sometimes referred to as DIHS (Drug Induced Hypersensitivity Syndrome).
• This syndrome causes a diverse array of clinical symptoms, anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks after initiating the offending drug. 
• Symptoms:
• Patients typically present with a rash, fever, and eosinophilia but can have a variety of symptoms including liver, lung, or kidney involvement.
•  Also have a visceral involvement (hepatitis, pneumonitis, myocarditis, pericarditis, nephritis, and colitis) which is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in this syndrome.
• Treatment:
• The most important step to treat DRESS Syndrome is to stop the medication involved in the reaction, and sometimes, no further treatment is needed.
• It is largely supportive and symptomatic; corticosteroids are often used and sometimes immunosuppressants like cyclosporine.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Union Education Minister recently urged the Odisha Chief Minister to implement the PM-USHA scheme for higher education in the state.

About Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA):

• It was launched in 2013 as a centrally sponsored programme to improve access, equity, and quality in higher education through the planned development of higher education at the state level.
• It aims to work with 300-plus state universities and their affiliated colleges.
• Objectives:
• creating new academic institutions,
• expanding and upgrading the existing ones,
• developing institutions that are self-reliant in terms of quality education, professionally managed, and characterized by a greater inclination towards research.
• Funding:
• It aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions. 
• The central funding is based on norms and is outcome-dependent.
• Funds flow from the central ministry through the state governments/union territories before reaching the identified institutions.
• Funding to states would be made on the basis of the critical appraisal of State Higher Education Plans, which would enlist each state’s strategy to address issues of equity, access, and excellence in higher education.
• PM-USHA places greater emphasis on the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning processes in order to produce employable and competitive graduates, postgraduates and PhDs. 
• The programme focuses on state higher educational institutions and draws upon the best practices from colleges and universities across the nation.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The sale and consumption of meat, alcohol, and other intoxicants have been restricted around the Pashupatinath Temple area due to the Hindu festival of Bala Chaturdashi.

About Pashupatinath Temple:

• It is a Hindu temple dedicated to Pashupati, a form of Shiva.
• Location: It is located on both banks of the Bagmati River on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal.
• The temple’s age is not exactly certain, but legend indicates its existence dates back to 400 BC.
• In 1979, the temple was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Features:
• The temple complex includes518 temples, buildings, and structures. 
• The main temple is designed in the Nepalese pagoda style, with a tiered roof and plinth.
• It is a two-tiered structure with a gold-plated roof.
• The temple has two interior rooms where the Pashupatinath idol is placed.
• It is a cubic structure with four main doors, all covered with silver sheets.
• One of the most astonishing decorations of the temple is the huge golden statue of Nandi, Shiva’s bull.

What is a Pagoda?

• A Pagoda is a tower like, multistory, solid or hollow structure made of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex, common in China, Japan, Korea, Nepal, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. 
• The pagoda structure derives from that of the stupa, a hemispherical, domed, commemorative monument first constructed in ancient India. 
• Pagodas are constructed around a central staircase and can have many forms.
• A pagoda has three sections: a base, a body, and a top, which often takes the form of a miniature pagoda.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In a key archaeological finding, the forest department of Satpura Tiger Reserve recently found a rock painting dating back 10,000 years in Madhya Pradesh's Narmadapuram.

About Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR):

• Location:
• It is located in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh.
• It is located in the Satpura ranges of the Central Indian Landscape.
• It lies south of the river Narmada.
• Satpura, basically meaning "Seven Folds", forms a watershed between the Narmada and Tapti Rivers is triangular in shape.
• It is part of the Deccan bio-geographic zone of India. 
• It is part of the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve.
• STR is part of one of the largest tiger habitats in the world, extending over 10,000 sq km along with the forest areas of Betul, Harda, Khandwa, and Melghat forest divisions.
• Corridor: It has corridor connectivity with Pench National Park.
• The habitat is also an important testimony to human evolution, as it houses more than 50 rock shelters that are almost 1500 to 10,000 years old.
• Geological formations include the Deccan trap series, Gondwanas, and Metamorphic rocks.
• Flora:
• This reserve is largely made up of mixed forests with a sizeable proportion of Sal and Teak.
• These mixed forests consist of tree species like jamun, baheda, palash, mahua, saja, bija, tendu, arjun, semal, salai, kusum, achar, etc.
• Twenty-six species of the Himalayan region and 42 species of the Nilgiri area are found. Hence, STR is also known as the northern extremity of the Western Ghats.
• Fauna: Tiger is the charismatic species along with other mammals like Leopards, Spotted Deer, Sambar, Barking Deer, Chousingha, Indian Gaur, Blue Bull, Jungle Cat, besides co predators, birds, reptiles and fishes.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Ibu volcano in Indonesia’s North Maluku province erupted recently, prompting authorities to warn locals and tourists to stay away from the area.

About Ibu Volcano:

• It is a stratovolcano located on Halmahera Island, in the province of Maluku, East Indonesia.
• It is one of the most isolated and least accessible volcanoes in Indonesia.
• It stands as high as 1,377 meters above sea level.
• The volcano extends 16 km E-W and 13 km N-S.

What is a Stratovolcano?

• The stratovolcano is a tall, steep, and cone-shaped type of volcano. 
• Unlike flat-shield volcanoes, they have higher peaks.
• At their peak, stratovolcanoes usually have a small crater. The crater may be filled with water or ice, or it may contain a volcanic dome during a period of relative inactivity.
• Strato Volcanoes comprise the largest percentage (~60%) of the Earth's individual volcanoes, and most are characterized by eruptions of andesite and dacite, lavas that are cooler and more viscous than basalt. 
• These more viscous lavas allow gas pressures to build up to high levels. Therefore, these volcanoes often suffer explosive eruptions.
• They are usually about half-half lava and pyroclastic material, and the layering of these products gives them their other common name of composite volcanoes.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

The Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards are the ID cards of the cellular world, and they have evolved in step with cellular networks.

• It is an integrated circuit, or a microchip that identifies the subscriber on a given network.
• In order for a mobile phone to connect to any cellular network that follows the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, a SIM card is mandatory.
• This relationship is established using a unique authentication key – a piece of data that a user needs to ‘unlock’ access to the network.
• Every SIM card stores this data and it is designed such that the user can’t access it through their phone.
• Instead, signals sent by the phone into the network are ‘signed’ by the key, and the network uses the signature to understand whether the phone’s connection is legitimate. 
• SIM cards also store information about its own ID number (the integrated circuit card identifier), the IMSI, the subscriber’s location area identity (i.e. their current location), a list of preferred networks (to whom the subscriber can connect when roaming), emergency numbers.
• SIM cards are designed according to the ISO/IEC 7816 international standard maintained by the International Organisation for Standardisation and the International Electrotechnical Commission.
• It applies to electronic identification cards, including smart cards.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, researchers found a new genus of anaerobic lignocellulose-degrading bacteria in the hot spring of Aravali, located in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. 

• Sporanaerobium hydrogeniformans is part of the Lachnospiraceae family, whose members are known as the most effective polysaccharide degraders due to their capacity to synthesise free or complicated hydrolytic enzymes.
• The structural elements of lignocellulosic agricultural wastes, cellulose and xylan, can be broken down by this bacterium.
• It can grow optimally at high temperatures of 45–50°C and an alkaline pH of 8.0.
• The bacteria may be a candidate for biohydrogen generation from agricultural leftovers in accordance with waste-to-energy legislation in India.
• The scientists found that the bacterium used the hexose and pentose sugars released during the hydrolysis of complex polymers like cellulose and xylan to make large amounts of hydrogen gas and byproducts including acetic acid, formic acid, and ethanol.
• It is known that very few bacteria can use the sugars hexose and pentose at the same time.
• Due to this characteristic, the bacterium is a crucial strain for the industrial generation of biofuels.
• These new bacteria possess a special metabolic route for converting a variety of simple and complex substrates into hydrogen and ethanol.
• Additionally, it emphasizes the value of researching microbes in hostile habitats like hot springs, where rare and important species might be found.

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.