Daily Current Affairs MCQ- February 21, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Four bone fragments of Lord Buddha, also known as Kapilvastu Relics, presently kept in the National Museum will be taken to Thailand after about 30 years. 

• The relics were excavated from Piprahwa in the Siddharthnagar District of Uttar Pradesh, an erstwhile part of the ancient city of Kapilavastu.
• A British colonial engineer and an estate manager William Claxton Peppé discovered an inscribed casket in 1898 at the stupa site in Piprahwa.
• The inscription on the casket’s lid which refers to the relics of Buddha and his community, the Sakya.
• History
• At the age of 80, according to Buddhist beliefs, Buddha attained salvation in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district.
• The Mallas of Kushinagar cremated his body with ceremonies befitting a universal king.
• His relics from the funeral pyre were collected and divided into eight shares to be distributed among the Ajathsatrus of Magadha, the Licchavis of Vaishali, the Sakyas of Kapilavastu, Mallas of Kushinagar, Bullies of Allakappa, the Mallas of Pava, the Koliyas of Ramagrama and a Brahmana of Vethadipa.
• The purpose was erecting stupas over the sacred relics.
• Two more stupas came up — one over the urn in which the relics had been collected and the other over the embers.
• Thus, stupas erected over the bodily relics of Buddha (Saririkastupas) are the earliest surviving Buddhist shrines.
• It is stated that Ashoka (circa 272–232 BCE) being an ardent follower of Buddhism, opened -up seven of these eight stupas, and collected major portion of the relics for enshrinement within innumerable (84000 stupas) built by him in an effort to popularize Buddhism and spread dharma.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Recently, India has contributed USD 1 million to a fund established by India, Brazil and South Africa. 

• It was established in 2004 and became operational in 2006.
• The IBSA countries - India, Brazil and South Africa - each contribute one million dollars annually to the Fund in a spirit of partnership and support for Southern-led, demand-driven, transformational projects in developing countries.
• The purpose of the fund is to identify replicable and scalable projects that can be disseminated to developing countries on a demand-driven basis.
• IBSA Fund-supported projects help partner countries in the Global South to achieve their national priorities, as well as all other internationally agreed development goals.
• Objectives: It includes promoting food security, and addressing HIV/AIDS, to extending access to safe drinking water all to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• The IBSA Fund has allocated USD 50.6 million to date, supporting 45 projects across 37 countries of the global South.
• The UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) serves as the Fund Manager and Secretariat of the IBSA Fund.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

According to a new report by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), at the current pace of growth, the region will not attain the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) until 2062 or will be 32 years behind schedule.

• It is the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region.
• It was established in 1947.
• Mandate: To promote economic and social development in the Asian and Pacific region by fostering cooperation between its members and associate members.
• The Commission promotes cooperation among its 53 member States and 9 associate members in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges.
• It is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations.
• It carries out work in the areas like Macroeconomic Policy, Poverty Reduction and Financing for Development, Trade, Investment and Innovation, Transport, Environment and Development, Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction and Social Development etc.
• Head quarters: Bangkok, Thailand

What are Sustainable Development Goals?

• These were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
• The SDGs framework sets targets for 231 unique indicators across 17 SDG goals related to economic development, social welfare, and environmental sustainability, to be met by 2030.
• The 17 SDGs are integrated; they recognise that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The ninth edition of the Raisina Dialogue will be held from February 21 to 23rd in New Delhi.

• It is an annual conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics, which aims to address the most challenging issues faced by the world.
• It is held annually since 2016 in New Delhi.
• The conference is attended by people from political, business, media, and civil society backgrounds.
• The Dialogue is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion, involving heads of state, cabinet ministers and local government officials, who are joined by thought leaders from the private sector, media and academia.
• It is organized by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
• The theme of the 2024 edition is “Chaturanga: Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create,”
• During the three-day conference, the participants will engage with each other over six “thematic pillars”. These include:
• Tech Frontiers: Regulations & Realities
• Peace with the Planet: Invest & Innovate
• War & Peace: Armouries & Asymmetries
• Decolonising Multilateralism: Institutions & Inclusion
• The Post 2030 Agenda: People & Progress
• Defending Democracy: Society & Sovereignty,

Hence both statements are correct.

India's president recently made a whistle stop tour of an island earmarked for multi-billion-dollar development that experts warn could wipe out the indigenous Shompen tribe, which calls it home.

About Shompen Tribe:

• The Shompen are one of the most isolated tribes on Earth.
• They reside in the dense tropical rain forest of the Great Nicobar Island of Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands.
• They are one of the least studied Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India.
• Though according to the Census (2011), the estimated population of Shompen is 229, the exact population of Shompen is unknown till today.
• Most of them are uncontacted, refusing all interactions with outsiders.
• They live in small groups, whose territories are identified by the rivers that criss-cross the rainforest.
• They are semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, and their main sources of livelihood are hunting, gathering, fishing, and a little bit of horticultural activities in a rudimentary form.
• Primarily, they used to hunt wild pig, python, monitor Lizard, crocodile, see turtle etc.
• They collect a wide variety of forest plants, but their staple food is the pandanus fruit, which they call larop. 
• Shompen speak their own language, which has many dialects. Members of one band do not understand the dialect of the other. 
• They are of short to medium stature, have a round or nearly broad head shape, narrow nose, a broad facial profile, and distinctly exhibit Mongoloid features such as light brown to yellow brown skin and oblique eye features.
• Shompen have nuclear families comprising husband, wife, and their unmarried children.
• A Shompen family is controlled by the eldest male member, who controls all activities of the women and kids.
• Monogamy is the general rule, although polygamy is allowed too.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Achieving one of the three priority areas agreed upon during India’s G20 presidency in 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched the Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) virtually.

About Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH):

• It is a WHO managed network aiming to amplify and align resources toward country-led digital health transformation through strengthened collaboration and knowledge exchange.
• It is a platform for sharing knowledge and digital products among countries.
• The initiative aims to achieve the following objectives through collaborative efforts:
• Assess and prioritize the country’s needs for sustainable digital health transformation.
• Increase the alignment of country-level digital health resources and unfunded priorities.
• Support the accelerated achievement of the strategic objectives of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025.
• Build capacity and converge efforts to encourage local development, maintenance, and adaptation of digital health technologies to continuously changing needs.
• The initiative will be a network of networks with four main components:
• country needs tracker
• country resource portal (a map of resources available in a country)
• transformation toolbox that will share quality-assured digital tools
• knowledge exchange.
• GIDH will support countries in three ways: by listening to their needs, by aligning resources to avoid fragmentation and overlap, and by providing quality assured products.
• Membership: Membership is open to all institutions engaged in digital health.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Supreme Court observed that the courts cannot issue processes under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) to compel the production of things/documents based on the application made by the accused at the stage of framing of charges.

About Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC):

• Section 91 of the CrPC empowers the court to issue a summons or a written order to produce a document or other material that is necessary for the purpose of any investigation, inquiry, trial, or other legal proceedings.
• Under this section, if the court considers that the production of any document or material is necessary or desirable for the administration of justice, it can issue a summons or written order to any person in possession of that document or material, directing them to produce it in court.
• Purpose: To ensure the availability of relevant evidence and materials during legal proceedings. This helps facilitate a fair and just resolution of the case by ensuring that the necessary evidence is presented before the court.
• Production of documents under Section 91: The document or material can be produced either in its original form or in the form of certified copies, as specified in the summons or written order. 
• Compliance with the Section 91 order: The person receiving the summons must comply with it and produce the document or thing as required. 
• Section 91 does not cover the production of the following items:
• Those listed under Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872), or the Bankers Books Evidence Act, 1891 (13 of 1891), or
• a letter, postcard, telegram, or other document, or any parcel or thing in the custody of the postal or telegraph authority.
• The court must be informed of the name of the person in whose possession or power the document is, or else the application for summons will not be entertained.
• The term ‘person’ mentioned in the Section does not include an accused person in trial.
• The police officers and courts are required to adhere to specific protocols and precautions while issuing and carrying out summonses under Section 91 CrPC.
• For instance, they must abide by Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, (1872), which protects the confidentiality and privilege of specific documents.
• Additionally, they must offer the person called a fair amount of time and a chance to comply with the request.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

An international team of astronomers said the recently discovered quasar named J0529-4351 was the brightest and fastest-growing quasar discovered so far and had a supermassive black hole about 17 billion times the mass of the Sun. 

About Quasar:

• A quasar is an extremely active and luminous type of active galactic nucleus (AGN). 
• An AGN is nothing more than a supermassive black hole that is active and feeding at the center of a galaxy. 
• All quasars are AGNs, but not all AGNs are quasars.
• Quasars are thought to form in regions of the universe where the large-scale density of matter is much higher than average.
• They are among the most luminous, powerful, and vibrant objects known in the universe.
• How are they formed?
• An active galaxy is one in which the central supermassive black hole is consuming large amounts of matter.
• The infall of matter into the black hole is so great that all the material can't enter the black hole at the same time, so it forms a queue as a spiraling accretion disk. 
• The matter—in the form of huge clouds—falls into the disk, with the inner parts of the cloud closer to the black hole orbiting faster than the outer parts (just like planets closer to the sun orbit faster than those farther away). 
• This creates a shear force that twists the clouds, causing them to bump into their neighbors as they move around the black hole at velocities ranging from 10% of the speed of light up to over 80%.
• This friction from fast-moving gas clouds generates heat, and the disk becomes so hot—millions of degrees—that it shines brightly. 
• Some of the material in the disk is also funneled away from the black hole in a highly luminous, magnetically collimated jet.
• The hot accretion disk and the jet combine to make the nucleus of the active galaxy shine so brightly that it can be seen far across the universe.
• The brightest quasars can outshine all of the stars in the galaxies in which they reside, which makes them visible even at distances of billions of light-years.
• Most quasars have been found billions of light-years away.

Hence both statements are correct.

According to scientists, anoxic marine basins may be among the most viable places to conduct large-scale carbon sequestration in the deep ocean.

About Anoxic Marine Basins:

• An anoxic basin is a body of water without oxygen.
• Permanent anoxic basins form when there is a strong layering of the water column created in a cup-like formation on the ocean floor.
• The layering is caused by density differences due to salt concentration or temperature.
• Once stratification occurs, circulation with the rest of the ocean is minimized, and microorganisms consume the oxygen in the water. 
• In most anoxic basins, the water is extremely stagnant and can have mixing times of many thousand years.
• They range from a few hundred meters to several kilometers across and from 10 meters to 500 meters deeper than the surrounding seafloor.
• They can’t support animal life, and are populated primarily by microbes and some very specialized fungi with different metabolisms than creatures in oxygen-rich environments.
• Some of them rely on molecules such as nitrate for respiration, and some get their carbon from gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) instead of eating other organisms or particles of organic matter.
• Many anoxic basins also contain toxic chemicals, which are produced by geothermal activity or by microbes living in the basins.
• Some also contain salt domes, big mounds of hardened salt. 
• In some anoxic basins, methane and other gases collect in reservoirs beneath the seafloor.
• The gases can percolate upward, pushing up domes of sediment on the seafloor that are called mud volcanoes.
• The gases can burst through the soft sediments, creating "mini-eruptions" of wispy columns of sediment-filled water.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Archaeologists recently discovered a Harappan-era fortified settlement named Morodharo.

About Morodharo:

• It is a fortified settlement dating back to the Harappan-era.
• Location: Kutch District, Gujarat
• Features:
• The settlement looks mature (2,600-1,900BCE) to late (1,900-1,300 BCE) Harappan.
• The fortification measures 102 m east to the west and 58 m north to the south.
• The thickness of the wall is an average of 3.3 m.
• It has a 10x10 m platform on the south-west side and a well on the north-east.
• Burial cairns, which are mounds of stones to demarcate a boundary, are also found here.
• Harappan pottery with perforated jar sherds, reserved slipware, and terracotta cakes were unearthed. All these items have a striking resemblance to those found in Dholavira.

Hence option d is the correct answer.