Daily Current Affairs MCQ - February 7, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

India announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which get underway recently.

• By doing so, India has joined a growing list of countries that will not send government delegations to the Chinese capital for the Winter Olympics.
• In December, the United States had announced a diplomatic boycott of the event.
• The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the Netherlands, among others, followed the US’s lead and made a similar decision.
• The Winter Games have been dogged by controversies, ranging from the diplomatic boycotts to the safety of one of China’s top players and concerns over the privacy of the visiting athletes.

What is a diplomatic boycott?

• It simply means these countries will not send official government delegations to Beijing during the Games.
• Given the scale of the Olympics, high-ranking officials from a country’s government often travel to the Olympics. These officials are often labeled as the ‘VIP visitors’.

Does a diplomatic boycott affect athletes’ participation?

• It doesn’t. Athletes and officials from all countries will continue to take part in the Winter Olympics in Beijing unhindered.
• A diplomatic boycott is a token protest that has no impact on the sporting spectacle.
• So far, no athlete has withdrawn from the Beijing Games, and India will continue to be represented by just one athlete, alpine skier Arif Khan.
• Hence both statements are correct.

US President Joe Biden on February 2, 2022 signed into law a bill titled, “Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act”, essentially providing recognition to the ‘Ghost Army’, a tactical deception unit deployed by the US during World War II.

• In 1944, this unit was tasked with a mission to put on a show for the German troops in an attempt to deceive them and manipulate their decisions.
• Their deception tactics involved using inflatable dummy tanks, personnel, trucks and sound effects. The heaviest weapon in their possession was a 0.50 caliber machine gun.
• Seventy-seven years since this mission was undertaken, there are just nine surviving veterans of the Ghost Army scattered across the US.
• The existence of the ‘Ghost Army’ was unknown for about 50 years after it was formed in January 1944. The unit had a “strange mission”, to keep enemy troops in the dark about the number and location of American troops.
• Its existence was declassified in 1996.

Congressional Gold Medal

• The Congressional Gold Medal is the Congress’s highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions.
• The first recipients of the medal were participants of the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War.
• Hence both statements are correct.

After six students were banned from entering a college in Karnataka’s Udupi district for wearing a hijab last month, the row over whether educational institutions can impose a strict dress code that could interfere with rights of students has spilled to other colleges in the state. The issue throws up legal questions on reading the freedom of religion.

• Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”.
• It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom.
• However, like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.

View of Supreme Court

• Over the years, the Supreme Court has evolved a practical test of sorts to determine what religious practices can be constitutionally protected and what can be ignored.
• In 1954, the Supreme Court held in the Shirur Mutt case that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the “essential religious practices” test.
• Hence both statements are correct.

A team of Indian Scientists in collaboration with an industry partner have developed a self-disinfecting ‘Copper-based Nanoparticle-coated Antiviral Face Mask to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The mask exhibits high performance against the COVID 19 virus as well as several other viral and bacterial infections, is biodegradable, highly breathable and washable.
• It has been developed by Scientists at International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, in collaboration with the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) and Resil Chemicals, a Bengaluru based company.
• It has been developed under the DST sponsored Nano-Mission project, to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

• According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), women in the reproductive age group and having haemoglobin levels lower than 12 grams per decilitre (g / dL), as well as children under five with haemoglobin levels lower than 11.0 g / dL are considered anaemic.
  • Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia, although other conditions, such as folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin A deficiencies, chronic inflammation, parasitic infections, and inherited disorders can all cause anaemia. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Anaemia Mukt Bharat plan is based on a life cycle approach, providing preventive and curative mechanisms through a 6X6X6 strategy including six target beneficiaries, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms for all stakeholders to implement the strategy. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Under Article 170, States also get divided into territorial constituencies as per Delimitation Act after every Census.
• Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.
  • The delimitation commission is an independent body constituted under Article 82 after the Parliament enacted a Delimitation Act after every census. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The delimitation exercise is carried out by an independent high-powered panel known as the Delimitation Commission whose orders have the force of law and cannot be questioned by any court.
  • The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the Election Commission of India. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• Delimitation is the act of fixing or redrawing the limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies (Assembly or Lok Sabha seat) in a country or a province having a legislative body, as per the Election Commission.
• The exercise has been carried out over the years to redefine the area of a constituency-based on its population size (based on the last Census).
  • Aside from changing the limits of a constituency, the process may result in change in the number of seats in a state.
  • This exercise also involves reservation of Assembly seats for SC & ST in accordance with the Constitution. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Dhole (Cuon alpinus) is a wild carnivorous animal and is a member of the family Canidae and the class Mammalia.
  • They are also known as Asian wild dogs.
• Historically, dholes purportedly occurred throughout southern Russia, all across central Asia, south Asia and southeast Asia.
• According to recent research and current distribution maps, they are restricted to south and southeast Asia, with the northernmost populations in China.
  • They have been discovered in the Bek-Tosot Conservancy in the Osh region of southern Kyrgyzstan, a few kilometres from the Tajik border. It lies in the Pamir mountain range of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• In India, they are found in three clusters across India namely the Western and Eastern Ghats, central Indian landscape and North East India.
  • Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of the endangered dhole in India, according to a study (2020).
• Conservation Status of Dholes:
  • IUCN List of Threatened Species: Endangered. Hence statement 1 is correct.
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES): Appendix II
  • Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule II

Disqualification of MPs and MLAs

• The RPA, 1951 lays down certain rules for disqualification of MPs and MLAs.
• Any person who promotes or attempts to promote on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens of India can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 years.
  • Section 8 (3) of the Act states that if an MP or MLA is convicted for any other crime and is sent to jail for 2 years or more, he/ she will be disqualified for 6 years from the time of release. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • Even if a person is on bail after the conviction and his appeal is pending for disposal, he is disqualified from contesting an election. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Section 8(4) allowed convicted MPs, MLAs and MLCs to continue in their posts, provided they appealed against their conviction/sentence in higher courts within 3 months of the date of judgement by the trial court.
  • The Supreme Court in July 2013 struck down section 8(4) of the RPA, 1951 and declared it ultra vires and held that the disqualification takes place from the date of conviction.

The Delhi-based CSIR lab Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) has successfully developed a unique pool of primers and kits to be used in RT-PCR testing of SARS-CoV-2 virus.

• The most distinguishing aspect of the work carried by a team led by Dr. Sridhar Sivasubbu and Dr. Vinod Scaria at IGIB that was developing primers that will not be affected by mutations seen in SARS-CoV-2 variants.
• This may allow the primers to detect any new SARS-CoV-2 variants that might emerge immaterial of the novel mutations that the variants might have.
• The primers developed in a way future-proofs the ability to detect without fail any new SARS-CoV-2 variants that may emerge.
• RT-PCR tests currently available contain primers for two or more genes. The gene targets selected could be a combination of S gene, N gene and E- gene.
• Hence both statements are correct.

A famous problem that has perplexed mathematicians since 1779 has been settled, but with a quantum twist, by a collaboration of six Indian and Polish researchers, two of whom are from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. The researchers have solved using matrix methods, the quantum equivalent of the classical problem.

The Puzzle

• In 1779, the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler posed a puzzle that has since become famous: Six army regiments each have six officers of six different ranks. Can the 36 officers be arranged in a 6-by-6 square so that no row or column repeats a rank or regiment?
• The puzzle is easily solved when there are five ranks and five regiments, or seven ranks and seven regiments.
• But after searching in vain for a solution for the case of 36 officers, Euler concluded that “such an arrangement is impossible, though we can’t give a rigorous demonstration of this”.
• Hence both statements are correct.