Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 2, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Union Cabinet has approved the project 'Deepening and Optimization of Inner Harbour Facilities, including developing Western Dock on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode to handle cape size vessels at Paradip Port'.

• The proposed project envisages Construction of Western Dock Basin with facilities to handle cape size vessels by the selected BOT Concessionaire with an ultimate capacity of 25 MTPA (Million tonnes per annum) in two phases 12.50 MTPA each.
• Paradip Port Trust (PPT), a Major Port under Government of India and administered under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. It was commissioned in 1966 as a mono commodity port for the export of iron ore.
• It is a natural, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. It is situated at the confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of Bengal.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has become an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

• The IOSCO is the international organization that brings together the world's securities regulators, covering more than 95% of the world's securities markets. It is the global standard-setter for the securities sector.

• IOSCO works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets.

• FSB has endorsed the IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation as one of the key standards for sound financial systems.

• It was founded in 1983 and is Headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

Benefits of membership of IOSCO:

• The IOSCO membership would provide IFSCA with the platform to exchange information at the global and regional levels on areas of common interests.

• Further, the IOSCO platform would enable IFSCA to learn from the regulators of other well-established financial centres from the experiences and best practices of other well-established financial centres.

Lightning strikes have caused 1,771 deaths between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, according to a report published on December 31, 2020, on lightning incidents in India.

• In 2018-19 period, there were 2,800 deaths, and the drop has been attributed to the efforts of various stakeholders, including CROPC.

• Uttar Pradesh with 293 deaths, Madhya Pradesh 248, Bihar 221, Odisha 200 and Jharkhand 172 deaths together accounted for more than 60 per cent of the numbers are 33 per cent of total fatalities from all-natural disasters during the time period.

• Odisha had 11.20 lakh plus lightning strikes—the highest in the country—with only 200 casualties. During Cyclone Fani, the state saw more than one lakh intense lightning strikes on May 3 and May 4 in 2019.

• The report has been prepared by Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), a non-profit organization that works closely with India Meteorological Department (IMD) along with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), India Meteorological Society (IMS) and World Vision India to disseminate early lightning forecasts.

North East's first-ever specialized "Ginger" Processing Plant at district Ri-Bhoui in Meghalaya is being revived and is likely to become functional at the beginning of 2021.

• The only Ginger Processing Plant of North East India was established around 2004 but has remained non-functional for many years.

• The NERAMAC has now undertaken the responsibility of reviving it and initiated steps to operationalize the closed Plant through PPP mode.

• The North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) is a PSU working under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

The Union Minister of Earth Sciences inaugurated Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh (Ladakh).

• Located at the height of 3500 m, Meteorological Centre Leh will be the highest meteorological centre in India.

• The Centre will be a world-class facility for high altitude meteorology. It will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh.

• It will provide a forecast for important tourist places like Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, Kargil, Drass, Dha-Baima (Aryan valley), Khalsi among others.

Need for a Met Centre at Leh:

• The Ladakh region has lofty mountains with high slopes and no vegetation and lot of loose soil and debris making the region vulnerable to various natural hazards like Cloud burst (of 2010), Flash Floods, Avalanches and Glacial Lake Outbursts, etc.

• To avert losses due to such weather events in future, the Government felt the need to establish a State of the Art Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh in 2020 to strengthen weather-related Early Warning System in Ladakh.

Union Minister of Education laid the foundation stone of 'TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad', India's first Testbed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial).

• The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has sanctioned Rs. 135 crores to IIT Hyderabad under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to set up a Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs, etc.).
• The Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Remotely Operated Vehicles at IIT Hyderabad, known as 'TiHAN Foundation' was incorporated a Section-8 company by the institute in June 2020.
• TiHAN Foundation is a multi-departmental initiative, including researchers from Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical and Aerospace, Civil, Mathematics, and Design at IIT Hyderabad with collaboration and support from reputed institutions and industry.
• Special Features of this Facility include Test Tracks, Emulation of Real-World Scenarios, State of the Art Simulation Technologies, Road Infrastructure, V2X Communication, Drone Runways and Landing Area, Mechanical Integration Facility, Centralized Control Room/Ground Control Station, Hangars and many more.
   

The Global Alliance has nominated Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) as a member on the GAVI Board.

• Dr Harsh Vardhan will be representing the South East Area Regional Office(SEARO)/ Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) constituency on the GAVI Board.
• Dr Harsh Vardhan will be representing India from 1st January 2021 until 31st December 2023.
• The Board normally meets twice a year in June and November/ December and holds an annual retreat, normally in March or April.
• The GAVI Board is responsible for the strategic direction, and policy-making oversees the Vaccine Alliance's operations and monitors programme implementation.
• GAVI, officially Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private global health partnership to increase access to immunization in poor countries.
• GAVI has observer status at the World Health Assembly. It was founded in 2000 and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.
• GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance as part of its mission to save lives, reduce poverty and protect the world against the threat of epidemics, has helped vaccinate more than 822 million children in the world's poorest countries, preventing more than 14 million future deaths.
• Dr Ngozi Okonjo-lweala presently serves as Chair of the GAVI Alliance Board.
   

The Government of India has launched the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG).

• The overall aim of the Consortium is to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 regularly through a multi-laboratory network. This vital research consortium will also assist in developing potential vaccines in the future.
• It comprises 10 labs: DBT-NIBMG Kalyani, DBT-ILS Bhubaneswar, ICMR-NIV Pune, DBT-NCCS Pune, CSIR-CCMB Hyderabad, DBT-CDFD Hyderabad, DBT-InSTEM/ NCBS Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, CSIR-IGIB Delhi, and NCDC Delhi.
• INSACOG will have a high-level Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee which will provide guidance and oversight to the consortium, especially for policy matters. It will have a Scientific Advisory Group for scientific and technical guidance.
• Coordinated by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with MoH&FW, ICMR, and CSIR, the strategy and roadmap of the National SARS CoV2 Genome Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG) have been prepared.

Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) released Data on Police Organizations on January 1, 2020.

• The number of people getting police protection across India stood at 19,467 in 2019 and 21,300 in 2018, reducing 1,833 (or 8.7 per cent).
• The number of police personnel put on protection duty in 2018 and 2019 for ministers, MPs, MLAs, judges, bureaucrats, etc., outnumbered their sanctioned strength for the job by around 35 per cent.
• West Bengal had the maximum of 3,142 people under police protection in 2019, followed by Punjab (2,594), Bihar (2,347) and Jammu and Kashmir (1,184).
• However, the maximum sanctioned strength and deployment of police personnel in such duties took place in Delhi, where the number of protectees stood at 503 in 2018 and 501 in 2019, the data showed.
• The number of police personnel sanctioned for the protection duties in Delhi was 7,144 in 2018 and 7,294 in 2019 while the deployment numbers stood at 7,144 and 8,182, respectively, it showed.
• The BPR&D has been publishing the "Data on Police Organizations" (DoPO), annually, since the year 1986.

The Minister of Science & Technology and Health & Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan released the report Action Agenda for an AtmaNirbhar Bharat (AAAN) prepared by Technology Information, Forecasting Assessment Council (TIFAC) in New Delhi.

• The Action Report aims to create a sense of Scientific Social Responsibility and lay down imperatives for India's future. It looks at the challenges, possibilities and how to find solutions, he said.
• This comprehensive action plan(AAAN) has been structured concerning timeline, highlighting short/medium and long term interventions in various identified sectors.
• The document also specifically defines policy recommendations in identified domains of Innovation and Technology Development, Technology Adoption/Diffusion, Boosting up Manufacturing and Productivity, Trade and Globalization, Internet Policy and Data Management & Education and Training, AI among others.
• Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) was founded in 1988. It is an autonomous body under Department of Science & Technology.