Daily Current Affairs MCQ- January 27, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, Indian Navy Chief Admiral said that the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative is a testament to the commitment to a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.

• It was announced at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo.
• It was announced to track “dark shipping” and build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters”, integrating three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific — the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the IOR.
• Purpose of IPMDA
• It is a technology and training initiative to enhance maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region and to bring increased transparency to its critical waterways.
• It harnesses innovative technology, such as commercial satellite radio frequency data collection, to provide partners across Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific with near real-time information on activities occurring in their maritime zones.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, the Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya was sworn in as the chief of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by the President Of India.

• It has been constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
• The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities.
• Objectives
• To exercise the powers conferred on them under the RTI Act, 2005.
• To receive and inquire into complaints from any citizen (Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005).
• To receive and decide upon the second appeal from any citizen (Section 19 of the RTI Act, 2005).
• To perform the duty of “Monitoring and Reporting “(Section 25 of the RTI Act, 2005).
• Composition
• It consists of a Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten Information Commissioners.
• Appointment:
• They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
• Eligibility
• The members of CIC and SIC shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media, or administration and governance.
• Members shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory as the case may be, or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carry on any business or pursue any profession.
• Tenure
• The Chief Information Commissioner, or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall hold office for a period of three years from the date on which he enters upon his office.

Hence both statements are correct.

The first images captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Euclid mission are due to be released.

About Euclid Space Telescope:

• The Euclid mission is part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme which aims to explore the origin and components of the universe and the fundamental laws that govern it. 
• Its main goal is to investigate the "dark side" of the universe, focusing on dark matter and dark energy.
• It was launched on 1 July 2023.
• It is named after the Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria, who lived around 300 BC and founded the subject of geometry.
• The Euclid mission will make a 3D map of the universe (with time as the third dimension) by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years across more than a third of the sky.
• It will reveal how dark energy has influenced the stretching and separation of matter over cosmic time.
• Spacecraft and instruments:
• The Euclid spacecraft is approximately 4.7 m tall and 3.7 m in diameter. It consists of two major components: the service module and the payload module.
• The payload module comprises a 1.2-m-diameter telescope and two scientific instruments: a visible-wavelength camera (the VISible instrument, VIS) and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer (the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, NISP). 
• The service module contains the satellite systems: electric power generation and distribution, attitude control, data processing electronics, propulsion, telecommand and telemetry, and thermal control.
• Orbit: Its operational orbit will be halo around a point known as the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), at an average distance of 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit.
• Lifetime: Nominal mission lifetime is six years, with the possibility of extension (limited by the amount of cold gas used for propulsion).

Hence option c is the correct answer.

The Supreme Court recently issued notice to the Union of India on a plea challenging constitutionality of Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

About Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC):

• Section 437A of the CrPC requires a person who has been acquitted to furnish a bail bond and sureties, to be able to be released from custody.
• This is to ensure the appearance of the accused if an appeal is filed before a higher court against the acquittal.
• The provision states that accused persons must execute bail bonds with sureties to appear before the higher court when an appeal or petition is filed against the judgment of the respective court.
• These bail bonds are valid for six months, and failure to appear leads to bond forfeiture and the application of Section 446 procedures.
• Section 446 CrPC :
• It provides that once the court records its satisfaction about the forfeiture of the bond, it shall call upon the person bound by such bond to pay the penalty or to show cause why it should not be paid.
• If sufficient cause is not shown and the penalty is not paid, the Court may proceed to recover the same as if such penalty were a fine imposed by it under this Code.
• Neither before the trial court nor before the appellate court, there is any applicability of Section-437A CrPC in cases where the accused is convicted.
• As such, the only time when the court is required to ask the accused to execute bonds is the time when the court acquits the accused.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

A US nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarine was recently deployed in the Middle East to help prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiraling into a broader conflict.

About Ohio-class Submarine:

• The Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines currently used by the United States Navy. 
• They are the largest submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy.
• The US Navy has a total of 18 Ohio-class submarines, which consist of 14 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and four cruise missile submarines (SSGNs). 
• The SSBN submarines are also known as "Trident" submarines and provide the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad.
• The 14 SSBNs together carry about half of U.S. active strategic thermonuclear warheads. 
• They were designed specifically for extended war-deterrence patrols. 
• Features:
• The class's design allows the warship to operate for about fifteen years between major overhauls.
• Each of these submarines is provided with two complete crews, called the Blue crew and the Gold crew, with each crew serving typically on 70- to 90-day deterrent patrols. 
• They can travel at speeds of 30+ knots and remain submerged indefinitely.
• Each SSBN submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM).
• Each SSGN is capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, plus a complement of Harpoon missiles to be fired through their torpedo tubes.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Over 16 lakh Digital Life Certificates, or Jeevan Pramaan, have been generated by the end of the first week of the launch of Campaign 2.0, an initiative of the Ministry of Personnel to enhance the ‘ease of living’ of Central Government pensioners across the country.

About Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan):

• The Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners Scheme of the Government, known as Jeevan Pramaan, is a biometric-enabled digital service for pensioners.
• It was introduced in 2014 to simplify and enhance the convenience of life certificate submissions for pensioners.
• Purpose:
• One of the major requisites for pensioners after their retirement from the service is to provide life certificates to authorized pension disbursing agencies like the bank, following which their pension is credited to their account.
• In order to get this life certificate, the individual drawing the pension is required to be either personally present themselves before the Pension Disbursing Agency or to have the Life Certificate issued by authority where they have served earlier and have it delivered to the disbursing agency.
• The Jeevan Pramaan scheme seeks to address this very problem by digitizing the whole process of securing the life certificate. 
• Pensioners have the option to create Jeevan Pramaan, either online or via a mobile app. 
• Using Jeevan Pramaan, a pensioner can now digitally provide proof of his/her existence to authorities for continuity of pension every year instead of requiring to appear in person before the certifying authority or the disbursing agency.
• It employs biometric authentication to validate the pensioner’s identity, effectively preventing fraudulent activity.
• Beneficiaries:
• Pensioners of the Central Government, State Government, or any other Government organization can take benefit of this facility.
• It is not available to remarried or reemployed Pensioners. They are required to submit the life certificate the conventional way to their pension disbursing authority.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, Klyuchevskoy volcano erupts on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

• It is one of the most famous volcanoes in Kamchatka.
• It is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world with a height of 4,750 meters.
• The volcano consists of a truncated cone with a central crater.
• It is a stratovolcano.
• It has been erupted more than 50 times since 1700.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

Recently, the Tamil Nadu Government issued an order to implement ‘Project Dolphin’ under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat programme of the government of India.

• It is to strengthen the marine ecology and overall health of the marine environment.
• This project includes strengthening of patrolling and surveillance, improving habitat through restoration of coastal ecosystems, removing ghost nets, and encouraging involvement of locals with incentives.
• It will be implemented at a cost of 8.13 crore rupees during 2023-2024.
• Funding: While 60% of the amount will be given by the Union government, the State will bear the remaining cost.
• This will be helpful in improving the population of dolphin species and protection of their habitat at the same time improving livelihood of the local communities.
• More than nine species of marine dolphins are found in the coastal waters of Tamil Nadu.
• The major habitats of the dolphins found in the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve.

What is Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat programme?

• It is an on-going Centrally Sponsored Scheme which has been made operational by adding more components and activities to the erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Scheme - "Assistance for the Development of National Parks and Sanctuaries" during the 11th Plan Period.
• Components of the scheme
• Support to Protected Areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves).
• Protection of Wildlife Outside Protected Areas.
• Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and habitats.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the MiG-21 fighter jets of the No. 4 squadron ‘OORIALS’ of the Indian Air Force (IAF) flew one last time over Uttarlai in Rajasthan. 

• It was the first supersonic fighter in service of the IAF and was inducted in 1963.
• It was designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau (OKB) of the erstwhile Soviet Union.
• More than 800 variants of the supersonic fighter have been inducted into service.
• The IAF now has two MiG-21 squadrons in service comprising the upgraded Bison variants, the No. 3 squadron ‘Cobras’ at Bikaner and No. 23 squadron ‘Panthers’ at Suratgarh, which will be phased out by 2025.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Union Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) developed Krishi 24/7.

• It is the first-ever AI-powered solution for automated agricultural news monitoring and analysis with support from Google.org.
• Features
• The tool scans news articles in multiple languages and translates them into English.
• It extracts essential information from news articles, such as headline, crop name, event type, date, location, severity, summary, and source link, ensuring that the ministry receives timely updates on relevant events published on the web.
• Significance
  • It addresses the need for an efficient mechanism to identify and manage agricultural news articles of interest to aid timely decision-making.
  • It will aid Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) to identify relevant news, generate timely alerts, and take prompt action to protect farmers' interests and promote sustainable agricultural growth through improved decision-making.

Hence both statements are correct.