Daily Current Affairs MCQ- July 11, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, One District One Product (ODOP) programme under Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry collaborated with an e-commerce player, Groyyo to onboard aggregators selling ODOP-identified products on its platform.

• It was launched by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries in 2018.
• Objective: To help districts reach their full potential, foster economic and socio-cultural growth, and create employment opportunities, especially, in rural areas.
• This initiative aims to turn every district in India, into an export hub through promotion of the product in which the district specialises. 
• The initiative plans to accomplish this by scaling manufacturing, supporting local businesses, finding potential foreign customers and so on, thus helping to achieve the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ vision.
• The ODOP Initiative has identified a total of 1102 products from 761 districts across the country.
• This initiative is carried out with the ‘Districts as Exports Hub’ initiative by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), Department of Commerce.

What is the process?

• Under the ODOP initiative, all products have been selected by States/UTs by taking into consideration the existing ecosystem on the ground, products identified under Districts as Export Hubs (DEH), and GI-tagged products.
• The finalized list is communicated to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) by the relevant Department of States/UTs.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Ludhiana-based institution has developed a new variety of wheat called PBW RS1.

• It contains high amylose starch content.
• Resistant starch (RS) won’t cause an immediate and rapid rise in glucose levels.
• The high amylose and resistant starch, instead, ensure that glucose is released more slowly into the bloodstream.
• Amylose starch content known to reduce risks of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
• Food prepared from its whole grain flour also have lower glycemic index.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

• It is the condition in which the human body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels.
• It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults (but more and more in children, teens, and young adults).

What is glycemic index?

• It is a rating system for foods containing carbohydrates.
• It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L), Ministry of Education released the Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D) combined report for 2020-21 & 2021-22.

• It assesses the performance of school education system at the district level by creating an index for comprehensive analysis.
• Based on the success of State PGI, 83-indicator based PGI for District (PGI-D) has been designed to grade the performance of all districts in school education.
• The data is filled by districts through online portal.
• It is expected to help the state education departments to identify gaps at the district level and improve their performance in a decentralized manner.
• The indicator-wise PGI score shows the areas where a district needs to improve.
• PGI-D report for 2018-19 and 2019-20 has been released so far, the current one is combined report for 2020-21 & 2021-22.
• The PGI-D structure comprises of total weightage of 600 points across 83 indicators, which are grouped under 6 categories viz., Outcomes, Effective Classroom Transaction, Infrastructure Facilities & Student’s Entitlements, School Safety & Child Protection, Digital Learning and Governance Process.
• These categories are further divided into 12 domains.
• PGI-D grades the districts into ten grades viz., Highest achievable Grade is Daksh, which is for Districts scoring more than 90% of the total points in that category or overall.
• The lowest grade in PGI-D is called Akanshi-3 which is for scores upto 10% of the total points. Ultimate objective of PGI-D is to help the districts to priorities areas for intervention in school education and thus improve to reach the highest grade.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The SEBI Board meeting held recently decided to issue a fresh consultation on the issue of total expense ratio (TER) for mutual funds.

About Total Expense Ratio (TER):

• TER is a measure of the total costs associated with managing and operating an investment fund, such as a mutual fund.
• These costs consist primarily of management fees and additional expenses, such as trading fees, legal fees, auditor fees, and other operational expenses.
• The total cost of the fund is divided by the fund’s total assets to arrive at a percentage amount, which represents the TER.
• TER is also known as the net expense ratio or after reimbursement expense ratio.
• Why is TER important?
• It is used by investors to compare the costs of the scheme with its peers and also in relation to the returns available from that scheme.
• It is a key element in making an investment choice, as those funds which consistently show a high TER may not provide high returns, since high expenses tend to erode the returns generated.
• For example, if a fund generates a return of 7% for the year but has a TER of 4%, then the 7% gain is greatly diminished to roughly 3%.
• How is TER Calculated?
• Total expense ratio = (Total Fund Costs / Total Fund Assets)*100.
• Expenses Associated with Operating a Fund: TER is the measure of all the expenses associated with running a scheme. These can include:
• Management fees, probably the single largest item in the TER of a fund. These fees cover items such as fund manager salaries and research fees.
• Brokerages and taxes in transacting the securities of the scheme.
• Fees paid to trustees, registrar and transfer agents, custodians, personnel of the trustee and Asset Management Company, etc.
• Legal and accountancy fees;
• Sales and marketing expenses.
• Any other operational expenses like rent, electricity, communication, etc. in proportion to the assets of the scheme.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In a paper published recently, researchers at Microsoft announced that they had figured out a way to create an elusive kind of particle that could potentially revolutionize quantum computing.

About Quantum Computing:

• It is an area of computer science that uses the principles of quantum theory.
• Quantum theory explains the behavior of energy and material on the atomic and subatomic levels.
• Quantum computers have the capability to sift through huge numbers of possibilities and extract potential solutions to complex problems and challenges.
• How does it work?
• Where classical computers store information as bits with either 0s or 1s, quantum computers use qubits.
• While classical bits always represent either one or zero, a qubit can be in a superposition of one and zero simultaneously until its state is measured.
• In addition, the states of multiple qubits can be entangled, meaning that they are linked quantum mechanically to each other.
• Qubits can be made by manipulating atoms, electrically charged atoms called ions, or electrons, or by nanoengineering so-called artificial atoms, such as circuits of superconducting qubits, using a printing method called lithography.

What is Superposition and Entanglement?

• They are two features of quantum physics on which quantum computing is based.
• They empower quantum computers to handle operations at speeds exponentially higher than conventional computers and with much less energy consumption.
• Superposition:
• A qubit places the quantum information that it contains into a state of superposition.
• This refers to a combination of all possible configurations of the qubit.
• Groups of qubits in superposition can create complex, multidimensional computational spaces.
• Complex problems can be represented in new ways in these spaces.
• Entanglement:
• Pairs of qubits can be made to become entangled.
• This means that the two qubits then exist in a single state.
• In such a state, changing one qubit directly affects the other in a manner that's predictable.
• Quantum algorithms are designed to take advantage of this relationship to solve complex problems.
• While doubling the number of bits in a classical computer doubles its processing power, adding qubits results in an exponential upswing in computing power and ability.

Hence both statements are correct.

Security forces in Manipur found the Meitei and Kuki factions using quadcopters to track and target their opponents in certain areas of the state.

About Quadcopters:

• It is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone with four rotors, each with a motor and propeller.
• A quadcopter can be manually controlled or can be autonomous.
• It's also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrotor.
• It belongs to a more general class of aerial vehicles called multicopter or multirotor.
• Principle:
• The main principle behind the flight of a quadcopter is Newton's Third Law of motion, which states that for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction.
• A quadcopter's propellers push air downwards. This causes an opposite reaction called thrust that pushes the quadcopter upwards against gravity.
• Air movement comes from Bernoulli's Principle, with larger propeller blades and faster rotation creating more thrust.
• When the propellers rotate (for example clockwise), the quadcopter will tend to rotate anti-clockwise. Rotational force is called torque. Helicopters solve this by using a tail rotor.
• Quadcopters solve this by driving two diagonal propellers clockwise and the other two anti-clockwise. Thus, torque from one pair cancels that of the other.
• When each diagonal pair of propellers rotate in opposite directions, their thrusts will be in opposite directions. The quadcopter will not be able to lift up or fly.
• This is solved by having the blades of each diagonal pair of propellers shaped as mirror images of the other pair. Effectively, all propellers will push air downwards regardless of the direction of rotation.
• Applications:
• They provide stable flight performance, making them ideal for surveillance and aerial photography.
• Quadcopters, after being airborne, have the ability to hover in place, whereas fixed-wing aerial drones have to be on the move constantly.
• Other application areas include delivery, land surveys, crop assessment, weather broadcasting, and more.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Vice President of India will confer upon the fourth National Water Awards in New Delhi on 17th June 2023.

• The first edition of the National Water Awards was introduced by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation in 2018.
• They have provided a good opportunity for start-ups as well as leading organizations to engage and deliberate with senior policymakers on how to adopt the best water resources management practices in India.
• These awards have been instituted to recognize and encourage exemplary work and efforts made by States, Districts, individuals, organizations, etc across the country in attaining the vision of a ‘Jal Samriddh Bharat’.
• It covers 11 categories Best State’, ‘Best District’, ‘Best Village Panchayat’, ‘Best Urban Local Body’ etc.
• The award winners in different categories will be given a citation, trophy and cash prize.
• The cash prizes for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rank winners are Rs.2 lakhs, Rs.1.5 lakhs, and Rs.1 lakh, respectively.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, NITI Aayog and the United Nations in India signed the Government of India - United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023-2027.

• It represents the UN development system’s collective offer to the Government of India, in line with the national vision for development, for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, promoting gender equality, youth empowerment and human rights. 
• It is built on four strategic pillars derived from the 2030 Agenda – People, Prosperity, Planet and Participation.
• The four interlinked pillars have six outcome areas focusing on Health and Well Being; Nutrition and Food Security; Quality Education; Economic Growth and Decent Work; Environment, Climate, WASH and Resilience; and Empowering People, Communities, and Institutions.
• It will have a specific focus on SDG localisation and South-South cooperation, in line with India’s leadership towards the implementation and acceleration of the SDGs; and India’s championing of South-South cooperation.
• The implementation and monitoring: It will be co-led by the Government of India and the United Nations, India through a Joint Steering Committee.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) has raised ₹10,000 crores via the maiden issuance of listed bonds.

• It was set up in 2021, by an Act of the Parliament (The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Act, 2021).
• It is a specialized Development Finance Institution in India.
• Objectives: Addressing the gaps in long-term non-recourse finance for infrastructure development, strengthening the development of bonds and derivatives markets in India, and sustainably boosting the country’s economy.
• It shall be regulated and supervised by RBI as an All India Financial Institution (AIFI) 

What is a Development Finance Institution (DFI)?

• These are organizations owned by the government or public institutions to provide funds for infrastructure and large-scale projects, where it often becomes unviable for large banks to lend.
• They provide two types of funds- Medium (1-5 years) and Large (< 5 years).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Four soft-release centers for Cheetals are under construction in Jharkhand’s Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) for augmenting the prey base for predators especially tigers.

• It is located in the Chhota Nagpur plateau region of Jharkhand.
• The reserve forms a part of the Betla National Park. 
• It is one of the first 9 tiger reserves created in the country at the inception of ‘Project Tiger’.
• It is the first reserve in the world in which a tiger census was carried out as a pugmark count, as early as 1932 under the supervision of J.W. Nicholson.
• Three rivers namely North Koyal, Auranga and Burha flow through the valleys.
• The area is draught drone with Burha being the only perennial river.
• The Reserve is very rich in minerals like Bauxite and Coal.
• Vegetation:
• It is primarily dominated by Northern Tropical Dry Deciduous, Sal Forest and its associates.
• Smaller patches of Northern tropical Moist Deciduous forests exist too in the Reserve.
• Flora: Shorea robusta, Acacia catechu, Madhuca indica, Terminalia tomentosa, Butea monosperma, Pterocarpus marsupium, Anogeisus latifolia, Indigofera pulchela etc.
• Fauna: Some keystone and principal species found in the reserve include Tiger, Asiatic Elephant, Leopard, Grey wolf, Wild dog, Gaur, Sloth bear and four horned antelope.

Hence, option a is the correct answer.