Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 30, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Dr. Sosamma Iype won the Padma Shri in 2022 for one of her remarkable work of saving and resurrecting a breed of indigenous cattle, the Vechur cow. 

• It is one of the rare dwarf cattle breeds of India, and it is considered to be the smallest cattle breed in the world.
• It is known by the name of a place Vechur - a small place by the side of Vembanad lake near Vaikam in Kottayam district of South Kerala.
• These are light red, black or fawn and white in colour.
• The animals are well adapted to the hot and humid climate of the area. Milk production is relatively higher than any other dwarf cattle.
• It is docile, short, disease-resistant and easy to maintain with low food requirement as compared to other crossbred species.
• It is resistant to Mastitis (blockage of teats in the udder), foot and mouth diseases, and respiratory infections and require almost no veterinary care.
• The medicinal property of its milk has been accepted by Ayurveda too. Since the Vechur cow milk has got higher proportion of smaller fat globules and saturated fatty acids, it would be therapeutically useful in malabsorption syndrome.
• It is also considered to be the ideal food for children and convalescents.

Hence only statements 1 and 3 are correct.

With Holi set to be celebrated on March 25, in some parts of Rajasthan’s Jaipur, an old tradition will play out where colours will be thrown through a unique medium called the “Gulaal Gota”.

• It is a small ball made of lac, filled with dry gulaal.
• Gulaal Gotas are made by Muslim lac makers, called Manihaars, only in Jaipur (Rajasthan).
• The tradition of using Gulal Gota goes back to 400 years when the erstwhile Jaipur royal family members would play Holi with them.

How it is prepared?

• The making of Gulaal Gotas involves first boiling the lac in water to make it flexible. Lac is a resinous substance that is secreted by certain insects. It is also used to make bangles.
• After shaping the lac, colour is added to it. At first red, yellow, and green are added as other colours can be obtained through their combinations.
• After the processing is done, artisans heat the lac. It is then blown into a spherical shape with the help of a blower called “phunkni”.
• Then, gulaal is filled in the balls before they are sealed with lac.
• Lac is brought from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and the female scale insect is one of the sources of lac.
• The lac insects also yield resin, lac dye and lac wax.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Ministry of Electronics & IT Startup Hub is empowering innovation, driving growth and forging success within the vast landscape of Startup Mahakhumbh 2024.

• It is established as an Independent Business Division (IBD) under the aegis of Digital India Corporation (DIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India.
• It is aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector.
• It supports startups, incubators, and Centers of Excellence (CoEs) through various programs and initiatives to drive digital transformation and promote India's leadership in emerging technologies.
• Mission: It has a mission to build a conducive innovation and start-up ecosystem by bringing together various technology innovation stakeholders and paving the way toward a strong economy built on the twin engines of innovation and technological advancement.
• It acts as a national coordination, facilitation, and monitoring center that will integrate all the incubation centers, start-ups, and innovation-related activities of MeitY.

What is Digital India Corporation?

• It has been set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, to innovate, develop and deploy ICT and other emerging technologies for the benefit of the common man.
• It plays the role of a leader in promoting e-Governance by taking forward the projects and activities of the Digital India Programme, to facilitate its stakeholders to realise its goals.
• It also provides strategic support to Ministries & Departments, both at Central and State level for carrying forward the mission of Digital India Programme by way of Capacity Building for e-governance projects, promoting best practices, encouraging Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), nurturing innovation and technology in various domains.

Hence both statements are correct.

Researchers have discovered the pivotal role that sea cucumbers play in maintaining the health of the world’s reefs.

About Sea Cucumber: 

• These are part of a larger animal group called echinoderms and are invertebrates that live on the seafloor.
• Their body shape is similar to a cucumber, but they have small tentacle-like tube feet that are used for locomotion and feeding.
• There are about 1,250 species of sea cucumber, all of which belong to the taxonomic class Holothuroidea.
• They are found in all marine environments throughout the world, from shallow to deep-sea environments. Sea cucumbers are benthic, meaning they live on the ocean floor.
• They excrete inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, enhancing the productivity of benthic biota.
• Reproduction:
• Sea cucumbers exhibit both sexual and asexual reproduction.
• Unlike most terrestrial animals, sea cucumber eggs undergo external fertilization—females release eggs into the water that are fertilized when they come into contact with sperm that males have released.
• Conservation status:
• Wildlife Protection Act of 1972: Schedule I
• CITES: Appendix II

Hence option c is the correct answer.

The Indian Army has initiated a significant development in its technological capabilities by establishing the Signals Technology Evaluation and Adaptation Group (STEAG).

About Signals Technology Evaluation and Adaptation Group:

• It is a unit dedicated to researching and evaluating futuristic communication technologies like 6G, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and quantum computing for military applications.
• Objective: Its primary objective is to nurture technologies across wired and wireless systems, covering a wide spectrum of domains including electronic exchanges, mobile communications, software-defined radios, electronic warfare systems, and more.
• The unit will conduct technical scouting, evaluation, development, and management of core ICT solutions while providing user interface support through the maintenance and upgrade of contemporary technologies.
• It will help bridge the divide between the armed forces on the one hand and industry and academia on the other.
• It is aligned with the tenets of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Start-Up India.
• Significance
• It will play a crucial role in fostering self-reliance in high-end communication technologies, which have traditionally been dominated by countries with advanced economies and research ecosystems.
• The establishment of this Center of Excellence is expected to be a game-changer in India's quest for technological self-sufficiency.

Hence both statements are correct.

A shortage of cocoa beans has led to a near shutdown of processing plants in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two countries responsible for 60% of global production.

• It is an important plantation crop grown for chocolates around the world.
• It is known as a crop of humid tropics and is native to the Amazon basin of South America.
• It is mainly grown in an area of land around the equator between 20 degrees latitude north and south.
• Required climatic conditions
• It can be grown up to 300 m above mean sea level. 
• Rainfall: It requires an annual rainfall of 1500-2000 mm. 
• Temperature: The temperature range of 15°-39°C with an optimum of 25°C is considered ideal.
• Soil: It requires deep and well-drained soils.  The majority of the area under Cocoa cultivation is on clay loam and sandy loam soil. 
• It grows well in the pH range of 6.5 to 7.0.
• Shade requirement
• Cocoa was evolved as an under-storey crop in the Amazonian forests. Thus commercial cultivation of cocoa can be taken up in plantations where 50 per cent of light is ideally available. 
• Major producing regions in the world: About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.
• In India, it is mainly cultivated in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu mainly as intercrop with Arecanut and Coconut.

Hence only statements 1 and 2 are correct.

As the world grapples with rising temperatures, a groundbreaking study led by the University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia exposes an unlikely menace of Lianas.

• Lianas (also known as vines, climbing plants or climbers) are plants with long, flexible, climbing stems that are rooted in the ground and usually have long dangling branches.
• They particularly thrive in disturbed forest areas — such as those affected by logging, natural treefalls, landslides because they can quickly grow towards the forest canopy using trees as support.
• In terms of climate, lianas are more resilient to variations in moisture and temperature, which gives them a competitive advantage over trees.
• Lianas use their climbing ability, resilience to climatic stress and efficient water and nutrient usage to outcompete trees for sunlight and resources.
• They compete for sunlight in the canopy and suppress trees.
• Their lower carbon sequestering capacity compared to trees further exacerbates the threat to carbon storage.

Impacts on forest ecosystem

• An increase in lianas’s competitive success over trees can significantly affect the forest ecosystem.
• Lianas, being a disturbance-favouring plant form, can impact trees from the understory to the canopy.
• Their prolific growth following heavy disturbance can lead to decreased tree regeneration, growth and survival, altering forest structure and ecosystem function, which, in turn, can affect the subsequent recovery of forest. 
• Its proliferation can alter nutrient cycling within forests and decrease the overall resilience of forests to environmental changes, making ecosystems more susceptible to further disturbances.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

World Forest Day, also known as International Day of Forests, is celebrated on March 21 each year. 

• The day aims to respect and promote the value of a wide range of forests. Countries are encouraged to take part in regional, global, and local drives to set up a scope of forest and tree-related campaigns, like planting campaigns.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Forum on Forests are the coordinators of the International Day of Forests.
• It is observed on March 21 every year.
• History:
• In 1971, the General Assembly of the European Confederation of Agriculture proposed that we should celebrate a day dedicated to forests.
• March 21 was chosen as World Forestry Day by the United Nations as it coincides with the Vernal Equinox and Autumn Equinox in northern and southern hemispheres.
• The theme for this year is - Forests and Innovation: New Solutions for a Better World. 

Hence option b is the correct answer.

Finland has once again claimed the title of the world's happiest country for the seventh consecutive year, according to the annual UN-sponsored World Happiness Report released recently.

About World Happiness Report:

• The annual World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and the World Happiness Report's Editorial Board.
• It is based on global survey data from people based on people's own assessments of their happiness, as well as economic and social data.
• The report considers six key factors: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and the absence of corruption.
• It assigns a happiness score based on an average of data over a three-year period.
• Highlights of World Happiness Report 2024:
• The Nordic nations continue to dominate the top rankings. Finland topped the list for the seventh year in a row.
• The other top 10 countries are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Australia.
• Out of the 143 countries surveyed, Afghanistan remained at the bottom of the list.
• For the first time in over a decade, the United States and Germany have slipped out of the top 20 happiest nations, landing at 23rd and 24th place, respectively. 
• The report underscores a change wherein the happiest countries no longer include any of the world's most populous nations. Only the Netherlands and Australia, both with populations exceeding 15 million, are present in the top 10.
• Where does India stand?
• India is ranked 126th on the list, the same as last year, in the happiness index.
• Older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in India.
• The report said that older Indian men, particularly those in higher age brackets, presently married, and those with an education, tend to report greater life satisfaction compared to their counterparts.
• However, older women in India report lower life satisfaction than older men.
• Satisfaction with living arrangements, perceived discrimination, and self-rated health emerged as the top three predictors of life satisfaction.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

A recent study by scientists in Portugal predicts the 'Ring of Fire' subduction zone beneath the Gibraltar Strait may lead to the Atlantic Ocean's closure in 20 million years. 

About Subduction Zone:

• A subduction zone is a spot where two of the planet's tectonic plates collide and one dives, or subducts, beneath the other.
• Tectonic plates are pieces of the Earth’s rigid outer layer that slowly move across the planet's surface over millions of years.
• This is the main tenet of plate tectonics, the theory that portions of Earth's shell glide over the lower mantle, taking continents with them.
• That outer layer, known as the lithosphere, consists of the Earth’s crust and the upper section of the mantle, a dense, hot layer beneath the crust.
• When two tectonic plates meet at a subduction zone and one slides underneath the other, this lithosphere material curves down into the hot mantle.
• This tectonic process can produce some of the planet’s most powerful earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes.
• This subduction process frequently occurs because of the two different types of lithospheres that make up tectonic plates: Continental and oceanic.
• Because oceanic material is denser than continental lithosphere, when the two collide at a subduction zone, the oceanic portion sinks into the mantle beneath the more buoyant continental lithosphere.
• Subduction zones can also occur when both colliding plate sections consist of oceanic material. In these cases, older, denser oceanic lithosphere sinks below younger, more buoyant oceanic lithosphere.
• A new oceanic lithosphere forms at the spots where plates separate, allowing hot mantle material to rise to the surface. As it moves away from those boundaries, this lithosphere cools and gets denser. Thus, older oceanic lithosphere can more easily sink.
• The sinking plate, or "slab," at a subduction zone tends to bend at an angle of about 30 degrees from Earth's surface, though some angles are flatter or steeper than this.
• Sometimes, subduction can begin spontaneously, without the forces of collision between plates. This happens as the lithosphere becomes unstable and sinks under the force of gravity. The oceanic lithosphere may grow so old and dense that it collapses and spontaneously forms a subduction zone.
• Subduction zones occur in a horseshoe shape around the edge of the Pacific Ocean, offshore of the USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Indonesia, and down to New Zealand and the southern edge of South America.
• Called the "Ring of Fire," these subduction zones comprise “the most seismically and volcanically active zone in the world,”, responsible for more than 80% of the world's biggest earthquakes and most of the planet’s active volcanoes.

Hence option b is the correct answer.