Daily Current Affairs MCQ - June 4, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Recession is defined as a fall in the overall economic activity for two consecutive quarters (six months) accompanied by a decline in income, sales and employment.

Gross Value Added (GVA) data provides a measure of national income by looking at the value-added by different sectors of the economy in that quarter. If you want to compare which parts of the economy improved production and incomes from one quarter to another, the GVA is more apt.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found three more caves in Trirashmi hill in Nashik where the Trirashmi Buddhist caves — also known as Pandav Leni — are located.

• The antiquity of the caves is yet to be established; archaeologists studying them, however, believe they could be older than the Trirashmi caves.
• These caves may have been dwellings of Buddhist monks.
• All the caves have verandahs and the characteristic square stone platform for monks. There are special arrangements for monks to meditate, similar to the Kanheri and Wai caves.

Trirashmi caves

• The Trirashmi or Pandav Leni caves are a group of 25 caves that were carved out of Trirashmi Hill between the 2nd century BC and 6th century AD.
• The caves complex was documented in 1823.
• It is now an ASI protected site and a tourist destination.
• The Buddhist sculptures and caves (in Nashik) are a early example of Indian rock-cut architecture representing the Hinayana tradition of Buddhism.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced 33.3 % reservation for girl students in engineering & medical colleges of the state.

• The 33.3% quota for girls would be introduced in all engineering and medical colleges across the state from the coming academic session (2021-22).
• With this, Bihar will become the first state in the country to provide 33.3% quota to girls in the technical colleges.
• This will increase the number of girl students in the field of engineering and medical areas.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

China has reported the world’s first case of a human infected with H10N3 avian influenza in its eastern province of Jiangsu.

• Influenza A virus subtype H10N3 is a subtype of viruses that causes influenza (flu). It is mostly present in wild avian species. The first human case was reported in 2021.
• H10N3 has been isolated across a wide geographic distribution, including in species such as domestic poultry (chickens), ducks, other waterfowl, and terrestrial birds.
• In animals, the viruses display a complex pathology, with complex reassortments and mutations contributing to pathobiology patterns in chickens, ducks and mice indicative of a possible threat to humans, although H10N3 is usually a less severe strain and is unlikely to cause a significant outbreak.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ranjitsinh Disale, the first Indian teacher to receive the Global Teacher Award has been appointed by the World Bank as an Advisor to the World Bank.

• The World Bank has appointed 12 advisors from world over and Mr. Disale is one of them representing India. He will be an advisor to the World Bank till December 2024.
• World Bank has recently launched the Global Coach Program, a new initiative focused on accelerating learning by helping countries improve in-service teacher professional development (TPD) programs and systems.
• This program forms part of the World Bank’s broader agenda to tackle the global learning crisis (WDR, 2018).
• Coach focuses on supporting countries improve in-service TPD through a two-pronged approach.
• The Coach program focuses on helping countries transform their TPD programs and policies to ones that adhere to a set of four key principles that have been shown to be linked to improved teaching quality.
• Disale’s work through the Advisory Board will impact the work World Bank on the ground, currently supporting over 18 million teachers around the world.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The World Health Organization approved China’s SINOVAC Covid vaccine for Emergency Use Listing, EUL. This makes SINOVAC the 8th vaccine to receive EUL from the WHO.

• WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) is a prerequisite for COVAX Facility vaccine supply and international procurement. It opens the door for the jab to be used in the COVAX programme, which aims to ensure fair access to vaccines.
• The vaccine is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
• The Sinovac-CoronaVac product is an inactivated vaccine (The disease-carrying virus or bacterium, or one very similar to it, is inactivated or killed using chemicals, heat or radiation).
• Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suitable for low-resource settings.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Kharg, Iran’s largest warship caught fire and later sank in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

• The warship Kharg is named after the island that serves as the main oil terminal for Iran.
• Kharg or Khark Island is a island in the Persian Gulf belonging to Iran.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Every decision of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be taken at a meeting, by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting, in accordance with the following principles, namely: —
the vote of the Central Government shall have a weightage of one third of the total votes cast, and

the votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast, in that meeting.

Island Development Agency:

The Union Government constituted the Island Development Agency on 1^st June, 2017 for the development of islands.

The meetings of the Agency is chaired by the Union Home Minister.

• Mega Food Park Scheme was launched in 2008-09 to give a major boost to the food processing sector by adding value and reducing food wastage at each stage of the supply chain with a particular focus on perishables.
  • The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is implementing the Mega Food Park Scheme in the country. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The Scheme is based on the “Cluster” approach and envisages creation of state of art support infrastructure in a well-defined agri/horticultural zone for setting up of modern food processing units in the industrial plots provided in the park with a well-established supply chain. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The scheme envisages to provide a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastage, increasing farmers income and creating employment opportunities particularly in the rural sector. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The most popular methods of containing the pest include the use of Genetically Modified (GM) crops and pesticides.
• Natural approaches, including breeding predators such as wasps, to be released into fields when necessary, as well as developing a “germ warfare” that isolates diseases to which the caterpillar (armyworm) is prone, are being explored by the scientists.
• A quarantine system, under which imports of grains and plants that can host such insects are inspected at shipping ports, airports and land border crossings is the first line of defence taken by the countries across the world. Hence, option D is correct.
  • The quarantine system in India is governed by the Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order of 2003, which is notified under the Destructive Insects and Pests Act of 1914.