Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 30, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

India has undertaken various steps for the conservation of migratory species.

• In February last year, India hosted the 13th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).
• India was able to successfully list Asian Elephant, Great Indian Bustard and Bengal Florican to the Appendix I of CMS for cooperative action from the range countries of these species.
• India is currently the President of CMS Conference of Parties. For the first time, India has been elected as a Chair of the CMS Standing Committee.
• 'The Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Management Guidelines' have been launched which is the first of its kind in the country.
• 'National Marine Turtle Action Plan for the period extending from 2021 to 2026 has also been launched.
• A new National programme, 'Project Dolphin' was announced last year for more focussed conservation of both riverine and marine Dolphins.
• The government has also launched a five-year Action Plan for Vulture Conservation in India.
• Last year on International Snow Leopard Day, Himal Sanrakshak Community Volunteer Programme was launched.
• India and Bangladesh have signed a Protocol on Trans-boundary Elephant Conservation. It aims at conservation of Elephants including their safe natural migration across international Borders as well as mitigation of Human-Elephant Conflicts.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Indian programme to study the Sun and the region between the Sun and the Earth from space – Aditya-L1 – is due to be launched next year.

• It will carry seven payloads which have been developed by various institutions across the country. Once the mission is launched, there will be a need for a ground support centre to monitor and coordinate the work on its various payloads.
• This role will be played by the ARIES facility (short for Aryabhata Research Institute for observational Sciences) which is situated near Nainital.
• In January 2021, an agreement was signed to this effect based on the proposal submitted by the ARIES team. With about four to five personnel, this centre will come up at Haldawani, where ARIES is setting up a data centre also.
• The Aditya-L1 Support Centre (ASC) will provide training through regular workshops for the guest users. Apart from this, it will provide ready-to-use Python and Java apps for the satellite data and demos and handouts to facilitate the guest users.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National climate vulnerability assessment report released today has identified Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal as states highly vulnerable to climate change.

• These states, mostly in the eastern part of the country, require prioritization of adaptation interventions, the report pointed out.
• The report titled ‘Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’, which identifies the most vulnerable states and districts in India with respect to current climate risk and key drivers of vulnerability, was released by Department of Science & Technology (DST).
• A total of 94 representatives from 24 states and 2 Union Territories participated in the nation-wide exercise jointly supported by the DST and the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation (SDC).
• DST has been implementing 2 national missions on climate change as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. These are National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change (NMSKCC).

Hence both statements are correct.

An experimental antiviral drug, MK-4482, significantly decreased levels of virus and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters treated for SARS-CoV-2 infection, according to a new study from scientists from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• MK-4482, delivered orally, is now in human clinical trials.
• The scientists found MK-4482 treatment effective when provided up to 12 hours before or 12 hours after infecting the hamsters with SARS-CoV-2.
• These data suggest that MK-4482 treatment potentially could mitigate high-risk exposures to SARS-CoV-2, and might be used to treat established SARS-CoV-2 infection alone or possibly in combination with other agents.

Hence both statements are correct.

Gender Samvaad event, a joint attempt between DAY-NRLM and the Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy (IWWAGE) to create a common platform to share experiences emerging from this effort, was organised by the Ministry of Rural Development.

• The attempt is to generate greater awareness on gender related interventions under DAY-NRLM across the country and best practices, with a focus on hearing voices from the states and the field.
• With over 60 million women mobilised to be part of one of India’s largest livelihoods programme, the Deendayal Antayodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) holds great promise for advancing women’s socio-economic empowerment by organising them into self-help groups (SHGs) and federations of the rural poor.
• In 2016, DAY-NRLM laid out a gender operational strategy to mainstream gender issues within its federated architecture, with a focus on training and capacity building of staff, cadres and institutions on gender issues.
• This was coupled with the establishment of institutional platforms (e.g. social action committees and gender resource centres) at the field level, so women could approach them for their grievances and to claim their rights and entitlements.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has constituted an eight-member National Task Force to combat air pollution and monitor remedial steps to improve air quality.

• The NTF will comprise senior officials from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Petroleum, Transport, Power, Agriculture, Health and the Central Pollution Control Board.
• The NTF may also monitor enforcement of laid down air quality standards beyond non-attainment cities in other identified air polluted areas where air quality is poor and above.
• The Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories may continue to monitor progress in execution of action plans at the State-level with the assistance of monitoring cells in their offices and the Air Quality Monitoring Committee.

NGT deals with civil cases under the seven laws:

• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974,
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977,
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981,
• The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,
• The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and
• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) will not be required to register for a fresh OCI card every time a new passport is issued in their name, the Home Ministry said in a statement.

• The Ministry stated that at present, the OCI card is required to be reissued each time a new passport is issued up to 20 years of age and once after completing 50 “in view of biological changes in the face of the applicant”.
• With a view to facilitate the OCI cardholders, it has now been decided by the Government of India to dispense with this requirement.
• A person who has got registration as OCI cardholder prior to attaining the age of 20 years will have to get the OCI card reissued only once when a new passport is issued after his/her completing 20 years of age, so as to capture his/her facial features on attaining adulthood.
• If a person has obtained registration as OCI cardholder after attaining the age of 20 years, there will be no requirement of reissue of the OCI card.
• The OCI Card has proved to be very popular amongst foreigners of Indian Origin and spouses of foreign origin of Indian citizens or OCI cardholders, as it helps them in hassle free entry and unlimited stay in India. So far about 37.72 lakh OCI Cards have been issued by the Government of India.
• As per the extant law, a foreigner of Indian origin or a foreign spouse of an Indian citizen or foreign spouse of an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder, can be registered as an OCI cardholder. 
• OCI card is a life-long visa for entry into and stay in India with a number of other major benefits attached to it which are not available to other foreigners. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Wholesale-level inflation — measured by the WPI or the wholesale price index — shot up to 7.39 per cent in March on a year-on-year basis.

• This is the highest wholesale inflation rate since October 2012, and was driven largely by higher prices of crude oil and a surge in price levels of food items such as pulses and fruits.
• The surge in March was also aided by a low base in the corresponding month of 2020.

The WPI constituents:

• While the Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation — the more widely tracked policy tool — looks at the price at which the consumer buys goods, the WPI tracks prices at the wholesale, or factory gate/mandi levels.
• Between the wholesale price and the retail price, the difference essentially is the former only tracks basic prices devoid of transportation cost, taxes and the retail margin etc. And that WPI pertains to only goods, not services.
• So, the WPI basically captures the average movement of wholesale prices of goods and is primarily used as a GDP deflator (the ratio of the value of goods an economy produces in a particular year at current prices to that of prices that prevailed during the base year).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Engineers from Purdue University in the US have created what they are calling the whitest paint yet. Buildings coated with this paint may be able to cool them off enough to reduce the need for air conditioning.

• The team of researchers at the university created an ultra-white paint in October pushing the limits of how white paint can be. This older formulation was made of calcium carbonate, while the new one is made up of barium sulphate, which makes it more white.
• The newer paint is whiter and keeps the surface areas it is painted on cooler than the formulation before this could. If this new paint was used to cover a roof area of 1,000 square feet, it may be able to get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts.
• Typical commercial white paint gets warmer rather than cooler and that paints currently available in the market that are designed to reject heat reflect only 80-90 per cent of the sunlight and therefore, they can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings.
• The team has also claimed that this paint may be the closest equivalent to the blackest black paint called “Vantablack” that is able to absorb up to 99.9 per cent of visible light.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the setting up of a regulatory review authority, RRA 2.0, to review its regulations internally and in consultation with other stakeholders.

• Deputy governor M Rajeshwar Rao has been appointed as the head of the RRA 2.0 which would be set up for a period of one year from May 1, 2021, unless its tenure is extended.
• The RRA 2.0 will focus on streamlining regulatory instructions and reducing the compliance burden of regulated entities by simplifying procedures and reducing reporting requirements, wherever possible.
• The authority has been christened as such because it follows a similar exercise conducted in 1999-2000.
• The central bank had set up an RRA initially for a period of one year from April 1, 1999 for reviewing the regulations, circulars, reporting systems, based on the feedback from public, banks and financial institutions.
• The recommendations of the RRA enabled streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of several procedures, simplifying regulatory prescriptions, paved the way for issuance of master circulars and reduced reporting burden on regulated entities.

Hence both statements are correct.