Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 7, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

The Central Government recently launched a National Survey of Enemy Properties, spread across 20 states and three Union territories.

About Enemy property:

• The enemy properties are those left behind by the people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China after leaving India during the partition and after 1962 war.
• The enemy properties are vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property for India (CEPI), an authority created under the Enemy Property Act 1968.
• The 2017 amendment to the act (Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2017) stated that the successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and China ceased to have a claim over the properties left behind in India.
• The amended law stated that enemy property should continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy, enemy subject, or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, business winding up, or change of nationality or if the legal heir or successor is an Indian citizen or a citizen of a non-aggressive country.
• Of the total 9,406 enemy properties in India, 9,280 are left behind by Pakistani nationals and 126 properties by Chinese nationals.
• Maximum number of enemy properties is in Uttar Pradesh - 4,991. Bengal has 2,735, and Delhi has 487. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The European Union (EU) postponed the launch of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) till 2024.

About European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS):

• It is a proposed digital travel authorization system for visa-exempt visitors to the EU and its Schengen Area.
• ETIAS is not a visa and is more accurately referred to as a visa waiver.
• It is a completely electronic system that allows and keeps track of visitors from countries who do not need a visa to enter the Schengen Zone. 
• It will gather, keep track of, and update necessary information regarding visitors to determine whether it is safe for them to enter Schengen countries.
• The ETIAS will undergo a detailed security check of each applicant to determine whether they can be allowed to enter any Schengen Zone country.
• The ETIAS, besides being used for business and tourist purposes, will also allow people to visit the Schengen countries for medical and transit reasons.
• It will be mandatory for all countries that are Schengen visa-free.

What is the Schengen Area?

• The Schengen Area, or Schengen Countries Zone, is a group of 27 European nations that have abolished border controls between each other. 
• Most European Union (EU) countries are signatories to the Schengen Agreement, although some non-Schengen countries, like Bulgaria and Romania, are signed up but not yet active members.
• Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway are not in the EU but are inside of the Schengen Area.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, researchers at Paderborn University, Germany have been able to make a unique class of catalysts called “Lewis super-acids”.

• Lewis super-acids are derived from Lewis acids, named after the chemist, G N Lewis.
• Lewis superacids are used as catalysts in chemistry to accelerate reactions.
• These are compounds that add electron pairs and can be used to break strong chemical bonds and speed up reactions.
• These are highly reactive reagents, thus difficult to produce and use.
• It enables non-biodegradable fluorinated hydrocarbons (similar to Teflon) to be converted back into sustainable chemicals.
• It can even convert climate-damaging greenhouse gases, such as sulphur hexafluoride into sustainable ones.

Hence both statements are correct.

Extensive fishing off the Coromandel coast forced the great seahorse to migrate laboriously toward Odisha. 

• Great seahorses can be found in relatively deep waters.
• These are ovoviviparous and the males give birth to live young.
• They also have some traits, such as small body size, fast growth and high fecundity, that may confer resilience to high levels of exploitation 
• There are 46 known species of seahorses worldwide. India's coastal ecosystems are home to nine of the twelve species found in the Indo-Pacific, which is a hotspot for seahorse populations.
• They are distributed across diverse ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves, macroalgal beds, and coral reefs.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Vulnerable
• CITES: Appendix II 

Hence both statements are not correct.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs said that the sale of gold jewellery mandates a Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) from April 1, 2023.

• Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the National Standards Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016.
• Objective: Harmonious development of the activities of standardisation, and quality assurance of goods and articles.
• It works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
• BIS represents India in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union government is looking at a possible extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) amid global economic uncertainty and expectation of slower domestic growth next fiscal.

About Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS):

• It was launched by the Government of India in 2020 as a special scheme in view of the Covid-19 crisis.
• Objective: To provide 100 percent guaranteed coverage to the banks, non-banking financial institutions (NBFCs), and other lending institutions to extend emergency credit to business entities that have suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic and are struggling to meet their working capital requirements.
• ECLGS is under the operational domain of the Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services (DFS).
• National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) has been set up by the Union Ministry of Finance to manage and provide guarantees to these loans.
• ECLGS was launched in different phases - ECLGS 1.0, ECLGS 2.0, ECLGS 3.0, and ECLGS 4.0. In different phases, the scope of this scheme was increased to include multiple sectors.
• Sanctions/disbursements are made by lending institutions based on assessment of the borrower’s requirements and eligibility.
• Processing charges, foreclosure, and prepayment charges are waived under the scheme.
• No collateral is required for this scheme.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

After more than a decade of negotiations, the countries of the United Nations have recently agreed to the High Seas Treaty.

About UN High Seas Treaty:

• It is the first-ever treaty to protect the world's oceans that lie outside national boundaries.
• It is also known as the ‘Paris Agreement for the Ocean.’
• It is a legally binding treaty to protect marine life in international waters.
• It aims to place 30% of the seas into protected areas by 2030 (a pledge made by countries at the UN biodiversity conference in 2022).
• It will provide a legal framework for establishing vast marine protected areas (MPAs) to protect against the loss of wildlife and share out the genetic resources of the high seas.
• It also covers environmental assessments to evaluate the potential damage of commercial activities, such as deep-sea mining.
• It will establish a conference of the parties (CoP) that will meet periodically and enable member states to be held to account on issues such as governance and biodiversity.
• The treaty also includes a pledge by signatories to share ocean resources.
• The treaty is built on the legacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is the last international agreement on ocean protection, signed 40 years ago in 1982. UNCLOS established an area called the high seas.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) recently outlined a plan for a potentially revolutionary new area of research called “organoid intelligence”, which aims to create “biocomputers”:

What is an Organoid?

• Organoids are lab-grown tissues that resemble organs.
• They are three-dimensional structures usually derived from stem cells.
• They are smaller, simpler versions of an organ and can mimic the architecture and function of specific organs in the body.
• They can be crafted to replicate much of the complexity of an organ or to express selected aspects of it, like producing only certain types of cells.
• Organoids can range in size from less than the width of a hair to five millimeters.

What is meant by ‘Organoid Intelligence’?

• It refers to the ability of organoids to exhibit certain behaviors or responses that are indicative of intelligence, such as problem-solving, learning, or adapting to changing environments.
• It is an emerging field where researchers are developing biological computing using 3D cultures of human brain cells (brain organoids) and brain-machine interface technologies.
• These organoids share aspects of brain structure and function that play a key role in cognitive functions like learning and memory.
• They would essentially serve as biological hardware and could one day be even more efficient than current computers running AI programs.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the President of India presented the Swachh Sujal Shakti Samman 2023 and graced the launch of Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catch The Rain -2023 in New Delhi.

• Catch the Rain is a Jan Andolan campaign to encourage all stakeholders to create rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS).
• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Tag line: Catch the rain, where it falls, when it falls.
• The campaign is implemented by the National Water Mission (NWM), Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• The campaign takes place across the country, in both rural and urban areas.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Demand for apples from Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh has shot up 30% as the earthquake in Turkey has halted shipments of the fruit to India.

• In India apple is primarily cultivated in Jammu & Kashmir; Himachal Pradesh; the hills of Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal.
• It is also cultivated to a small extent in Arunachal Pradesh; Nagaland; Punjab and Sikkim.
• Climatic conditions required
  • The apple is a temperate fruit crop.
  • However, in India, the apple-growing areas do not fall in the temperate zone but the prevailing temperate climate of the region is due to the Himalayan ranges and high altitudes.
  • Temperature: The average summer temperature should be around 21-24 degrees C during the active growth period.
  • It can be grown at an altitude of 1500- 2700 m above sea level.
  • Rainfall: Well-distributed rainfall of 1000-1250 mm throughout the growing season is most favourable for the optimum growth and fruitfulness of apple trees.
  • Soil: Apples grow best on well-drained, loamy soils.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.