Daily Current Affairs MCQ - March 8, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Union government’s decision to withhold rural development fee from Punjab, and letters asking the Punjab Government to explain its utilisation of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) that it gets largely from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has enraged the state government.

• Rural Development Fund (RDF) is the 3 per cent cess levied on the purchase or sale of agricultural produce under the Rural Development Fund Act, 1987 which is executed by Punjab Rural Development Board (PRDB) with the Chief Minister as its chairman.
• The fund comes mainly from central government’s purchase agency, Food Corporation of India, which buys around 13 million tonnes of wheat and 16 million tonnes of paddy every year.
• This fund is supposed to be used for the creation and maintenance of rural infrastructure in and outside mandis. But there have been charges in the past that it was diverted by the state for other purposes.
• The central government, in a letter from the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has observed that the fund is being diverted, and has asked the state government to explain how it is utilising this money.
• It has also not made any provision for this fund in the cost sheet that it has sent to the state.
• The state government is now claiming that it is being penalised for the protests against the farm laws that are raging in the state.

Hence both statements are correct.

Himachal Pradesh is one of the states vying for the allotment of a bulk drug park under a central government scheme announced earlier this year for setting up three such parks across the country.

• A bulk drug, also called an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), is the key ingredient of a drug or medicine, which lends it the desired therapeutic effect or produces the intended pharmacological activity. For example, paracetamol is a bulk drug, which acts against pain.
• It is mixed with binding agents or solvents to prepare the finished pharmaceutical product, i.e. a paracetamol tablet, capsule or syrup, which is consumed by the patient.
• APIs are prepared from multiple reactions involving chemicals and solvents. The primary chemical or the basic raw material which undergoes reactions to form an API is called the key starting material, or KSM.
• Chemical compounds formed during the intermediate stages during these reactions are called drug intermediates or DIs.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Super Typhoon Goni slammed into the Philippines with authorities warning of “catastrophic” conditions in the region expected to receive the hardest hit, where nearly a million people have been evacuated.

• The strongest typhoon of the year so far made landfall on Catanduanes Island with maximum sustained wind speeds of 225 kilometres (140 miles) per hour.
• Goni -- which intensified into a “super” typhoon as it neared the Philippines -- comes a week after Typhoon Molave hit the same region of the natural disaster-prone archipelago.
• Since 2009 the Hong Kong Observatory has divided typhoons into three different classifications: typhoon, severe typhoon and super typhoon.
• A typhoon has wind speed of 64–79 knots (73–91 mph; 118–149 km/h), a severe typhoon has winds of at least 80 knots (92 mph; 150 km/h), and a super typhoon has winds of at least 100 knots (120 mph; 190 km/h).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Bengaluru based Indian Institute of Science and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) have signed an MOU to develop biomass gasification based hydrogen generation technology for producing fuel cell-grade hydrogen at an affordable price.

• Both IISc and Indian Oil will demonstrate the technology in the Indian Oil R&D Centre in Faridabad.
• The technology is crucial for the fuel cell operated buses being conceived by Indian Oil towards ushering in the country’s hydrogen economy.
• Indian Oil Corporation had recently launched trials of 50 buses in Delhi using hydrogen-CNG as a fuel, based on Indian oil patented single step reforming technology. It is now working with IISc to use hydrogen production technology based on biomass gasification.
• IISc has worked on biomass gasification and developed an innovative process for the production of hydrogen rich syngas and a small scale prototype is demonstrated in the IISc campus.
• The use of this technology will not only provide a cleaner energy option for India but also be a step towards addressing the challenge of biomass waste.

Hence both statements are correct.

In a significant step towards affordable medical education, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has notified its first major regulation.

• Titled as “Minimum Requirements For Annual MBBS Admissions Regulations (2020)”, the notification replaces the “Minimum Standard Requirements for Medical Colleges, 1999” of the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI).
• The new Regulation shall be applicable to all new medical colleges proposing to be established, and to the established medical colleges proposing to increase their annual MBBS intake from the academic year 2021-22.

The key changes:

• The new Regulation has deleted the quantum of land required for setting up a medical college and its affiliated teaching hospitals.
• A well-equipped “Skills Laboratory” for training students is essential now.
• It also defines a Medical Education Unit for training medical teachers in educational pedagogy.
• The space required for Library and the number of books and journals have been rationalized and reduced.
• Student counselling services has been mandated recognizing the increasing stress observed amongst medical students and residents in recent times.
• the new regulation now mandates the availability of a fully functional 300 bed multi-speciality hospital for at least 2 years at the time of application for establishing a new medical college (the earlier regulations did not specify the period of functionality).
• Over and above the minimum prescribed faculty, provision for “visiting faculty” has been made to enhance quality of training.

Hence both statements are correct.

• Theyyam is a popular ritual form of dance worship in Kerala and Karnataka, India. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• It consisted of thousand-year-old traditions, rituals and customs.
• The people consider Theyyam itself as a channel to a god and they thus seek blessings from Theyyam.
• Each Theyyam is a man or a woman who attained divine status by performing heroic deeds or by leading a virtuous life. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• Most Theyyams are believed to be the incarnations of Shiva or Shakti (the consort of Shiva). Or they have strong associations with these principal deities of Hinduism. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
• There are over 400 theyyams. Some of these are very important.

United Nations Human Rights Council

• The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the world.
• The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006. It replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
• The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) serves as the Secretariat of the Human Rights Council. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• OHCHR is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Hence statement 2 is correct.
  • The UNGA takes into account the candidate States' contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary pledges and commitments in this regard.
• The Council's Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution. Seats are distributed as follows:
  • African States: 13 seats
  • Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats
  • Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats
  • Western European and other States: 7 seats
  • Eastern European States: 6 seats
• Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

Pressurised Water Reactor

• It is a type of light water reactor that uses ordinary water as the moderator and coolant. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• The PWR plant is the most common type of nuclear power reactor in the world.
  • The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) are fuelled by Natural Uranium while Light Water Reactors (LWRs) are fuelled by Low Enriched Uranium. Hence statement 2 is not correct.
• A PWR has two water systems:
  • One is called the reactor (primary) system that retrieves heat generated in the reactor, and the other is called the turbine (secondary) system that produces electric power with steam generated by that heat.

• Great Barrier Reef is the world’s most extensive and spectacular Coral Reef ecosystem composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
  • The Great Barrier Reef makes up about 10% of the world's coral reef ecosystems. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The reef is located in the Coral Sea (North-East Coast), off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
• This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • They are made up of genetically identical organisms called polyps, which are tiny, soft-bodied organisms. At their base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs.
  • These polyps have microscopic algae called zooxanthellae living within their tissues. The corals and algae have a mutualistic (symbiotic) relationship. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• It was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1981.

The Prime Minister inaugurated Water Aerodrome at Kevadia and the Sea-plane Service connecting Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.

• He also inaugurated Water Aerodrome in Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and the SeaPlane Service from Sabarmati Riverfront to Kevadia.
• These are part of a series of Water Aerodromes being planned to bring the last mile connectivity.
• Seaplanes have the ability to land and take-off from water thus offering access to areas that do not have landing strips or runways.
• Thus it can help in connecting the geographies/regions that have challenges owing to its topography and bring the remotest parts of India into the mainstream aviation network without the high cost of building airports and runways.
• These smaller fixed wing airplanes can land on water bodies like lakes, backwaters and dams, gravel and grass, thus offering easy access to numerous tourist spots as well.

Hence both statements are correct.