Daily Current Affairs MCQ - May 15, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Supercomputers are used for a wide range of computationally intensive tasks in various fields, including quantum mechanics, weather forecasting, flood prediction, climate research, oil and gas exploration, genomics and drug discovery.

India has come a long way in liberating the capital account transactions in the last three decades and currently has partial capital account convertibility.

Some of the recent moves include increasing the foreign portfolio investment limits in the Indian debt markets, introducing the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) — through which non-residents can invest in specified government securities without any restrictions and the easing of the external commercial borrowing framework by relaxing end-user restrictions. Inward FDI is allowed in most sectors, and outbound FDI by Indian incorporated entities is allowed as a multiple of their net worth.

Li-Fi, or light fidelity, invented by German physicist and professor Harald Haas, is a wireless technology that makes use of visible light in place of radio waves to transmit data at terabits per second speeds—more than 100 times the speed of Wi-Fi.

Li-Fi offers great promise to overcome the existing limitations of Wi-Fi by providing for data-heavy communication in short ranges.

Li-Fi can also easily work underwater, where Wi-Fi fails completely, thereby throwing open endless opportunities for military and navigational operations.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities.

Under the terms of the convention, governments are required to meet children’s basic needs and help them reach their full potential.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child urges all public and private actors to act in the best interests of the child, across all their developmental activities and provision of services.

• Recently, the Prime Minister released the 8^th instalment of financial benefit under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).
• Under the scheme, the Centre transfers an amount of Rs 6,000 per year, in three equal instalments, directly into the bank accounts of all landholding farmers irrespective of the size of their land holdings. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • It was launched in February 2019.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% funding from the Government of India. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • It is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiary farmer families rests with the State / UT Governments Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• Dengue is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus (Genus Flavivirus), transmitted by several species of mosquito within the genus Aedes, principally Aedes aegypti.
  • Flavivirus is a genus of positive-strand RNA viruses in the family Flaviviridae. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • This mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika infection.
• Recently researchers from the World Mosquito Program have used mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria to successfully control dengue in Indonesia. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The scientists infected some mosquitoes with Wolbachia and then released them in the city where they bred with local mosquitoes, until nearly all mosquitoes in the area were carrying Wolbachia bacteria. This is called the Population Replacement Strategy.

• 'Prisons/persons detained therein' is a State subject under Entry 4 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Hence, option A is correct.
  • Entry 4: Prisons, reformatories, Borstal institutions and other institutions of a like nature, and persons detained therein; arrangements with other States for the use of prisons and other institutions.
  • Administration and management of prisons is the responsibility of respective State Governments.
  • However, the Ministry of Home Affairs provides regular guidance and advice to States and UTs on various issues concerning prisons and prison inmates. Hence, option B is correct.
• Article 39A (and not Article 23) of the Constitution directs the State to ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity and shall, in particular, provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. Hence, option D is not correct.
  • Right to free legal aid or free legal service is an essential fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution.
  • Article 23 of the Constitution provides the fundamental right against exploitation.
• Article 22 (3) (b) of the Constitution allows for preventive detention and restriction on personal liberty for reasons of state security and public order. Hence, option C is correct.
  • Further, Article 22 (4) states that no law providing for preventive detention shall authorise the detention of a person for a longer period than three months unless:

The International Day of Families is observed every year on 15 May to reflect the importance that the international community attaches to families.

Pioneering philanthropist and Times Group Chairperson Indu Jain has passed away due to Covid-related complications. She was 84.

From India, Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India (SII) is the only Indian among the top 10 names. He is placed at 10th spot.