Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 26, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

The Innovations for Defence Excellence-Defence Innovation Organisation (iDEX-DIO), under the aegis of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence, is organising DefConnect 2024 at Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi on March 04, 2024.

• It is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India launched in 2018.
• Objective: The objective of the scheme is to cultivate an innovation ecosystem in the Defence and Aerospace sector by collaborating with startups, innovators, MSMEs, incubators, and academia.
• Funding: It will be funded and managed by a ‘Defence Innovation Organization (DIO)’ which has been formed as a ‘not for profit’ company as per the Companies Act 2013 for this purpose, by the two founder memberse. Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) - HAL & BEL.
• It functions as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities while DIO will provide high level policy guidance to iDEX.
• It offers grants and support for R&D with significant potential for future adoption in Indian defence and aerospace.
• It is currently engaged with around 400+ Startups and MSMEs.

Hence both statements are correct.

Pakistan has decided to hold its National Day celebrations in New Delhi again this year, which is observed on March 23, the day the Lahore Resolution was adopted in 1940 by the Muslim League.

• It was adopted by the All-India Muslim League during its general session in Lahore from March 22 to March 24, 1940, formally called for an independent state for India’s Muslims.
• The resolution does not include the word ‘Pakistan’ anywhere.
• The Lahore Resolution was criticised by many Indian Muslims, like Abul Kalam Azad and the Deoband ulema led by Husain Ahmad Madani, who advocated for a united India.
• What did the Resolution say?
• Geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North-Western and Eastern Zones of India, should be grouped to constitute “Independent States” in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”
• In other parts of India where the Mussalmans are in a minority, adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards shall be specially provided in the constitution for them and other minorities for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests in consultation with them.”

What was the lead-up to the Lahore Resolution?

• Till the early 1930s, many Muslims had been agitating for better representation and safeguarding of their rights within the Indian Union, and the separate electorate granted to them in the Government of India Act, 1935, was a step towards that.
• The Muslim League session was held days after the Khaksar tragedy, when members of a Muslim group called the Khaksars, fighting for India’s independence, were shot at by the British on March 19 in Lahore, killing many.

Hence both statements are correct.

Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show that a protoplanetary disk around a young star in the Orion Nebula is losing massive amounts of hydrogen each year. 

About Protoplanetary Disk:

• A protoplanetary disk is a disk of gas (99% by mass) and dust (1%), orbiting a newly formed star, from which planets may eventually form or be in the process of forming.
• Disks are common by-products of star formation, and range in mass from 0.001 to 0.3 Solar masses (1027–1029 kg) and in size from several tens to almost 1,000 Astronomical Units (1012–1014 m).
• How are they formed?
• Stars form from cold interstellar molecular clouds. A molecular cloud is an interstellar cloud of gas and dust in which molecules can form, the most common of which is hydrogen (H2). 
• As they collapse into protostars under the force of gravity, the remaining matter forms a spinning disk.
• Eventually, the star stops accreting matter, leaving the disk in orbit around it.
• The leftover gas and dust inside that protoplanetary disk become the ingredients for planet formation.
• Organic molecules present in the original molecular cloud become part of the protoplanetary disk and the planets that form from it.
• The chemical composition of the protoplanetary disk determines the composition of the eventual planets that form from it. 
• Protoplanetary disks typically disperse after 2–3 million years through the coalescence of their matter into planets and photoevaporation by the stellar radiation.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In commentaries on China and Taiwan, 'grey zone warfare' crops up in descriptions of Chinese actions around the island that it claims as its own.

About Grey Zone Warfare:

• Grey zone warfare generally means a middle, unclear space that exists between direct conflict and peace in international relations.
• It can be broadly defined as the exploitation of operational space between peace and war to change the status quo through the use of coercive actions which remain below a threshold that, in most cases, would prompt a conventional military response.
• Activities characterised as grey zone warfare methods range from the use of proxies for kinetic action or change of territorial status quo through coercion to non-kinetic subversive actions such as cyberattacks, economic coercion, disinformation campaign, election meddling, and more recently, weaponisation of migrants.
• There are typical aspects that tend to be present in most grey zone warfare activities.
• The first is that grey zone elements remain below the threshold that would justify a military response, often through the use of non-military tools. 
• The second common characteristic of grey zone activities is that they unfold gradually over time rather than involving bold, all-encompassing actions to achieve objectives in one step. 
• The third characteristic, which applies to some but not all the activities in this sphere, is a lack of attributability. Most grey zone campaigns involve actions, whereby the aggressor aims for plausible deniability of its action. 
• In cases where grey zone actions are open and attributable, they are justified using extensive legal and political arguments. In addition, aggressors also recruit other countries to their point of view.
• Grey zone campaigns target specific vulnerabilities in the targeted countries.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister of India has approved the comprehensive national-level IndiaAI mission with a budget outlay of Rs.10,371.92 crore.

• The IndiaAI mission will establish a comprehensive ecosystem catalyzing AI innovation through strategic programs and partnerships across the public and private sectors.
• The Mission will be implemented by ‘IndiaAI’ Independent Business Division (IBD) under Digital India Corporation (DIC).
• It has the following components:
• IndiaAI Compute Capacity: The IndiaAI compute pillar will build a high-end scalable AI computing ecosystem to cater to the increasing demands from India’s rapidly expanding AI start-ups and research ecosystem.
• The ecosystem will comprise AI compute infrastructure of 10,000 or more Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), built through public-private partnership. It will act as a one-stop solution for resources critical for AI innovation.
•  IndiaAI Innovation Centre: The IndiaAI Innovation Centre will undertake the development and deployment of indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors. 
• IndiaAI Datasets Platform: It will streamline access to quality non-personal datasets for AI Innovation. A unified data platform will be developed to provide a one-stop solution for seamless access to non-personal datasets to Indian Startups and Researchers.
• IndiaAI Application Development Initiative: It will promote the AI applications in critical sectors for the problem statements sourced from Central Ministries, State Departments, and other institutions. The initiative will focus on developing/scaling/promoting adoption of impactful AI solutions with potential for catalyzing large scale socio-economic transformation.
• IndiaAI FutureSkills: It is conceptualized to mitigate barriers to entry into AI programs and will increase AI courses in undergraduate, masters-level, and Ph.D. programs. Further, Data and AI Labs will be set-up in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India to impart foundational level courses.
• IndiaAI Startup Financing: This pillar is conceptualized to support and accelerate deep-tech AI startups and provide them streamlined access to funding to enable futuristic AI Projects.
• The approved IndiaAI Mission will propel innovation and build domestic capacities to ensure the tech sovereignty of India.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Union Minister for Rural Development inaugurated School Soil Health Programme, New Delhi.   

• Department of Agriculture and Farmers welfare (Ministry of Education) in collaboration with Department of School Education and Literacy (Ministry of Agriculture and farmers welfare) has undertaken a pilot project on school soil health programme.
• Features
• Under the project, 20 soil labs were set up in 20 schools of Kendriya and Navodaya Vidylaya of rural areas.
• Study modules were developed and training was given to students and teachers.
• Mobile application was customized for the school programme and portal is having a separate segment for the programme where in all the activities of students has been documented.
• Now, this programme has been scaled up in 1000 schools.
• Kendriya Vidyalya, Navodaya Vidyalya and Eklavya Model Schools have been taken under this programme. Schools are being onboarded on the portal and online batches are being created.
• Department of Agriculture and Farmers welfare (DA&FW) through National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) will setup soil labs in these schools.
• School students will collect soil samples, test in the labs set up in schools and generate Soil health Card.
• After generating Soil Health Card, they will go to the farmers and educate them about recommendation of Soil health Card.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Communities, particularly those in western Rajasthan, are concerned about the state’s proposal to classify orans (sacred groves) as deemed forests. 

About Orans:

• Orans are traditional sacred groves found in Rajasthan.
• These are community forests, preserved and managed by rural communities through institutions and codes that mark such forests as sacred.
• There are often local deities associated with Oran.
• They are rich in biodiversity and usually include a water body.
• Communities in Rajasthan have been conserving these Orans for centuries, and their lives have been intricately linked around these spaces. 
• Orans are also spaces where herders take their livestock for grazing and are places for communal congregations, festivals, and other social events, the performance of which is linked to agrarian rhythms and the continued commitment of the communities towards environmental conservation. 
• Orans also form the natural habitat for India’s most critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act, which is also the State bird of Rajasthan. 

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Cooperation Minister will launch the National Cooperative Database (NCD) to foster a cooperative-centric economic model.

About National Cooperative Database (NCD):

• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation. 
• Under this initiative, the Ministry of Cooperation has recognized the imperative need for a robust database to capture vital information about India's vast cooperative sector. 
• NCD has been developed in collaboration with State Governments, National Federations and stakeholders, and aims to foster a cooperative-centric economic model.
• It is a web-based digital dashboard wherein data of cooperative societies, including National/State Federations have been captured.
• The data of cooperative societies has been entered and validated by States/ UTs nodal officials at RCS/ DRCS offices, and the data of federations has been provided by various national/state federations.
• NCD has collected/mapped information about 8 lakh cooperatives with collective membership of more than 29 crores spread across various sectors in the country. 
• The information collected from cooperative societies are on various parameters, such as their registered name, date, location, number of members, sectoral information, area of operation, economic activities, financial statements, status of audit etc. 
• NCD serves as a crucial tool for efficient communication between the Central Ministry, States/UTs, and Cooperative Societies, benefiting all stakeholders in the cooperative sector. 
• The database provides comprehensive contact details for registered societies, facilitating smooth communication between government entities and these societies.
• NCD offers a myriad of benefits, including:
• Single-point access
• comprehensive and updated data
• user-friendly interface
• vertical and horizontal linkages
• query-based reports and graphs
• Management Information System (MIS) reports
• data analytics
• Geographical Mapping

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto was declared winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize.

• It is the highest international award in the field, which is sometimes referred to as the “Architecture Nobel” and “the profession’s highest honor.”
• The prize has been awarded every year since its founding in 1979.
• It is awarded to a living architect/s for significant achievement.
• It was established by the Pritzker family of Chicago through their Hyatt Foundation.
• Objective: To honour a living architect whose built work demonstrates talent, vision and commitment, who has produced consistent and significant contributions to humanity and the built environment through the art of architecture”.
• The laureate receives $100,000 and also a bronze medallion. 

Works of Riken Yamamoto

• Yamamoto is the ninth laureate from Japan.
• His famous works are the Hiroshima Nishi Fire Station (2000) has a transparent façade and glass walls and floors that allow passersby to look inside. 
• The Koyasu Elementary School (2018), spacious, open terraces not only make learning the arts — dance, music, painting but also encourage students to interact.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A groundbreaking development in education has emerged from Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, where a school has introduced India's first AI teacher robot, Iris.

• It is powered by Robotics and Generative AI technologies. Iris boasts a dedicated Intel processor and coprocessor for seamless performance.
• Its Android App interface allows users to control and interact with the robot, ensuring a personalized learning experience.
• It is not just a passive presence in the classroom but a dynamic voice assistant and interactive learning tool.
• It acts as an AI voice-controlled assistant, responding to user queries, providing explanations, and delivering educational content.
• It engages users in interactive learning experiences through personalized content generation, quizzes, and interactive activities.
• Equipped with a 4-wheel chassis, Iris can move freely within its environment, facilitating interaction with users and navigating through learning spaces.
• Its hands, featuring 5 DoF each, enable Iris to manipulate objects, perform demonstrations, and engage in hands-on learning activities.
• The robot can teach subjects from nursery to Class 12.
• The robot currently speaks three languages - English, Hindi and Malayalam.
• It is created by the Maker Labs.

Hence only statement 1 is correct