Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 3, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Under the second phase of the Petroleum Reserves programme, the government of India has approved the setting up of two additional commercial-cum-strategic facilities with a total storage capacity of 6.5 MMT underground storage at Chandikhol (4 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT) in July 2021, on PPP Mode.

• The request for proposal for building these storage facilities is under finalisation.
• An amount of Rs 210 crore was allocated in the budget for the financial year 2020-21 under Phase II for land acquisition, and the same has been disbursed to ISPRL.
• Under the first phase of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) programme, the Government through its special purpose vehicle, the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL), has set up petroleum storage facilities with a total capacity of 5.33 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) at 3 locations.
• These are namely (i) Visakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), (ii) Mangaluru (1.5 MMT) and (iii) Padur (2.5 MMT), and all the storage facilities have been filled with crude oil.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is likely to launch India’s third lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-3’ in the third quarter of 2022.

• Chandrayaan-3 is a lander-and rover-specific mission, which will demonstrate India’s capability of soft landing on a celestial body, with the rover then communicating with Earth via the existing orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 and taking images 100 km from Moon’s orbit.
• The orbiter has an estimated lifespan of seven years.
• The unique exploration of Chandrayaan-3 aims at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface in a single mission.
• The Lunar South pole is especially interesting because the lunar surface area that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the North Pole. Further, there could be a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it.
• In addition, the South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Maharashtra Bhushan Selection Committee chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray unanimously selected legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle for the prestigious award.

• The Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar will be given to legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle for the year 2021.
• The Maharashtra Bhushan is a highest civilian award presented annually by the government of Maharashtra.
• It was first awarded in 1996 to Purushottam Laxman Deshpande in the field of Literature.
• It was initially conferred in every years in the fields of Literature, Art, Sport, and Science. Later the fields of Social Work, Journalism, and Public Administration and Health Services were included. The award is presented for outstanding achievement in their field.

Hence both statements are correct.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has taken a decision for providing 27% reservation for OBCs and 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in the All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate medical / dental courses (MBBS / MD / MS / Diploma / BDS / MDS) from the current academic year 2021-22 onwards.

• The All India Quota (AIQ) Scheme was introduced in 1986 under the directions of the Supreme Court to provide for domicile-free merit based opportunities to students from any State to aspire to study in a good medical college located in another State.
• All India Quota consists of 15% of total available UG seats and 50% of total available PG seats in government medical colleges.
• Initially, there was no reservation in AIQ Scheme up to 2007. In 2007, the Supreme Court introduced reservation of 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs in the AIQ Scheme.
• When the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act became effective in 2007 providing for uniform 27% reservation to OBCs, the same was implemented in all the Central Educational Institutions viz. Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Harding Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University etc.
• However, this was not extended to the AIQ seats of State medical and dental colleges.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and has been introduced in Parliament’s monsoon session.

• Deposit Insurance Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• It provides deposit insurance that works as a protection cover for bank deposit holders when the bank fails to pay its depositors.
• It protects depositors’ money kept in all commercial and foreign banks located in India; central, state, and urban co-operative banks; regional rural banks; and local banks, provided that the bank has opted for DICGC cover.
• The agency’s operations are performed as per the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961 and The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation General Regulations, 1961.

Amendment bill

• The Bill provides account holders security of their money by allowing access to up to Rs 5 lakh within 90 days of a bank coming under a moratorium.
• Under the latest amendment in the DICGC Bill, 98.3% of all deposits will be covered and in terms of deposit value, 50.9% of deposits will be covered. While the Global deposit value is only 80% of all deposit accounts and covers only 20-30% of the deposit value.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Jaipur’s Amagarh Fort is at the centre of a conflict between the tribal Meena community and local Hindu groups.

• Members of the Meena community say the Amagarh Fort was built by a Meena ruler predating Rajput rule in Jaipur, and has been their holy site for centuries.
• People from the community used to worship Amba Mata and other deities in the fort.
• In June, following reports of idols being vandalised and hoisting of a saffron flag at the fort, Meena community members accused Hindu groups of trying to appropriate tribal symbols into the Hindutva fold, and of changing the name of Amba Mata to Ambika Bhawani.

History of the fort

• The present form of the Amagarh Fort was given in the 18th century by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, founder of Jaipur.
• It has always been believed that there was some construction at the place before Jai Singh II built the fort.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

On July 28, at least seven people were killed, 17 injured and over 35 missing after a cloudburst hit a remote village of Jammu and Kashmir.

• Cloudbursts are short-duration, intense rainfall events over a small area.
• According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is a weather phenomenon with unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm/h over a geographical region of approximately 20-30 square km.
• A study published last year studied the meteorological factors behind the cloudburst over the Kedarnath region.
• They analysed atmospheric pressure, atmospheric temperature, rainfall, cloud water content, cloud fraction, cloud particle radius, cloud mixing ratio, total cloud cover, wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity during the cloudburst, before as well as after the cloudburst
• A 2017 study of cloudbursts in the Indian Himalayas noted that most of the events occurred in the months of July and August.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Union Minister of Science & Technology informed Rajya Sabha that Geo-imaging satellite “EOS-03” is scheduled for launch in third quarter of 2021.

• It would enable near-real time monitoring of natural disasters like floods & cyclones.
• EOS-03 is capable of imaging the whole country 4-5 times daily.
• In addition to natural disasters, EOS-03 would also enable monitoring of water bodies, crops, vegetation condition, forest cover changes etc.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Inland Vessels Bill 2021 was passed in Lok Sabha.

• It replaces the Inland Vessels Act, 1917. The Bill seeks to introduce a uniform regulatory framework for inland vessel navigation across the country.
• Mechanically propelled inland vessels: The Bill defines such vessels to include ships, boats, sailing vessels, container vessels, and ferries. The central government will prescribe the: (i) classification, (ii) standards of design, construction, and crew accommodation, and (iii) type and periodicity of surveys, for these vessels.
• Certificates: To operate in inland waters, all such vessels must have a certificate of survey, and a certificate of registration. Vessels with Indian ownership must be registered with the Registrar of Inland Vessels (appointed by the state government).
• Insurance: The vessels must also have an insurance policy to cover liability for death, injury, or damage caused due to the usage of the vessel (including accidental pollution).
• Navigation safety: Such vessels will be required to follow certain specifications for signals and equipment to ensure navigation safety, as specified by the central government.
• Inquiry into accidents: All accidents aboard such vessels must be reported to the head officer of the nearest police station, as well as to a state government appointed authority.
• Manning requirements: The central government will prescribe the minimum number of people that vessels must have, for various roles. Violating these requirements will attract a penalty of up to Rs 10,000 for the first offence, and Rs 25,000 for subsequent offences.
• Prevention of pollution: Vessels will discharge or dispose sewage, as per the standards specified by the central government. State governments will grant vessels a certificate of prevention of pollution, in a form as prescribed by the central government.
• Development fund: The Bill provides for a development fund which will be utilised for various purposes including: (i) emergency preparedness, (ii) containment of pollution, and (iii) boosting inland water navigation. Each state will constitute such a development fund.
• Non-mechanically propelled inland vessels: The Bill empowers state governments to delegate certain functions related to non-mechanically propelled inland vessels to their local governments.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) announced that it would return 14 works of art from its Asian art collection to India.

The works being returned are:

• dancing child-saint Sambandar of 12th century belonging to Chola dynasty,
• processional standard [alam], from Hyderabad,
• arch for a Jain shrine (11th-12th century), seated Jina, 1163 from Mount Abu region, Rajasthan,
• the divine couple Lakshmi and Vishnu [Lakshmi Narayana] (11-12th century), and
• Durga Mahisasuramardini, from Gujarat.

Sambandar

• Sambandar, also referred to as Thirugnana Sambandar was a Saiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva poet-saint.
• He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an oeuvre of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived.
• These narrate an intense loving devotion (bhakti) to the Hindu god Shiva.
• The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the Tirumurai, and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta.

Hence both statements are correct.