Daily Current Affairs MCQ - May 31, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Germany for the first time has recognised that it committed genocide against the Herero and Nama people in present-day Namibia during its colonial rule over a century ago, and promised financial support of over a billion euros to the Southern African nation.

• Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial settlers killed tens of thousands of men, women and children from the Herero and Nama tribes after they rebelled against colonial rule in what was then called German South West Africa.
• Between 1884 and 1890, Germany formally colonised parts of present-day Namibia — a territory which was roughly twice as large as the European nation, but not as densely populated. By 1903, around 3,000 German settlers had occupied the central high ground of the region.
• Tensions quickly rose as local tribes saw the German settlers as a threat to their land and resources. The conflict reached a boiling point in 1904, when the Herero nation — a primarily pastoral community — rebelled against the Germans, and were closely followed by the Nama tribe.
• During the Battle of Waterberg, around 80,000 Herero, including women and children, were chased across the desert by German troops. A mere 15,000 survived.
• The Germans continued to rule the region till 1915, following which it fell under South Africa’s control for 75 years. Namibia finally gained independence in 1990.
• The atrocities committed in what was then known as German South West Africa have been described by some historians as the first genocide of the 20th century.
• Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Bandyopadhyay, an IAS officer of the 1987 batch, was due to begin an extension of three months after retiring. Instead, the Centre has asked him to join the Government of India.

• Rule 16(1) of DCRB (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules says that “a member of the Service dealing with budget work or working as a full-time member of a Committee may be given extension of service for three months, with the prior approval of the Central Government”.
• For an officer posted as Chief Secretary of a state, this extension can be for six months.

Central deputation

• In normal practice, the Centre asks every year for an “offer list” of officers of the All India Services (IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service) willing to go on central deputation, after which it selects officers from that list.
• Rule 6(1) of the IAS Cadre Rules says an officer may, “with the concurrence of the State Governments concerned and the Central Government, be deputed for service under the Central Government or another State Government…”
• It says “in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government or State Governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government”.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

China took another step towards completing the construction of its first space station by the end of next year following the launch and docking of a cargo spacecraft.

• The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, described by as “the delivery guy for China’s space station”, was launched on a Long March-7 rocket from the island of Hainan, and docked eight hours later with the space station’s first core module called Tianhe, or “heavenly harmony”.
• The Tianzhou-2 spacecraft carried a range of supplies, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said, and will be followed by the launch of another cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-3, and two manned missions, Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13, this year, each carrying three astronauts who will spend several months in orbit. The Shenzhou-12 launch is slated for mid-June.

The launch was a third landmark for China’s space programme in recent weeks.

• China landed a spacecraft in Mars on May 15 carrying its first Mars rover, Zhurong.
• The Tianhe module, which the cargo spacecraft docked with on Sunday, was launched on April 29.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Uttarakhand is home to the Western Himalayan temperate forests which harbour a large number of endemic bird species. A new study that analysed these natural oak-dominated forests and modified forests has noted that there was a drastic loss of bird species in all modified landscapes.

• Six major land-use types which included natural oak forest, degraded oak forest (lightly used), lopped oak forest (intensively used), pine forest, agricultural cultivation area and sites with buildings were studied.
• The results showed that there was a low diversity of species in monoculture areas and urban sites. 
• It also noticed strong decline in some of the habitat guilds in the areas that experienced land-use change. Habitat guilds are groups of bird species that have common habitat preferences.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways inaugurated the second floating jetty at Old Goa.

• The jetty will offer safe, hassle free transportation to the tourists. The Minister lauded the work done by Government of Goa in making tourism sector a growth engine of the state.
• The Government of India has approved setting up of two Concrete floating jetties on River Mondovi (NW-68) to connect Old Goa and Panjim.
• This is the second floating jetty constructed on River Mondovi (NW-68).
• Earlier, the first jetty located at Captain of Ports, Panjim Goa was inaugurated in February 2020 at Panjim.

Concrete floating jetties have many advantages over the fixed jetties.

• Their price is approximately 1/5th of the price of fixed jetty.
• Similarly, they are quicker to build and install, easier to use.
• The designed life of floating jetty is up to 50 years.
• Also, being floating structures they don't need CRZ clearances.
• They can be increased in size or reduced as per changes in users' requirement or the changes in jetty site's hydrographic profile.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

International Energy Agency (IEA) was established in the wake of the 1973-1974 oil crisis, to help its members respond to major oil supply disruptions, a role it continues to fulfil today.

• IEA’s mandate has expanded over time to include tracking and analyzing global key energy trends, promoting sound energy policy, and fostering multinational energy technology cooperation.

Composition and eligibility:

It has 30 members at present. IEA family also includes eight association countries. A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members.

An international team of astronomers have discovered the most distant ‘radio-loud’ quasar with the help of European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT). It took 13 billion years for the quasar’s light to reach earth, according to a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal March 8, 2021.

Quasars are very luminous objects in faraway galaxies that emit jets at radio frequencies. They are only found in galaxies that have supermassive blackholes which power these bright discs. However, 90 per cent of them do not emit strong radio waves, making this newly-discovered one special.

Most active galaxies have a supermassive black hole at the centre which sucks in surrounding objects. Quasars are formed by the energy emitted by materials spiralling around a blackhole right before being sucked into it.

About National Security Act:

• It is a stringent law that allows preventive detention for months, if authorities are satisfied that a person is a threat to national security or law and order.
• The person does not need to be charged during this period of detention. The goal is to prevent the individual from committing a crime.
• It was promulgated on September 23, 1980

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 10 crore  on HDFC Bank for deficiencies in regulatory compliance found in the auto loan portfolio of the bank. As per the RBI, HDFC Bank has violated the provisions of section 6(2) and section 8 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The government extended the tenure of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) Chief Samant Kumar Goel, by one-year. Now the two-year fixed term of the officer, which was due to end on June 30, 2021, has been extended to June 30, 2022.