Daily Current Affairs MCQ- November 10, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

A report by the US Geological Survey (USGS) revealed that around 400 earthquakes have been recorded under Mount St Helens since mid-July this year.

• It is a volcanic peak in the Cascade Range of southwestern Washington, United States of America.
• It is part of the larger Pacific Ring of Fire.
• The volcano was formed during four eruptive stages beginning about 275,000 years ago and has been the most active volcano in the Cascade Range during the Holocene.
• Its eruption on May 18, 1980, was one of the greatest volcanic explosions ever recorded in North America.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

Researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) have developed a radiative cooling paint, which is specifically engineered to cool structures like buildings, pavers, and tiles in hot weather conditions.

• It is developed from a novel MgO-PVDF polymer nanocomposite.
• They used ultra-white and ultra-emissive magnesium oxide (MgO)-polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nano-composite prepared from materials that are earth abundant, cheap, non-toxic and non-harmful.
• The optimized MgO-PVDF with a dielectric nanoparticles resulted in large solar reflectance of 96.3% and a record high thermal emission of 98.5% due to Mg─O bond vibrations, and other stretching/bonding vibrations from the polymer.
• The researchers developed polymer nanocomposite paint by using a simple solution-processed technique.
• By measuring the temperature of the paint using a thermocouple, excellent cooling performance was demonstrated under hot sunlight.
• The nanocomposite paint exhibited water-resistant hydrophobic properties and can be easily coated on pavers, wood sticks and so on with high uniformity and good adhesion.
• The surface temperature of a treated paver decreases by approximately 10°C under intense sunlight-- almost double of the reduction that conventional white paints give.
• This low-cost, solution-processed paint demonstrates significant cooling capabilities with a high solar reflectivity and infrared thermal emissivity. 

What is Radiative cooling?

• It is a passive cooling technology without any energy consumption, compared to conventional cooling technologies that require power sources and dump waste heat into the surroundings.

Hence both statements are correct.

A team of researchers and the forest department have found a rare bioluminescent mushroom in the Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary (KKWLS).

• Mycena chlorophos is a bioluminescent mushroom (fungus) primarily found in subtropical Asia.
• It is characterized by a pristine white disc with a shallow depression in the centre and emits a bright, greenish light in the dark
• Mycena species have bell-shaped caps and thin stems.
• There are around 103 species of bioluminescent fungi in the world, of which seven are found in India.

What is Bioluminescence?

• It is the ability of living organisms to emit light.
• It occurs due to a biochemical reaction between luciferins, oxygen and the enzyme luciferase.
• The benefit of bioluminescence in fungi is to attract insects for facilitating their spore dispersal.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Recently, research conducted at the University of Kerala has led to the unprecedented discovery of a new crustacean family off the Indian coast. 

• Researchers have named the new family Uranoscopicolaidae.
• This is also the first discovery and description of a new crustacean family from India.
• This parasitic copepod was found to depend upon the Dollfus’ Stargazer (Uranoscopus guttatus), a fish dwelling in depths ranging from 300-550 m off the southwest Indian coast.
• The discovery of the new family has also led to the creation of a new genus and species, Hirodai ohstukai under it.
• These parasitic copepods are known to infest a wide range of hosts, from sponges to marine mammals.
• New isopod species which has been named Glyptothoa sagara; ‘Glypto’ as the fish parasite was found in the deep sea fish Glyptophidium macropus, and ‘sagara’ for ocean.
• Another new isopod crustacean parasite species named Elthusa aquabio was collected from an unknown fish. 
• The fourth new species is a 11-12 mm “flesh-penetrating parasitic copepod,” which has been named as Cardiodectes vampire.
• It was found to infest the deep-sea fish Chlorophthalmus corniger. 

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

NASA recently shared an incredible picture of an aurora captured from the International Space Station.

About Auroras:

• An aurora is a natural phenomenon that is characterised by a display of a natural-coloured (green, red, yellow, or white) light in the sky.
• What causes it?
• It is a light show which is caused when electrically-charged particles from the sun interact with the Earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere.
• Solar particles interact with different types of gas molecules in the atmosphere, mostly nitrogen and oxygen, resulting in unique, colored displays of light. 
• Oxygen gives off green and red light, while nitrogen glows blue and reddish-purple.
• It is sometimes referred to as ‘polar light’. It is predominantly seen in regions of high altitudes like the Arctic and Antarctic. 
• In the Northern Hemisphere, the phenomenon is called the northern lights (aurora borealis), while in the Southern Hemisphere; it's called the southern lights (aurora australis). 
• Auroras can appear in various forms, like streamers, patches, arcs, scattered light, diffused light, etc.
• Do other planets have Auroras?
• Earth isn’t the only planet that experiences auroras.
• Any planet with an atmosphere and a magnetic field is likely to have auroras.
• Auroras have been observed on Saturn and Jupiter.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A case was recently registered against a chopper company by the forest department in Uttarakhand for purportedly landing a helicopter in a restricted zone of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.

About Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS):

• Location: The KWS, famously known as the Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary, is located in the Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts of the state of Uttarakhand.
• It was named after the famous Hindu temple of Kedarnath, which lies outside the northern border of the sanctuary.
• Its alternate name comes from its primary purpose of protecting the endangered Himalayan musk deer.
• It is the largest protected area in the western Himalayas.
• The sanctuary was established in 1972, covering a total area of 975.20 km2.
• It lies in the upper catchment of the Alaknanda and Mandakini Rivers.
• The altitude ranges from 1,160 to 7,068 m.
• It is bordered by Kedarnath (6940 m), Mandani (6193 m), and Chaukhamba (7068 m) peaks in the north. 
• The area falls under the West Himalayan Zone in the Palearctic realm.
• Vegetation:
• It is covered with temperate forests.
• The higher and upper regions possess the sub-alpine and alpine coniferous forests.
• At high altitude, lush green meadows envelope the entire region. 
• Flora: Oak, rhododendrons, Chir Pine and Alpine meadows along with several Himalayan flowering plants. 
• Fauna: Some of the mammals are Musk deer, Himalayan Thar, Himalayan Black bear, Snow Leopard, etc, and some birds like Monal, Koklass, and Himalayan Griffon, etc.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a proposal to make a 50 per cent increase in the quota allocated to members in proportion to their current quotas. The proposal will now be considered and made effective by the board of governors as part of concluding the 16th general review of quotas. Currently, India has a quota of special drawing rights (SDR) 13,114.4 million which denotes a share of 2.75 per cent, making it the eighth-largest quota-holding country in the IMF.

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah launched the ‘Bharat Organics’ brand of the newly launched National Cooperative Organics Ltd (NCOL). It will have as many as 20 products in the market by December 2023. NCOL will pass on 50 per cent of its profit earned over the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of any crop directly into the bank account of the farmers, while the rest will be used for the growth of the organization.

The United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Production Gap report has been released in anticipation of the COP28 climate conference. It warns that global fossil fuel production over the next seven years is projected to exceed more than double the levels required to stay within the climate goals outlined in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, including the crucial target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

India accounted for the highest number of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world in 2022, representing a staggering 27 percent of the global burden, as revealed by the new World Health Organization (WHO) 2023 Global TB report released. According to the report, India recorded 2.8 million (28.2 lakh) TB cases in 2022, with a case fatality ratio of 12 per cent.  Featuring data from 192 countries an