Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 15, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar participated in the meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.

SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, created in June 2001 in Shanghai (China).

Founding members included Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

This organization represents approximately 42% of the world’s population, 22% of its land area and 20% of global GDP.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, on July 28th, killing the two pilots aboard the trainer version of the fighter aircraft.

• The MiG-21 Bison is an upgraded version of the MiG-21bis which had been first inducted into service in 1976.
• The MiG-21 FL, which was an older version of the aircraft and which joined service in 1963, had been phased out of IAF in 2013.
• The IAF received the first upgraded MiG-21 Bison in 2001 and the last of these upgraded fighters was received in 2008.
• There are four squadrons of MiG-21 Bison aircraft currently in service in the IAF with each squadron comprising 16-18 aircraft, including two trainer versions.
• These four squadrons will retire from service, one by one, by the end of 2025.

With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring monkeypox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), governments around the world are initiating steps towards developing or even sourcing a vaccine against monkeypox.

• There is yet no dedicated monkeypox vaccine, but vaccinations against smallpox was found to be 85% effective in preventing smallpox, a disease eradicated in 1980.
• In 2019, the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), approved the JYNNEOS vaccine for the prevention of smallpox, monkeypox and other diseases caused by orthopoxviruses, including vaccinia virus, in adults 18 years of age and older and categorised as having a “high risk of infection.”
• JYNNEOS, developed by Danish biotechnology company, Bavarian Nordic, contains a live vaccinia virus that does not replicate efficiently in human cells.

Hence both statements are correct.

The elephant range States across India have ignored an instruction from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to furnish information on their elephant reserves.

• Data uploaded on the Wildlife Institute of India’s website say the elephant population across 16 States in the country ranged between 27,785 and 31,368 in 2012.
• While Karnataka had up to 7,458 elephants followed by Assam with 5,281, Maharashtra had only four.
• India has 30 notified elephant reserves, spread across 15 Elephant Range States.
• There are also 10 sites for the MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal Killing of Elephants) programme, mandated by the Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
• The MIKE sites are Chirang-Ripu and Dihing-Patkai in Assam, Deomali in Arunachal Pradesh, Garo Hills in Meghalaya, Eastern Dooars in West Bengal, Mayurbhanj in Odisha, Shivalik in Uttarakhand, Mysore in Karnataka, Wayanad in Kerala and Nilgiri in Tamil Nadu.

Hence both statements are correct.

A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, on July 28, killing the two pilots aboard the trainer version of the fighter aircraft.

How many MiG-21 aircraft have crashed recently?

• There have been six MiG-21 Bison crashes in the last two 20 months, with five crashes in 2021 and one in 2022. Five pilots have lost their lives in these crashes. However, this is the first fatal trainer aircraft crash of the MiG-21 Bison in a long time.

How many MiG-21 Bison aircraft are in IAF?

• There are four squadrons of MiG-21 Bison aircraft currently in service in the IAF with each squadron comprising 16-18 aircraft, including two trainer versions. Out of these one squadron, Srinagar-based No 51 Squadron, is going to be retired from service or ‘number plated’ in IAF jargon on September 30 this year, leaving three squadrons in service.
• Out of these three squadrons, one will be number plated each year and, thus, MiG-21 Bison will be phased out of IAF by 2025. The IAF is looking towards reviving these squadrons back into service with the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Government of India has proposed amendments in the Cantonments Act, 2006 by incorporating provisions for imparting, inter-alia, greater democratisation to Cantonment Boards including direct election of Vice-President.

• This information was given by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He said the draft bill is under finalization. The elections to Cantonment Boards are proposed to be held thereafter.
• Defence Minister said a framework for cutting out civil areas of certain Cantonments and to merge them with neighbouring State municipalities is under consultation with concerned States.
• He said this will provide uniformity in local governance and greater ease of living for citizens in the process.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will give away Agriculture Infrastructure Fund Awards in New Delhi on July 30, 2022.

• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) was launched two years ago under the ambitious Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package as a dedicated Central Government scheme that provides medium-long term credit facility for investment in creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets.
• This facility comes with financial support by way of three per cent Interest subvention from Government and credit guarantee by CGTMSE fee up to two crore rupees.
• This scheme can be converged with the existing Central Government and State Government schemes. This has immensely benefitted stakeholders in the agricultural ecosystem - Farmers, Agri-entrepreneur, FPO, SHG, JLG, PACS, APMC, Startup, Central, Marketing Cooperative Society, State Agencies etc.

Hence both statements are correct.

Kerala, which slipped to the eighth slot in holding Assembly sittings during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, returned to the top spot in 2021, with its House sitting for 61 days, the highest in the country.

• The State’s showing was impressive as 2021 saw the more virulent second wave of the pandemic. In fact, between 2016 and 2019, it remained at the top with an average of 53 days.
• Despite enjoying the record of having the highest number of sittings in 2021, Kerala (where the Left Democratic Front is in power since May 2016) had promulgated 144 ordinances, also the highest in the country.
• Making the findings in its study on the functioning of State Assemblies for 2021, the PRS Legislative Research (PRS), a New Delhi-based think tank, states that for the year in question, Odisha followed Kerala with 43 sitting days; Karnataka 40, and Tamil Nadu 34 days.
• Of the 28 State Assemblies and one Union Territory’s legislature, 17 met for less than 20 days. Of them, five — Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Delhi — met for less than 10 days. The figures for Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab were 17, 16 and 11, respectively.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of the first All India District Legal Services Authorities Meet in New Delhi on July 30, 2022.

• The first-ever national-level meet of District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs) is being organized at Vigyan Bhawan by National Legal Services Authority. The meeting will deliberate on the creation of an integrated procedure to bring homogeneity and synchronization across DLSAs.
• There are a total of 676 District Legal Services Authorities in the country. They are headed by the District Judge who acts as Chairman of the authority.
• Through DLSAs and State Legal Services Authorities, various legal aid and awareness programs are implemented by National Legal Services Authority. The DLSAs also contribute towards reducing the burden on courts by regulating the Lok Adalats conducted by NALSA.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

PM Modi will launch the ministry of power’s flagship Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) on July 30, 2022.The scheme is aimed at improving the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of the power distribution companies (discoms).

• The scheme, with an outlay of over Rs 3.03 trillion in five years to FY26, will enable discoms to modernise and strengthen the distribution infrastructure and improve the reliability and quality of supply of power to end consumers.
• It also aims to reduce the AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and ACS-ARR (average cost of supply-average revenue realised) gap to zero by 2024-25. REC and PFC have been nominated as nodal agencies for the scheme.
• RDSS mandates compulsory installation of smart meters across the country. The Centre has set an ambitious target of installing 250 million smart meters by 2025.
• With this new scheme coming into force, all other previous schemes such as Integrated Power Development Scheme, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) would stand subsumed.

Hence both statements are correct.