Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 18, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

According to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Muthuvan tribe will be part of Nilgiri Tahr conservation project.

• These people live on the border hill forests of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• They speak slightly two different dialects and call each other Malayalam Muthuvan and Pandi Muthuvan.
• They are animists and spirit worshippers and also worship the forest gods,
• They believe that the spirits of their ancestors are to be the first migrants to the hill forests.
• They are known for coexisting with the wildlife with their traditional knowledge.
• These tribal people follow a unique system of governance called the 'Kani System'.
• Under this system, each village is headed by a 'Kani', who is responsible for the administration of the village.
• They have expertise in traditional medicines which are very effective and these medicines and the medicine men are confidentially preserved and passed on to the generations.
• Occupation: Agriculture is the main occupation of these Muthuvan tribes, producing quite a number of products like ragi, cardamom and lemon grass.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, chip designer Qualcomm said that it is partnering with Alphabet's Google to make wearable devices like smartwatches using chips based on RISC-V technology.

About RISC-V technology:

• It is an open-source technology which is pronounced as "risk five".
• It is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) used for the development of custom processors targeting a variety of end applications.
• It is considered the fifth generation of processors built on the concept of the reduced instruction set computer (RISC). 
• It was begun as a project at UC Berkeley to create an open-source computer system based on RISC principles.
• It was initially designed for academic use. The standard has evolved and is now managed by RISC-V International. 
• How does RISC-V work?
• As an open-standard architecture, RISC-V is defined by member companies of RISC-V International, the global nonprofit organization behind the ISA.
• The intent is that through collaboration, the member companies can contribute new avenues of processor innovation while promoting new degrees of design freedom.
• It features a small core set of instructions upon which all the design’s software runs.
• The architecture allows designers to customize and build their processor in a way that’s tailored to their target end applications.
• Benefits of RISC-V include:
• Its open-standard nature, which allows collaboration and innovation across the industry.
• The entire RISC-V architecture can be scrutinized closely in the public domain, eliminating back doors and hidden channels.  
• Applications: Wearables, Industrial, IoT, and Home Appliances, Smartphones, Automotive, High-Performance Computing (HPC), and Data Centers.

Hence both statements are correct.

To improve road safety and reduce incident response time, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will implement upgraded and forward-looking Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) Standards and Specifications 2023.

• Aim: To enhance road safety, reducing incidence response time and digital enforcement on national highways and expressways.
• The new standard includes the following features
• It provides for implementation of digital highways by developing integrated utility corridors along the national highways to develop optic fibre cables (OFC) infrastructure.
• Under the new standards, the existing VIDS cameras will be replaced with the Video Incident Detection and Enforcement System (VIDES) to emphasize the digital enforcement of traffic rules.
• For comprehensive coverage, these cameras are slated for installation every 10 km along national Highways and the feeds from these cameras will be integrated at the command and control centres located at every 100 km
• Vehicle speed detection system (VSDS) is now integrated into VIDES, optimizing use of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
• Depending on the detected incident, VIDES will alert route patrol vehicles or ambulances, generate e-challans, relay alerts to nearby variable messaging boards, or send notifications through the ‘Rajmargyatra’ mobile app to nearby travelers.
• These measures play an active role in disaster management by providing inputs for effective planning and implementation.
• It will also provide online sharing of highway status and other important information that will help both the agencies and the highway users.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the area of the Rafah Border Crossing has been reportedly hit in a military strike.

• The crossing is at the south of the Gaza Strip, a narrow slither of land that is home to 2.3 million people.
• It is wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
• The crossing is controlled by Egypt.
• It is the only likely route for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza via Rafah from Egypt's Sinai peninsula region.
• There are only two other border crossings: Erez, a border crossing with Israel in north Gaza, and Kerem Shalom, a commercial crossing between Israel and Southern Gaza.

Key facts about Sinai Peninsula

• It is a triangle-shaped peninsula located in northeastern Egypt.
• It serves as a land bridge connecting Asia and Africa.
• Boundaries:
• It is bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea and to the east by Israel and the Gaza Strip. 
• To the west of the Sinai Peninsula is the Suez Canal, across which lies the African part of Egypt. 
• It is bordered to the southwest by the Gulf of Suez and to the immediate south by the Red Sea. 
• The Gulf of Aqaba borders the Sinai in the southeast.
• Egypt shares maritime borders in the Sinai with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

The Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC) recently asked entertainment channels to exercise “extreme caution” while portraying the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in television programmes.

About Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC):

• It is an independent self-regulatory body set up by the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) in June 2011.
• The primary role of the BCCC is to implement self-regulatory guidelines for non-news channels, including general entertainment channels, kid’s channels, and special interest channels.
• The guidelines have been formulated after deliberations from the industry and the Government of India around areas such as national interest, racial and religious harmony, ill-treatment of children, social values, sex and nudity, violence and crime, gambling, drugs, smoking, tobacco consumption, alcohol, defamation, harm, and offence.
• Any viewer can lodge a complaint about issues related to television programmes/ shows, non-news & current affairs TV channels, and other digital content broadcaster members or associate members of IBDF India.
• Composition: BCCC is composed of 13 members.
• One chairperson
• Four non-broadcast members
• Four members from the national-level statutory commissions
• Four members from the broadcast industry
• How does BCCC work?
• In the case of a valid complaint, the respective channel is asked to provide their view on the offending content within one working week of receipt of a letter from BCCC.
• Post evaluation of the channel’s response, if the BCCC committee is not satisfied, it has the power to pass a directive asking for necessary modifications or withdrawal of such content; failing which, the BCCC sends out a detailed report to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting within 24 hours.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Three researchers in Manipur recently discovered a new flowering plant species and have named the new species Curcuma kakchingense.

About Curcuma kakchingense:

• It is a new flowering plant species discovered in Manipur.
• It is a member of the angiospermic family Zingiberaceae, which includes well-known plants like Curcuma (turmeric), gingers, and cardamom.
• It is a robust plant, as tall as eight feet, having large terminal inflorescence.
• It was found thriving along the banks of the Sekmai River in the Kakching District of Manipur.
• It bears a striking resemblance to Curcuma longa, known locally as "Yaingung," and Curcuma phrayawan, a species from Thailand, but is distinguished by having lemon-yellow rhizomes with a very bitter taste.
• It has been classified as "Data Deficient" (DD)under the IUCN Red List category.
• Importance of Curcuma plants:
• Several Curcuma species, including turmeric (Curcuma longa are important for their use in cuisines, traditional medicines, spices, dyes, perfumes, cosmetics, and as ornamental plants.
• Curcumin and several curcuminoids found in curcuma species are nontoxic polyphenolic compounds that have biological activities.
• The essential oil of curcuma species possesses a wide variety of pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-diarrheal, carminative, diuretic, anti-rheumatic, hypotensive, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-viral, insecticidal, etc.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

Ecologists are naturally concerned when record-setting rain this year altered the Broadnose Sevengill shark nursery grounds in San Francisco Bay.

• It is a large seven-gilled with a wide head and short, blunt snout shark.
• It is related to sharks that lived in the Jurassic Period about 300 million years ago.
• They prefer tropical temperate and shallow waters.
• Distribution:
• Found in all oceans except the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea.
• In the eastern Pacific Ocean, they are found from southeastern Alaska to southern Baja California, Mexico and from Colombia to Chile.
• Biology and Behaviour
• They can grow to a maximum length of 2.9 m. Females grow longer than its male counterparts.
• They feed on anything such as other sharks, rays, chimaeras, bony fish, hagfish, dolphins and porpoise meat, seals, shark egg cases and sea snails.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Vulnerable

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, a group of birders, who visited Kurichi tank in Coimbatore spotted a Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus).

• It is fairly small shorebird known for spinning frantically on water to stir up small invertebrates.
• It has a circumpolar distribution and is found in both boreal and tundra zones between 60 and 70 degrees latitude.
• These phalaropes can be found in coastal regions of the Arctic Ocean, south to the Aleutians and Northwest to Britain.
• In the winter, it spends most of its time on the ocean.
• During this non-breeding season, phalaropes can be found off central-west South America, in the Arabian Sea and from central Indonesia to western Melanesia.
• Appearance and behaviour:
• The bird mainly feeds on small aquatic invertebrates and plankton.
• It exhibits a typical feeding behavior of spinning on the surface of water.
• This rapid circling is believed to bring the prey to its feeding range.
• Unlike in other species, female Red-necked phalaropes are brighter than males.
• During the breeding period, the species have a chestnut-red plumage from behind the ear to the down sides of the neck.
• Females are observed polyandrous, that is mating with more than one male.
• The males brood chicks and feed them.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Least concern

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Defence Ministry has cleared the proposal of buying a regiment of Pralay tactical ballistic missiles for the Indian Army.

• It is a quasi-ballistic surface-to-surface missile.
• Range: It can hit targets 150-500 km away.
• Capacity: The missile can carry 350-700 kg of high-grade explosives.
• It is developed by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO)
• It is powered by a solid propellant rocket motor and other new technologies.
• The missile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation and integrated avionics.
• It can change its path after covering a certain range in mid-air.

Hence both statements are correct.

Santiniketan, the home of late Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage sites list.

• It is located in the state of West Bengal.
• It was established in 1901 by Rabindranath Tagore.
• It was a residential school and centre for art based on ancient Indian traditions.
• In 1921, a ‘world university’ was established at Santiniketan, later recognised as 'Visva Bharati'.
• Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan is Bengal’s only central university whose chancellor is the Prime Minister.
•  It is distinct from the prevailing British colonial architectural orientations of the early 20th century and of European modernism.
• It represents approaches toward a pan-Asian modernity, drawing on ancient, medieval and folk traditions from across the region.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.