Daily Current Affairs MCQ - October 22, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Even as the Centre investigates allegations that unauthorised genetically modified (GM) rice was exported to Europe, it is yet to decide on a research proposal from its own scientists which would allow plants to be genetically modified without the need for conventional transgenic technology.

• Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute are in the process of developing resilient and high-yield rice varieties using such gene editing techniques, which have already been approved by many countries, and they hope to have such rice varieties in the hands of the Indian farmers by 2024.
• However, the proposal for Indian regulators to consider this technique as equivalent to conventional breeding methods, since it does not involve inserting any foreign DNA, has been pending with the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee for almost two years.
• The IARI has previously worked on golden rice, a traditional GM variety which inserted genes from other organisms into the rice plant, but ended trials over five years ago due to agronomic issues.
• The Institute has now moved to newer technologies such as Site Directed Nuclease (SDN) 1 and 2. They aim to bring precision and efficiency into the breeding process using gene editing tools such as CRISPR.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

India scripted history with its COVID-19 vaccine doses administered crossing the one-billion mark — accomplished in just about nine months after the vaccination programme rollout on January 16.

• What is even more outstanding is the targeting of adults. Unlike the established universal immunisation programme, for infants and children, India has never undertaken any massive universal adult vaccination programme.
• That this exercise involving thousands of health-care workers and others was carried out even while in the midst of a huge number of daily cases in April-May during the second wave makes it even more remarkable.
• It became possible only because vaccine manufacturers, the Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech, were able to ensure uninterrupted vaccine availability even if supply was limited in the beginning.

Way ahead

• If over 75% of the eligible adults have already been vaccinated with one dose, the proportion of adults who are fully vaccinated is only 31%.
• Since vaccination with two doses is necessary to increase the protection level, efforts should be directed at increasing the pace of second dose vaccination.
• China has already administered over 2.2 billion doses and fully vaccinated over 75% of the eligible population even by mid-September.
• Hence both statements are correct.

NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has launched a Digi-Book – “Innovations for You” an attempt to showcase the success stories of Atal Innovation Mission’s Startups in different domains.

• These startups have worked to create new, disruptive and innovative products, services, and solutions that can pave a path for a sustainable future. The first edition of this book is focused on innovations in Health Care and soon other sectors shall follow.
• The book is a compilation of 45 health tech startups, incubated at Atal Incubation Centres spread across the country.
• These startups are leveraging frontier technologies such as AI, IoT, ICT and others to provide socially relevant solutions to problems like Anemia, Malaria, dental care, mental health, neonatal and child care and monitoring human vitals, among others.

Atal Innovation Mission of NITI Aayog

• The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship culture in the country.
• AIM is mandated to create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country and revolutionizing the innovation eco-system - touching upon the entire innovation life cycle through various programs.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Around 55.6% of the total 3,830 persons, who registered their names through the distributed ledger technology based e-voting application, participated in the dummy election (mock e-voting) conducted by the Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC).

• It was conducted as part of the dry run of the country’s first smartphone-based e-voting solution, on a pilot basis in Khammam.
• According to sources, as many as 2128 registered voters in Khammam Municipal Corporation (KMC) limits participated in the mock voting through the “TSEC eVote” Android app.
• The TSEC’s digital initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Emerging Technologies Wing of the State IT Department and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to create an e-voting facility for certain sections of the electors including differently abled voters to make elections more inclusive and accessible.
• Sources said that 14,804 persons tried to register their names for the mock voting through the mobile app during the stipulated period. However, only 3,830 persons succeeded in enrolling their names through the DLT-based e-Voting application.
• Many applicants reportedly faced technical glitches during the registration process due to reasons like failure to link their Aadhaar cards with mobile phone numbers, among other factors, sources added.
• In a statement, Khammam Municipal Commissioner Adarsh Surabhi said the mock voting (dry run for e-voting) was conducted successfully.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Supreme Court asked the Union Government to respond whether it can, in “exceptional circumstances”, continue with the outgoing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director rather than appointing an “Acting” chief.

• It asked the Government that instead of an interim or an ‘Acting’ Director, CBI could continue with the incumbent until the high-powered selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition zeroed in on the next regular appointment.
• The suggestion came while hearing a petition filed by NGO Common Cause, about how the law does not permit the Government to issue executive orders on its own, appointing interim CBI Directors.
• The government had done it thrice since 2017. Such manoeuvres would hamper the functional autonomy of the elite probe agency that investigated several sensitive cases in the country.
• The government has failed to appoint the Director of the CBI as per Section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946 on the expiry of the term of the last incumbent, Rishi Kumar Shukla, on February 2, 2021.
• S.K. Jaiswal is the current CBI Director. The petition had said that an interim appointment through an executive order was not envisaged in the statutory scheme of the 1946 Act.

The Central Government shall appoint the Director of CBI on the recommendation of a three-member selection committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or Judge of the Supreme Court (SC) nominated by him.

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

• The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has now moved to newer technologies such as Site Directed Nuclease (SDN) 1 and 2.
  • New technique aims to bring precision and efficiency into the breeding process using gene editing tools such as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
    • Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020 for the development of the CRISPR tool. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• SDN genome editing involves the use of different DNA-cutting enzymes (nucleases) that are directed to cut the DNA at a predetermined location by a range of different DNA binding systems.
  • After the cut is made, the cell’s own DNA repair mechanism recognizes the break and repairs the damage, using one of two pathways that are naturally present in cells.
  • It involves the use of gene editing tools to directly tweak (improve\change) the plant’s own genes instead.
  • It would allow plants to be genetically modified without the need for conventional transgenic technology. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• A research coalition under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which includes the IARI, is using these techniques to develop rice varieties which are drought-tolerant, salinity-tolerant and high-yielding. They could potentially be ready for commercial cultivation within three years.
  • The IARI has previously worked on golden rice, a traditional GM variety which inserted genes from other organisms into the rice plant, but ended trials over five years ago due to agronomic issues.

• Net-Zero Emissions refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • First, human-caused emissions (like those from fossil-fueled vehicles and factories) should be reduced as close to zero as possible.
  • Second, any remaining GHGs should be balanced with an equivalent amount of carbon removal, for example by restoring forests.
• As of June 2020, twenty countries and regions have adopted net-zero targets.
  • The Kingdom of Bhutan is already carbon-negative, i.e. absorbs more CO2 than it emits.
• India’s per capita CO₂ emissions – at 1.8 tonnes per person in 2015 – are around a ninth of those in the USA and around a third of the global average of 4.8 tonnes per person.
  • However, overall, India is now the planet’s third-largest emitter of CO₂, behind China and the USA. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Recently, Indian Railways (IR) has announced that it is likely to become world’s first ‘net-zero’ carbon emitter by 2030.
  • IR is taking a multi-pronged approach to go green and decarbonise - from increasing its sourcing of Renewable Energy (RE) to electrifying its traction network and reducing its energy consumption

• Namdapha National Park was declared a National Park in 1983. In the same year, it was also declared as a Tiger Reserve.
• It lies at the international border between India and Myanmar in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Namdapha is surrounded by the Patkai hills to the south and south-east and by the Himalaya in the north.
  • Namdapha is in fact the name of a river originating in the Park and it meets Noa-Dehing river. The Noa-Dehing river, is a tributary of the Brahmaputra and flows in a North-South direction in the middle of the National Park.
• The National Park enjoys a subtropical climate. The mountainous part has a mountain type of climate while the low lying plains and valleys experience tropical climate.
  • The vegetation is characteristic of tropical evergreen forests (Tropical Rain Forests).
  • It is the only park in the World to have the four species of big cat namely the Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard and Clouded Leopard.
  • Hoolock Gibbons, the only ‘ape’ species found in India is found in this National Park.
• Hence, option A is correct. 

The Global Threat Assessment report 2021, launched by WeProtect Global Alliance, said COVID-19 had contributed to a significant spike in child sexual exploitation and abuse online.

• WeProtect Global Alliance is a global movement of more than 200 governments, private sector companies and civil society organisations working together to transform the global response to child sexual exploitation and abuse online.
• The findings show that in the past two years, the reporting of child sexual exploitation and online abuse has reached its highest level. COVID-19 created a ‘perfect storm’ of conditions that fuelled a rise in child sexual exploitation and abuse across the globe.
• The rise in child ‘self-generated’ sexual material is another trend that challenges the existing response, with the Internet Watch Foundation observing a 77% increase in child ‘self-generated’ sexual material from 2019 to 2020.
• Respondents who identified as transgender/non-binary, LGBQ+ and/or disabled were more likely to experience online sexual harms during childhood, it said.
• The report calls for prioritising prevention activities against abuse, creating safe online environments for children, besides calling on all with a role to protect children to work together to improve the response.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin urged more defence cooperation among Black Sea allies ahead of a NATO Ministers summit.

• Action was needed by littoral states of the Black Sea amid Russia “militarisation” of the region.
• The region is vulnerable to Russian aggression and we’ve seen evidence of that by ongoing actions in eastern Ukraine (and) the occupations of parts of Georgia.
• Mr. Austin was in Bucharest on the third stop of a tour of the region to build confidence among allies, including Georgia and Ukraine, both of which are hoping to join NATO, and to promote greater cooperation among military forces.

Black Sea

• The Black Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
• It is supplied by major rivers, principally the Danube, Dnieper, and Don.
• The Black Sea ultimately drains into the Mediterranean Sea, via the Turkish Straits and the Aegean Sea. The Bosporus Strait connects it to the small Sea of Marmara which in turn is connected to the Aegean Sea via the Strait of the Dardanelles.
• To the north, the Black Sea is connected to the Sea of Azov by the Kerch Strait.
• The Black Sea covers 436,400 km² (not including the Sea of Azov), making it the world's largest inland body of water.

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.