Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 27, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, the Union Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas launched the ‘Reference Gasoline and Diesel Fuels’ produced by Indian Oil for the first time in India.

• Reference fuels (Gasoline and Diesel) are premium high-value products, used for calibration and testing of vehicles by Auto OEMs and organizations involved in testing and certification in the automotive field.
• Indian Oil has successfully commenced the production of Reference Gasoline and Diesel Fuels for the first time in India.
• These fuels are used for calibration and testing of vehicle by Automobile manufacturers and testing agencies like ICAT (International Centre for Automotive Technology) and ARAI (Automotive Research Association of India). 
• These indigenously developed products will lead to import substitution at better price and minimum lead time for the Vehicle manufacturers.
• Reference Gasoline fuels will be available in E0, E5, E10, E20, E85, E100 from Flagship Paradip Refinery.
• Reference diesel fuel shall be available in B7 grade from Panipat Refinery.
• The demand of Reference Fuels in India is currently met by importing from other countries.
• The indigenously developed product by Indian Oil meets Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) specifications, substitutes imports, and is available at better price with reduced lead time.
• Indian Oil Corporation Limited has established facilities for production of Reference Gasoline Fuels (E-5, E-10 and E-20) at its Paradip Refinery and Reference Diesel Fuel (B-7) at its Panipat Refinery.
• Reference fuels are required by automobile manufacturers for developing engines and assessing vehicles’ performance to ensure operability in all the global climatic conditions.
• Currently, these reference fuels are being imported by India from select companies of Europe and the US.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, three persons had lost their lives and more than hundred persons were injured in the traditional Banni festival, at Devaragattu in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh.

• It is a traditional stick-fight.
• It is celebrated on the night of Dussehra celebration (Vijaya Dasami) every year.
• The objective of this event was to snatch the idols from the God's team, leading to a fierce battle known as the Banni Fight. 
• This festival was celebrated by people under Vijayanagara Empire. 
• It is celebrated on the account of the victory of Lord Mala Malleswara Swamy and Goddess Parvati over demonish Mani and Mallasura, who troubled the people at Devaragattu region.
• Rituals
• The ritual takes place at midnight when the procession idols of the ruling deities Malamma (Parvati) and Malleshwara Swamy (Shiva) are brought down the hill temple at Neraneki.
• Devotees carry long sticks or lathis with them for hitting each other with these sticks on the head.
• The basic idea of this fight is to capture the procession idol.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Scientists resolve the mystery behind sudden dimming of supergiant Betelgeuse star and dismissed theories that suggested that the star might be entering the last stage of its evolution.

• It is a red supergiant star with a distinctive orange-red hue.
• It is roughly 10 million years old and is much younger than Sun.
• It is around 700 light-years away from the Earth.
• It is located in the Orion constellation.
• It is particularly easy to spot because of its brightness; it is often the tenth-brightest star in the sky.
• It is also one of the largest stars visible to the unaided eye.
• While it is large and bright, Betelgeuse isn't actually that hot, with a surface temperature of about 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit (over 3,300 degrees Celsius).
• Betelgeuse has been classified as a "semiregular variable star," which is a type of variable star that periodically waxes and wanes in brightness and occasionally undergoes irregular light changes.
• Betelgeuse, typically, has a 400-day cycle as well as a longer cycle that stretches about 5 years.

Hence both statements are correct.

The sudden death of several birds at Gudavi Bird Sanctuary in Shivamogga district of Karnataka has left the officers of the Forest Department in worry.

• It is one of the renowned Bird Sanctuaries in Karnataka.
• It is located on Gudavi Lake banks.
• It is engulfed with natural beauty and rich biodiversity, attracting tourists from different parts of the world.
• Fauna: The Bird Sanctuary prides itself on being the home of more than 217 bird species, including residential and migratory birds like Grey Heron, Little Cormorant, Little Grebe, White Ibis and White-Headed Crane.
• Flora: It is covered by moist deciduous forest species interspersed with grassy patches.
• This wetland vegetation comprises marshy plants, and microphyte biota.

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

A recent study links a decline in sea ice moving from the Arctic to the Bering Sea in the north Pacific Ocean to an increased occurrence of wildfire hazards in northeast China.

About Bering Sea:

• It is a marginal sea in the northernmost part of the Pacific Ocean, separating the continents of Asia and North America.
• To the north, the Bering Sea connects with the Arctic Ocean through the Bering Strait, at the narrowest point of which the two continents are about 53 miles (85 kilometres) apart. 
• It is bordered by the US state of Alaska to the east and northeast, the Kamchatka Peninsula and the Far Eastern region of Russia in the west, and the chain of the Aleutian Islands in the south.
• The boundary between the United States and Russia passes through the sea and the strait.
• The Bering Sea can be divided into two equal portions: a shallow area along the continental shelf in the northern and eastern parts of the sea, and a deeper area in its southwestern part.
• The Bering Strait is a relatively shallow passage, averaging 100 to 165 feet (30 to 50 metres) in depth. 
• Canyons:
• There are about 16 submarine canyons in the Bering Sea.
• Situated in the sea’s center is a large underwater canyon known as the Zhemchug Canyon. It is also the world’s largest and deepest submarine canyon.
• Rivers: The two rivers that drain into the sea are the Anadyr and the Yukon Rivers.
• Islands:
• In addition to the Aleutian and Komandor groups, there are several other large islands in both the sea and strait.
• These include Nunivak, St. Lawrence, and Nelson islands in Alaskan waters and Karagin Island in Russian waters.
• Springtime in the Bering Strait brings one of the largest migrations in the world. Each year, millions of birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals follow retreating sea ice north through the Bering Strait.

Hence both statements are correct.

The fossils of a 170-million-year-old ancient marine reptile named ‘Lorrainosaurus’ from the Age of Dinosaurs have been recently identified as the oldest-known mega-predatory pliosaur.

Why in News?

• Scientists first unearthed this sea monster's fossils in 1983. 
• But in a new study, researchers re-analyzed the remains and found that the predator belonged to a previously unknown genus (group) of species and represented the oldest "mega predatory" pliosaur on record.
• The fossils were unearthed in the former region of Lorraine (now part of Grand Est) in northeastern France.

About Lorrainosaurus:

• It is the oldest mega-predatory pliosaur.
• It lived during the ancient Middle Jurassic era in marine environments. 
• The regions in which it lived 170 million years ago are now located in northern France.
• This giant reptile probably reached over 6 meters from snout to tail.
• The animal had jaws over 1.3 m long with large conical teeth and a bulky ‘torpedo-shaped’ body propelled by four flipper-like limbs.
• They were ecological equivalents of today’s killer whales and would have eaten a range of prey, including squid-like cephalopods, large fish and other marine reptiles.

What are Pliosaurs?

• Pliosaurs were a type of short-necked plesiosaur: marine reptiles built for speed compared to their long-necked cousins.
• Also known as pliosauroids, these creatures were not dinosaurs but distant cousins of modern turtles.
• They had four large flippers, large heads, extremely powerful jaws and enormous teeth, and they hunted fish, cephalopod mollusks, and other marine reptiles.
• They lived between 220 million years ago (Triassic period) and 70 million years ago (Cretaceous period) and were mostly found in the prehistoric seas that covered modern-day Europe.
• Famous examples, such as Pliosaurus and Kronosaurus, some of the world’s largest pliosaurs, were absolutely enormous, with body lengths exceeding 10 m.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Management & Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Council (MEPSC) recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Magic Bus India Foundation, a leading non-profit organisation in the education and skilling space.

About Management & Entrepreneurship and Professional Skills Council (MEPSC):

• MEPSC is a horizontal Sector Skill Council (SSC) incorporated as a Section-8 (Not for Profit Company) under the Companies Act, 2013, in a one of its kind, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
• The Council has been working under the tutelage of the Ministry of Skill Development.
• It is being promoted by the All India Management Association (AIMA), the apex body of management profession in India, as its sole promoter.
• MEPSC is a recognised awarding body by the skills regulator, the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), and is supported by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
• MEPSC is targeting to train and certify approximately 4.75 lakh trainees, develop and frame 50 Qualifications Packs (QPs)/National Occupational Standards (NOS), and train more than 550 trainers over the next 10 years.
• MEPSC shall be leading skill development initiatives in five key segments namely
• Training and Assessment
• Office Management
• Professional skills (including Security)
• Non-Teaching job roles in the education Sector
• Entrepreneurship
• The MEPSC Board is comprised of several equally renowned and experienced business leaders, academicians, NSDC, AIMA, and Ministry officials.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Western Australian scientists unearthed a story behind the formation of pink diamonds, connecting it to the ancient supercontinent, Nuna, and the mysterious geological activities it experienced over 1.3 billion years ago.

• Pink diamonds, also known as fancy pink diamonds, are some of the rarest and most coveted gemstones in the world.
• Pink diamonds have uniquely bent crystalline structure. 
• More than 90% of all the pink diamonds ever found come from a single mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
• All diamonds are found in pipelike volcanoes, or in their eroded remnants. 
• How did they form?
• Around 1.8 billion years ago, Western Australia and Northern Australia collided in a cataclysmic event.
• This impact is believed to have been the catalyst that transformed once-colorless diamonds into their pink variants.
• Scientist found that at Argyle, diamonds crystallised deep in Earth’s interior were brought to the surface when a supercontinent, Nuna, began to break apart.
• As continents break up, their edges stretch, allowing small pockets of diamond-rich magma to rise to the surface.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Indian agriculture scientist Swati Nayak won the prestigious Norman E Borlaug Award for 2023. 

• The award recognizes exceptional scientists under 40 and someone who works in the field of food and nutrition security and hunger eradication.
• It is given in memory of the Nobel awardee and Green Revolution's chief architect Dr Norman Borlaug.
• The award will honor an individual who is working closely and directly “in the field” or at the production or processing level with farmers, animal herders, fishers or others in rural communities, in any discipline or enterprise across the entire food production, processing, and distribution chain.
• The award diploma incorporates the image of Dr. Borlaug at work in the fields of Mexico and cash prize of$10,000
• It is endowed by The Rockefeller Foundation, will be presented every October in Des Moines, Iowa, by the World Food Prize Foundation.
• Other Indian recipients: Aditi Mukherji (2012) and Mahalingam Govindaraj (2022).

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

To promote sustainable practices, Department of Fisheries has sanctioned 732 artificial reef units for 10 coastal states as a sub-activity under “Integrated Modern Coastal Fishing Villages” of Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). 

• An artificial reef is a manmade structure that may mimic some of the characteristics of a natural reef.
• These are engineering technology interventions used to rehabilitate and/or improve natural habitats, increase productivity and manage aquatic resources including habitat enhancement (FAO, 2015).
• Materials used to construct artificial reefs have included rocks, cinder blocks, and even wood and old tires and come in an infinite number of shapes and styles. 
• The projects are being implemented with the technical support of Fishery Survey of India (FSI) and ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI). 

What is Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana?

• It is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of the fisheries sector in the country with an estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crores for its implementation during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 in all States/Union Territories.
• What are the aims of the scheme?
• It aims at enhancing fish production by an additional 70 lakh tonnes by 2024-25.
• Increasing fisheries export earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crore by 2024-25.
• Doubling of incomes of fishers and fish farmers, reducing post-harvest losses from 20-25%.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

Hence both statements are correct.