Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 31, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, for the first time breeding nests of crab-plovers spotted at Great Vedaranyam Swamp near Point Calimere, Tamil Nadu.

• It is a long-legged, black and white bird of Indian Ocean coasts, related to plovers and allied species of shorebirds.
• This is the only shore bird that lays white eggs and chicks remain inside the burrows until the fledging stage.
• The chicks are semi-nidifugous, unlike chicks of other shorebirds that leave the nests shortly after hatching.
• Distribution:
• They are residents on the coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean.
• They breed around the Arabian Sea of Pakistan, the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, Red Sea,Somalia the Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka in the east and Tanzania and Madagascar.
• Habitat
• These birds inhabit sandy coastlines, mudflats, estuaries, lagoons, exposed coral reefs, and rocky shorelines.
• During the breeding season, they can also be found in sand dunes.
• Conservation Status
• IUCN: Least Concern
• It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, suspected Maoists reportedly opened fire at Forest department watchers at the Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kannur, Kerala.

• It is located on the western slopes of the Western Ghats.
• It is the northern most wildlife sanctuary of Kerala which was established in 1984. 
• It is contiguous with Wayanad-Brahmagiri, Wayanad northern slopes and the Protected Areas of Karnataka State namely the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary and also the forests of Coorg.
• Highest peak of this sanctuary is Katti Betta.
• It is the only protected area of the West Coast Tropical Evergreen forest of Dipterocarpus-Mesua- Palaquium type.
• The river Cheenkani flows through this wildlife sanctuary.
• Vegetation: Forest coast tropical evergreen and west coast semievergreen forests are predominant here.
• Flora: The common trees in the semievergreen areas are Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, Hopea parviflora, Largestroemia lanceolata, Xyliaxylocarpa, Mallotus and Philippinensis.
• Fauna: Deer, boar, elephant, and bison are quite common. Leopard, jungle cat and various types of squirrels are sighted here.

Hence option (b) is the correct answer.

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and Tel Aviv University have developed an aerogel adsorbent that can remove trace pollutants from wastewater. 

• Aerogels comprise mostly of air and can be used to remove contaminants. 
• They are also known as ‘solid air’ or ‘frozen smoke’ are excellent adsorbents (a solid substance used to remove contaminants) and are incredibly lightweight solids composed mostly of air.
• In addition, they offer advantages like adjustable surface chemistry, low density, and a highly porous structure. 

Newly developed aerogel adsorbent

• The research team developed a silica aerogel modified with graphene.
• They employed a method called 'supercritical fluid deposition' to prepare these modified aerogels and studied their effectiveness.
• The Graphene-doped modified silica aerogels (GO-SA) were found to exhibit efficiency in purifying water, attracting and removing contaminants due to graphene's unique molecular structure.
• Under real-life conditions mimicked in their experiments, the material removed over 85% of pollutants in controlled settings and more than 76% in continuous flow conditions.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) at Palode identified a new mushroom species which has been named Candolleomyces albosquamosus.

• It is the new species belonging to the genus Candolleomyces which is relatively small genus with just 35 species recognised worldwide.
• It has white woolly scale-like structures on its pileus or cap.
• It grows to a height of just about 58 mm.
• The ‘cap,’ or pileus, of a mature Candolleomyces albosquamosus is 12 mm to 38.5 mm in diameter and bell-shaped.
• The honey-yellow coloured pileus turns brownish-gray or brownish-beige with age.
• The ‘stipe’(the stem or stalk) of the mushroom is white in colour and cylindrical.
• Habitats of Candolleomyces albosquamosus include dead logs or bamboo culms in the natural forest. 

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Carbon nanoflorets made by IIT Bombay researchers can convert incident sunlight to heat with 87% efficiency.

• These are like tiny marigold flowers made only of carbon which are called as the material carbon nanoflorets.
• Process of synthesis
• Researchers heated a special form of silicon dust called DFNS (for dendritic fibrous nanosilica) in a furnace.
• Once heated, she introduced acetylene gas into the chamber.
• The white powder turned black – a sign that carbon had been deposited on the DFNS.
• Then they collected the black powder and treated it with a strong chemical that dissolved the DFNS away, leaving carbon particles behind.
• The structure of the silicon particles – 50-1,200 nanometers in size – resembled spikes arranged around a sphere. 
• Observation
• They reported that these nanoflorets could absorb sunlight at many frequencies and convert it to heat with an unprecedented efficiency.
• The nanoflorets also didn’t easily dissipate the heat generated into the environment, making the material a good candidate to heat. 
• The nanoflorets converted the light energy they absorbed into thermal energy – a process called solar-thermal conversion – with a remarkable efficiency of 87%.
• The carbon nanoflorets’ high efficiency comes from three properties.
• The nanoflorets absorb three frequencies in sunlight – infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet while other common materials absorb only visible and ultraviolet light.
• Shape: As light falls on the material, the carbon cones ensure that very little is reflected back.
• Long-range disorder: Parts of the structure at some distance from each other possess different physical properties. As a result, heat waves in the material aren’t carried over long distances, reducing the amount of heat dissipated away.

Hence both statements are correct.

The RBI recently said District Central Co-operative Banks are allowed to close their un-remunerative branches without prior permission of the central bank.

About District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs):

• A DCCB is a rural cooperative bank operating at the district level in various parts of India.
• It is established to provide banking to the rural hinterland for the agricultural sector, with the branches primarily established in rural and semi-urban areas.
• DCCB provides finance to all the co-operative societies in the district, and conduct the activities and provide banking services according to the provisions of the co-operative act and banking act.
• They act as a link between the primary credit co-operative society and the State Co-operative Bank.
• At the district level, DCCB works as a banker of state government. Educational institutions, Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti, Gram Panchayat, cooperative societies, etc have accounts in this bank.
• All the financial transactions of co-operative sector are conducted through DCCB.
• DCCBs have three sources of funds:
• Their own share capital and reserves
• Deposits from the public and
• Loans from the state co-operative banks
• The main functions of the DCCBs are
• To meet the credit requirements of member-societies
• To perform banking business
• To act as a balancing centre for the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) by diverting the surplus funds of some societies to those which face shortages of funds
• To undertake non-credit activities
• To maintain close and continuous contact with PACS and provide leadership and guidance to them
• To supervise and inspect the PACS and
• To provide a safe place for the investment of the resources of PACs
• They also lend directly to the public for non-agricultural purposes within the area of operation of their branches.

Hence both statements are correct.

A Delhi-based advocate recently became the latest victim of the SIM-Swap Scam after she received three missed calls from unknown numbers and lost money from her bank account.

About SIM-Swap Scam:

• All banking applications are linked to phone numbers, which help in generating OTPs (to authenticate transactions) or receiving important bank-related messages.
• In the SIM swap scam, fraudsters first take personal details such as phone numbers, bank account details, and addresses with the help of phishing or vishing.
• After receiving the personal information, fraudsters visit the mobile operator’s retail outlet, posing as the victim with a forged ID proof, and report a fake theft of the victim’s SIM card and/or mobile phone.
• By doing this, they attain a duplicate SIM.
• Notably, scamsters can get a duplicate SIM even when the original is working, as they reported a theft of the original SIM card.
• Unlike other scams, where scamsters trick people into giving OTPs and private information on a phone call, the SIM swap scam doesn’t require direct communication with the victims.
• However, fraudsters do give missed calls to their victims so that the latter leave their phones and ignore the lost network connectivity.
• When the SIM is swapped, the accused gains control of the entire SIM. All calls and messages go through their SIM only. 
• Once in control of the SIM card, they are able to obtain passwords and OTPs that allow them to access their targets' bank accounts.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Uttarakhand government recently decided to establish Rajaji Tiger Reserve Conservation Foundation to accelerate the ecological, economic, social and cultural development of the landscapes in and around the reserve.

About Rajaji Tiger Reserve:

• Location:
• Rajaji Tiger Reserve (earlier Rajaji National Park) is located in the Shivalik range of the Himalayas and spread over 820 kms.
• It covers a part of over three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun, and Pauri Garhwal.
• It was named after the famous freedom fighter C. Rajgopalachari popularly known as "Rajaji".
• The park was created in 1983 by the amalgamation of three sanctuaries: Rajaji Sanctuary and National park (estd. 1948), Motichur Sanctuary (estd. 1964), and Chilla sanctuary (estd. 1977).
• On 20 April 2015, its name has been changed to Rajaji Tiger Reserve.
• It is famous as an elephant habitat, as there are around 600 elephants in Rajaji. 
• Its location in a transition zone between temperate western Himalayas and central Himalayas enhances the species diversity.
• Vegetation: The area is covered with diverse forest types ranging from semi-evergreen to deciduous and from mixed broad-leaved to Terai grassland and has been classified as Indus-Ganges Monsoon Forest type.
• Flora:
• Lofty strands of Sal trees (Shorea Robusta) dominate most parts of the reserve.
• Other popular flora found here include Rohini, Palash, Shisham, Sal, Sandan, Khair, Arjun, Baans, Semul, Chamaror, etc.
• Fauna: It has a sizeable population of Tiger and Asian Elephants. It is home to a variety of wild animals like Leopard, Jungle cat, Himalayan Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Striped Hyena, Goral, Sambar, Wild Pig, Spotted Deer, Barking Deer, etc.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

The Uttar Pradesh government recently told the Supreme Court that the school teacher who allegedly goaded students to slap a Muslim classmate may face charges under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

About Section 295A of IPC:

• The object of Section 295-A is to punish deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
• This section only punishes an aggravated form of insult to religion when it is perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of a class.
• Ingredients of Section 295-A:
• The accused must insult or attempt to insult the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizens of India.
• The said insult must be made with a deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of the said class of citizens.
• The said insult must be by words, either spoken or written, by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise.
• Section 295A IPC is a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence, and police can register an FIR anywhere in the country at the instance of purportedly aggrieved complainants.
• What has the Supreme Court ruled?
• In 1957, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the said section in ‘Ramji Lal Modi v. State of U.P.’ 
• The Court held that Section295A IPC does not penalize any and every actof insult to or attempt to insult any religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens. 
• The Court cautioned that only those acts of insults or attempts to so insult can be penalized under this provision which is perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of that class.
• The Court further clarified that the provision would only apply to such aggravated forms of insult to religion that are calculated to disrupt the public order.

Hence both statements are correct.

The union minister for Tribal Affairs would be inaugurating the Aadi Mahotsav - the National Tribal Festival - on 25th Octber, at Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

• The mega event is being organized by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED),
• It serves as a unique, symbiotic bridge to embark on a journey through the tapestry of India's indigenous heritage.
• In this event, a total of over 100 stalls would showcase the kaleidoscope of India's tribal culture, craftsmanship, culinary artistry, and economic endeavors. 
• This Aadi Mahotsav, besides other attractions of handicrafts, handloom, pottery, jewellery, will be showcasing ‘Millets grown by Tribals’.

Key points about TRIFED

• It is a national-level organisation under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• It is primarily engaged in the development and marketing of tribal handicrafts and natural products.
• It came into existence in 1987 and got registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 1984 (now the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002).
• Mandate: Capability enhancement for Tribals, promotion of tribal products, and creation of marketing opportunities for the Tribals with a view to ensuring remunerative prices for their products and augmenting their income on a sustainable basis.
• It has been entrusted by the Government of India to implement its proposed Minimum Support Price Scheme for Minor Forest Produce.
• Head Office: New Delhi

Hence both statements are correct.