Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 15, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

With an aim to break the language barrier that many students face when they join institutes of higher education, IIT-Bombay launched ‘Project Udaan’.

• It enables translation of textbooks and other study material related to engineering and other streams.
• Prof. Ganesh and his team have built an Artificial Intelligence-based translation ecosystem, which can help translate engineering textbooks and learning materials in one-sixth the time it would take for a team consisting of domain and linguistic experts working manually.
• Translation of text books in other educational domains will be taken up in due course.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Agriculture Ministry signed agreements with Reliance's Jio Platforms, ITC, Cisco, NCDEX e-Markets and Ninjacart to develop agritech solutions using its National Farmers Database, which includes information of 5.5 crore farmers.

• This is part of an effort to modernise the agriculture sector by infusing new technologies so that farmers can increase their income, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.
• The pilot projects including one to monitor soil conditions and another to help on post harvest linkages are part of the Digital Agriculture Mission and will draw on the National Farmers Database.
• The Centre has asked States to attach land records to the database, to grow it to 8 crore farmers.
• National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) is an Indian online commodity and derivative exchange based in Mumbai.
• It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance , Government of India.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Supreme Court said it was not ready to reopen a debate on its judgments granting reservation in promotion in government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

• It reiterated that it was up to the State governments to find ways and means of implementing the court’s June 2018 judgment on the issue.
• In a judgment in 2018, a Constitution Bench, led by then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, modified a 2006 judgment that required the State to show quantifiable data to prove the “backwardness” of a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community in order to provide quota in promotion in public employment.
• The five-judge Bench judgment in the Jarnail Singh case in 2018 had given a huge fillip to the government’s efforts to provide “accelerated promotion with consequential seniority” for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) members in government services.
• Writing the verdict for the Constitution Bench three years ago, Justice Rohinton Nariman (now retired) had held that the requirement to have quantifiable data before granting reservation to SCs and STs was contrary to an earlier nine-judge Bench verdict in the Indra Sawhney case.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Indian Navy has handed over a passenger variant Dornier (PVD) aircraft on lease to the Maritime Air Squadron of the National Coast Guard, Mauritius.

• The aircraft was presented to the Mauritius Police Force (MPF) at an official ceremony on Monday.
• MSN 4059 had been leased to the MPF by the Indian Navy on a gratis basis to support the current increased load of air operations.
• Next year, HAL shall be handing over a brand new state-of-the-art PVD to Mauritius and this purchase has been facilitated by the Line of Credit under the Government of Mauritius.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla will jointly launch Sansad TV at the Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe on 15 September, 2021 at 6 PM.

• The launch date coincides with the International Day of Democracy.
• In February, 2021, the decision to merge Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV was taken and the CEO of Sansad TV was appointed in March, 2021.
• Sansad TV programming will primarily be in 4 categories – functioning of Parliament and democratic institutions, governance and implementation of schemes/policies, history and culture of India and issues/interests/concerns of contemporary nature.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

• Quad Grouping is a four-nation grouping of India, Australia, the USA and Japan which was established in 2007.
  • Quad member countries have also indicated a willingness to expand the partnership through a so-called Quad Plus that would include South Korea, New Zealand, and Vietnam amongst others.
  • However, as of now, Quad members are restricted to these four countries only. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• In March 2021, the Quad leaders met virtually and later released a joint statement titled ‘The Spirit of the Quad,’ which outlined the group’s approach and objectives.
  • According to the ‘Spirit of the Quad’, the group’s primary objectives include maritime security, combating the Covid-19 crisis, especially vis-à-vis vaccine diplomacy, addressing the risks of climate change, creating an ecosystem for investment in the region and boosting technological innovation. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Despite the potential for cooperation, the Quad remains a mechanism without a defined strategic mission.
  • The Quad is not structured like a typical multilateral organisation and lacks a secretariat and any permanent decision-making body.
  • Additionally, unlike NATO, the Quad does not include provisions for collective defence, instead choosing to conduct joint military exercises as a show of unity and diplomatic cohesion. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) formally incorporates mobility in the context of climate change in the 2010 Cancun Adaptation Framework, calling on countries for “measures to enhance understanding, coordination and cooperation with regard to climate induced displacement, migration, and planned relocation,” while “taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities”
• The Sendai Framework outlines targets and priorities for action to prevent and reduce disaster risks, including through governance, investment in disaster reduction for resilience, and disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
  • The Sendai Framework articulates the need to include migrants in disaster risk reduction and management in three places.
• The Preamble of the Paris Agreement states that the “Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on migrants”.
• The UNFCCC Task Force on Displacement, established under the Warsaw Mechanism.
  • The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage focuses on preparing for and addressing loss and damage from both sudden- and slow onset climate change impacts, including effects on mobility.
• The COP24 Decision, informed by a report from the UNFCCC Task Force on Displacement, invites UNFCCC parties to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility in the context of climate change, by considering the needs of migrants and displaced persons, communities of origin, transit and destination, and by enhancing opportunities for regular migration pathways, including through labor mobility.
• Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration recognizes the need to strengthen joint analysis and sharing of information to better map, understand, predict, and address migration movements, such as those that may result from sudden-onset and slow-onset natural disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, as well as develop adaptation and resilience strategies, taking into account the potential implications on migration.
• Global Compact on Refugees provides specific commitments to address the drivers of environmental mobility and develop policies aimed at ensuring greater protection for those affected by these movements.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• Lithium is a soft, silvery-white metal with the symbol Li.
• Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
• It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in mineral oil.
• It is an alkali metal and a rare metal.
  • Rare Metals (RM) include Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Cesium (Cs) etc.
  • Rare Earth (RE) metals include Lanthanum (La) to Lutetium (Lu) besides Scandium (Sc) and Yttrium (Y).
• Hence, option D is correct.

Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary Department of Science and Technology highlighted the importance of cooperation, collaboration and connections for science to move forward, at the BRICS Young Scientists Forum.

• The BRICS-YSF summits were first hosted by India in 2016, followed by China in 2017, South Africa in 2018, Brazil in 2019, and Russia in 2020.
• This year the four-day conclave started on 13 September 2021 would end on 16 September.
• The best young scientist with an idea on innovation would be awarded at the BRICS-YSF 2021.
• Young innovator prize has been one of the focuses of the BRICS-YSF and the award is supported by the DST, Government of India. The next conclave would be organized by China in 2022.
• Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Hindi Diwas was celebrated across the country on September 14, 2021.

• It was on this day in 1949 that the constituent assembly adopted Hindi written in Devanagari as the official language of the country.
• It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India.
• It is celebrated across schools and colleges as well as offices. On the day, students are encouraged to participate in various events including essay and letter-writing along with language competitions.
• It is also on this day that the President of the country felicitates people for their contribution to Hindi language and literature.
• in India alone, there are roughly about 43.6 per cent speakers, who identify Hindi as their mother tongue — according to the 2011 census.
• The language has other variants as well, like Awadhi, Braj and Khadi Boli.
  • Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.