Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 25, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, The DRDO and Indian Navy successfully conducted a maiden flight trial of sea-based endo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the coast of Odisha.

• India entered an elite club of nations with the capability to fire a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) interceptor from a naval platform.
• Prior to this, DRDO has successfully demonstrated land-based ballistic missile defence system with capability to neutralize ballistic missile threats, emerging from adversaries.

India’s Ballistic Missile Defence Programme:

• India launched the BMD program after Kargil war in 1999 to counter the enemy nation’s widening spectrum of ballistic missiles that usually delivered both conventional and nuclear warheads.

Two-tires of BMD system

Prithvi Air Defence missile

• It was originally tested in 2006 and is capable of intercepting and destroying missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes ranging from 50 to 180 kilometres.
• The Pradyumna interceptor has already replaced the Prithvi Air Defence BMD.
• Exo-atmospheric missiles are capable of completing missions in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Advanced Air Defence Missile

• The second layer is Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile for lower altitude interception.
• It was first tested in 2007 and designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 KM.
• The endo-atmospheric missiles are the ones that operate within the earth's atmosphere that covers an altitude below 100 KM.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Prime Minister praised the completion of Bihar portion of Barauni- Guwahati pipeline under Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project.

About Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project:

• The project is also known as Jagdishpur – Haldia & Bokaro – Dhamra Pipeline Project (JHBDPL) project.
• It was launched in 2016 and will cater to the energy requirements of five states namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
• This pipeline will connect six districts in Bihar to the National Gas Grid. The project will provide access to clean natural gas for industries, CNG for vehicles and PNG for homes, promoting a sustainable lifestyle.
• Total length of pipeline under Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project is approx. 3,384 km, out of which 766 km of pipeline is in Odisha state and the balance 2,618 km is in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal & Assam.
• The seven main station cities include Varanasi, Patna, Bokaro, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack as the major beneficiaries of the project.
• The project is being implemented by GAIL.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate an integrated e-GramSwaraj and GeM portal on National Panchayati Raj Day, 24^th April.

The Objective of Integration:

• The objective of e-Gram Swaraj–GeM Integration is to enable the Panchayats to procure their goods and services through GeM leveraging the e-Gram Swaraj platform.
• It will help the entire buyer-seller ecosystem to flourish thereby giving a major boost to rural economy and entrepreneurship along with strengthening the Digital India Program.
• Salient features:
• Existing User base of GeM of nearly 60,000 is envisioned to increase to more than 3 lakhs in a phased manner.
• Bringing transparency in procurement by Panchayats by making the process digital.
• Encouragement of local vendors (Proprietors, Self Help groups, Cooperatives etc.) to register on GeM as Panchayats procure largely from such vendors.
• Panchayats will have access to doorstep delivery of quality-assured goods at standardized and competitive rates.
• Major Capacity building being taken by The Ministry of Panchayati Raj and GeM has also trained and appointed business facilitators in all States for handholding of the Panchayat users.

E- Gram Swaraj platform:

• The e-Gram Swaraj platform was launched on National Panchayati Raj Day in 2020.
• It was designed to operate as a single window solution for all day-to-day functioning of the Panchayats from Planning to Online Payments.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Over 1,800 scientists, teachers, educators and science popularisers across the country recently written an open letter criticising the NCERT's latest move to remove Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution from classes 9 and 10 textbooks.

• Darwin in his Theory of Evolution describes how organisms evolve over generations through the inheritance of physical or behavioral traits.
• The mechanism that Darwin proposed for evolution is natural selection.
• How Natural Selection Happens?
• Individuals with traits that enable them to adapt to their environments will help them survive and have more offspring, which will inherit those traits.
• Individuals with less adaptive traits will less frequently survive to pass them on.
• Over time, the traits that enable species to survive and reproduce will become more frequent in the population and the population will change, or evolve.
• Natural selection depends on the environment and requires existing heritable variation in a group.

Through natural selection, Darwin suggested, genetically diverse species could arise from a common ancestor. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A team of researchers recently developed an electronic biosensor based on DNA aptamers that can detect biomarkers in whole blood samples without the use of reagents.

About Aptamers:

• They are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA (ssDNA or ssRNA) molecules that can selectively bind to a specific target, including proteins, peptides, carbohydrates, small molecules, toxins, and even live cells.
• Aptamers assume a variety of shapes due to their tendency to form helices and single-stranded loops. 
• They can be used as an antibody alternative in a variety of therapeutic, diagnostic, and target-binding applications.
• They can also be readily conjugated to gold nanoparticles or quantum dots as a basis for point-of-care diagnostics.
• Aptamers have been successfully used for the diagnosis and therapy of a broad spectrum of pathogens including bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

What is a Biomarker?

• It is a biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a condition or disease. 
• A biomarker may be used to see how well the body responds to a treatment for a disease or condition.

Hence both statements are correct.

IFAD President recently said that IFAD will set up a new framework to facilitate cooperation between small agricultural producers in developing nations and businesses in Japan and elsewhere

About International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD):

• It is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
• IFAD seeks to empower rural people to increase their food security, improve the nutrition of their families and increase their incomes through funding of grants and low-interest loans to several projects.
• Its projects and programmes are carried out in remote and environmentally fragile locations, including least-developed countries and small island developing States.
• IFAD is the only multilateral development institution that focuses exclusively on transforming rural economies and food systems.
• It is a member of the United Nations Development Group (UNDP).
• It was established as an international financial institution in 1977 through United Nations General Assembly Resolution.
• Headquarters: Rome, Italy.
• Membership: Currently, IFAD has 177 Member States, including India.
• The highest decision-making body is the Governing Council which meets every three years.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs has requested states/UTs to develop 100 food streets in 100 districts across the country.

• This project aims to encourage safe and healthy food practices among food businesses and community members, thus, reducing foodborne illnesses and improving overall health outcomes.
• Implementation: It will be implemented through National Health Mission (NHM) in convergence with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs & with technical support from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.
• The financial assistance for the initiative to States/UTs in the form of Rs.1 crore per food street/district will be given to fill up critical gaps.
• This assistance will be provided under National Health Mission (NHM) in the ratio of 60:40 or 90: 10 with the condition that standard branding of these food streets will be done as per FSSAI guidelines.

Hence both statements are not correct

Recently, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched the UDAN 5.0 to further enhance the connectivity to remote and regional areas of the country.

• UDAN 5.0 scheme focuses on Category-2 (20-80 seats) and Category-3 (>80 seats).
• The earlier stage length cap of 600 km is waived off and there is no restriction on the distance between the origin and destination of the flight.
• Viability gap funding (VGF) to be provided will be capped at 600 km stage length for both Priority and Non-Priority areas which was earlier capped at 500 km.
• Airlines would be required to commence operations within 4 months of the award of the route. Earlier this deadline was 6 months.
• UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNaagrik) scheme is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme" (RCS) of the Union Government of India.
• The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports of the country through the revival of existing airstrips and airports.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Civil Aviation

Hence only statement 2 is correct

Recent reports emerged that for the first time, the LockBit Ransomware was found to be targeting Mac devices.

• It is malicious software designed to block user access to computer systems in exchange for a ransom payment.
• It was formerly known as “ABCD” ransomware, but it has since grown into a unique threat within the scope of extortion tools.
• It is a subclass of ransomware known as a ‘crypto virus’ due to forming its ransom requests around financial payment in exchange for decryption.
• It focuses mostly on enterprises and government organizations rather than individuals.
• It works as a self-spreading malware, not requiring additional instructions once it has successfully infiltrated a single device with access to an organisational intranet.
• It is also known to hide executable encryption files by disguising them in the.PNG format, thereby avoiding detection by system defences.
• Attackers use phishing tactics and other social engineering methods to impersonate trusted personnel or authorities to lure victims into sharing credentials

Hence both statements are correct

The Lyrids meteor shower, one of the oldest known meteor showers peaks in late April.

• According to NASA the first recorded sighting of a Lyrid meteor shower goes back to 687 BC by the Chinese.
• It is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the dark hours.
• Meteor showers are usually named after a star or constellation that is close to where the meteors appear to originate in the sky.
• The Lyrid shower gets its name from the constellation Lyra.
• The last Lyrid outburst was in 1982 when 75 meteors per hour were recorded by observers in Florida.
• Meteorod is an object in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
• When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors.
• When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s called a meteorite.
• Meteor helps in understanding early conditions and processes in the solar system’s history.

Hence both statements are correct