Daily Current Affairs MCQ- December 3, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, NASA said that it seems like a good bet that Comet Nishimura could become visible to the naked eye this week.

• The comet was discovered in mid-August by amateur astronaut Hideo Nishimura, who used 30-second exposures with a standard digital camera to see it.
• Since then, the comet, officially called C/2023 P1 Nishimura, has increased in brightness as it went forward on its path in the inner solar system.
• The comet is angularly near the Sun so even if it is visible it will only be able to spot it early before sunrise or late before sunset.
• The comet is currently located in the constellation Leo.
• It completes an orbit around the Sun once every 435 years.

What are comets?

• Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the Sun.
• They are leftovers from the formation of the solar system.
• Typically, they range from a few kilometres to tens of kilometres wide. But as they orbit closer to the Sun, they spew out gases and dust, which forms the tails that they are famous for.
• An asteroid is a small, rocky object and when seen in a telescope, it appears as a point of light. Most asteroids are found in a ring between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter called the asteroid belt.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), which had in July announced it was working to launch real-time settlement of trades, is now planning to implement one-hour settlement of trades first.

• In one-hour settlement, if an investor sells a share, the money will be credited to their account in an hour, and the buyer will get the shares in their demat account within an hour.
• What is trade settlement?
• Settlement is a two-way process which involves the transfer of funds and securities on the settlement date.
• A trade settlement is said to be complete once purchased securities of a listed company are delivered to the buyer and the seller gets the money.
• The current cycle of T+1 means trade-related settlements happen within a day, or 24 hours of the actual transactions.
• The migration to the T+1 cycle came into effect in January 2023.
• India became the second country in the world to start the T+1 settlement cycle in top-listed securities after China.

What is Demat Account?

• A Demat Account or Dematerialised Account provides the facility of holding shares and securities in an electronic format.
• During online trading, shares are bought and held in a Demat Account, thus, facilitating easy trade for the users.
• It holds all the investments an individual makes in shares, government securities, exchange-traded funds, bonds and mutual funds in one place.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Vijayawada Railway Station was awarded the ‘Green Railway Station’ certification with the highest rating of Platinum by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). 

• The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was formed in the year 2001.
• It is India's Premier certification body.
• The council offers a wide array of services which include developing new green building rating programmes, certification services and green building training programmes.
• The council also organises Green Building Congress, its annual flagship event on green buildings.
• It is also among the 5 countries that are in the board of World Green Building Council discussing global issues at COP and similar global platforms.
• The rating is based on six environmental categories which include sustainable station facility, health, hygiene and sanitation, energy efficiency, water efficiency, smart and green initiatives and innovation and development.
• Headquarter: Hyderabad.

Hence both statements are correct.

A recent report from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) said that a spread of an invasive species, the Caribbean false mussel (Mytilopsis sallei) is wiping out the native variant in Kerala.

• It is originally from the Atlantic and Pacific coast of South and Central America.
• It could have reached the Indian coast through ballast waters (the seawater that ships carry inside for better stability) and later spread to the estuaries through smaller fishing vessels.
• This invasive species has spread across estuaries from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod.
• It has now started affecting the mussel aquaculture farms also in Kerala.
• It reproduces rapidly and is very tolerant, and can even survive in freshwater.
• They grow in the similar habitats where our mussels grow and displace them massively.
• It can be found growing on hard surfaces such as logs, stones, shells, and artificial structures.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured the image of India's Chandrayaan-3 lander.

About Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO):

• It is a NASA spacecraft that was launched on June 18, 2009.
• Primary Objective: To make a 3D map of the Moon's surface from lunar polar orbit.
• It has also been used to study the Moon's geology, mineralogy, and environment.
• It orbits the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit.
• LRO is equipped with 7 science instruments, the most well-known of which is a 195-millimeter (7.7-inch) telescope and camera system that can see details up to 2.5 meters across. 
• LRO is equipped with a laser altimeter that produces 3D maps by shooting lasers at the surface and measuring reflection times. 
• The spacecraft also carries two instruments suited to peering into dark craters to search for signs of water ice, and a temperature instrument that led to the discovery of the coldest place in the solar system.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

The Indian Army recently launched 'Project Naman' that will entail establishing facilitation and grievance redressal centres for veterans and the kin of personnel who have lost their lives.

About Project Naman:

• The Project will entail establishing facilitation and grievance redressal centres for veterans and the kin of personnel who have lost their lives.
• The first such centre will be established in Delhi Cantonment.
• 'Naman' will house a Common Service Centre which will facilitate the veterans and their relatives.
• It will offer all government-to-customer services and also facilitate the updating of pensioners' accounts on the SPARSH portal of veterans, next of kin and dependents.

What is SPARSH portal?

• It is being implemented by Ministry of Defence for meeting the pension sanction and disbursement requirements for Armed Forces viz. Army, Navy, Air Force and Defence Civilians.
• The Defence Pensioner will be given a completely transparent view of his pension account through this portal which will capture and maintain a complete history of events and entitlements the pensioner right from the date of commencement of pension to the date of cessation of pension due to his/her last eligible beneficiary.
• This system will be administered by the Defence Accounts Department through the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions).
• The system would cater to all activities of the pension cycle namely:
• Initiation and Sanction
• Disbursement
• Revision
• Service and Grievance Request Management

Hence both statements are correct.

Astronomers have recently found compelling evidence suggesting the existence of an Earth-like planet in the distant Kuiper Belt of our solar system.

About Kuiper Belt:

• Kuiper belt, also called the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt, is a flat ring of small icy bodies that revolve around the Sun beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune. 
• It is named after Gerard Kuiper, a Dutch-American astronomer who hypothesized the existence of such a region in the 1950s.
• There are millions of these icy objects, collectively referred to as Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) or trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), in this belt.
• The Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers from the solar system's early history.
• It is thought to be the source of most of the observed short-period comets, particularly those that orbit the Sun in less than 20 years.
• Composition: The Kuiper Belt is primarily composed of small icy bodies, such as dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets.
• Pluto:
• Pluto, once considered the ninth planet in our solar system, is one of the most well-known Kuiper Belt objects.
• In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet, partly because of its location within the Kuiper Belt.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Indian Army recently began the process to procure 170 Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARVs) to enhance its operational capabilities.

About Armoured Recovery Vehicles:

• They are specialized military vehicles designed for the recovery and maintenance of armored vehicles on the battlefield.
• These vehicles are crucial for keeping armored units operational by recovering damaged or disabled tanks and other armored vehicles, performing field repairs, and evacuating casualties.
• They are normally built on the chassis of a main battle tank (MBT), but some are also constructed on the basis of other armoured fighting vehicles, mostly armoured personnel carriers (APCs).
• Functions:
• Towing and Recovery: They can recover vehicles stuck in mud, water, or other obstacles and tow them to safety or repair depots.
• Maintenance and Repair: ARVs often have workshops and tools on board to perform basic repairs and maintenance tasks on armored vehicles.
• Crew and Casualty Transport: Some ARVs are configured to transport injured personnel from the battlefield to medical facilities.
• Armament: Many ARVs are armed with a defensive weapon, such as a machine gun or anti-aircraft gun, to provide self-defense capabilities.
• Communication Equipment: They are typically equipped with advanced communication systems to coordinate recovery and maintenance operations with other units and command centers.
• Bridge Layers: Some ARVs can be modified to carry and deploy portable bridge sections, allowing them to create temporary bridges over obstacles like rivers and ditches, enabling the movement of armored vehicles.

Hence both statements are correct.

India is in the final stages of drafting the Letter of Request (LoR) to send to the United States government for the acquisition of 31 MQ-9B Predator drones from General Atomics (GA).

About MQ-9B Predator Drone:

• The MQ-9B drone is a variant of the MQ-9 "Reaper", an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations.
• These are high-altitude, long-endurance drones armed with strike missiles that can take out enemy targets with high accuracy.
• It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), primarily for the United States Air Force (USAF).
• The MQ-9B has two variants — SkyGuardian and its sibling SeaGuardian.
• The Indian Navy has been operating the MQ-9B Sea Guardian since 2020.
• Features:
• It can carry up to 5,670 kg and has a fuel capacity of 2,721 kg.
• The drone can operate at over 40,000 feet.
• The Predator also has a maximum endurance of 40 hours, making it useful for long-hour surveillance.
• It can support land, maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, strike, electronic warfare and expeditionary roles.
• It is also capable of automatic take-offs and landings.
• It can safely integrate into civil airspace, enabling joint forces and civil authorities to deliver real-time situational awareness anywhere in the maritime domain -- day or night.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Recently, some unusual rocks containing distinctive greenish crystals were found in the Erg Chech sand sea.

• What it is? These are the rocks containing distinctive greenish crystals, it turned out to be from outer space, left over from the dawn of the Solar System.
• They were all pieces of a meteorite known as Erg Chech 002, which is the oldest volcanic rock ever found.
• It is known as an “ungrouped achondrite” means their parent bodies and family relationships are unknown.
• Achondrites are rocks formed from melted planetesimals, which is what we call solid lumps in the cloud of gas and debris that formed the Solar System.
• Erg Chech 002 contains a high abundance of lead-206 and lead-207, as well as relatively large amounts of undecayed uranium-238 and uranium-235.
• Aluminium-26 was distributed quite unevenly throughout the cloud of dust and gas which formed the solar system.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.