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

During the Budget speech Union finance minister announced multiple schemes towards Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare.

• PM PRANAM (Prime Minister Programme for Restoration, Awareness, Nourishment and Amelioration of Mother Earth)
• This programme will seek to incentivise states and union territories to promote alternative fertilisers and the balanced use of chemical fertilisers.
• Centre of excellence for millets
• Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad will be made into a Centre for Excellence and it will be supported for sharing best practices, research and technologies at the international level. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Tampere University researchers recently developed a Dandelion seed-inspired flying robot that could potentially replace pollinators.

• The FAIRY robot, which is based on the Light Responsive Materials Assembly, is a tiny lightweight robot that floats in the wind.
• Surprisingly, the robot can be controlled by a light source like a laser beam or an LED.
• Researchers could use light to change the shape of the robot, allowing it to adapt to the direction of the wind.
• A soft actuator made of light-responsive liquid crystalline elastomer powers the polymer assembly robot inspired by dandelion seeds.
• As a result, the researchers were able to stimulate the actuator's bristles to open or close by using visible light.

Hence both statements are correct.

During the Budget speech Union finance minister announced multiple schemes towards the protection and conservation of India's natural heritage, including mangroves and wetlands.

MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes)

• • It is a new programme that will facilitate mangrove plantations along India’s coastline and on saltpan lands.
  • The programme will operate through “convergence between MGNREGS, Campa Fund and other sources.”
  • This new programme will aim at the intensive afforestation of coastal mangrove forests.

Hence both statements are correct.

Finance Minister recently announced a new saving scheme ‘Mahila Samman Saving Certificate’ for women and girls in the Union Budget.

About Mahila Samman Saving Certificate’ Scheme:

• The scheme offers deposit facility up to Rs 2 lakh in the name of women or girls for a tenor of 2 years.
• It offers fixed interest rate of 7.5 per cent.
• There are no tax benefits, but partial withdrawal is allowed in this scheme.
• This is a one-time scheme announced in Budget 2023 and will remain available for a two-year period i.e. up to March 2025.
• Benefit: It will encourage more women to adopt formal financial saving instruments.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Finance minister recently announced the Central Government’s plan to launch a mission to eliminate sickle cell anemia by 2047.

About Sickle cell anemia:

• It is an inherited blood disorder.
• It affects hemoglobin, the molecule in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. 
• People with this disease have atypical hemoglobin molecules called hemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells into a sickle, or crescent, shape.
• These sickle cells also become rigid and sticky, which can slow or block blood flow.
• What causes it?
• The cause of Sickle cell disease is a defective gene, called a sickle cell gene.
• A person will be born with sickle cell disease only if two genes are inherited—one from the mother and one from the father.
• Treatments:
• The only cure for this disease is bone marrow or stem cell transplantation.
• However, there are treatments that can help relieve symptoms, lessen complications, and prolong life.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, The Prime Minister has paid homage to Savitribai Phule on her birth anniversary.

Who Is Savitribai Phule?

• A pioneer who challenged oppressive social norms in her quest for women’s education, equality and justice, Savitribai Phule is formally recognised as India’s first woman teacher.
• A Dalit woman from the Mali community, Savitribai was born on January 3, 1831, at Naigaon in Satara District.
• In 1840, at the tender age of 9, she was married to Jyotirao (also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule one of the leading social reformers and anti-caste activists of India) is said to have educated her at home and later on admitted her to a teacher’s training institution in Pune.

The Establishment Of India’s First Girls’ School

• At a time when education was limited mostly to the upper-class, affluent men, and women were not deemed eligible for going to school, the Phules established a girls’ school in Bhidewada, Pune, in 1948. This was the first girls’ school in India.

Phule’s role as a social reformer

• In 1852, she established a women’s rights advocacy organisation, Mahila Seva Mandal.
• In 1860, the Phule’s organised a barber’s strike against shaving the hair of widowed women.
• Along with Jyotirao, Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (‘Home for the Prevention of Infanticide’) for pregnant widows facing discrimination.
• Savitribai Phule also advocated inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage, and eradication of child marriage, sati and dowry systems, among other social issues.
• In 1873, the Phules set up the Satyashodhak Samaj (‘Truth-seekers’ society’), a platform open to all, irrespective of their caste, religion or class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social equity.

Literary works

• Savitribai Phule published her first collection of poems, called Kavya Phule (‘Poetry’s Blossoms’), at the age of 23 in 1854.
• She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (‘The Ocean of Pure Gems’), in 1892.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, an unexploded artillery shell was found near the official residence of Punjab Chief Minister.

What is an Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)?

• A military ammunition or explosive device that remains unexploded even after it has been primed and fired is known as Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) in military parlance.
• Such UXO can be left-overs from a war, a military battle inoculation exercise, field firing exercises or even be part of military scrap that is often exported from one country to another to extract metal.
• All unexploded munitions are treated as potentially dangerous and capable of detonating till proven otherwise by professional assessment by military ammunition experts.
• Unexploded ordnance such as the artillery shell found near the Punjab CM's residence can be used as an Improvised Explosive Device.

Hence both statements are correct.

Assam Chief Minister has recently announced that no rhinos were poached in the state in 2022.

• Distribution: The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is found only in the Brahmaputra valley, parts of North Bengal, and parts of southern Nepal.
• Characteristics: It has a single black horn that can grow up to 60 cm, and a tough, grey-brown hide with skin folds, which gives the animal its characteristic armour-plated look.
• Conservation: The Indian rhino is listed as vulnerable (better than endangered, worse than near threatened) in the IUCN Red List; it was earlier placed in the endangered category.
• Population: According to the WWF, there are around 3,700 Indian rhinos in the wild today. Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP) alone has 2,613 animals, according to a census carried out in March 2022. There are more than 250 other rhinos in the Orang, Pobitora, and Manas parks.
• Rhino poaching:
  • Rhinos have been poached for their horn, which is prized in some cultures.
  • Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac”; in Vietnam, a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has recently announced the (re)introduction of the Yo-Yo Test and the introduction of Dexa scans for the purposes of selection to the team.

What is the Yo-Yo test?

• The Yo-Yo test was first introduced to the Indian cricket team during Virat Kohli’s fitness-focused captaincy reign. Developed by Danish football physiologist Jens Bangsbo, it is a “maximal aerobic endurance fitness test, involving running between markers placed 20 metres apart, at increasing speeds, until exhaustion.”
• Players are given scores on the basis of how many levels they are able to clear. Previously, the minimum score set by the BCCI to pass the test was 17 (increased from 16.1).

Dexa scans

• Dexa scans were recommended to the BCCI and the National Cricket Academy (NCA) as far back as 2011 because of a significant increase in players’ workloads with the introduction of T20 cricket and professionalisation of the game.
• Through Dexa tests, the trainers will be able to measure body fat percentage, lean muscle mass, water content and bone density.
• It helps to understand where the fat is and whether the training methods are yielding the result.

Hence both statements are correct.

50 Electric Buses launched in Delhi with support under FAME India Phase II scheme of the Ministry of Heavy Industries.

• Full name of scheme: Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India Phase II (FAME India Phase II).
• Implementing agency: Department of Heavy Industry.
• Objective: Promotion of Electric and hybrid vehicle in the country by offering upfront Incentive on purchase of Electric vehicles and by establishing charging Infrastructure for electric vehicles.
• Salient features of the scheme:
  • The scheme with total outlay of Rs 10,000 Crores over the period of three years (2019-20 to 2021-22) will be implemented with effect from 1st April 2019.
  • This scheme is the expanded version of the present scheme titled 'FAME India1 which was launched on 1st April 2015, with total outlay of Rs. 895 crores.
  • Target is to support 10 Lakhs e-2Wheeler, 5 Lakhs e-3Wheelers, 55000 4Wheelers and 7000 Buses. 
  • Under the scheme of FAME-II, the demand incentive for e-2W has been increased to Rs. 15,000/KWh from Rs. 10,000/KWh with an increase in cap from 20% to almost 40% of the cost of the vehicle to increase the adoption of e-2W. 
  • The phase II of FAME-India Scheme has been extended for a period of two years after 31st March 2022.
• Benefits: The scheme will help in addressing the issue of environmental pollution and fuel security.

Hence both statements are correct.