Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 25, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

The eurozone economy is set for only modest growth next year, despite wages rising faster than inflation for the first time in three years, according to a recent poll of economists.

About Eurozone:

• The eurozone, officially known as the euro area, is a geographic and economic region that consists of all the European Union countries that have fully incorporated the euro as their national currency.
• As of January 2023, the eurozone consists of 20 countries in the European Union (EU): 
• Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
• Not all European Union nations participate in the eurozone; some opt to use their own currency and maintain their financial independence.
• The European Central Bank (ECB) exercises the sole power to set the monetary policy for the Eurozone countries.
• The ECB exercises the sole authority to decide the printing and minting of euro notes and coins. It also decides the interest rate for the Eurozone. 
• The ECBs is headed by a president and a board, comprising the heads of the central banks of the participating nations.
• How do countries join Eurozone?
• In order to join the euro area, EU member states are required to fulfil so-called 'convergence criteria' which consists of price stability, sound public finances, the durability of convergence, and exchange rate stability.
• These binding economic and legal conditions were agreed upon in the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and are also known as 'Maastricht criteria'.
• All EU Member States, except Denmark, are required to adopt the euro and join the euro area once they are ready to fulfill them.
• The Treaty does not specify a particular timetable for joining the euro area but leaves it to member states to develop their own strategies for meeting the condition for euro adoption.
• The European Commission and the ECB jointly decide whether the conditions are met for euro area candidate countries to adopt the euro.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Ukraine Air Force spokesperson recently disclosed that the country’s air defense units were unable to shot down any of the KH-22 supersonic cruise missiles launched by Russia.

About KH-22 Missile:

• It is a Soviet-era long-range airborne supersonic cruise missile.
• Armed with a nuclear or highly explosive fragmenting cumulative warhead, it was initially designed to destroy aircraft carriers and other large warships, or even groups of such carriers.
• The Kh-22 family was developed in the USSR in the 1960s and specifically designed to be launched from Tupolev-22 bombers.
• Later, both the missiles and the aircraft were modernized as part of the so-called "Kh-22 special air-to-surface missile complex."
• Upgraded in the 1970s, the missile had an impressive speed of 4,000 kilometers per hour, a 1,000-kilogram warhead, and a range of 500 kilometers.
• It weighs 5,820 kilograms.
• A total of approximately 3,000 such missiles were produced in the USSR.
• After the USSR collapsed, quite a few of them remained in Ukraine. However, soon after independence in 1991, Ukraine gave up its nuclear and strategic aviation arsenal.
• In 2000, Ukraine transferred 386 Kh-22 missiles to Russia as an installment against the gas debt.
• The successor to the Kh-22 became the Kh-32, which can be carried by the new Russian Tu-22M3M bombers. The new missile features a conventional warhead, an improved rocket motor, and a new radar imaging terminal seeker. It has a longer range but a smaller warhead.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

The Electronic Supreme Court Reports (e-SCR) portal starting with just 2,238 translated judgments as of January 2023 and ending the year with over 31,000 rulings translated. 

• It is an initiative to provide the digital version of the apex court's judgments in the manner as they are reported in the official law report.
• The Supreme Court has developed a search engine with the help of the National Informatics Centre.
• It is comprising elastic search technique in the database of e-SCR and the search facility in e-SCR provides for free text search, search within search, case type and case year search, judge search, year and volume search and bench strength search options.
• It will provide free access to it’s about 34,000 judgements to lawyers, law students and the common public.
• These verdicts will be available on the apex court website, its mobile app and on the judgment portal of the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the PSLV-C58 X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) mission.

• It is the first dedicated scientific satellite from ISRO to carry out research in space-polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
• It carries two payloads namely
• POLIX: It is an X-ray Polarimeter for astronomical observations in the energy band of 8-30 keV.
• The payload is being developed by Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore in collaboration with U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).
• It is expected to observer about 40 bright astronomical sources of different categories during the planned lifetime of XPoSat mission of about 5 years.
• This is the first payload in the medium X-ray energy band dedicated for polarimetry measurements.
• XSPECT: It is an X-ray SPECtroscopy and Timing payload onboard XPoSat, which can provide fast timing and good spectroscopic resolution in soft X-rays.
• It can provide long-term monitoring of spectral state changes in continuum emission, changes in their line flux and profile, simultaneous long term temporal monitoring of soft X-ray emission in the X-ray energy range 0.8-15 keV.
• It would observe several types of sources viz X-ray pulsars, blackhole binaries, low-magnetic field neutron star (NS) in LMXBs, AGNs and Magnetars.
• The launch put India in an elite category as it has become the second (after NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) launched in 2021) nation to send an observatory to study astronomical sources such as black holes, neutron stars among others

Hence both statements are correct.

Real estate body NAREDCO recently said it plans to organise a builders' conference in Ayodhya to tap its commercial and residential opportunities.

About National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO):

• It was established in 1998 under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India.
• It is the leading industry association for the real estate sector in the country.
• Its primary objective is to provide a legitimate platform for the government, the real estate industry, and the general public to address their concerns and find effective solutions to the challenges faced by the real estate sector.
• NAREDCO's mission is to improve the real estate industry's building, construction, and marketing standards.
• It contributes to the development of national fiscal policies and acts as a catalyst for economic growth in the Indian real estate sector.
• With a membership base comprising over 10000+ members across India with its State NAREDCO chapters, NAREDCO plays a crucial role in policy formulation by representing the viewpoints of its members to various ministries on a regular basis.
• All major national developers and public sector organizations in the fields of housing and real estate development, finance, and marketing are members of NAREDCO.
• Structure:
• The organizational structure of NAREDCO includes National, State, and City Councils. 
• The councils ensure that the policy recommendations accurately reflect the real conditions on the ground and cover the entire geography.
• The National Council focuses on macro-level issues, the State Councils address state-level concerns, and the City Councils tackle local and on-ground issues.
• The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Govt. of India, serves as the Chief Patron of NAREDCO.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Indian Navy recently said that it has responded to a hijacking attempt on vessel MV Lila Norfolk by engaging its mission-deployed platforms, including its maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) P8I and INS Chennai.

About INS Chennai:

• It is the Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and constructed guided missile destroyer.
• It is the third and last ship of the Kolkata-class stealth-guided missile destroyers (Project 15A).
• It was constructed by the Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) at Mumbai.
• It was commissioned into the Indian Navy on November 21, 2016.
• Features:
• It measures 163 meters in length and has a beam of 17.4 meters.
• Displacement: Over 7,500 tons.
• Top Speed: 30 knots (approx. 55 KM/hour)
• It is powered by four reversible gas turbine engines.
• It can carry 350 to 400 people.
• Armament: It is armed with Vertical launch and long-range surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missile systems like supersonic BrahMos, ‘Barak-8’ Long Range Surface to Air missiles.
• The ship is equipped to fight under nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) warfare conditions.
• It is fitted with a modern Surveillance Radar, which provides target data to the gunnery weapon systems of the ship.
• The ship’s Anti-Submarine Warfare capabilities are provided by the indigenously developed Rocket Launchers and Torpedo Launchers.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

Recently, an inscription said to be of 10th century A.D. Kadamba period has been discovered in the Mahadeva temple at Cacoda in southern Goa.

• The Kadambas of Goa were the subordinates of Chalukyas of Kalyana.
• Chalukyan emperor Tailapa II appointed Kadamba Shasthadeva as mahamandaleshwara of Goa for his help in overthrowing the Rashtrakutas.
• Kadamba Shasthadeva conquered the city of Chandavara from the Shilaharas in 960 A.D.
• Later, he conquered the port of Gopakapattana (present Goa).
• Gundayya, the son of Talara Nevayya, may have participated in this battle, and won the port at the cost of his life.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has utilised road construction technology i.e Rejupave technology to build high-altitude bituminous road sections at the Sela tunnel and LGG-Damteng-Yangste (LDY) road near the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

• It is developed by India’s oldest and premier road research organisation, CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI).
• It is beneficial in constructing high-altitude bituminous roads at low and sub-zero temperature conditions.
• This technology brings down the production and rolling temperature of bituminous mixes by 30 degrees Celsius to 400 degrees Celsius with negligible heat loss in the bituminous mix during transit, despite long haulage time amid snowfall. 
• This technology's asphalt modifier is a bio oil-based product, which significantly lowers the heating requirement of bituminous mixes besides preserving the bituminous mix temperature during transit.
• Significance
• Rejupave' asphalt modifier in cold climatic regions will have improved long-term durability and better resistance to thermal cracking under low-temperature conditions.
• It also bring down the greenhouse gas emissions in the pristine eco-sensitive mountainous environment of Arunachal Pradesh

Hence both statements are correct.

Scientists are finding that the gut microbiota may be linked to heart health, some cancers, and even the colour of urine.

About Gut Microbiota:

• The human gut microbiota refers to the trillions of microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, that live in the human gut.
• Previously, people referred to the gut microbiota as the microflora of the gut.
• The gut microbiome is the environment they live in.
• Establishment of the human gut microbiota:
• Infants inherit their first gut microbes during vaginal delivery or breastfeeding (chestfeeding). 
• Later, your diet and other environmental exposures introduce new microbes to your biome.
• The gut microbiota assists in a range of bodily functions, including:
• harvesting energy from digested food
• protecting against pathogens
• regulating immune function
• strengthening the biochemical barriers of the gut and intestine
• Changes in microbiota composition can affect these functions.
• Disease:
• While there are beneficial bacteria in the gut, there are also harmful bacteria that can enter the Gastrointestinal (GI) tract and cause infection.
• These infections include food poisoning and other GI diseases that result in diarrhea and vomiting.
• Research suggests that bacterial populations in the GI system play a role in developing gut conditions, including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
• Low microbial diversity in the gut also has links to obesity and type 2 diabetes.
• The status of the gut microbiota also has links to metabolic syndrome.
• Disturbing the microbiota with antibiotics can also lead to disease, including infections that become resistant to antibiotics.

Hence both statements are correct.

The External Affairs Minister recently announced that the Government of India has decided to include Farsi (Persian) as one of the nine classical languages in India under the New Education Policy.

About Farsi:

• Farsi, also known as Persian Language, is the most widely spoken member of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. 
• It is the official language of Iran, and two varieties of Persian known as Dari and Tajik are official languages in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, respectively.
• Significant populations of Farsi speakers can be found in other Persian Gulf countries (Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates), as well as large communities in the US.
• It has about 62 million native speakers, ranking it among the world’s 20 most widely spoken first languages.
• Farsi in Iran is written in a variety of the Arabic script called Perso-Arabic, which has some innovations to account for Persian phonological differences. This script came into use in Persia after the Islamic conquest in the seventh century.
• Its relatives are the languages of northern India and, more distantly, the major European languages including English.

Hence both statements are correct.