Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 17, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the novel coronavirus infection a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Criteria followed by WHO to declare PHEIC: A public health emergency is defined as “an extraordinary event which is determined:

• • to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease; and
  • to potentially require a coordinated international response”.

The responsibility of declaring an event as an emergency lies with the Director-General of the WHO. In the past decade, WHO has declared public health emergencies for outbreaks including swine flu, polio and Ebola. Declaring a PHEIC may lead to restrictions on travel and trade for the host country, which in the case of the coronavirus is China. The novel coronavirus (a new strain of coronavirus which has not been previously identified in human beings) is one among a large family of coronaviruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to the more serious Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The source of the novel coronavirus is not yet known and there is no treatment for it so far. 

Hence both statements are correct.

• Nagoba Jatara, the tribal festival of Telangana concluded. Nagoba Jatara is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Inderavelly Mandal Adilabad district, Telangana.
• It starts in pushya masam. It is celebrated by Mesaram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days. Tribal people from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesram clan offer prayers at the festival. The Gusadi Dance performance by dancers from the Gond tribe is a major special attraction of the event.
• The event also includes a ceremony called ‘bheting’, which incorporates new brides into the clan. The ceremony of Betal puja, which involves display of martial art, constitutes the last of the rituals in the event. 

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Beating Retreat ceremony was held which marked the culmination of the Republic Day celebrations. The ceremony ended with Abide With Me, said to be Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite.

• It officially denotes the end of Republic Day festivities. It is conducted on the evening of 29 January, the third day after the Republic Day. it is organized by Section D of the Ministry of Defence.
• It is performed by the bands of the three wings of the military, the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and pipe bands from the Army, plus from 2016 a massed formation of bands of the Central Armed Police Forces and the Delhi Police.
• The venue is Raisina Hills and an adjacent square, Vijay Chowk, flanked by the North and South blocks of the Central Secretariat and the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President's Palace) towards the end of Rajpath. The chief guest of the function is the President of India.
• The ceremony traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) removed BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Sahib Singh from the party’s list of star campaigners.

• A recognised political party can have 40 star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20. The list of star campaigners has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission within a week from the date of notification of an election.
• The expenditure incurred on campaigning by such notified star campaigners is exempt from being added to the election expenditure of a candidate.
• However, this only applies when a star campaigner limits herself to a general campaign for the political party she represents. 

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Indian Railways has commissioned country’s first governmental Waste to Energy Plant, having capacity of 500 Kg waste per day, in Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop at Bhubaneswar in East Coast Railway. This Waste to Energy Plant, a patented technology called POLYCRACK, is first-of-its-kind in Indian Railways and fourth in India. It is world’s first patented heterogeneous catalytic process which converts multiple feed stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water. Using Polycrack Plant, all types of waste including plastic and e-waste can be converted to Light Diesel Oil which is used to light furnaces. It can be fed with all types of Plastic.

Polycrack has the following advantages over the conventional approach of treating solid waste:

• • Pre-segregation of waste is not required to reform the waste. Waste as collected can be directly fed into Polycrack.
  • It is an enclosed unit hence the working environment is dust free.
  • All constituents are converted into valuable energy thereby making it Zero Discharge Process.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of State for Department of Space inaugurated the 'National Workshop on Space based Information Support for Decentralised Planning (SISDP)-update.' He also launched the Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 web portal in Bengaluru.

• ISRO had launched 'SISDP' project to assist gram panchayats at grassroots level with basic planning inputs derived from satellite data for preparing developmental plans, its implementation and monitoring of activities. National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), located in Hyderabad, is the lead centre to execute the project.
• NSRC is one of the centres of ISRO. SISDP phase-I project was successfully concluded in 2016-17. Based on the experience of SISDP phase-I, 'SISDP-Update' has been initiated.
• The geodatabase, products and services prepared under this project are expected to be disseminated through Bhuvan geoportal, an easy to use Geo portal developed for database visualization, data analytics etc. for the benefit of Gram Panchayat members and other stake holders. 

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The newly constituted Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) has approved the release of the Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM) for inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) from the Interested Bidders (IBs) for Strategic Disinvestment of Air India.

• The Union government invited bids for a 100% stake sale of Air India (AI) and transfer of management control along with its complete share in two subsidiaries — low-cost international carrier Air India Express and ground-handling arm AISATS. The government has also offered to hive off liabilities worth nearly ₹40,000 crore.
• On the table is a 100% stake in AI, 100% stake in AI Express Limited (AIXL) and all of the government’s 50% stake in AISATS, which is a joint venture with the Singapore-based ground handling company SATS Limited.
• The buyer will get a total of 146 aircraft, 56% of which are owned by the airline group, while the remaining are on lease. Any private or public limited company, a corporate body and a fund with a net value of ₹3,500 crore will be eligible to bid. The last date for submitting interest to the transaction adviser is March 17 and the outcome of this round will be known by March 31.
• The newly constituted Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) is headed by Union Home Minister and comprises Union Ministers of Commerce & Industry, Finance & Corporate Affairs and Civil Aviation, as members.
• This is the second attempt in two years by the government at privatising the national carrier. On May 31, 2018, when the deadline for bids closed, not even a single private player had shown interest. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Piezoelectricity is what generates the spark inside a stove lighter which is quite wondering for the one who is observing it.

• The term “piezoelectric” originates from the Greek words “piezein,” meaning ‘to squeeze’, and “elektron”, for amber – a material known for its association with static electricity.
• Piezoelectricity is a remarkable phenomenon whereby some materials – including quartz, ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and even certain biological substances like bone and the tendons – can generate an electric charge in response to mechanical stress.
• This property is the result of their unusual crystal structures.
• Usually, the charges on atoms in the molecules that make them up are symmetric on two sides of an axis.
• When some stress is applied, the molecule becomes distorted and the asymmetry of charges gives rise to a small electric current.
• Some materials also display an inverse piezoelectric effect, where the application of an electric current induces a mechanical deformation.
• Applications
• Both direct and inverse piezoelectric materials are widely used in pressure sensors, accelerometers, and acoustic devices – where their ability to convert mechanical signals into electrical signals is crucial.
• It is also used in quartz watches.
• Piezoelectric transducers are common in ultrasonic applications, such as intrusion detectors and alarms. 
• Piezoelectric devices are employed at AF (audio frequencies) as pickups, microphones, earphones, beepers, and buzzers. 
• In wireless applications, piezoelectricity makes it possible to use crystals and ceramics as oscillators that generate predictable and stable signals at RF (radio frequencies).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A recent study sheds light on the complex link between serum lipids, lipid-modifying targets, and cholelithiasis.

• The condition of having gallstones is called cholelithiasis.
• It is a common hepatobiliary condition affecting mostly Western populations.
• It is a major risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma, which is a kind of bile duct cancer.
• Gallstones are hardened deposits of digestive fluid that form in the gallbladder.
• The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ that lies beneath the liver and stores bile made by the liver.
• Bile is a digestive fluid made of cholesterol, bile salts, and bilirubin and gets released into the small intestine through the cystic duct and common bile duct, to aid in fat digestion.
• Causes: The exact cause of cholelithiasis is not entirely clear. Cholelithiasis most commonly results from a chemical imbalance within the contents of the gallbladder in which the bile contains too much cholesterol or bilirubin. 
• Symptom: The most common symptom of cholelithiasis is abdominal pain localized to the upper right or central abdomen. 
• Treatment: It may be treated with medications or procedures. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, astronomers have identified six sub-Neptune planets orbiting in a rare synchronised dance around a distant star.

Key findings:

• The star, known as HD110067, is located approximately 100 light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices and is about 20% less massive than our Sun.
• The six planets were detected by observing minute dimming of the star's brightness as each planet transited, or passed in front of, the star from our perspective on Earth
• The orbital resonance of these planets i.e their orbits are synchronised in such a way that they have remained stable for about 4 billion years.

About Sub-Neptune planets:

• These are the most commonly observed type of planet in our galaxy.
• They could be rocky worlds with thick atmospheres of hydrogen and helium gas, or perhaps composed of rock and ice with warm, water-rich atmospheres.
• These planets have radii between that of the Earth and Neptune.

Key points about Neptune

• It's the last of the planets in our solar system.
• It's more than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth is.
• Neptune is very similar to Uranus. It's made of a thick fog of water, ammonia, and methane over an Earth-sized solid center.
• Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane.
• Structure and Surface
• Neptune is encircled by six rings and is an ice giant.
• It is made of a thick soup of water, ammonia, and methane flowing over a solid core about the size of Earth.
• It has a thick, windy atmosphere.
• Time on Neptune
• One day on Neptune goes by in 16 hours.
• Neptune has such a long journey around the Sun it takes 165 Earth years to go around once.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.