Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 4, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

A new species of marine tardigrade discovered from the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu has been named Batillipes chandrayaani after the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission by researchers at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat). 

• It has been discovered in the intertidal beach sediments at Mandapam in Tamil Nadu.
• Features
• It is similar in size to other tardigrades, it grows to a length of 0.15 millimetres and 0.04 millimetres in width.
• It has a trapezoid-shaped head and four pairs of legs with sharp-tipped sensory spines. Both sexes are similar in terms of morphology and size.
• It is also the 39th species described under the genus Batillipes. 

What are Tardigrades?

• These are microscopic marvels commonly known as ‘water bears,’
• Marine tardigrades account for 17% of all known tardigrade species. They are also found in all the oceans.
• Despite their tiny physiques, these micro-metazoans easily rank among the hardiest animals, enduring mass extinctions and are highly regarded for their survival skills. 

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Investing in a homegrown electrolyser manufacturing infrastructure is anticipated to drive down the price of green hydrogen and enhance India’s competitive edge. 

• It is an apparatus that produces hydrogen through a chemical process (electrolysis) capable of splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen molecules by using electricity. 
• Working:
• An electrolyser consists of a conductive electrode stack separated by a membrane to which a high voltage and current is applied.
• This causes an electric current in the water which causes it to break down into its components: hydrogen and oxygen. 
• The oxygen generated in parallel is released into the atmosphere or can be stored for later use as a medical or industrial gas in some cases. 
• The hydrogen is stored as a compressed gas or liquefied for use in industry or in hydrogen fuel cells, which can power transport vehicles such as trains, ships and even aircraft.
• Types of Electrolysers
• Alkaline electrolysers: Alkaline electrolysis is a mature and commercially available technology used primarily by the fertiliser and chlorine industries.
• It presently accounts for almost two-thirds of the global electrolyser capacity.
• It uses thick membranes and nickel-based electrodes.
• Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers: It operates at high pressure, due to the use of thin perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes.
• However, the PFSA acidic environment makes it necessary to use gold and titanium plated electrodes and metals such as platinum, iridium, and ruthenium as catalysts.
• They are the most popular because they produce high-purity hydrogen and are easy to cool. 
• Solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) electrolysers : They utilise heat to make hydrogen from steam and are best placed where there is a heat source available (nuclear or industrial facilities).
• They operate at high temperatures (500 – 850 degrees). 
• Anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolysers: They operate at significantly lower temperatures of 50 – 60 degrees.
•  They combine the less harsh conditions of alkaline electrolysers with the simplicity and high efficiency of PEM electrolysers.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, embroiled in a sex abuse case, one of the Indian political Party’s Member of Parliament (MP) fled to Germany on a diplomatic passport.

• It has maroon cover and valid for five years or less.
• Holders of such passports are entitled to certain privileges and immunities as per the international law, including immunity from arrest, detention, and certain legal proceedings in the host country.
• Issuing Authority: The Ministry of External Affair’s (MEA) Consular, Passport & Visa Division issues diplomatic passports (‘Type D’ passports) to people falling in broadly five categories:
• those with diplomatic status;
• government-appointed individuals travelling abroad for official business;
• officers working under the branches A and B of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), normally at the rank of Joint Secretary and above; and
• Relatives and immediate family of officers employed in IFS and MEA.
• select individuals who are authorized to undertake official travel on behalf of the government”
• The MEA issues visa notes to government officials going abroad for an official assignment or visit.
• Revocation of Passport
• As per the Passport Act 1967, the passport authority may, as per the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 6 or any notification under section 19, cancel a passport or travel document, with the previous approval of the Central government.
• The passport authority can impound or revoke a passport if the authority believes that the passport holder or travel document is in wrongful possession; if the passport was obtained by the suppression of material information or on the basis of wrong information provided by the individual; if it is brought to the notice of the passport authority that the individual has been issued a court order prohibiting his departure from India or has been summoned by court.
• A diplomatic passport can be revoked upon orders from a court during proceedings with respect to an offence allegedly carried out by the passport holder before a criminal court.

What is Operational Visa exemption Agreement?

• India has operational visa exemption agreements for holders of diplomatic passports with 34 countries and Germany is one amongst them.
• According to a reciprocal deal signed in 2011, holders of Indian diplomatic passports do not require a visa to visit Germany, provided their stay does not exceed 90 days.
• India has similar agreements with countries such as France, Austria, Afghanistan, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, Iran, and Switzerland.
• India also has agreements with 99 other countries wherein apart from diplomatic passport holders, even those holding service and official passports can avail operational visa exemption for stays upto 90 days.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations and the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund is organizing event titled “Localizing the SDGs: Women in Local Governance in India Lead the Way” during the 57th Session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD57).

• It was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946, which was renamed as the Commission on Population and Development by the General Assembly in 1994.
• Members: It is composed of 47 member countries.
• Term: Member countries are elected by the Economic and Social Council for a period of four years on the basis of geographic distribution.
• It was constituted as three-tiered intergovernmental mechanism that plays the primary role in the follow-up to the implementation of the programme of action at the national, regional and international levels and advise the Council thereon.
• The meetings of commission were held typically every two or three years until 1994, after which it has been held once a year.
• It is not a United Nations affiliated body.

What is United Nations Population Fund?

• It is an international development agency created in 1968 to support the execution of projects and programmes in the area of population and sexual and reproductive health.
• In 1987, it was officially renamed as the United Nations Population Fund but the original abbreviation UNFPA (United Nations Fund for Population Activities) was retained.
• It is not directly responsible for the collection of primary statistics; it plays an important role in the technical and financial support of statistical activities in countries, such as population censuses and thematic surveys etc.
• Headquarters: New York

Hence both statements are correct.

There is a possible crisis brewing in India over the manner in which certain technology companies are wielding ‘standard essential patents’ (SEP) against the telecom manufacturing sector in India.

About Standard Essential Patents (SEP):

• A SEP is a patent granted for a technological invention which is essential for the implementation and working of a standard.
• What is a Standard?
• A ‘standard’ is a set of technical requirements or agreed technical descriptions which cover ideas, products, or services and make sure that technologies interact and work together. 
• Standards can be adopted worldwide, regionally or even nationally.
• It is usually in the interest of industrial players to create products that comply with standards. 
• One example of a widely used standard is the A4 size for sheets of paper.
• Patents which are essential to a standard and have been adopted by a Standard Setting Organization (SSO) are known as SEPs.
• SSOs are either governmental, quasi-governmental, or a private group of independently governed industry associations. 
• SSOs set, develop, coordinate, interpret, and maintain standards.
• Industry participants can collaborate on a single technical solution because of such standards.
• When a patent is acknowledged by the SSO and designated as a SEP, manufacturers can only produce their goods in the market after first acquiring a license under the SEP.
• From an antitrust standpoint, the lack of any competing technology grants the SEP holder a monopolistic right over the SEP.
• Consequently, it is impossible to produce products that comply with standards without using technologies that are covered by one or more SEPs.
• SEPs are common in the mobile telephony and telecommunications industry, a sector which is highly standardised due mainly to the need for interoperability between mobile devices.

Hence both statements are correct.

Russia's government recently published new footage claiming to show the targeting of two Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) shortly after the U.S. authorized a significant new chunk of military aid for Ukraine.

About High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS): 

• It is a light, multiple rocket launcher.
• It is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corporation, a US-based security and aerospace company.
• HIMARS is intended to engage and defeat artillery, air defence concentrations, trucks, light armour, and personnel carriers, as well as support troop and supply concentrations. 
• Features:
• It is an air-transportable wheeled launcher mounted on a 5-ton Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV).
• It can carry either a launcher pod of six rockets or one MGM-140Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which have a range of 300 km (186 miles).
• The HIMARS requires less than 20 seconds to be prepared for firing, and a full launcher load of six rockets can be fired within 45 seconds.
• The system launches its weapons and moves away from the area at high speed before enemy forces locate the launch site.
• The HIMARS is equipped with the Increased Crew Protection cabin, which is designed to protect the three-man operating crew against plume gases, rocket launch debris, and small arms.

Hence option a is the correct answer.

India has lodged a strong protest with China for carrying out construction activities in the Shaksgam valley, in an “illegal” attempt to alter the situation on the ground.

About Shaksgam Valley:

• The Shaksgam Valley, or Trans Karakoram Tract, is part of the Hunza-Gilgit region of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and is a disputed territory claimed by India but controlled by Pakistan.
• It borders Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the north, the Northern Areas of POK to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
• It was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963, when both countries signed a boundary agreement to settle their border differences.
• However, Article 6 of the agreement clearly stated that “the two parties have agreed that after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations with the Government of the People's Republic of China, on the boundary as described in Article Two of the present agreement, so as to sign a formal Boundary Treaty to replace the present agreement.”
• The agreement laid the foundation of Karakoram highway, which was built jointly by Chinese and Pakistani engineers in the 1970s.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

A team of researchers have discovered a new species of damselfly at the Ponmudi hills in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala.

• Ponmudi translates to ‘Golden Hill’ or ‘Golden Peak’ is located in the state of Kerala.
• It is part of the Western Ghats mountain range that runs parallel to the Arabian Sea and is at an altitude of 1100 metres above sea level. 
• The hills are a part of the Agasthyamalai landscape, at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.
• These hills are biodiversity-rich, and recently the third species of damselfly discovered from this region.

Key facts about the new species of damselfly

• It is named Cliffside Bambootail (Phylloneura rupestris).
• It belongs to a group called bambootails, so named because of their long abdomen that resembles bamboo stalks.
• It lays eggs in the moss beds in seasonal rills that flow over rock cliffs. 
• The discovery is significant, because for over 160 years, the genus Phylloneura was considered monotypic, with a single described species, the Myristica Bambootail
• Myristica Bambootail’s population is associated with myristica swamps, and hence is known by its common name Myristica Bambootail.
• It has remained the sole described species of the genus Phylloneura and is considered near-threatened as per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
• It is endemic to the Western Ghats and has been recorded only in the area between the Nilgiri Hills and Sharavathi Valley, north of the Palghat Gap.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have embarked on a project to continuously monitor and issue operational forecast alerts of rip currents.

• These are a strong flow of water running from a beach back to the Open Ocean, sea, or lake.
• These are one of the most well-known coastal hazards on beaches around the world. 
• Formation
• They are formed by a beach topography. 
• They can occur in areas with hard-bottom (rocky) or soft-bottom (sand or silt) beach topography.
• A beaches topography includes the area outside the water, such as dunes or marshes. 
• Beach topography also includes the area within the water, like sandbars, piers, and reefs. Rip currents often form around these parts of a beach topography.
• They can form in a gap between sandbars, piers, or parts of a reef.
• Such underwater obstacles block waves from washing directly back to sea.
• The water from these waves, called feeder waves, runs along the shore until it finds an opening around the obstacle.
• Contrary to popular belief, a rip cannot pull a person down and hold him/her under the water.
• It simply carries floating objects, including people, out to just beyond the zone of the breaking waves.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In a concerning development, scientists are sounding the alarm about the potential spread of a condition known as chronic wasting disease (CWD) from animals to humans. 

About Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD):

• CWD, also known as Zombie deer disease, is a neurological disorder affecting deer and other cervids (members of the deer family) caused by the abnormal growth of a misfolded protein called a prion.
• This prion causes healthy brain proteins to become abnormal, leading to a range of symptoms.
• CWD is contagious; it can be transmitted freely within and among cervid populations.
• Transmission: CWD is transmitted directly through animal-to-animal contact and indirectly through contact with objects or environments contaminated with infectious material (including saliva, urine, feces, and carcasses of CWD-infected animals).
• Symptoms: It may take over a year before an infected animal develops symptoms, which can include drastic weight loss (wasting), stumbling, listlessness, and other neurologic symptoms. 
• CWD is particularly concerning because it has the potential to affect both animals and humans, with the possibility of transmission through the consumption of infected meat.
• CWD can affect animals of all ages, and some infected animals may die without ever developing the disease.
• CWD is fatal to animals, and there are no treatments or vaccines.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.