Daily Current Affairs MCQ- November 2, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a sounding rocket as part of its INFUSE mission.

• The Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscope Experiment (INFUSE) was launched from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
• It was launched to study the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant.

What will INFUSE mission do?

• The INFUSE mission is expected to collect information about the remnant for a few minutes from a height of 150 miles (240 km).
• Specifically, the instrument will gather light streaming from the Cygnus Loop in far-ultraviolet wavelengths. 
• It will observe how the supernova dumps energy into the Milky Way by catching light given off just as the blast wave crashes into pockets of cold gas floating around the galaxy.
• It will study the Cygnus Loop and try to understand the life cycle of stars. 

What is Cygnus Loop?

• It is the remnant of a star that was once 20 times the size of our Sun.
• Some 20,000 years ago, that star collapsed under its own gravity and erupted into a supernova.
• Even from 2,600 light-years away, astronomers estimate the flash of light would have been bright enough to see from Earth during the day

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) is all set to launch its “one nation, one registration platform’‘ for doctors across India.

• The NMC will unveil a patch pilot of the National Medical Register (NMR) in the next six months where doctors will be allotted a unique identification number.
• Doctors can also apply for their licence to work in any State depending on where they are.
• The commission had earlier this year issued a gazette notification titled “Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023”
• The idea is to provide a masked ID to undergraduate students on the NMR and depending on when they complete their course the ID is unmasked and allotted.
• This ID can be used to update any further qualification and all State registers for licence to work in any part of the country will be linked here 
• Aim: To eliminate duplication, red tape and allow the public to access information on any physician working in India.

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Recently, the Imperial College London announced its biggest ever scholarship programme for Indian students.

• Future Leaders scholarship programme will support 30 of the country’s most talented Master’s scholars, over the next three years.
• The scholarship will cover the full cost of tuition and living expenses,
• It will be for students studying Master's programmes in engineering, natural sciences, business and medical research.
• In this programme half of the scholarships are reserved for female scholars.
• It will build a pathway for the most talented students in India to deepen their studies and expand their experiences at one of the world's top universities.
• Alongside the new scholarship programme, the university also signed a new partnership with the UK government's Chevening Scholarships programme.
• It will provide funding for an additional three Master's scholars from India over the next three years.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, scientists looking for fossil fuels beneath the ground of northeastern France have discovered large reservoir of white hydrogen.

• White hydrogen is also referred to as “natural,” “gold” or “geologic” hydrogen.
• It is naturally produced in the Earth’s crust and is considered a potential clean energy.
• It is generally exists combined with other molecules.
• White hydrogen has several advantages over other types of hydrogen
• It causes no CO2 emissions when used as a fuel.
• It is compatible with existing infrastructure and technologies for hydrogen production and utilization.
• It is cheaper and more efficient than steam reforming or electrolysis.
• It is abundant and renewable in nature.
• Its deposits have been found across the world, including in the US, eastern Europe, Russia, Australia, France and other countries.
• It is estimated that globally there could be tens of billions of tons of white hydrogen.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, India-born author Nandini Das has been named the winner of the 2023 British Academy Book Prize.

• This was formerly known as the Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize.
• It was established in 2013.
• It was established to reward and celebrate the best works of non-fiction that demonstrate rigour and originality and have contributed to public understanding of other world cultures and their interaction.
• The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for humanities and social sciences,
• The eligible books come from the subjects that fall within those disciplines, from archaeology, history and psychology to philosophy, languages and cultural studies.
• Nandini Das who is a Professor in the English faculty at the University of Oxford, won the award for her book ‘Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire’
• The winner gets the £25,000 Prize cash award and each of the shortlisted works will receive £1,000 each.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published the State Food Safety Index.

• The Index is an annual assessment released by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
• It was started from 2018-19 with the aim of creating a competitive and positive change in the food safety ecosystem in the country.  
• The index will help in providing safe and nutritious food to our citizens.
• This index is based on the performance of the State/ UT on five significant parameters, namely,
• Human Resources and Institutional Data, Compliance, Food Testing – Infrastructure and Surveillance, Training & Capacity Building and Consumer Empowerment.
• In the 2023 index, a new parameter called ‘Improvement in SFSI Rank’ was added.
• The Index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model that provides an objective framework for evaluating food safety across all States/UTs.
• The States/UTs are classified into 3 categories namely Large States, Small States and UTs for the evaluation and assessment.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, a group of scientists has discovered that an edible freshwater fish, available in the markets of western Odisha.

• Awaous Motla is the fish with a vibrant yellow-coloured body and a fleshy upper lip.
• It was collected from the Mahanadi river.
• The discovery was made during the ongoing research project funded by the department of science and technology of the Odisha government.
• The species belongs to the family 'Awaous' (Oxudercidae), and thus, is named 'Awaous motla.

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA) Israeli settler violence has increased significantly, from an already high average of three incidents per day in 2023 to seven a day now, 

• It was established by the General assembly of the United Nations in 1991.
• It is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.
• It also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response effort.
• It replaced the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO).
• On-Site Operations Coordination Centres (OSOCC), an OCHA tool, provides a platform for the coordination of international response activities immediately following a sudden-onset emergency or a rapid change in a complex emergency.
• Funds: There are two types of pooled funds:
• Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) which can fund an emergency anywhere in the world.
• Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPFs) which are country specific.
• It has two headquarter locations – Geneva and New York which acts as centres of global operations. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Kozhikode in Kerala and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh have added to the prestigious creative cities list of UNESCO for contributions in the fields of literature and music respectively.

• The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004.
• To promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
• Almost 300 cities around the world which currently make up this network.
• Objective: Placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
• UNESCO designates the creative cities in seven fields — Craft, Folk Art, Media Arts, Film Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
• Every year, UNESCO seeks applications for various cities across the globe to put them under its UCCN project.
• The applications in India are routed through the Ministry of Culture.
• Kozhikode is a permanent venue for the annual Kerala Literature Festival and hosts several other book festivals.
• Gwalior has a rich and diverse musical heritage encompassing classical Hindustani music, folk music, and devotional music. The city also has some prestigious music institutes and hosts popular festivals.
• Other Indian cities which are added to this network
• Srinagar and Jaipur: In the field of Crafts and Folk Arts.
• Mumbai :Film category
• Chennai and Varanasi : Music category
• Hyderabad: Gastronomy category.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

According to the Review of Maritime Transport 2023 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in 2023, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping were 20 per cent higher than last 10 years.

• It is the UN’s leading institution dealing with trade and development.
• It is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964. 
• It supports developing countries to access the benefits of a globalized economy more fairly and effectively.
• It provides economic and trade analysis, facilitates consensus-building and offer technical assistance to help developing countries use trade, investment, finance and technology for inclusive and sustainable development.
• Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Reports published by the UNCTAD
• Trade and Development Report
• World Investment Report
• The Least Developed Countries Report
• The World Development Report is published by the World Bank.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.