Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 26, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Agni Prime new generation ballistic missile was successfully test fired off the coast of Odisha.

• The 'Agni Prime' is a two-stage canisterised solid-propellant missile with dual redundant navigation and guidance system.
• The nuclear-capable missile has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• The surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 1000 to 2000 km.
• The Agni Prime missile, the smallest and lightest among the entire Agni series of ballistic missiles.
• It weighs 50 per cent less than the Agni 3 missile and has new guidance and propulsion systems.
• In addition, since it is canisterised, it can be launched from rail or road, be stored for longer periods and can be transported as per operational requirements.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

India and a few other places in the world will witness a partial solar eclipse on October 25, 2022.

• An eclipse happens when the moon while orbiting the Earth, comes in between the sun and the Earth, due to which the moon blocks the sun’s light from reaching the Earth, causing an eclipse of the sun or a solar eclipse.
• There are three types of eclipses.
• Total solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are in a direct line. The dark silhouette of the Moon completely covers the intense bright light of the Sun. Only the much fainter solar corona is visible during a total eclipse which is known as a Totality.
• Partial solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the sun, moon and Earth are not exactly lined up.
  • The shadow of the moon appears on a small part of the sun.
• Annular solar eclipse:
  • This happens when the moon is farthest from the Earth, which is why it seems smaller.
  • In this type of an eclipse, the moon does not block the sun completely, but looks like a “dark disk on top of a larger sun-colored disk” forming a “ring of fire”. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Five new Basmati varieties, developed by a group of scientists from Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), in 2020 and 2021 will bring changes in the way paddy is cultivated in the country.

• Three of the five varieties can resist two common diseases of paddy.
  • Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) and blast (leaf and collar) diseases caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae.

New Varieties:

• New varieties are
  • Pusa Basmati 1847,
  • Pusa Basmati 1885 and
  • Pusa Basmati 1886.
• All these varieties have two genes to resist BLB and two genes to resist blast disease.
• The other two can save 35% of the water now required as the seeds can be directly sown, obviating the need for transplanting seedlings.
• These two seeds are resistant to herbicides too, helping the farmers control weeds more efficiently.
• In the next three years, all of the five seeds will have the combined qualities of disease and herbicide resistance.

Hence both statements are correct.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s heaviest rocket LVM3-M2 lifts-off from a launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, recently. The rocket successfully placed 36 broadband communication satellites of OneWeb, on ISRO's maiden commercial mission. 

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has renamed the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark -III as Launch Vehicle Mark-III, mainly to identify its task of placing satellites into a variety of orbits. 
• Launch Vehicle Mark III (LVM3) -M2 is the dedicated commercial satellite mission of New Space India Limited (NSIL), a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Department of Space, Government of India.
• The LVM3 rocket (earlier called the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV-MK3) can carry up to 8 tonnes into low earth orbit (LEO-up to 1,200 km above the Earth).
• The rocket is a three-stage launch vehicle consisting of two solid propellant S200 strap-ons on its sides and core stage comprising L110 liquid stage and C25 cryogenic stage.
• The PSLV is much lighter and can carry between 1.4 and 1.75-tonne payloads.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A new species of the genus Allmania has been recently identified on the granite hillocks of Palakkad, Kerala. The discovery has come 188 years after the genus and the first species were described by botanists.

• It is named Allmania multiflora.
• The species is quite special from both the botanical and conservation points of view.
• Allmania multiflora is only the second species of this genus identified so far anywhere.
• It is an annual herb that grows to a height of about 60 cm, erect, with branches arising from the base.
• The stem is red to violet at the base and green above.
• Found at heights ranging between 1,000 to 1,250 metres.
• Shorter tepals and wider gynoecium (parts of the flower), shorter bracts and in the diameter of the seeds are among the characteristics that distinguishes it from Allmania nodiflora.
• Flowering and fruiting occurs from May to September.
• Allmania multiflora has been so named for having a higher number of florets within an inflorescence.
• Given its small population, the researchers have assessed it as Critically Endangered, applying IUCN Red List criteria.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The United States is considering sending older HAWK air defense equipment from storage to Ukraine to help it defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks.

• HAWK, short for ‘Homing All the Way Killer’, entered service with the US Army in 1959, during the Vietnam War.
• It is a mobile air defense system.
• It is a medium-range surface to air missile.
• It underwent upgrades over the decades that followed, including a major one in 1971 that produced the so-called I-HAWK (or improved HAWK), with a kill probability of 85%.
• The first versions of the system had a range of 25 km for aerial targets, and an altitude of 14 km. After modernization: the maximum target interception range increased to 40 km with a maximum interception altitude of 18 km.
• The HAWK system was the predecessor to the PATRIOT missile defence system that Raytheon built in the 1990s.
• US forces largely stopped using HAWK from the early years of the new century.

Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister for Environment Forest and Climate change recently participated in Ministerial Meeting of Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC).

• It comprises of around 18 developing countries from Asia and other regions.
• India is part of the LMDC grouping along with Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and others.
• It represents about 50 per cent of the world’s population. 
• It usually presents a common front at climate negotiations.

Hence both statements are correct.

Russia recently claimed that Ukraine is planning to use a dirty bomb.

• It is a bomb that contains radioactive material, such as uranium, which is scattered through the air when its conventional explosive detonates.
• It doesn't need to contain highly refined radioactive material, as is used in a nuclear bomb. Instead, it could use radioactive materials from hospitals, nuclear power stations or research laboratories.
• This makes them much cheaper and quicker to make than nuclear weapons. They can also be carried in the back of a vehicle.
• However, as weapons, they are very unreliable.
• For the radioactive material in a dirty bomb to be scattered across its target zone, it has to be reduced to powder form.
• But if the particles are too fine or released into strong winds, they will scatter too widely to do much harm.
• Material used:
  • Cesium-137
  • Cobalt-60 
  • Iridium-192
  • Dynamite 

Hence both statements are correct.

The deep depression over Bay of Bengal has intensified into cyclonic storm Sitrang.

• Cyclones are centres of low pressure surrounded by closed isobars and having increasing pressure outwards.
• As air enters an area of low pressure from all directions, the Coriolis Effect bends the direction of the wind to the right of its path.
• This creates a counter clockwise rotation around the low and convergence near the centre of the system. As the air collides near the centre it is forced aloft where divergence takes air away from the centre of the system.
• A Cyclone is a system of low level convergence and high level divergence with a rising column of air in the centre of the rotating air mass. If the upper air is not diverging then there cannot be a cyclone present.
• Cyclones are broadly of two types:
  • Temperate cyclones (caused in middle and high latitudes, thus does not occur in India)
  • Tropical cyclones

Hence both statements are correct.

Diwali or Deepavali, also known as the festival of lights, is one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals celebrated with much pomp around the country. 

• Diwali, which is the festival of lights, stands for the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and falls on the day of ‘amavasya’ or new moon in the Hindu month of Kartik. 
• It usually falls in mid-October and mid-November on Kartik Amavasya. 
• The festival is extended over five days, beginning with Dhanteras and ending with Bhai Dooj. 

History and Significance:

• According to Hindu mythology, the legends associate Diwali with Lord Ram's return to Ayodhya with his wife, Mata Sita, and brother, Lakshman, after spending 14 years in exile and defeating the King of Lanka, Ravan.
• People of Ayodhya marked the occasion by lighting rows of lamps and diyas.
• The tradition has continued to date and is celebrated as the festival of Diwali.

Regional Variations:

• In Chennai and Tamil Nadu, people observe Narak Chaturdashi.
• In West Bengal, devotees worship Goddess Kali rather than Goddess Lakshmi on the third day of Diwali.

Hence both statements are correct.