Daily Current Affairs MCQ- October 28, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Recently, a "super rare" creature Leopard Toby Puffer Fish that roams in the depths of ocean has been spotted off the coast of Australia.

• It is a deepwater reef species, which lives in deep water caves and reef slopes at an average depth of 50 to 100 meters.
• Scientific name: Canthigaster leoparda
• Appearance: It is characterized by clusters of black dots along the flanks of its pale body.
• It is also known as blowfish.
• Habitat: It is believed to have a thriving population in their deep-sea habitat.
• Puffer fish in general are known for their unique morphological appearance and features, especially their defensive mechanism of inflating and deflating.
• These small sea creatures pump water into their stomachs until they turn into the shape of a ball, larger than their normal body size, to evade predators.
• Distribution: It is usually found in the waters of the Philippines, Indonesia, Guam and Micronesia.
• Conservation status
• IUCN: Least Concern

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Gir indigenous cow breed is being promoted under Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

About Gir cow:

• It is an excellent dairy cattle breed well-known among the milk producers.
• It is known for its milk producing ability, good fertility, heat tolerance, easy maintenance, resistance to diseases and longevity.
• The name of the breed is derived from its place of origin, the “Gir” forest of Gujarat.
• It has the ability to adapt to the entire central belt and northern and southern stretches.

Key points about Rashtriya Gokul Mission

• It is being implemented for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds since December 2014.
• It is continued under the umbrella scheme Rashtriya Pashudhan Vikas Yojana from 2021 to 2026.
• Objectives
• To enhance the productivity of bovines and increase milk production in a sustainable manner using advanced technologies.
• To propagate the use of high genetic merit bulls for breeding purposes.
• To enhance artificial insemination coverage through strengthening the breeding network and delivery of Artificial insemination services at farmers' doorstep.
• To promote indigenous cattle & buffalo rearing and conservation in a scientific and holistic manner.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Reliance Jio announced that it successfully demonstrated India’s first satellite-based gigabit internet service.

• Satellite internet works similarly to satellite TV.
• It begins with an internet service provider sending satellites up into space to orbit around the earth.
• That ISP then relies on a signal routed through one of those satellites in low- or high-Earth orbit and a receiver dish that picks up that signal.
• The receiver is typically placed on your home or business in a spot with as unobstructed access to the sky as possible.
• You'll connect a modem to that dish to translate the incoming signal into a workable internet connection.
• The more common method of delivering high-speed satellite internet usually involves constellations of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
• LEO satellites orbit at a height of between 250 and 2,000 kilometres above the planet. 
• The satellite that orbits the Earth communicates using radio waves.
• Advantages
• Most ideal internet access for users who live in rural areas, or live far away from cities or cable or phone offices.
• As it uses satellite dish for the two-way communication, does not need telephone cables or lines.
• Compared to other internet options, there is less or negligible network outages in case of satellite internet.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the union Minister of State for Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution inaugurated the popular SARAS Mela Gurugram.

• It is an initiative by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) of Ministry of Rural Development.  
• Aim: To bring the rural women Self Help Group members under one platform to showcase their skills, sell their products and help them build linkages with potential market players.
• It is organised by the Ministry of Rural Development and National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR)

Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

A tiger was recently found dead in the Susarda range in the Paratwada division of Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) buffer zone.

About Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR):

• Location:
• It is located in the Amaravati district of Maharashtra.
• It is located on the southern offshoot of the Satpura Hill Range in Central India, called Gavilgarh Hill. 
• It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1967 and was declared a tiger reserve in 1974. 
• It was the first tiger reserve in Maharashtra.
• It was among the first nine tiger reserves notified in 1973-74 under Project Tiger.
• The name 'Melghat' means the confluence of various 'ghats' or valleys, as is typical from the landscape of this tiger Reserve.
• Vegetation: The forest is tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak.
• Rivers: The reserve is a catchment area for five major rivers: the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga, and Dolar, all are tributaries of the river Tapti.
• The Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundaries of the reserve.
• Tribes: The Korkus are the largest tribal community in Melghat. Other communities include the Gawli community, the Gond tribe, and several other smaller tribal communities.
• Flora: Some of the common species are teak, Lagerstroemia Parviflora, Terminalia Tomentosa, Ougeinia Oojeinensis, Emblica Officinalis, Bamboo, etc.
• Fauna:
• Apart from Tigers the other prominent animals are Sloth Bear, Indian Gaur, Sambar deer, Leopard, Nilgais, dhole, hyena, jungle cat, langur, etc. 
• It is considered a stronghold of the critically endangered forest owlet.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

China recently launched the Shenzhou-17 spacecraft, carrying the country's youngest-ever crew to the Tiangong Space Station.

About Tiangong Space Station:

• Tiangong (Chinese for "Heavenly Palace") is a modular space station being constructed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
• It is the first space station built by China.
• Tiangong is currently in low Earth orbit (LEO), and it is expected to be operational until 2028.
• It is a three-module space station. The core module, Tianhe, launched in April 2021, followed by the Wentian and Mengtian experiment modules in 2022.
• Tiangong is significantly smaller and lighter than the International Space Station (ISS), with only three modules compared to the ISS's 16 modules.
• It can accommodate up to three astronauts at a time for six-month stays. It can also support six astronauts at a time during crew handovers.
• The station will have its own power, propulsion, life support systems, and living quarters.
• The new space station is planned to share its orbit with the Xuntian space telescope to allow astronauts to easily repair and upgrade the telescope.
• China is only the third country to have put both astronauts into space and build a space station, after the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the US.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Environmental activists recently appealed to the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court to set up an ecological heritage bench for the restoration of the Musi River and other water bodies across the State.

About Musi River:

• It is a river that flows through the southern Indian state of Telangana.
• It is a tributary of the Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau. 
• It was known as the Muchukunda River in earlier days. 
• Hyderabad stands on the bank of this river, which divides the city between the old and the new.
• Course:
• It begins in the Anantagiri Hills near Vicarabad, Rangareddi district, 90 kilometers to the west of Hyderabad.
• It joins the Krishna River near Wazirabad in Nalgonda district after covering a distance of about 240 km.
• Dams:  Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar are the two dams that are constructed over the river.
• Bridges:
• The River is crossed by several historical bridges, including the Purana Pul (Old Bridge), which was built during the reign of the Nizams of Hyderabad.
• The other bridges are located in Dabirpura, Amberpet Chaderghat and Uppal Kalan.
• On 28 September 1908, the Musi River was the reason for the devastating floods in Hyderabad.
• Due to random urbanization and a lack of planning, the river has become a holder of all the unprocessed domestic and industrial waste drained out of Hyderabad.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Recently, the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) has announced three new licensing agreements acquired through the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). 

• It was launched in May 2020 by the WHO and the Government of Costa Rica with the support of 44 Member States, UN Development Programme, Unitaid, UNAIDS, and implementing partners such as MPP.
• It works under the principles of the Solidarity call to action.
• It was designed to serve as a platform for developers of COVID-19 therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and other health products to voluntarily share their intellectual property, knowledge, and data to accelerate technological innovation and expand global production capacity.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Recently, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has developed open-source software which allows countries to effectively manage national data and processes for trading carbon credits. 

• National Carbon Registry software has recently been accredited as a digital public good (DPG).
• As a DPG, the registry uses open-source code, which allows countries to replicate and adapt the information to fit their own needs and contexts.
• The registry’s modules, software and technical documentation can be reused and tailored by countries, which could potentially reduce production costs and implementation timelines. 
• The registry follows national and international best practices which includes UNDP, the World Bank, the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Key facts about United Nations Development Programme 

• It is the United Nations lead agency on international development.
• It works in 170 countries and territories to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality.
• It helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities, and to build resilience to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Its work is concentrated in three focus areas; sustainable development, democratic governance and peace building, and climate and disaster resilience.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National eGovernance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is set to integrate Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) into its existing Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform.

• It is a national platform for school education, an initiative of National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), Ministry of Education.
• It provides e-content for schools via an online portal and a mobile application.
• It was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing, choice and autonomy.
• It is built on open source technology that is made in India and for India, incorporating internet scale technologies and allowing for a variety of use-cases and solutions for teaching and learning.
• Features
• The core building blocks of DIKSHA comprise majority of National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR) building blocks, having enabled some successful use-cases of NDEAR such as: energized textbooks, online courses, content authoring, content sourcing, interactive quizzes, question banks, chatbot, analytics and dashboard.
• To aid teaching and learning for Children With Special Needs (CWSN), a large number of audio books, ISL (Indian Sign Language) Videos and Dictionary have been made available on DIKSHA for CWSN.

Hence both statements are correct.