Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 26, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Researchers and environmental groups are documenting floral species in the State of Maharashtra and educating people about their existence through nature walks.

• Ephemerals are any short-lived plant, usually one that has one or more generations per year.
• They grow only during favourable periods (as when adequate moisture is available) and passing the unfavourable periods in the form of seeds. 
• They are of two types — annual and perennial.
• Annual ephemerals form new individuals every year and are seen for a very short period.
• They form seeds at the end of their life cycle, remaining dormant till the next year.
• Perennials have a source like a tuber or a bulb in the soil, so it is the same individual, but the other parts (stem, flowers) are newly formed.”
• Monsoon ephemerals bloom towards the end of May and throughout June, July, August, and September.
• Some other monsoon ephemerals will just form leaves and little branch structures after a few showers.
• These leaves stay for a month or more and then flowering starts, which goes on till July and August. 
• The onset of monsoon brings flowers such as ground orchids (Nervilia and Eulophia), lilies (crinum lily, pancratium lily, grass lily, star lily), wild yam (suran), and Indian squill. 
• Significance
• The primary job of these flowers is to act as an important source of nectar and pollen for native pollinators.
• Their presence in all micro habitats on a plateau ensures the appropriate presence of soil and, most importantly, water.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Just as the earth’s oceans at their shores, the universe’s galaxies also experience tides, but on a much larger scale. 

• Galactic tide is a tidal force experienced by objects subject to the gravitational field of a galaxy such as the Milky Way. 
• They are caused by gravitational forces within a galaxy, arising in the interactions between celestial objects like stars and gas clouds.
• Effects of Galactic tides
• These tidal forces influence various aspects of a galaxy’s evolution.
• They can reshape a galaxy structure by creating tidal tails and bridges, promoting star formation, and disrupting smaller star systems.
• They also disrupt the orbits of stars, leading to long-term changes in galactic structure.
• Galactic tides also have a say in the ways in which proximate galaxies do and don’t interact.
• Researchers have observed the closest galaxy to the Milky Way, the colossal Andromeda, and found that tidal streams near its edges could be signatures of dwarf galaxies that were later devoured.
• Galactic tides also affect the supermassive black holes at galaxy centres, leading to events that change the ways in which these cosmic beasts interact with nearby stars.

Hence both statements are correct.

The docking of the first ship at the Vizhinjam International Seaport has been deferred recently.

About Vizhinjam International Seaport:

• Location: It is located at Vizhinjam, a coastal town in Thiruvananthapuram District, Kerala.
• It is designed primarily to cater to container transhipment besides multi-purpose and break bulk cargo. 
• It is developed in a landlord model with a Public Private Partnership component on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (“DBFOT”) basis. 
• The private partner, the Concessionaire M/s Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited has, commenced the construction on 5th December 2015.
• The Port is merely a 10 NM diversion from the international east-west shipping route and is also close to the national/regional road and rail network.
• There would be about 30 berths, most of which would be capable of handling Mother Vessels.
• Significance:
• It is the only transhipment hub in the Indian subcontinent, closest to the international shipping routes, and is centrally located on the Indian coastline.
• Around 95 per cent of India’s foreign trade is conducted through the sea route. In value terms, this works out to 70 per cent of the foreign trade.
• Nearly 30 percent of the freight movement takes place through the international shipping route South of the Indian peninsula, which passes 10 nautical miles off Vizhinjam.
• Currently, India does not have a deep-water container transhipment terminal and depends on Colombo, Singapore and Salalah ports.
• This results in a significant loss of foreign currency and revenue, estimated to be about Rs 2,500 crore a year. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Palestinian workers in the Gaza Strip recently found dozens of ancient graves, including two Sarcophagus made of lead, in a cemetery dating back about 2,000 years to the Roman Empire.

About Sarcophagus:

• It is an above-ground stone container for a coffin or dead body that often is often decorated with art, inscriptions, and carvings.
• The word sarcophagus comes from the Greek "sarx" meaning "flesh," and "phagien" meaning "to eat," so that sarcophagus literally translates as "eater of flesh."
• First used in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece, the sarcophagus gradually became popular throughout the ancient world. 
• It carried over through the later years of European society, often used for high status members of the clergy, government, or aristocracy.
• Features:
• They differ in detail from one culture to another. 
• They are almost always made of stone, limestone being the most popular, but sometimes of granite, sandstone, or marble.
• They were usually made by being carved, decorated, or constructed ornately.
• Some were built to be freestanding above ground, as a part of an elaborate tomb or tombs. Others were made for burial, or were placed in crypts.
• Archaeological Significance:
• Sarcophagi are important artifacts for archaeologists and historians because they provide insights into the art, culture, and beliefs of the societies that created them.
• The carvings and inscriptions on sarcophagi often contain valuable historical information.
• Example: The most famous Egyptian sarcophagus is perhaps the golden sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the customers of India Post Payments Bank have been receiving an SMS claiming that their accounts will be blocked if they fail to update their PAN card details, which the Press Information Bureau called fake.

About India Post Payments Bank (IPPB):

• IPPB has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication, with 100% equity owned by the Government of India.
• IPPB was launched on September 1, 2018, aimed at making banking services available at people’s doorstep.
• Mandate: To remove barriers for the unbanked and under-banked and reach the last mile, leveraging a network comprising 160,000 post offices (145,000 in rural areas) and 400,000 postal employees.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• Functions:
• The operations of IPPB will be on a smaller scale as compared to other banks and will not advance loans or issue credit cards to avoid risk. 
• It will accept deposits, offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking and third-party fund transfers. 
• It will accept deposits up to Rs 2 lakh, beyond which the account will be automatically converted into a post office savings account.
• The products and services of the bank will be made available through various mediums such as counter services, micro ATMs, mobile banking apps, messages, and interactive voice responses.
• The IPPB will use Aadhaar to open accounts, and a QR card and biometrics will be used for authentication, transactions, and payments.

What are Payments Banks?

• A payments bank is like any other bank but operates on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk. 
• It was set up on the recommendations of the Nachiket Mor Committee.
• Objective: Widen the spread of payment and financial services to small businesses, low-income households, and migrant labor workforce in a secured technology-driven environment.
• They are registered under the Companies Act 2013 but are governed by a host of legislations such as the Banking Regulation Act, 1949; RBI Act, 1934; Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, etc.
• It needs to have a minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 100,00,00,000.
• Activities that can be performed:
• It can take deposits up to Rs. 2,00,000. It can accept demand deposits in the form of savings and current accounts.
• The money received as deposits can be invested in secure government securities only in the form of Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR). This must amount to 75% of the demand deposit balance.
• The remaining 25% is to be placed as time deposits with other scheduled commercial banks.
• It can offer remittance services, mobile payments/transfers/purchases, and other banking services like ATM/debit cards, net banking, and third-party fund transfers.
• Activities that cannot be performed:
• It cannot issue loans and credit cards.
• It cannot accept time deposits or NRI deposits.
• It cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non-banking financial activities.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft is set to embark on a groundbreaking mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid named Psyche.

• The journey to the asteroid, also named Psyche, will span nearly six years and cover approximately 3.6 billion kilometers.
• The asteroid orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
• It is believed to be a remnant core of a planetesimal, composed primarily of iron-nickel metal. 
• Studying it from orbit could provide invaluable insights into the composition of Earth's core.
• In addition to its primary mission, the Psyche spacecraft will also host a pioneering technology demonstration known as NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment.
• This laser communications system aims to test high-bandwidth optical communications back to Earth during the first two years of Psyche's journey.
• This experiment could revolutionise how data is transmitted across vast distances in space, potentially enhancing our ability to explore the farthest reaches of the solar system.
• NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for mission management, operations and navigation.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India envisages celebrating World Environment Day 2023 with a thrust on the Mission LiFE.

• It is one of the Central Sector sub-scheme being implemented in alignment with Mission LiFE.
• The Environmental Information System (ENVIS) is renamed EIACP (Environmental Information, Awareness, Capacity Building and Livelihood Programme).
• ENVIS came into existence as a planned programme in 1983.
• It has been subsumed within the revamped scheme of Environment Education, Awareness, Research and Skill Development.
• ENVIS EIACP serves as a one-stop platform for the dissemination of environmental information, informed policy formulation on various facets of the environment and facilitation of alternate livelihoods through green skilling.

Hence both statements are correct.

Naturalists opinioned that Climate change and human intervention threaten the Myristica swamps of Kerala.

• These are freshwater swamps predominated by members of the Myristicaceae family.
• These forests are characterized by trees with large protruding roots jutting out of waterlogged soil which remains inundated throughout the year.
• They have evolved over millions of years and are comprised of old-growth trees.
• Geographical distribution: In India, these unique habitats occur in the Western Ghats and a smaller distribution exists in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Climatic conditions: The formation of these swamps is dependent on abiotic conditions like the shape of the valley between the forested hills, the amount of rainfall a place receives (with an average of 3000 mm), and water availability throughout the year.
• Typically, Myristica swamps are seen next to rivers and help in retaining water and act as a sponge, ensuring perennial water availability.
• These swamps are home to many vertebrate and invertebrate faunal species. This is due to stable macroecological conditions like high humidity, moderate temperature, and macrohabitat availability. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) transferred cost-effective Lithium-ion battery recycling technology to nine recycling industries and start-ups.

• Lithium is a soft, silvery-white metal that heads group 1, the alkali metals group, of the periodic table of the elements.
• It has the lowest density of all metals and the lightest of the solid elements. 
• It reacts vigorously with water.
• It does not occur as a metal in nature but is found combined in small amounts in igneous rocks.
• Major Reserves: Lithium reserves are concentrated in the lithium triangle in South America – Argentina, Bolivia & Chile, with 50% of the deposits concentrated in these regions. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Union government of India permitted the import of pet coke for making graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

• It is a final carbon-rich solid material and residual waste material extracted from oil refining.
• It is a spongy, solid residue from oil distillation that can be burned for fuel similar to coal.
• It is a byproduct created when bitumen is found in tar sands.
• Bitumen contains a higher number of carbon atoms than regular oil and it’s these atoms, extracted from large hydrocarbon molecules using heat, that go on to form petcoke.
• It is high in calorific value and easy to transport and store.
• It releases toxic gases like carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel, and hydrogen chloride after burning.
• There are two distinctive grades of Petroleum Coke viz. Calcinable or Green Petcoke and Fuel Grade Petcoke.
• Application:
• It is widely used by power stations and several manufacturing industries including cement, steel and textile plants in India.

Hence both statements are not correct.