Daily Current Affairs MCQ- September 5, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2022

• License for distribution in multiple states: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) will grant licenses for distribution of electricity in more than one state.
• Multiple discoms in the same area: The Bill removes the earlier act clause which required discoms to distribute electricity through their own network.
  • It adds that a discom must provide non-discriminatory open access to its network to all other discoms operating in the same area, on payment of certain charges.
• Power procurement and tariff:  Provisions with regard to graded revision in tariff over a year besides mandatory fixing of maximum ceiling and minimum tariff by
• Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund: Upon grant of multiple licenses for the same area, the state government will set up a Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund.  The fund will be used to finance deficits in cross-subsidy for other discoms in the same area or any other area.
  • About Cross-subsidy: It refers to the arrangement of one consumer category subsidising the consumption of another
• Contract enforcement: The Bill empowers the CERC and SERCs to adjudicate disputes regarding contracts related to the sale, purchase, or transmission of electricity.  Further, the Commissions will have powers of a Civil Court.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The US Army has grounded its fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters after finding the helicopter to be at risk of engine fires. The Indian Air Force (IAF) also operates a fleet of Chinook Helicopters.

• The US Army operates around 400 Chinook helicopters which are medium-lift, multi-role helicopters manufactured by Boeing who perform a variety of tasks in support of Army operations.
• The Chinook fleet has been grounded by the US Army as it is suspected that some engine fires broke out on an unspecified number of helicopters.

What implications does this development have for IAF?

• The IAF operates a fleet of 15 Chinook helicopters and it has not grounded them as it awaits more word on the US development.
• The Chinooks were inducted into the IAF in 2019 in a ceremony at Chandigarh. One Helicopter Unit of Chinooks is based in Chandigarh while the other is based at Mohanbari airbase in Assam.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Goa Police have said BJP leader Sonali Phogat was given the recreational drug methamphetamine on the eve of her death on August 23.

• Methamphetamine — meth for short — is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, and is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder.
• Crystal methamphetamine or crystal meth is a form of the drug that looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks. It is chemically similar to amphetamine.
• Methamphetamine can be smoked, swallowed in the form of a pill or tablet, snorted, and injected after dissolving the powder in water or alcohol.
• Methamphetamine can lead to myocardial infarction (heart attack); it can cause stroke. The drug can affect the heart, the brain, and the kidneys. It can result in the blood pressure shooting up suddenly. So, it is a very dangerous drug if there is an overdose.
• Meth raises the amount of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine, a natural chemical, plays a role in body movement, motivation, and reinforcement of rewarding behaviours.

Hence both statements are correct.

A new study published in the journal Cancer Cell suggests that the body’s immune capacity against cancer — to recognise and destroy cancer cells — can be boosted by using oncolytic viruses.

• Oncolytic viruses (OVs) are viruses that selectively target and kill cancer cells while sparing normal ones. The study notes that these viruses also enhance the immune system’s ability to recognise and terminate cancer cells.
• Although long theorised, the research into oncolytic virotherapy picked up only in the 1960s. Of late, there have been several trials looking at different viruses for cancer treatment.
• The latest study focused on the virus known as myxoma and it found that T-cells infected with myxoma virus can lead to a type of cancer cell death not previously observed.

Hence both statements are correct.

The most distinguishing feature of Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader’s appearance was a large, deep red blemish on his almost bald forehead.

• What Gorbachev had was a birthmark that is called a ‘port wine stain’, a name that derives from the way it looks. It was easy to imagine the mark as being a bit of deep red or purple liquid spilt on the former leader’s head.
• People who have the mark are usually born with it, most often on the face or arms. On more than six out of 10 occasions, port wine stains appear on the head or neck.
• The stain is for life, even though it may sometimes become thicker, darken, or develop a bumpy or ridged texture as the person grows older.
• A port wine stain is caused by an abnormal development of blood vessels, sometimes called a capillary malformation, due to a mutation early in the pregnancy when the baby is developing in the womb.
• Port wine stains are not the same as a similar birthmark that is known as ‘strawberry hemangiomas’. This is a non-cancerous tumour that is formed under the skin due to the clumping of blood vessels, and appears as a somewhat raised, dark red patch.

Hence both statements are correct.

Cervical cancer

• Almost all cervical cancer cases are linked to certain strains of HPV, a common virus that is transmitted through sexual contact.
• The body’s immune system usually gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years.
• However, in a small percentage of people the virus can linger over time and turn some normal cells into abnormal cells and then cancer.
• It is preventable as long as it is detected early and managed effectively.

Hence both statements are correct.

India’s first indigenously developed vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, CERVAVAC, will likely cost ₹200-400 a shot and be commercially available later this year, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII), said.

• CERVAVAC, developed by SII, was approved by the Drug Controller General of India in July.
• CERVAVAC is a quadrivalent vaccine, meaning it is effective against at least four variants of cancer-causing Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), and resulted from a partnership of DBT’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that supported Serum’s development efforts.
• Annually, about 1.25 lakh women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and over 75,000 die from the disease in India. Close to 83% of invasive cervical cancers in India and and 70% of cases worldwide are attributed to HPV-types 16 or 18.
• HPV transmission is influenced by sexual activity and age. Almost 75% of all sexually active adults are likely to be infected with at least one HPV type. A vast majority of the infections resolve itself.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

In keeping with the spirit of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the country is taking steps to curb littered and unmanaged plastic waste pollution.

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 on August 12, 2021.
• In keeping with the spirit of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the country is taking steps to curb littered and unmanaged plastic waste pollution.
• Since July 1, 2022, India has banned the manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of single-use plastic (SUP) items with low utility and high littering potential. India is a party to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
• In all, 124 nations are party to the UNEA, and India has signed a resolution to draw up an agreement in the future that will make it legally binding for signatories to address the full life cycle of plastics, from production to disposal.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Kerala Assembly passed the University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 which alters the composition of the search-cum-selection committee to appoint Vice Chancellors and effectively provide the State government greater leverage in the process.

• While the Bill awaits the Governor’s assent, its passage will enhance the appointment age of Vice Chancellors to 65 years and increase the strength of the selection committee to five (from the existing three).
• The move comes amidst claims that the inclusion of the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) vice chairman as convener of the committee, who could be perceived as linked to universities by way of his/her position, could be in violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.
• Other members of the committee will include a nominee each of the State government, UGC, Chancellor and the university Senate.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Mary Roy, educator and women’s rights activist, died at the age of 89.

• She is known for winning a Supreme Court lawsuit in 1986 against the gender biased inheritance law prevalent within the Syrian Malabar Nasrani community of Kerala.
• The judgement ensured equal rights for Syrian Christian women as with their male siblings in their ancestral property. Until then, her Syrian Christian community followed the provisions of the Travancore Succession Act of 1916 and the Cochin Succession Act, 1921, while elsewhere in India the same community followed the Indian Succession Act of 1925.
• Mary Roy was denied her share of the familial property due to the Travancore Succession Act of 1916. She sued her brothers after her father's death. This was the case that made its way through the Indian court system and which she won.
• She was the founder-director of Pallikoodam (formerly Corpus Christi High School) at Kalathilpady, a suburb of Kottayam town in the state of Kerala.
• Her daughter is the Man Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy.

Hence both statements are correct.