Daily Current Affairs MCQ- May 23, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

The recently published report, “Global Land Outlook Thematic Report on Rangelands and Pastoralists” by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification highlighted that rangelands are facing a ‘silent demise’.

• The rangelands are category of Earth’s land cover consisting mostly of the natural grasslands used by livestock and wild animals to graze and forage.
• The vegetation of ranges may include tallgrass prairies, steppes (shortgrass prairies), desert shrublands, shrub woodlands, savannas, chaparrals, and tundras.
• Rangelands are the "Wild Open Spaces" that cover about half of the earth's land surface and half of western North America.
• Reasons for degradation
• The problem is driven largely by converting pastures to cropland and other land use changes due to population growth and urban expansion,
• Rapidly rising food, fibre and fuel demands, excessive grazing, abandonment and policies that incentivise overexploitation.
• Significance of Rangelands
• These are used for livestock forage, wildlife habitat, water, mineral resources, wood products, wildland recreation, open space and natural beauty. 
• These are an important economic engine in many countries and define cultures. Home to one quarter of the world’s languages, they also host numerous World Heritage Sites and have shaped the value systems, customs and identities of pastoralists for thousands of years.
• Two billion people – small-scale herders, ranchers and farmers, often poor and marginalised – depend on healthy rangelands worldwide.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, Kairos’ by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, has won the International Booker Prize 2024.

• It is awarded annually for the finest single work of fiction from around the world which has been translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
• This prize began life in 2005 as the Man Booker International Prize.
• It was initially a biennial prize for a body of work, and there was no stipulation that the work should be written in a language other than English.
• This prize aims to encourage more reading of quality fiction from all over the world,and has already had an impact on those statistics in the UK.
• Eligibility: Eligible work of long-form fiction, written originally in English by an author of any nationality, and published in the UK and/or Ireland. 
• Prize money
• The prize celebrates the vital work of translators, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the author and the translator.
• In addition, the shortlisted authors and translators each receive £2,500.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, one passenger died of a suspected heart attack and 30 others were injured after a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore hit severe turbulence.

• Turbulence means disruption of airflow over the wings of an airplane, which causes it to enter irregular vertical motion.
• These pockets of disturbed air can have many causes, most obviously the unstable weather patterns that trigger storms.
• There are at least seven kinds of turbulence that an aircraft can run into:
• Wind Shear: It happens when there is a sudden change in wind direction, whether vertically or horizontally. Typically occurs close to thunderstorms, jet streams, etc.; tricky for pilots as tailwinds suddenly change to headwinds or vice versa.
• Frontal: Created in the frontal zone when warm air is lifted by sloping frontal surface and friction between opposing air masses. Most palpable when warm air is moist; intensity increases with thunderstorms. Most common close to thunderstorms.
• Convective: When land surface temperature rises, the air above the ground heats up and rises, creating air pockets around it. Convection currents cause difficulties during approach as they tend to affect the rate of descent.
• Wake: It forms behind an aircraft when it flies through air-creating wingtip vortices.
• Mechanical: This type of turbulence occurs when tall solid objects such as mountains or highrise constructions disrupt the normal airflow, causing the air for planes to fly through to become dirty.
• Clear air: It occurs when an aircraft crosses from one air mass to another, which has a different direction. Clear air turbulence could also happen when an aircraft moves out of a jet stream. Clear air turbulence is mainly caused by wind or jet streams.
• Mountain view: It is one of the most severe; these are oscillations that form on the downwind side of mountains when strong winds flow towards mountains in a perpendicular fashion. Aircraft tracking perpendicularly across, or downwind of a mountain, may experience sudden loss of altitude followed by a sudden reduction in airspeed.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, scientists have reported the discovery of a new plant species Emblica chakrabartyi from Adichilthotti within the Edamalayar forest range of Kerala.

• The species belonging to the gooseberry (Phyllanthaceae) family, has been named after Tapas Chakrabarty, former scientist at the Botanical Survey of India, for his contribution to the study on Phyllanthaceae.
• Features
• The plant attains a height of approximately 2 metres. The leaves are large with a shiny elongated oval shape of up to 13 cm.
• The flowering and fruiting occur during December to June. Male flowers are found in inflorescence whereas females ones are in single, on the leaf axils.
• Each flower bears yellowish green coloured six petals. The fruits are brown to black when they ripen and the seeds are black about 8-9 mm diameter.
• Generally growing as shrubs in tropical rain forests, 55 species of the genus Emblica have been recorded all around the world.The new plant is the eleventh from India.

Hence option (a) is the correct answer.

Wildlife authorities in Himachal Pradesh’s high altitude, cold desert district of Lahaul & Spiti have started surveys as part of census to estimate the population of blue sheep or bharal and the Himalayan ibex, the main prey of the iconic snow leopard.

About Bharal: 

• The bharal, also called the blue sheep, is a caprine native to the high Himalayas.
• Scientific Name: Pseudois nayaur
• It is the only member of the genus Pseudois.
• Distribution: It occurs in India, Bhutan, China (in Gansu, Ningxia, Sichuan, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia), Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. 
• Features:
• These medium-sized caprids are 115 to 165 cm (45 to 65 in) long along the head and body, with a tail of 10 to 20 cm (3.9 to 7.9 in).
• They stand 69 to 91 cm (27 to 36 in) high at the shoulder. 
• Males are slightly larger than females. 
• The short, dense coat is slate grey in colour, sometimes with a bluish shine. The underparts and backs of the legs are white, while the chest and fronts of the legs are black.
• It has horns that grow upwards, curve out, and then towards the back, somewhat like an upside-down.
• Bharal are active throughout the day, alternating between feeding and resting on the grassy mountain slopes.
• Conservation Status:
• IUCN Red List: Least Concern
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule 1

Hence both statements are not correct.

The Supreme Court (SC) recently reiterated that the benefit of Section 436A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is also applicable to those accused of money laundering.

About Section 436A of the CrPC:

• It was introduced in the CrPC, 1973, vide an amendment in 2005. 
• As per Section 436A CrPC, a person who has spent one half of the maximum period of the prescribed sentence as an undertrial shall be released on bail. 
• It states that where a person has, during the period of investigation, inquiry, or trial under the CrPC, 1973, of an offence under any law (not being an offence for which the punishment of death has been specified as one of the punishments under that law) undergone detention for a period extending up to one-half of the maximum period of imprisonment specified for that offence under that law, he shall be released by the Court on his personal bond with or without sureties.
• Provided that the Court may, after hearing the Public Prosecutor and for reasons to be recorded by it in writing, order the continued detention of such person for a period longer than one-half of the said period or release him on bail instead of the personal bond with or without sureties.
• Provided further that no such person shall, in any case, be detained during the period of investigation, inquiry, or trial for more than the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the said offence under that law.
• In computing the period of detention under this Section for granting bail, the period of detention passed due to delay in proceeding caused by the accused shall be excluded.
• The SC held that Section 436A would apply to the Special Acts also in the absence of any specific provision.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Public wifi hotspots under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) scheme are nearing the 2-lakh mark in the country. 

About PM-WANI Scheme:

• It was launched by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) in December 2020 to provide affordable and high-speed internet connectivity to the public in rural and remote areas of the country. 
• The scheme aims to establish a public Wi-Fi network across the country through the creation of Wi-Fi Access Points (WAPs) set up by public data offices (PDOs).
• The WAPs will operate on an open-architecture system, allowing multiple service providers to offer their services to the public through a single platform. 
• PM-WANI ecosystem: It consists of four parts: Public Data Office (PDO), Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA), App Provider, and Central Registry.
• PDO establishes Wi-Fi hotspots and provides internet access to users. There shall be no license required by PDOs from the DoT for providing broadband Internet through these public Wi-Fi networks.
• PDOA provides authorisation and accounting services to PDOs. PDOA provides user interface for the user to buy a plan and keep track of their data consumption. PDOA need not pay any license fees.
• The small shopkeepers can become PDOs as last-mile access service providers and take services from PDOAs for Internet and backend services.
• App Provider, who will develop an application to register users, and ‘discover’ and display PM-WANI Wi-Fi hotspots in proximity for accessing the internet service, and also authenticate the potential broadband users. Startups and wallet providers can become App Providers.
• The central registry overseen by the Centre for Development of Telematics maintains details of App Providers, PDOs, and PDOAs.
• How can you access the PM-WANI internet?
• To access public hotspots under the PM-WANI scheme, one needs to download a relevant app which shows the available networks.
• The user can then choose from a list of available connections and make a payment to use the network.
• The user can access the network till his/her balance is exhausted.

Hence option c is the correct answer.

The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) is investigating Mahadev Online Book, an allegedly illegal betting application, and its promoters for suspected violation of GST rules and non-payment of tax.

• The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) now renamed as Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).
• It is an apex intelligence organization functioning under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, Department of Revenue, and Ministry of Finance.
• It is entrusted with the task of collection, collation, and dissemination of intelligence relating to the evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the duties of Central Excise and Service Tax on an all India basis.
• Functions of DGGI
• Intelligence gathering: It is responsible for gathering intelligence about potential violations of the GST law. This includes collecting information from various sources, such as GST returns, financial statements, and other documents.
• It develops intelligence, especially in new areas of tax evasion through its intelligence network across the country and disseminates such information, by issuing Modus Operandi Circulars and Alert Circulars to sensitize the field formations about the latest trends in duty evasion.
• Investigation: It has the power to conduct investigations into suspected cases of GST evasion or non-compliance. This may involve summoning persons, examining records, and carrying out searches and seizures.
• Enforcement: It is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the GST law. This includes taking legal action against offenders, imposing penalties, and recovering any taxes or duties due.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Major political party issued a three-line whip to its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House tomorrow as the Prime Minister of India will reply to the Motion of Thanks on Presidential address delivered recently.

• A whip in parliamentary parlance is a written order that party members be present for an important vote, or that they vote only in a particular way.
• The term is derived from the old British practice of “whipping in” lawmakers to follow the party line.
• The importance of a whip can be inferred from the number of times an order is underlined.
• Appointment: 
• In India all parties can issue a whip to their members.
• Parties appoint a senior member from among their House contingents to issue whips — this member is called a Chief Whip, and he/she is assisted by additional Whips.
• Types of whips: 
• One-line whip: A one-line whip, underlined once, is usually issued to inform party members of a vote, and allows them to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line.
• Two-line whip: A two-line whip directs them to be present during the vote.
• Three-line whip: A three-line whip is the strongest, employed on important occasions such as the second reading of a Bill or a no-confidence motion, and places an obligation on members to toe the party line.
• Defiance of whip
• In India, rebelling against a three-line whip can put a lawmaker’s membership of the House at risk.
• The anti-defection law allows the Speaker/Chairperson to disqualify such a member; the only exception is when more than a third of legislators vote against a directive, effectively splitting the party.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

A deadly fungal infection called Candida auris has been spreading rapidly in the United States recently.

About Candida auris (C. auris):

• It is an emerging multidrug-resistant yeast (fungus) that represents a global health threat. 
• It is capable of causing invasive infections in the human body. It can cause severe illness in people with weakened immune systems.
• Scientists first discovered C. auris in Japan in 2009. Since then, it has spread quickly to other countries. 
• Transmission:
• It is primarily contracted in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes.
• It can also live on the skin or other body parts without making a person sick. This is called being “colonized.”
• The fungus can either colonize a specific region of the body, such as the skin, rectum, or mouth, without causing symptoms or it can cause severe invasive infections by entering the bloodstream or wounds.
• It can be spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or equipment, or from physical contact with a person who is infected or colonized.
• Symptoms:
• It can cause infections in different parts of the body, such as the bloodstream, open wounds, and ears.
• The symptoms depend on the location and severity of the C. auris infection. 
• Symptoms may be similar to those of an infection caused by bacteria. There is not a common set of symptoms specific to C. auris infections.
• A high fever with chills that does not get better after taking antibiotics may be a sign of a C. auris infection.
• Treatment:
• Most C. auris infections are treatable with antifungal drugs. 
• However, some C. auris infections have been resistant to all three main classes of antifungal medications, making them more difficult to treat and often requires the use of combination therapies.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.