Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 14, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Vice President of India greeted fellow citizens on the eve of the festivals of Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Bhogali Bihu, Uttarayan and Paush Parbon. These festivals are celebrated in diverse yet similar ways, across India.

1. Makar Sankranti is a festival day in the Hindu calendar, in reference to deity Surya (sun).
2. Date of observance: Makar Sankranti is observed according to solar cycles. It is held normally on the 14th of January, or a day before or after. In certain regions celebrations can go on for even four days and vary a lot in the rituals.
3. Significance: It marks the –
   • first day of sun's transit into the Makara (Capricorn), marking the end of the month with the winter solstice and the start of longer days.
   • end the inauspicious phase of the preceding month that is called Paush.
   • beginning of the end of chilling winter.
   • occasion to celebrate the hard work of millions of our farmers and people across the country (it is celebrated as a harvest Festival)
4. It goes by its standard all-India name, ‘Makar Sankranti’ in Odisha, Maharashtra-Goa, Andhra-Telengana, Kerala and most of the north India.
5. It is also called as –
   • Paush Parbon in Bengal,
   • Pongal in Tamil Nadu,
   • Uttarayan in Gujarat,
   • Bhogali Bihu in Assam,
   • Lohri in Punjab and Jammu,
   • Maghi in Haryana and Himachal.
   • Makar Sankramana in Karnataka,
   • Saen-kraat in Kashmir.
   • Sukaraat in Madhya Pradesh,
   • Khichdi Parwa in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet has approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts at Rs' cost. 45,696 Crore along with Design and Development of Infrastructure sanctions worth Rs.1,202 Crore.

• Light Combat Aircraft Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft.
• This aircraft is equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR) would be a potent platform to meet the operational requirements of Indian Air Force, IAF.
• It is the first “Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured)” category procurement of combat aircrafts with an indigenous content of 50% which will progressively reach 60% by the end of the programme.
• The Cabinet has also approved infrastructure development by IAF under the project to enable them handle servicing at their base depot so that the turnaround time would get reduced for mission critical systems and would lead to increased availability of aircraft.

The Union Cabinet has approved the MoU on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) India.
The MoU provides for:

• Exchange of experience/visits in term of scientists, research scholars and specialists, etc. for the purpose of research, training, consultation, focused on climatic information services, satellite data utilization for now casting and tropical cyclones forecasting.
• Cooperation to support the Tsunami Early Warning Centre (TEWC) in the form of forecast modelling software, specifically designed to support the Tsunami forecasting operations.
• Cooperate at the field of Seismology which includes the study of Seismic activities having the potential to generate Tsunami waves in Arabian Sea and Oman Sea.
• Cooperation in Early warnings of Sand and Dust storms through the exchange of knowledge.

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in association with Andhra Pradesh Drought Mitigation Project (APDMP), an externally aided project funded by IFAD, organized a Virtual Buyer Seller Meet with Millet Exporters.

• Millet is a common term to categorize small-seeded grasses that are often termed nutri-cereals, and includes Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Ragi, Small Millet, Foxtail Millet, Proso Millet, Barnyard Millet, Kodo Millet and other millets.
• Millets are the cereal crops generally small-seeded and known for high nutritive value.
• Considering the potential of increasing exports of Millets and Millet products and the focus given by Government for development of Millet sector of Nurti Cereals, APEDA is closely interacting with Indian Institute of Millet Research (IIMR) and other stakeholders

Indian Institute of Millets Research (ICAR-IIMR) is an agricultural research institute engaged in basic and strategic research on sorghum and other millets. It is located at Rajendranagar (Hyderabad, Telangana). IIMR operates under the aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It was founded in 1958 under the Project on Intensified Research on Cotton, Oilseeds and Millets (PIRCOM).

National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY along with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Ministry of Education is jointly launching CollabCAD Software.

• CBSE under the leadership of Chairman, Shri Manoj Ahuja, IAS will introduce CollabCAD Software for Engineering Graphics (Subject Code 046) at the Senior School Level for Class XI and XII.
• CollabCAD software will be used for Practical assignments as part of the subject curriculum for making different types of 3D designs and 2D Drawings.
• Students from around 140 plus schools across the country and the Middle East schools (affiliated with CBSE, New Delhi) will have access to this software that can be used for practical projects and understanding concepts of Engineering Graphics.

National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti in partnership with Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology launched an ICT Grand Challenge, for development of a ‘Smart water supply measurement and monitoring system’ on 15th September, 2020.

• Jal Jeevan Mission would be the Grand Challenge and C-DAC user agency, Bangalore is the implementing agency, providing technical support for the challenge.
• Total 218 applications were received, from various sectors like LLP Companies, Indian Tech start-ups, Individuals etc.
• Results of ICT Grand Challenge were announced on 20th November 2020, based on the recommendations of the jury.
• 10 applicants have been selected for ideation to prototype stage and each are being supported with Rs. 7.50 Lakhs.
• Currenty the prototypes are being developed, which will be evaluated during the last week of January, 2021 by the jury. A water test bed is set up in C-DAC Bangalore Electronics City Campus for these evaluations.
• Jal Jeevan Mission is a Union Government flagship programme that aims to provide tap water connection to every rural household by 2024.
• Announced by Prime Minister on 15th August, 2019, the Mission so far has provided 3.13 crore household tap connections in rural areas.

Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI’s) decision on the “risk-o-meter”, which it announced on October 5, 2020, came into effect on January 1.

• In its circular issued on October 5, the regulator made it mandatory for mutual fund houses to characterise their schemes' risk level on a six-stage scale from “Low” to “Very High”.
• All mutual funds shall, beginning January 1, assign a risk level to their schemes at the time of launch, based on the scheme’s characteristics.
• The risk-o-meter must be evaluated on a monthly basis.
• Fund houses are required to disclose the risk-o-meter risk level and the portfolio disclosure for all their schemes on their own websites and the website of the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) within 10 days of the close of each month.
• Any change in the risk-o-meter reading with regard to a scheme shall be communicated to the unit-holders of that scheme.
• The move will help investors to make a more informed investment decision.

Mealworms may soon find their way into Europe’s pasta bowls and dinner dishes, after becoming the first insect approved in the region as a human food.

• Mealworms are the larval form of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor, a species of darkling beetle. Despite their name, mealworms are beetle larvae rather than worms.
• Like all holometabolic insects, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
• Larvae typically measure about 2.5 cm or more, whereas adults are generally between 1.25 and 1.8 cm in length.
• The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) decision paves the way for the yellow grubs to be used whole and dried in curries and other recipes and as a flour to make biscuits, pasta and bread.
• Rich in protein, fat and fibre, they are likely to be the first of many insects to feature on European’s plates in the coming years.
   

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has constituted a working group on digital lending — including online platforms and mobile apps — to study all aspects of digital lending activities in the regulated financial sector as well as by unregulated players.

1. The working group consists of both internal and external members and is chaired by Jayant Kumar Dash, Executive Director, RBI
2. The working group will
   • evaluate digital lending activities and assess the penetration and standards of outsourced digital lending activities in RBI regulated entities;
   • identify the risks posed by unregulated digital lending to financial stability, regulated entities and consumers; and
   • suggest regulatory changes to promote orderly growth of digital lending.
3. It will also recommend measures for expansion of specific regulatory or statutory perimeter and suggest various regulatory and government agencies' role. It will also recommend a robust fair practices code for digital lending players.
4. The group will submit its report within three months.

The Supreme Court admitted a petition filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 that decriminalised adultery.

• A three-judge Bench led by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman said the plea had to be considered by a Constitution Bench because the original verdict, striking down Section 497 (adultery) of the IPC, was pronounced by a five-judge Bench in September 2018.
• The court referred the case to the Chief Justice to pass appropriate orders to form a five-judge Bench to clarify the impact of the 2018 judgment on the armed forces.
• There will always be a concern in the minds of the Army personnel who are operating far away from their families under challenging conditions about the family indulging in untoward activity.
• Personnel of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were a “distinct class”. They were governed by special legislation, the Army Act, the Navy Act and the Air Force Act. Adultery amounted to an unbecoming conduct and a violation of discipline under the three Acts.
• The three laws were protected by Article 33 of the Constitution, which allowed the government to modify the armed forces personnel's fundamental rights.