Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 16, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Amresh Kumar Chaudhary has been awarded prestigious " Chief of Army Staff Commendation" for his outstanding contribution to Armed Forces during critical period of Covid19 pandemic and it’s various operations. He is currently working as Chief Controller in Mil Rail.

• Mil Rail is an extension of Traffic Directorate of Ministry of Railways, headed by Executive Director (ED) level officer with office at Army HQ.
• Mil Rail is responsible for overall coordination, strategic planning & execution of Railway Logistics support to Defence forces during peace & emergency situations.
• Mil Rail works in close coordination with Ministry of Defence for Railway operations pertaining to their requirements.
• A separate control room manages all these Railway operations which a Chief Controller heads.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off eight trains connecting different country regions to Kevadiya on 17th January, 2021.

• These trains will facilitate seamless connectivity to Unity's Statue, located on the Narmada River in the Kevadiya, Gujarat.
• Prime Minister will inaugurate the Dabhoi – Chandod Gauge converted Broad Gauge railway line, Chandod – Kevadiya new Broad Gauge railway line, newly electrified Pratapnagar – Kevadiya section and the new station buildings of Dabhoi, Chandod and Kevadiya.
• Kevadiya station is India's first railway station with a Green Building Certification.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal inaugurated the ‘Prarambh: Startup India International Summit’.

• The two day ‘Prarambh’, Startup India International Summit began in New Delhi, with members of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries participating in the inaugural event.
• The Summit is being organizing by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, M/o Commerce & Industry, as a follow up of the announcement made by the Prime Minister Modi at the 4th BIMSTEC Summit held in Kathmandu in August, 2018.
• The Summit is a demonstration of neighbourhood first policy.
• With participation from over 25 countries and more than 200 global speakers, the Summit is the largest Startup India International Summit organized by India's Government since the launch of the Startup India Initiative in 2016.

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh unveiled India’s First Indigenously Designed & Developed Driverless Metro Car.

• He unveiled state-of-the-art ‘Driverless Metro Car’ for Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) at a function held at BEML’s Bangalore Complex.
• Indigenously designed & developed state-of-the-art Driverless Metro trains are being manufactured at BEML Bangaluru Complex.
• MMRDA project has 63 per cent indigenous content which will enhance to 75 per cent in next two to three years.
• Rajnath Singh also virtually launched the Aerospace Assembly Hangar, situated within BEML’s Bangalore Complex, and unveiled first indigenously manufactured Tatra Cabin by BEML.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) celebrated its 146th Foundation Day on 15th January 2021.
On the occasion Union Minister of Earth Sciences –

• inaugurated Doppler Weather Radars at Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand and Kufri, Himachal Pradesh;
• inaugurated Multi-Mission Meteorological Data Receiving and Processing System in IMD in collaboration with ISRO (MMDRPS) and
• officially e-launched “Online Web Portal of IMD Journal MAUSAM” in collaboration with CSIR-NISCAIR and released a special issue of Mausam on Tropical Cyclone.

Doppler Weather Radars:

• IMD is modernizing its observational network in the Central and Western Himalayas by installation of state of art Doppler Weather Radars in a phased manner, at different locations.
• This radar will be providing severe weather information to the weather forecasters.
• It will also provide valuable support to the disaster managers and to the pilgrims undertaking the pilgrimage to Kailash Manasarovar and Char Dham yatra.

Multi-Mission Meteorological Data Receiving and Processing System (MMDRPS):

• It has been established in IMD in collaboration with ISRO.
• Output by MMDRPS will be utilized to monitor and forecast severe weather events and many sectoral applications Defence services, Disaster Management, Power Sector, Aviation, Tourism, etc by generating specific satellite-based products imageries.

The wildfire at Dzukou Valley straddling the Manipur-Nagaland border has been doused after it raged for two weeks.

• The Dzüko Valley is located at the borders of the states of Nagaland and Manipur.
• It is situated at an altitude of 2452 m above sea level.
• The valley is famous for its wide range of flowers in every season but the most famous one is the Dzüko Lily and it is found only in this valley.

Maharashtra CM Thackeray referred to Osmanabad as Dharashiv (named after 6th century caves) in a tweet, days after using Sambhajinagar for Aurangabad on the official CMO handle.

• Osmanabad is named after the last ruler of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan, while Dharashiv is derived from the name for the sixth-century caves near the city.
• Dharashiv caves are the nexus of 7 caves located 8 km away from Osmanabad city in Balaghat mountains in Maharashtra.
• Dharashiv Caves have been declared as Protected area by Government of Maharashtra.
• Dharashiv caves are believed to be built around 5th-7th century.
• There have been debates over caves whether they are Buddhist or Jain creations. It is believed that these caves were originally Buddhist, but later some caves were converted to Jain caves.
• The Badami cave temples are a complex of Hindu and Jain cave temples located in Badami, a town in the Bagalkot district in northern part of Karnataka, India.

The Borra Caves, also called Borra Guhalu, are located on the East Coast of India, in the Ananthagiri hills of the Araku Valley of the Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh. 

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that the provision of publication of notice of intended marriage under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, is not mandatory.

• The court said making such publication mandatory “would invade the fundamental rights of liberty and privacy, including within its sphere the freedom to choose for marriage without interference from state and non-state actors, of the persons concerned”.
• While giving notice under Section 5 of the Act, it shall be optional for the parties to the intended marriage to request in writing to the marriage officer to publish or not to publish a notice under Section 6 and follow the procedure of objections prescribed under the Act.
• In case the parties do not make such a request, the officer “shall not publish any such notice or entertain objections to the intended marriage and proceed with the solemnisation of the marriage”.

Celebrated Indian-American author Ved Mehta, who overcame blindness and became widely known as the 20th century writer most responsible for introducing American readers to India, died in the U.S. , with complications from Parkinson's disease.

• Ved Parkash Mehta (1934 –2021) was an Indian-born writer who lived and worked mainly in the United States.
• He lost his eyesight at the age of three from meningitis. He did not let this challenge to stop him from showcasing his literary prowess to the world.
• He is best known for his 12-volume memoir, which focused on India's troubled modern history and his early struggles with blindness. His autobiography was published in instalments from 1972 to 2004.
• Mehta brought out 24 books that included volumes of reportage on India, among them Walking the Indian Streets (1960), Portrait of India (1970) and Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (1977), as well as explorations of philosophy, theology and linguistics.
• He wrote for The New Yorker for many years.

Clouds played spoilsport while citizens celebrated Sankranti by blocking the Sun’s rays from falling on the Shiva Linga at the Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple in Gavipuram. For the first time in 50 years, sun’s rays didn’t fall on idol on Sankranti day.

• Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple is also known as Gavipuram Cave Temple.
• It is an example of Indian rock-cut architecture. This cave temple is dedicated to Shiva and cut into a monolithic stone.
• It is located in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was built in the 16th century by Kempe Gowda I, the founder of the city.
• The temple is famous for its mysterious stone discs in the forecourt and the exact planning allowing the sun to shine on shrine in certain time of the year.
• Lakhs of devotees come in mid January every year on Makar sankranti Day to this cave temple. This is a special day when the sunrays fall on the Shivalinga for one hour as it passes between the horns of the Nandi.