Daily Current Affairs MCQ - Feb 12, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

On the International Day of Women & Young Girls in Science, Ministry of Women & Child Development in association with the Ministry of Education and MyGov, Ministry of Electronics and Information technology launched an online campaign.

• The objective of the campaign is to celebrate women who have carved a niche for themselves in the field of STEM and also encourage young girls who aspire to excel in STEM and contribute towards nation-building.

• The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is the 11th day of February, by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on 22 December 2015.

• The day recognises the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. The day's purpose is to promote full and equal access to participation in science for women and girls.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, will open the annual "Udyanotsav" of Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 12, 2021. The Mughal Gardens will remain open for the general public from February 13, 2021, to March 21, 2021.

• The Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of India, is flanked by the iconic Mughal gardens — spread over 15 acres.

• The gardens are a blend of the Mughal and English style of gardening and are inspired by the Persian Charbagh style. It is replete with canals, fountains, elaborate flower beds, well-trimmed shrubs, and a near-endless variety of flowers.

• A part of the gardens — comprising the Herbal Garden, the Bonsai Garden, the main Mughal Garden, the Spiritual Garden — is open to the public every year in February-March under the event called the Udyanotsav (translates to 'Garden Festival').

World Unani Day was celebrated on February 11, 2021, to spread awareness about health care delivery through Unani system of medicine through its preventive and curative philosophy.

• World Unani Day is celebrated every year to mark the birth anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan.

• He was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was a versatile genius, a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter, an Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani System of Medicine.

• He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.

• Principles of Unani System: The Unani system postulates the presence of four humours in the body: dam (blood), balgham (phlegm), Safra (yellow bile) and Sauda (black bile), a parallel to Kapha, Vata and pitta, the three doshas in Ayurveda. The quality and quantity of four humour affect the state of health and disease in the body.

• Origin: Unani system originated in Greece. The theoretical framework of Unani medicine is based on the work of Hippocrates (460-377 BC).

• Role of Arabs: The system owes its present form to the Arabs who not only saved much of the Greek literature by rendering it into Arabic but also enriched it with their own contributions.

• Indian scenario: In India, it was introduced by Arabs and Persians sometime around the eleventh century.

• Revival by Hakim Ajmal Khan: It saw the beginning of its revival during the freedom struggle due to the efforts of Hakim Ajmal Khan. He established Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College and Hindustani Dawakhana a pharmaceutical company for manufacturing of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine in Delhi in 1916.

Prime Minister Modi initiated a scheme for development of commercial organic farming in the region during 2015 which later became to be known as "Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region" (MOVCDNER).

• The scheme started with an average annual allocation of Rs. 134 crore during the last five years has so far covered 74,880 ha area.

• To double the impact the allocation has now increased to Rs. 200 crores per year with a target to cover additional 1.00 lakh ha area under 200 new FPOs over a period of 3 year period.

• The scheme besides growing and value-adding the traditional crops is also aiming to bring in high-value crops under contract farming models.

• Transformation of farmer clusters into Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) ensures the emergence of a new breed of organic agri-enterprises.

India's first-ever diesel Tractor, converted to CNG, will be formally launched by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways on February 12, 2021.

• The conversion, carried out jointly by Rawmatt Techno Solutions & Tomasetto Achille India, will help farmers increase their income, by lowering costs and help to create job opportunities in rural India.

The more specific benefits of converting the Tractor to CNG for a farmer are:

• The test reports indicate that the retrofitted tractor produces more power/equal in comparison to Diesel-run engine.

• Overall emissions are reduced by 70% as compared to Diesel.

• It will help farmers to save up to 50% on the fuel cost as the current Diesel prices are Rs.77.43/L whereas CNG is only Rs.42/kg.

Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has launched SAKSHAM (Shramik Shakti Manch).

• It is a dynamic job portal for mapping the skills of Shramiks vis-à-vis requirements of MSMEs to directly connect Shramiks with MSMEs and facilitate placement of 10 lakh blue-collar jobs.

• The SAKSHAM job portal will help eliminate middlemen/ labour contractor as well as help identification of skill proficiency level and development of Skill Cards for Shramiks.

• The portal with the demand and supply data uses algorithm and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, for geospatial information on demand and availability of Shramiks, and also provides analysis on skill training programmes of Shramiks.

• The pilot portal originally initiated with two districts is now being launched as an all India portal.

Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has launched a Seaweed Mission for commercial farming of seaweeds and its processing for value addition towards boosting the national economy.

The Mission envisages the following activities:

• Establishing model demonstration farms over one hectare for the cultivation of economically important seaweeds in nearshore and onshore along the Indian coast

• Establishment of seaweed nurseries for supplying seed material for large scale farming of economically important seaweeds in the country

• Onshore cultivation for (i) Seedling supply facility (ii) Seaweed cultivation for processing

• Setting up of processing plant for integrated production of plant growth stimulants (sap) along with industrially important cell wall polysaccharides (phycocolloids) such as agar, agarose, carrageenan and alginates from fresh seaweeds

• Out of the global seaweed production of ~ 32 million tons fresh weight valued around 12 billion US dollars.

• China produces ~57 %, Indonesia ~28% followed by South Korea, whereas India is having a mere share of ~0.01-0.02%.

• Despite several advantages, commercial seaweeds cultivation has not been taken place in the country at an appropriate scale, as being practiced in South-East Asian countries.

• By an estimate, if cultivation is done in ≈10 million hectares or 5% of the EEZ area of India, it can provide employment to ~ 50 million people; set up new seaweed industry; contribute to national GDP; ocean productivity; abates algal blooms, sequesters millions of tons CO2; Healthier ocean; bio-ethanol of 6.6 billion litres

With the goal to enable talented innovative students and start-ups from Australia and India to address common national issues through innovative technology solutions, About Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Australia's national science agency (CSIRO) kick-started the India-Australia Circular Economy (I-ACE) Hackathon, 2021.

• I-ACE is supported by the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER), AIM Atal Incubation Centre network, and various domain experts.

• A 'circular economy' model, which employs not only waste management but reuse, recycling and responsible manufacture can support the development of new industries and jobs, reducing emissions and increasing efficient use of natural resources.

The four key themes for the hackathon are as follows:

• Innovation in packaging reducing packaging waste

• Innovation in food supply chains avoiding waste

• Creating opportunities for plastic waste reduction

• Recycling critical energy metals and e-waste

The Karnataka government issued a notification demarcating boundaries of the newly-formed Vijayanagara district.

• With Vijayanagara, the state now has 31 districts.

• Named after the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, the new district was carved out from Ballari under the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964.

• Vijayanagara, located in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage sites – Hampi and Virupaksha Temple.

• With Hosapete as its headquarters, Vijayanagara has six taluks – Hosapete, Kudligi, Hagaribommanahalli, Kotturu, Hoovina Hadagali, and Harapanahalli.

Jaipur City, Rajasthan and Rani-ki-Vav at Patan, Gujarat are included under UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Kailash Mansarovar is not included under UNESCO World Heritage sites. However, it has been included in the Tentative List of World Heritage Sites of India.

Rescue operations resumed at the NTPC's Tapovan hydel project tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, where about 35 workers were trapped after a snow avalanche triggered flash floods.

• The Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower Plant is a 520 MW run-of-river hydroelectric project being constructed on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand.

• The plant is expected to generate over 2.5 TWh of electricity annually.

• Tapovan Vishnugad is NTPC's second hydropower project since its foray into the sector.

• Currently, it is in an advanced stage of construction. It was severely damaged on 7th February 2021 due to flash flood caused by Uttarakhand glacier burst.