Daily Current Affairs MCQ - April 9, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

• The Nagarhole National Park is also known as Rajiv Gandhi National Park.

  • It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1955 and was upgraded into a national park in 1988.

  • It was declared as the 37th Tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1999.

• There are 51 Tiger reserves in India.

  • The latest addition in this list is Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu, which got approval in 2021. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Nagarhole National Park lies in the Western Ghats and is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. 

• The Nagarahole River flows through the park, which joins the Kabini River which also is a boundary between Nagarahole and Bandipur Ntional Park.

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures price changes from a retail buyer's perspective. It is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). 

• The CPI calculates the difference in the price of commodities and services such as food, medical care, education, electronics etc, which Indian consumers buy for use.

• The CPI has several sub-groups including food and beverages, fuel and light, housing and clothing, bedding and footwear.

• Four types of CPI are as follows:

1. CPI for Industrial Workers (IW).

2. CPI for Agricultural Labourer (AL).

3. CPI for Rural Labourer (RL).

4. CPI (Rural/Urban/Combined).

• CPI for Industrial Workers (IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourer (AL) and CPI for Rural Labourer (RL) are compiled by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour and Employment. 

  • CPI (Rural/Urban/Combined) is compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

• Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant-Human Attacks using Bees) has been recently launched in Karnataka which entails installing bee boxes along the forest periphery and the villages to mitigate human-elephant conflict.

• It is intended to create "bee fences" to thwart elephant attacks in human habitations using honeybees. 

  • The bee boxes will dissuade elephants without causing any harm to them.

  • It is extremely cost-effective compared to various other measures such as digging trenches or erecting fences.

• These spots are located on the periphery of Nagarahole National Park and Tiger Reserve, which is a known conflict zone.

• The Project is an initiative of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

• It is a sub-mission of KVIC's National Honey Mission. 

• There are eight Classical Dances of India: Bharatnatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (North India), Kathakali (Kerala), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Odissi (Odisha), Sattriya (Assam) and Manipuri (Manipur). 

• The Kalladikodan shailee is one among the three major styles of Kathakali. The other two are Vettathu and Kaplingadu. 

  • The Kalladikodan style gives equal importance to the three aspects of nritta (the dance movements in their basic form), nritya (expressional component i.e. mudras or gestures) and natya (the dramatic element of the dance i.e. the imitation of characters).

• Guru Chemancheri Kunhiraman Nair was a Kathakali maestro. 

  • He studied at Kalladikkodan school of Kathakali and was specialised in the "Kalladikodan" style.

No first use nuclear doctrine refers to a pledge or a policy by a nuclear power not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons. Earlier, the concept had also been applied to chemical and biological warfare.

• China became the first nation to propose and pledge NFU policy when it first gained nuclear capabilities in 1964, stating "not to be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances".

• India first adopted a "No first use" policy after its second nuclear tests, Pokhran-II, in 1998.

• On September 8, 1983, around 70 villagers from the Salkani village of Uttara Kannada district stood hugging the trees of the Kalse forests to prevent them from being felled by state authorities. 

• Founded and led by environmental activist Panduranga Hegde, the movement christened Appiko ("hug" in Kannada, symbolizing protection for the tree) became south India's first large-scale ecological movement.

• Inspired by the tree-hugging Chipko forest conservation movement in the North, the Appiko movement continues its fight against tree-felling and deforestation in Uttara Kannada and other hill districts in Karnataka and Kerala.

• The significant participation of women is another common feature of both movements. While Sunderlal Bahuguna is acknowledged as the leader of Chipko, the contributions of women such as Gaura Devi, president of the Mahila Mangala Dal, are not to be forgotten either.

Chipko began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh (at the Himalayas' foothills).

• The Kuka Movement was founded in 1840 by Bhagat Jawahar Mal (also called Sian Saheb) in western Punjab. A major leader of the movement after him was Baba Ram Singh. (He founded the Namdhari Sikh sect.) 

• After the British took Punjab, the movement got transformed from a religious purification campaign to a political campaign. Its basic tenets were abolition of caste and similar discriminations among Sikhs, discouraging the consumption of meat and alcohol and drugs, permission for intermarriages, widow remarriage, and encouraging women to step out of seclusion.

Drone use permission granted to Central Mine Planning and Design Institute for coalfield survey.

• Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption to Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) for surveying in coalfield areas of Coal India Ltd.

• As per the permission, the drones will be deployed for acquisition of data for monitoring of Mapping and Surveying activity using UAV Based Optical, LiDAR and Thermal Payloads, volumetric measurement, and, inspections in coalfield areas of Coal India Limited.

• The conditional exemption is valid till 04 April 2022 from the date of issue of the letter or until the full operationalization of Digital Sky Platform (Phase-1), whichever is earlier.

• Exemption from Ministry of Civil Aviation must be obtained from UAS Rules, 2021 before operation.

RBI Governor has announced Government Securities Acquisition Programme (G-SAP), through which it will purchase government securities worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the first quarter of FY22.

• In the backdrop of the government's elevated borrowing for this year, which the RBI has to ensure goes through without causing disruption, G-SAP aims to provide more comfort to the bond market.

• Market participants always wanted to know the RBI's Open Market Operations (OMO) purchase calendar, and the RBI has now provided that to the market through this announcement on GSAP.

• it will provide certainty to the bond market participants with regard to RBI's commitment of support to the bond market in FY22.

• This structured program's announcement will help reduce the spread between the repo rate and the 10-year government bond yield. That, in turn, will help to reduce the aggregate cost of borrowing for the Centre and states in FY22.

The Government of India by an ordinance abolished the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), which heard appeals by filmmakers seeking certification for their films.

• The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021, which came into effect on April 4, amends the Cinematograph Act, 1952 by omitting some sections and replacing the word "Tribunal" with "High Court" in other sections.

• The abolition of FCAT means filmmakers will now have to approach the High Court whenever they want to challenge a CBFC certification, or lack of it. The sudden move has upset many filmmakers.

Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) was a statutory body constituted set up by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in 1983, under Section 5D of the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

• Its main job was to hear appeals filed under Section 5C of the Cinematograph Act, by applicants for certification aggrieved by the decision of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

• The tribunal was headed by a chairperson and had four other members, including a Secretary appointed by the Government of India to handle.

• The Tribunal was headquartered in New Delhi.