Daily Current Affairs MCQ - April 17, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal chaired the first meeting of National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC).

• Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the National Startup Advisory Council to advise the Government on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country to drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities.

• Besides the ex-officio members, the council has a number of non-official members, representing various stakeholders such as founders of successful startups, veterans who have grown and scaled companies in India, persons capable of representing interest of investors into startups, persons capable of representing interests of incubators and accelerators, representatives of associations of stakeholders of startups and representatives of industry associations.

Punjab has come up with offerings of a bouquet of improved crop and vegetable varieties which are rich in nutrients.

• 'PAU 1 Chapatti' with low polyphenols and outstanding processing qualities has been shortlisted for commercialization whereas wheat candidate varieties having high grain protein, high zinc, low phytates and high carotenoids have been developed.

• Besides this, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) has offered to growers two carotene rich cherry tomato varieties called Punjab Sona and Punjab Kesar and two anthocyanin rich brinjal varieties called Punjab Raunak and Punjab Bharpoor with antioxidant properties.

• The varieties and genetic stocks have been developed by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) with support from the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE) grant provided by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India.

The Union Home Ministry has restored the electronic visa (e-visa) facility for foreigners from 156 countries who intend to visit India for business, conferences and medical reasons, including for medical attendants. E-visa for tourists is yet to be restored.

• An e-visa is provided in five categories — tourist, business, conference, medical, and medical attendant.

• Under the arrangement, a foreigner can apply online four days prior to travel.

• After the details are verified, an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) is generated, which has to be presented at the immigration checkpost on arrival.

• Entry through e-visas is allowed only at 28 designated international airports and five major seaports in India.

• Though available to people of 171 countries before restrictions were announced in 2020, the facility has been restored only for 156. China, the U.K., Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia are notable exclusions. The relaxation comes in the wake of a deadly second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhdarchid pterosaurs, the giant reptiles that flew in the skies nearly 65 million years ago, had necks longer than that of a giraffe (on average a giraffe's neck is about 6 feet long).

• Now, researchers have reported a new finding about their long necks — that the thin neck vertebrae were supported by an intricate internal structure that is unlike anything seen before.

• Pterosaurs are reptiles that are close cousins of dinosaurs, the first animals after insects to evolve powered flight.

• Pterosaurs went extinct about 65-66 million years ago (end of the Cretaceous period).

• Azhdarchid pterosaurs are one type of pterosaur and one of the distinguishing characteristics about them is how big they were, especially their long necks.

• Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information.

• AR can be defined as a system that fulfills three basic features: a combination of real and virtual worlds, real-time interaction, and accurate 3D registration of virtual and real objects.

• In this way, augmented reality alters one's ongoing perception of a real-world environment, whereas virtual reality completely replaces the user's real-world environment with a simulated one. Augmented reality is related to two largely synonymous terms: mixed reality and computer-mediated reality.

• A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack can overwhelm the network with irrelevant data, thereby disrupting the user's VR experiences.

• Distributed denial-of-service attacks target websites and online services. The aim is to overwhelm them with more traffic than the server or network can accommodate. The goal is to render the website or service inoperable.

• DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual’s DNA characteristics.

• DNA profiling is a forensic technique in criminal investigations, comparing criminal suspects’ profiles to DNA evidence to assess the likelihood of their involvement in the crime. 

• It is also used in parentage testing to establish immigration eligibility and genealogical and medical research. DNA profiling has also been used in the study of animal and plant populations in zoology, botany, and agriculture.

• The Greater One-Horned Rhino is one among the five different species of Rhino. The other four are Black Rhino, White Rhino, Javan Rhino and Sumatran Rhino

  • There are three species of rhino in Asia — Greater one-horned (Rhinoceros unicornis), Javan and Sumatran.

  • Only the Great One-Horned Rhino is found in India. 

• The greater one-horned rhino (or “Indian rhino”) is the largest of the rhino species.

  • The species is restricted to small habitats in Indo-Nepal terai and northern West Bengal and Assam.

  • In India, rhinos are mainly found in Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. 

• It is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List. 

  • Listed in the Appendix I of the CITES and in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

• In 1934, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia became actively involved in the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), founded that year as a left-wing group within the Indian National Congress. 

• A vehement opponent of Indian participation on the side of Great Britain in World War II (1939-45), he was arrested for anti-British remarks in 1939 and again in 1940.

• With the emergence in 1942 of the Quit India movement—a campaign initiated by Mahatma Gandhi to urge the withdrawal of British authorities from India—Lohia and other CSP leaders (such as Jaya Prakash Narayan) mobilized support from the underground. For such resistance activities, he was jailed again in 1944–46. 

• However on the next day of the launch of the 'Quit India' movement Gandhi, Nehru and many other leaders of the Indian National Congress were arrested by the British Government.

• The Indus Water Treaty, 1960 is a treaty brokered by the World Bank and signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan’s President Ayub Khan which administers how the waters of the Indus and its tributaries that flow in both the countries will be utilised. 

• According to the treaty, waters of the eastern rivers — Sutlej, Beas and Ravi had been allocated to India, while the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan.

  • Under the treaty, India has been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through a run of the river projects on the western rivers subject to specific criteria for design and operation.

  • India has cleared several hydropower projects in Ladakh: Darbuk Shyok (19 MW), Shankoo (18.5 MW), Nimu Chilling (24 MW), Rongdo (12 MW), Ratan Nag (10.5 MW) for Leh; and Mangdum Sangra (19 MW), Kargil Hunderman (25 MW) and Tamasha (12 MW) for Kargil.

• It also gives Pakistan the right to raise concerns on Indian hydroelectric projects on western rivers.

• The Treaty also provides an arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.

• There have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over dams. For eg. In 2010, Pakistan instituted international arbitration proceedings over India’s 330-megawatt hydropower project on a small Indus tributary, the Kishenganga (known as Neelum in Pakistan).

  • Though Indus originates from Tibet, China has been kept out of the Treaty. If China decides to stop or change the river's flow, it will affect both India and Pakistan. 

• Stock exchanges, depositories and clearing corporations are collectively referred to as securities Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs). 

  • According to the Bimal Jalan Committee (2010), these institutions are systemically important for the country’s financial development and serve as the infrastructure necessary for the securities market.

The stock exchange in India serves as a market where financial instruments like stocks, bonds and commodities are traded.