Daily Current Affairs MCQ - April 20, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

• The President appoints the Chief Justice of India and the Judges of the Supreme Court (SC) under clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution. 

• As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.

  • The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the Prime Minister who, in turn, advises the President.

• In the Second Judges Case (1993), SC ruled that the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court should alone be appointed to the office of the CJI. 

• The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior-most judges of the court.

  • The collegium system is the system of appointment and transfer of judges that has evolved through judgments of the Supreme Court (Judges Cases), and not by an Act of Parliament or by a provision of the Constitution.

Helium is a colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas, the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table.

• Its boiling point is the lowest among all the elements. 

• Helium was discovered in the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the Sun in the year 1868.

• In India it was first discovered in 1906 by an Englishman Morris Travers in Kerala.

  • India's Rajmahal volcanic basin in Jharkhand is the storehouse of helium trapped for billions of years, since the very birth of Earth from the Sun. 

• The USA became the most important exporter of helium globally after discovering helium in large quantities under the American Great Plains.

  • It was soon realized that the USA was also the biggest storehouse of helium.

  • Qatar is a possible exporter but acute political and diplomatic wrangles have made Qatar unreliable. 

• 'Net zero emissions' refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions are taken out of the atmosphere. 

• There is global pressure on India to commit net-zero emissions by 2050. However, India has not yet committed to it. 

• Recently, Rajya Sabha cleared the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID) Bill, 2021.

• The Bill seeks to establish the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID) as the principal Development Financial Institution (DFIs) for infrastructure financing.

• NBFID was announced in the Budget 2021.

• Functions of NBFID:

  • Extending loans and advances for infrastructure projects.

  • Taking over or refinancing such existing loans.

  • Attracting investment from private sector investors and institutional investors for infrastructure projects.

  • Organizing and facilitating foreign participation in infrastructure projects. 

  • Facilitating negotiations with various government authorities for dispute resolution in the field of infrastructure financing.

  • Providing consultancy services in infrastructure financing.

• Source of Funds:

  • It may raise money in the form of loans or otherwise both in Indian rupees and foreign currencies, or secure money by the issue and sale of various financial instruments including bonds and debentures. 

  • It may borrow money from the central government, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), scheduled commercial banks, mutual funds, and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

  • Initially, the central government will own 100% shares of the institution which may subsequently be reduced up to 26%.

• High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over 1500-2000 years

• A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers

• The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community

• The classical language and literature being distinct from modern, there may also be a discontinuity between the classical language and its later forms or its offshoots.

Tamil was the first language to get classical language status in India.

• Varahamihira improved the accuracy of the sine tables of Aryabhata.

• Varahamihira's main work is the book Pañcasiddhāntikā ("[Treatise] on the Five [Astronomical] Canons"), which gives us information about older Indian texts which are now lost. The work is a treatise on mathematical astronomy and it summarises five earlier astronomical treatises by five authors, namely the Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta, and Paitamaha Siddhanta.

The Health Ministry said that the Government of India has sanctioned 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption, PSA oxygen plants for installation in public health facilities in all States. These will augment medical oxygen capacity by over 154 Metric Tonnes.

• Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure according to the species' molecular characteristics and affinity for an adsorbent material.

• It operates at near-ambient temperatures and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.

• Specific adsorbent materials (e.g., zeolites, activated carbon, molecular sieves, etc.) are used as a trap, preferentially adsorbing the target gas species at high pressure. The process then swings to low pressure to desorb the adsorbed material.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes to the great philosopher, saint & social reformer, Shri Ramanujacharya Ji on his Jayanti.

• Ramanuja or Ramanujacharya (c. 1017–1137 CE) was an Indian philosopher, Hindu theologian, social reformer, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.

• His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.

• Ramanuja's guru was Yādava Prakāśa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition.

• Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.

• Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta, and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad.

• Ramanuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.

• His Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic dualism) philosophy of Madhvāchārya, and Advaita (non-dualism) philosophy of Ādi Shankara, together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium.

Reports of rare blood clots occurring after COVID-19 vaccination have led some countries to limit the usage of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for certain categories of people, while other countries have paused the administration.

• An adverse effect following immunisation with the AstraZeneca jab is not merely blood clots in large vessels, but also a low platelet count.

• The effect is similar to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), where heparin, which is used to clear clots, actually causes blood clots and a fall in the platelet count.

• The heparin combines with platelet factor 4 to form a complex. This immune complex induces an abnormal immune response, in which antibodies are generated against the complex.

• This antibody-platelet factor 4-heparin immune complex binds to platelets and activates them. The platelets form clots everywhere. The low platelet count is because the platelets are used up.

• A similar process seems to follow vaccination, except there is no heparin trigger. Scientists are still trying to establish a clinical definition for this adverse effect.

Eight institutions and individuals have applied for on-tap licenses to set up universal banks and small finance banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

• This comes weeks after RBI set up an advisory panel, led by former deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath, to evaluate applications for universal and small finance banks, which are mandated to focus on priority sector lending and small loans.

• The last time RBI handed out universal bank licenses was in 2015 when it cleared IDFC Ltd and Bandhan Financial’s applications.

• In August 2016, RBI released guidelines for on-tap licensing for universal banks.

• Among eligible promoters for banks were resident professionals who have 10 years of experience in banking and finance at a senior level. Private sector entities owned and controlled by residents and have a successful track record for at least 10 years are also eligible, provided they have assets of ₹5,000 crores or more, and the non-financial business of the group does not account for 40% or more of total assets or gross income.

• Existing non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) controlled by residents and with a successful track record for at least 10 years were also allowed to apply for licenses.