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

• Recently, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft departed from asteroid Bennu, and started its two-year long journey back to Earth.
• The OSIRIS-REx is NASA’s first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid. It is the United States’ first asteroid sample return mission, aiming to collect and carry a pristine, unaltered sample from an asteroid back to earth for scientific study. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft was launched in 2016 for the journey to Bennu. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The mission is essentially a seven-year-long voyage and will conclude when at least 60 grams of samples are delivered back to the Earth (in 2023).
  • As per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the mission promises to bring the largest amount of extraterrestrial material back to the Earth since the Apollo era.
  • The spacecraft contains five instruments meant to explore Bennu including cameras, a spectrometer and a laser altimeter.
  • Recently, the spacecraft’s robotic arm called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), made an attempt to “TAG” the asteroid at a sample site and collected a sample.

• Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) is a Central Sector Scheme. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It was announced in December 1993 and initially came under the control of the Ministry of Rural Development. Later, in October 1994, it was transferred to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Each year, MPs receive Rs. 5 crore in two instalments of Rs. 2.5 crore each. Funds under MPLAD Scheme are non-lapsable.
• Objective:
  • To enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs to be taken up in their Constituencies.
    • Lok Sabha Members can recommend works within their constituencies and elected Members of Rajya Sabha can recommend works within the State they are elected from.
    • Nominated Members of both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the country. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
    • To create durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc.
  • Since June 2016, the MPLAD funds can also be used for implementation of the schemes such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan), conservation of water through rain water harvesting and Sansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana, etc.
  • The Union Cabinet has given its nod to the temporary suspension of MPLAD Funds during 2020-21 and 2021-22 in view of the adverse impact of the outbreak of Covid-19 in India.

• Deepor Beel (Beel means wetland or large aquatic body in Assamese) located about 10 km Southwest of Guwahati city is considered one of the large and important riverine wetlands in the Brahmaputra Valley of lower Assam.
  • Deepor Beel has both biological and environmental importance besides being the only major storm-water storage basin for Guwahati city.
• It is considered one of the staging sites for migratory birds in India; and some of the large congregations of aquatic birds in Assam during winter.
• Because of the richness of avian fauna it enjoys, Deepor Beel has been selected as one of the Important Bird Area (IBA) sites by Birdlife International.
• Deepor Beel has also been designated as a Ramsar Site in November 2002.
  • Sur Sarovar is located in Uttar Pradesh.
  • Loktak Lake is located in Manipur.
  • Rudrasagar Lake is in Tripura.
• Hence, option B is correct.

Production-linked incentive scheme (PLI), instituted in April 2020 for large-scale electronics manufacturing in India, has gained significant traction over the past year. It offers a simple and direct incentive based on incremental sales, designed to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone and specified electronic component manufacturing units. In November 2020, the PLI scheme was extended to ten more sectors, including food processing, battery storage, automobile components and specialty steel.

The new sectors included under the PLI scheme will be implemented by the respective ministries.

While tribunals under Article 323 A can be established only by Parliament, tribunals under Article 323 B (e.g. food stuffs, tenancy etc) can be established both by Parliament and state legislatures with respect to matters falling within their legislative competence.

Under Article 323A, only one tribunal for the Centre and one for each state or two or more states may be established.

There is no hierarchy of tribunals under 323A, whereas under Article 323B a hierarchy of tribunals may be created.

Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun, much smaller than planets. They are also called minor planets. According to NASA, 994,383 is the count for known asteroids, the remnants from the formation of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago.

Scientists study asteroids to look for information about the formation and history of planets and the sun since asteroids were formed at the same time as other objects in the solar system. Another reason for tracking them is to look for potentially hazardous asteroids.

OSIRIS-REx mission is NASA’s first mission meant to return a sample from the ancient asteroid.

The Centre, if it is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in public interest, can notify an item as essential, in consultation with state governments.

Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 removes foodstuff such as cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds, and oils, from the list of essential commodities, removing stockholding limits on agricultural items produced by Horticulture techniques except under “extraordinary circumstances.

The International Nurses Day is celebrated on May 12, every year to mark the contributions and hard work of nursing staff around the world.

Ujjwala Singhania has been appointed as the National President of FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO) for 2021-22.

The International Nurses Day marks the birth anniversary of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale, who was born on May 12, 1820.