Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 6, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The President of India Ram Nath Kovind greeted teachers across the country on the occasion of Teachers’ Day. We celebrate the Teachers’ Day on the birth anniversary of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975) was an Indian philosopher, academic, and statesman who served as the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India (1962–1967).
• He served as the professor of philosophy at Mysore (1918-21) and Calcutta(1937-41) universities. He was the first Indian to hold a professorial chair at the University of Oxford.
• His philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary understanding.
• He was awarded several high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.
• He was also one of the founders of HelpAge India, a non-profit organisation for elderly underprivileged in India.
• Sarvepalli believed that "teachers should be the best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday has been celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September every year.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

After a gap of over three years, a case of the zoonotic Nipah virus infection was reported in Kozhikode district of Kerala, with the death of a 12-year-old boy from Pazhoor, near Chathamangalam, at a private hospital.

• The virus is transmitted to people from animals and can also be passed on through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person.
• Fruit bats are considered to be a natural reservoir of the virus.
• In infected people, it causes a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infection to acute respiratory illness and fatal encephalitis. The virus can also cause severe disease in animals such as pigs, resulting in significant economic losses for farmers.
• There are currently no drugs or vaccines specific for Nipah virus infection although WHO has identified Nipah as a priority disease for the WHO Research and Development Blueprint.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana lamented that “very few women find representation at the top” and admitted that even a “mere” 11% representation of women on the Bench of the Supreme Court was achieved with “great difficulty”.

• The CJI’s remarks come within days of the Supreme Court Collegium led by him scripting history by successfully recommending three women judges to the court in one go. The court has four women judges now, the highest ever.
• A majority of women lawyers suffered within the profession and continued to face significant challenges even after they reached the top. Women lacked basic amenities in court complexes. Women do not have restrooms in lower courts… It is difficult for them to wait for long hours in the court corridors.
• The CJI refused to accept sole credit for the recent appointment of nine judges to the Supreme Court in one shot. The Collegium, led by the CJI, had followed this feat by recommending a whopping 68 judges to 12 High Courts, again in one go.

Currently, the Supreme Court has 34 judges including the CJI. In 1950, when it was established, it had 8 judges including the CJI. Parliament, which has the power to increase the number of judges, has gradually done so by amending the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act — from 8 in 1950 to 11 in 1956, 14 in 1960, 18 in 1978, 26 in 1986, 31 in 2009, and 34 in 2019.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E. Limited has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct further trials of its vaccine Corbevax on children and adolescents.

• Corbevax is based on a vaccine technology of a protein antigen, in this case the spike protein, which binds to the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor on the host cell membrane and facilitates virus entry.
• The body’s own cells then make more copies of this protein that then stimulates the immune system of the body to produce antibodies to protect against a potential, future infection.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Environmentalists expressed concern over the massive diversion of fresh water from the Brahmani river basin, which could pose a grave threat to the famous mangrove vegetation in Odisha.

• The Talcher-Angul coal mines, steel and power plants as well as the Kalinganagar steel and power hub are drawing enormous quantities of fresh water from the Brahmani river
• The Brahmani is a major seasonal river in the Odisha state of eastern India. The Brahmani is formed by the confluence of the Sankh and South Koel rivers.
• Together with the river Baitarani, it forms a large delta before emptying into the Bay of Bengal at Dhamra.
• Bhitarkanika — a notified Ramsar wetland — is spread over 195 sq. km and is home to 62 mangrove species. Proportionate fresh water flow from the Brahmani river basin and the Kharasrota river keep the salinity level of the water along the shore down.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

United Nations Peacekeeping is a joint effort between the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support. Every peacekeeping mission is authorized by the Security Council.

The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States. According to UN Charter every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share for peacekeeping.

UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. Peacekeeping forces are contributed by member states on a voluntary basis. Civilian staff of peace operations are international civil servants, recruited and deployed by the UN Secretariat.

On August 25, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change notified the eco-sensitive zone of the Deepar Beel Wildlife Sanctuary on the south-western edge of Guwahati.

Deepar Beel is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Assam and the State’s only Ramsar site besides being an Important Bird Area. The wetland has for decades been threatened by a railway track — set to be doubled and electrified — on its southern rim, a garbage dump, and encroachment from human habitation and commercial units.

Karman line is the internationally recognized boundary of space which lies around 100 kilometres above mean sea level. For comparison, the International Space Station orbits around 330-410 kilometres above mean sea level.

A study published in The Astrophysical Journal identifies a new class of exoplanets – Hycean worlds – that could support life different from that on Earth.

• These planets are about 2.6 times the size of Earth, have temperatures about 200 degrees Celsius and planet-wide oceans. These could support microbial underwater life.
• An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system. Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic center and are untethered to any star.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

INSPIRESat-1 CubeSat, developed under the International Satellite Program in Research and Education (INSPIRE), is ready for launch, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) has said.

• The small satellite that weighs less than 10 kg will be launched aboard an upcoming Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Hence both statements are correct.