Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 14, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) has transferred the know-how of indigenously developed Saline Gargle RT-PCR technique to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) for commercialising it.

• The Saline Gargle RT-PCR technology is simple, fast, cost-effective, patient-friendly and comfortable.
• It also provides instant test results and is well-suited for rural and tribal areas, given minimal infrastructure requirements, the institute said.
• NEERI is an institute under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• In the light of the prevailing pandemic situation and a possible third wave of COVID-19, CSIR-NEERI fast-tracked the know-how transfer process to potential licensees for its wider dissemination across the nation.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Terming the bio-decomposer technique a “smashing success” at curbing stubble burning in the Capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the Centre to ask the neighbouring States to use the same to prevent pollution.

• The burning of paddy stubble left in the fields after harvest has been a cause of concern for the past several years as it contributes to air pollution in the northern Gangetic plains and its already polluted cities like Delhi.
• It is a common practice in October and November across North West India, but primarily in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to quickly clear crop residue from their fields before planting the rabi wheat crop.
• To tackle the issue ‘Pusa Decomposer’ capsule has been developed by Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI).
• ‘Pusa Decomposer’ is essentially a fungi-based liquid solution that can soften hard stubble to the extent that it can be easily mixed with soil in the field to act as compost.
• This would then rule out the need to burn the stubble, and also help in retaining the essential microbes and nutrients in soil that are otherwise damaged when the residue is burned.
• There are seven strains of fungi that IARI has identified after research which help in rapid breakdown of hard stubble. These seven strains of fungi are packed into four capsules.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a Bill to dispense with the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) and allow admission to medical courses based on Class 12 marks to “ensure social justice”.

• Chief Minister M K Stalin introduced the Bill based on the recommendation of the high-level committee led by retired judge AK Rajan, which submitted its report in July.
• The Permanent Exemption Bill for NEET exempts medical aspirants in Tamil Nadu from taking NEET examination for admission to UG degree courses in Indian medicine, dentistry and homeopathy.
• Instead, it seeks to provide admission to such courses on the basis of marks obtained in the qualifying examination, through “Normalisation methods”.
• The Bill opposes NEET because it “undermined the diverse societal representation in MBBS and higher medical studies, favouring mainly the affordable and affluent sections of the society and thwarting the dreams of underprivileged social groups.
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.

India and the United States of America (USA) launched the “Climate Action and Finance Mobilization Dialogue (CAFMD)”.

• The CAFMD is one of the two tracks of the India-U.S. Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership launched at the Leaders' Summit on Climate in April 2021, by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and US President Mr. Joseph Biden.
• The dialogue was formally launched by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Shri Bhupender Yadav and Mr. John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC), at an event held in New Delhi.
• The dialogue will not only strengthen India-US bilateral cooperation on climate and environment but will also help to demonstrate how the world can align swift climate action with inclusive and resilient economic development, taking into account national circumstances and sustainable development priorities.
• The launch was preceded by a bilateral meet where both sides discussed at length a wide range of climate issues relating to COP26, Climate Ambition, Climate Finance, Global Climate Initiatives including International Solar Alliance (ISA), Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM4C).
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh State University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, on 14 September, 2021. The University is being established by the State Government in the memory and honour of the great freedom fighter, educationist and social reformer, Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh ji.

• Born into a royal family in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh in 1886, Singh was a social reformer, freedom fighter and Marxist revolutionary.
• An alumnus of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Collegiate School, later called Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), he was active in the political arena from a young age.
• He also participated in the 1911 Balkan War with his fellow students at the college.
• The freedom fighter set up the first Provisional Government of India in Afghanistan in 1915, declaring himself as the President. He also declared a jihad against colonial rule, leading to the British announcing a bounty on his head.
• Singh later fled to Japan, where he established the Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940.
• A firm believer in Mahatma Gandhi’s policy of non-violence, Singh also set up the Prem Maha Vidyalaya, a polytechnic institution in his palace in Vrindavan.
• The social reformer was also a firm proponent of Panchayat Raj, believing it would reduce corruption and put more power in the hands of the common man.
• Singh, who called himself “the servant of the powerless and weak,” was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize in 1932.
• Post-independence, he was elected to Parliament in 1957 after defeating then Jan Sangh (and later BJP) candidate Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Singh passed away in 1979.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa.

The Indian wild ass population has risen by 37%, reveals data released by the Gujarat forest department. The population has reached 6,082, according to the census conducted in March 2020.

Gujarat, the world’s only abode of Asiatic lions, is also the sole home of Indian wild asses.

Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary is one of the last places on earth where the Indian Wild Ass can be spotted.

First malarial vaccine (RTS,S)

According to a paper recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study measured the efficacy of vaccination with or without chemoprevention (drugs). When the vaccine was used along with chemoprevention, efficacy went up to 70%, or over.

India–Africa Defence Dialogue will be held alongside every DefExpo.

• The foundation of India–Africa defence relations are based on the two guiding principles namely ‘SAGAR’, Security and Growth for All in the Region’ and ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, The World is One Family.
• The first-ever India Africa Defence Ministers Conclave (IADMC) was held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in conjunction with DefExpo on February 06, 2020, co-organised by Ministry of Defence and Ministry of External Affairs.
• This was the first in the series of Pan Africa events at the Ministerial level in the run-up to India Africa Forum Summit IV. A Joint Declaration, ‘Lucknow Declaration’ was adopted after conclusion of IADMC 2020 as an outcome document of the Conclave.

Institutionalisation of the India Africa Defence Dialogue:

• In furtherance of the declaration and in consultation with stakeholders, India proposes to institutionalise the India Africa Defence Dialogue during successive DefExpos to be held once every two years.
• Institutionalisation of the India Africa Defence Dialogue will help to explore new areas of convergence for mutual engagements including areas like capacity building, training, cyber security, maritime security and counter terrorism.
• Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses shall be the knowledge partner of India Africa Defence Dialogue and will assist in providing necessary support for enhanced defence cooperation between India and Africa.
• It has also been decided that Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will host the Defence Ministers of African Nations in the next India – Africa Defence Dialogue on the sidelines of the DefExpo that is scheduled to be held at Gandhinagar, Gujarat in March 2022.
• The broad theme of this India Africa Defence Dialgue will be ‘India – Africa: Adopting Strategy for Synergizing and Strengthening Defence and Security Cooperation’.
• Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption from Drone Rules, 2021 to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).

• The permission has been granted to ICMR for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) vaccine delivery in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur, and Nagaland upto a height of 3000 meters using drones.
• Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) has received drone use permission for research, development and testing of drones in its own premises.
• This exemption shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the said airspace clearance and shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said airspace clearance or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• Earlier, on 11th September 2021, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had launched first of its kind ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project at Vikarabad in Telangana state under which drugs and vaccines will be delivered using drones.
• On 25th August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 to usher in an era of super-normal growth while balancing safety and security considerations in drone operations.
• Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.