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

In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) team at Mandapam, Tamil Nadu seized two tonnes of sea cucumber, a banned marine species.

• Sea cucumbers are in high demand in China and Southeast Asia.
• Sea cucumber in India is treated as an endangered species listed under schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• It is primarily smuggled from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in fishing vessels from Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin districts.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

A couple of hours before Capt Amarinder Singh tendered his resignation as chief minister of Punjab, former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar made a tweet: “Kudos to Shri Rahul Gandhi for adopting Alexandrian solution to this Punjabi version of Gordian knot".

• Often used as a metaphor, a ‘Gordian knot’ refers to a very complex problem, which is apparently nearly impossible to resolve.
• The origin of the phrase is traced to the ancient Greece, 333 BC, and is ascribed to Midas, the son of King Gordius of Phrygia, a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia — the present day Asian Turkey — and to the south of Black Sea.
• Phrygia was centred on the Sangarios River.

The Sakarya is the third longest river in Turkey.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

In the continued search for the hypothetical ninth planet in our Solar System, Michael Brown, the CalTech astronomer who led the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet in 2006, has co-written a new study that claims to have narrowed the region the potential new planet could be located.

• The study proposes "Planet Nine" exists beyond Neptune and is six times the mass of Earth, according to reports.
• The scientists first proposed Pluto had a replacement in a controversial study that came out in 2016 that said the clustering of asteroids and comets and other objects that orbit the sun in the Kuiper Belt suggests the existence of a large planet.
• The new study also includes a "treasure map" of the planet’s likely orbit that the scientists said lasts around 7,400 Earth years and is closer to the Sun than the 2016 study found.
• A closer orbit to the Sun would make the planet brighter and easier to see.
• Planet Nine would probably be cold gas giant like Neptune, the farthest known planet in a Solar System from the Sun. Neptune has a nonsolid surface made up mostly of hydrogen, helium, and methane, according to NASA.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The recent iPhone 13 Pro range is offering a 120Hz high-refresh-rate display which Apple is calling ProMotion.

Refresh Rate:

• Whether it is a TV, a PC monitor, or a smartphone, all devices constantly change the pixels they display to project the appearance of motion.
• Simply put, refresh rate means how many times the image on a screen can be updated or “refreshed” every second – much faster than your eye can detect.
• A 60Hz TV can refresh the screen 60 times per second, while a 120Hz on the iPhone 13 Pro can refresh the screen 120 times per second. The higher the refresh rate, the more times per second the screen is refreshing its pixels.

Adaptive Refresh Rate:

• When a display has an adaptive refresh rate the refresh rate changes from 10Hz to 120Hz depending on the content being played — some Samsung phones offer between 48Hz and 120Hz.
• So, a static website will be played at a 10Hz refresh rate and a game at a 120Hz refresh rate. This means there is little chance of under delivering or over delivering refresh rate.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Researchers have developed a technology to produce energy-efficient walling materials using construction and demolition waste and alkali-activated binders.

• Called as low-C bricks, they do not require high-temperature firing and avoid the use of high-energy material such as Portland cement. The technology will also solve the disposal problems associated with construction and demolition waste mitigation.
• Scientists of the Indian Institute of Science developed a technology for producing alkali-activated bricks/blocks by utilizing fly ash and furnace slag.
• The researchers developed low embodied carbon bricks from construction and demolition waste through an alkali activation process using fly ash and ground slag and characterizing the thermal, structural, and durability characteristics of Low-C bricks and their masonry. Conventionally, building envelopes consist of masonry walls built with burnt clay bricks, concrete blocks, hollow clay blocks, fly ash bricks and lightweight blocks.
• Hence both statements are correct.

France announced on September 17, 2021 that it is recalling its ambassadors from the United States and Australia over the recent trilateral security pact (AUKUS) between US, UK and Australia that involves the building of nuclear-powered submarines. The deal effectively scraps Australia's $40 billion submarine contract with France in favour of the US nuclear submarines.

• Recently, the Ministry of Power has issued an order for the setting up of District Level Committees to improve the quality of electricity supply in the country.
  • All States and Union Territories will have to notify and ensure establishment of these District Electricity committees, under intimation to the Ministry of Power.
  • It will oversee all power related schemes of the government and also its impact on the provision of services to the people. It will meet at District Headquarters at least once in three months. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• India’s power sector is one of the most diversified in the world. Sources of power generation range from conventional sources such as coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro and nuclear power to viable non-conventional sources such as wind, solar, and agricultural and domestic waste.
• India is the third-largest producer and second-largest consumer of electricity in the world.
• 100% FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) is permitted under automatic route in the power sector. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Electricity is a concurrent subject (Seventh Schedule of the Constitution). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • The Ministry of Power is primarily responsible for the development of electrical energy in the country.
  • It administers the Electricity Act, 2003 and the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.

• The G20 is an informal group of 19 countries and the European Union, with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The G20 operates as a forum and not as an organisation. Therefore, it does not have any permanent secretariat or management and administrative structure. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • The membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global gross domestic product, 80% of global investment and over 75% of global trade. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• Members:
  • Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU.
• The 2021 G20 Rome summit is the upcoming sixteenth meeting of Group of Twenty, scheduled to take place in Rome, the capital city of Italy, on 30–31 October 2021.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Friday concluded the two-day review of the work progress on the 1380-km eight-lane Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which will reduce travel time between certain cities to 12-12.5 hours from 24 hours.

• Cost: Rs 98,000 crore
• Length: 1,380 km
• Completion schedule: The first phase from Delhi-Jaipur (Dausa)-Lalsot and Vadodara-Ankleshwar is expected to be open to traffic by March 2022. The expressway is expected to be completed by March 2023.
• The project was kickstarted in 2018 with the foundation stone being laid on March 9, 2019.
• The expressway will feature a spur to Jewar Airport and Jawaharlal Nehru Port to Mumbai through a spur in Mumbai.
• The expressway will improve connectivity to economic hubs like Jaipur, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Kota, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat.
• The eight-lane access-controlled expressway can be expanded to a 12-lane expressway depending on the volume of traffic.
• The expressway is the first in Asia and only the second in the world to feature animal overpasses to facilitate unrestricted movement of wildlife.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended North Korea until the end of 2022 after it failed to send a team to the Tokyo Games.

• The suspension means the country will miss out on the Beijing Winter Games.
• North Korea did not send a delegation to the Tokyo Games, saying it wanted to protect its athletes from Covid-19.
• IOC President Thomas Bach said the IOC reserves the right to make decisions on any individual North Korean athletes who qualify for Beijing 2022 and to reconsider the duration of the country’s suspension.
• At Rio Olympics 2016, North Korea had won two Golds, three Silvers and two Bronzes.
• Hence both statements are correct.