Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 22, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The government has informed the Supreme Court that it proposes to have the ‘mechanism’ to induct women cadets into the National Defence Academy (NDA) for entry into the armed forces to be ready in May 2022, i.e., the time by which UPSC is required to publish the first notification of 2022 for entrance exam for entry to NDA.

• The Ministry of Defence told the court in an affidavit that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) would include women in its NDA exam notification expected to be published in May 2022.
• With this, the path is clear for women to train along with men at the NDA, considered a male bastion.
• After the Supreme Court judgment last year which led to permanent commission for women officers, this is the second time that the court has nudged the armed forces towards gender equality.
• A Bench, led by Justice S.K. Kaul, had urged the armed forces and the government to “take a proactive approach in gender equality issues rather than leave it unattended and calling for the court to interfere”.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Centre has started the process to revise school textbooks by appointing former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Kasturirangan as the head of a 12-member steering committee responsible for developing a new National Curriculum Framework (NCF).

• Dr. Kasturirangan also chaired the drafting committee for the National Education Policy, 2020 which recommended the development of a new NCF. The steering committee has been given a tenure of three years to complete its task, said an Education Ministry statement.
• The last such framework was developed in 2005. It is meant to be a guiding document for the development of textbooks, syllabi and teaching practices in schools across the country.
• The subsequent revision of textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training will draw from the new NCF.
• In fact, the steering committee will develop four such frameworks, one each to guide the curriculum of school education, teacher education, early childhood education and adult education.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The Election Commission of India organised a virtual National Conference on Accessible Elections 2021 with the objective to assess the present accessibility policies and discuss strategies for addressing barriers to enhance participation in electoral process for voters with disabilities.

• It was informed that about 77.4 lakhs PwDs are registered voters.
• During the conference, Chief Election Commissioner Shri Sushil Chandra along with the Election Commissioners Shri Rajiv Kumar & Shri Anup Chandra Pandey released the following;
  • Crossing the Barriers- Accessibility Initiatives 2021. The Booklet is a compilation of innovative practices & accessibility initiatives for facilitating and empowering PwD electors.
  • Braille Language versions of recently launched initiatives like Voter Guide, Letter to the new voter, and a Song Booklet of 50 motivational songs on voter awareness.
  • Sign Language versions of two awareness videos of Voter helpline app and EVM-VVPAT
  • An evaluation study of Outcomes of SVEEP Activities and Facilities provided to PwDs in General Assembly Election 2018 & Lok Sabha Elections 2019 in Karnataka was also released by the Commission.
• Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh proposes Integrated Aroma Dairy Entrepreneurship for Jammu & Kashmir to augment the income of farmers.

• Jammu & Kashmir has abundant stock of Animal Husbandry and Dairy resources and suggested that the same can be effectively integrated with Aroma Mission which has already been launched in J&K by CSIR under the aegis of Union Ministry of Science & Technology.
• The Aroma Mission, also popularly referred as "Lavender or Purple Revolution", has started from J&K and transformed the lives of farmers who are able to grow lavender, make lucrative profit and improve their lives.
• Apart from providing planting material, distillation units are provided and farmers are trained in extraction and many of them have become entrepreneurs as lavender oil is quite sought after. Apart from Lavender, many high value Aromatic and Medicinal cash crops have been introduced by CSIR in J&K.It is now being expanded as Aroma Mission Phase II and also floriculture mission has been recently launched.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has put on hold funds to Afghanistan amid the rising uncertainty in the country.

• These developments came after IMF recently announced a 650 billion US Dollars Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation for member countries, but Afghanistan at the moment will not be allowed to access these funds.
• Moreover, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have also stopped loans and the Financial Action Task Force warned its 39 member nations to block Taliban assets.

International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations (UN) specialized agency, founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to secure international monetary cooperation, to stabilize currency exchange rates, and to expand international liquidity (access to hard currencies).

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

• Ammonium Nitrate (NH₄NO₃) is a nitrogen-rich white, crystalline chemical that is soluble in water.
• Uses:
  • It is a common chemical ingredient of agricultural fertilisers.
  • It is used as an ingredient for the production of anaesthetic gases and cold packs.
  • It is also the main ingredient in the manufacture of commercial explosives used in mining and construction.
  • As Explosive: It is the main component of the explosive composition known as ANFO- Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil.
    • Pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own. For Ammonium nitrate to be explosive, a primary explosive or detonator like RDX or TNT is required.
  • Hence, option A is correct.

• Recently, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, has developed a super-hydrophobic cotton composite with Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) that can clean-up marine oil-spill.
• It is a novel MOF composite, which is a highly porous and water-repellent material and can absorb oil selectively from an oil-water mixture.
  • This MOF composite has great capability for selective separation of the oils from oil/water mixtures and the separation efficiency lies between 95% and 98%, irrespective of the chemical composition and density of the oils.
  • It can also absorb large volumes of oils and can be reused for a minimum of 10 times so that the sorbents can provide more recovery of the spilled oil.
• It will clean-up the spilled oil from environmental water (river, sea or ocean water) during oil transportation with high efficiency and large absorption capacity, thus reducing environmental water pollution.
  • It is environmentally friendly and cost effective.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted for the first time in 50 years. The last time hot molten lava erupted and spread was in 1971.
• La Palma is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain.
  • It’s geography is a result of a volcanic formation and has an area of 708 square kilometres making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands.
• The Canary Islands are a group of ocean island volcanoes located off the coast of western Africa that have been formed by volcanic activity since around 20 million years ago.
  • It comprises the Spanish provinces of Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
• Hence, option B is correct.

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Officially launched in September 2016, Bihar’s Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal (tap water in every home) scheme has so far provided drinking water to 152.16 lakh tap connections.

• This is separate from the 8.44 lakh connections provided under the Central Government’s Jal Jeevan Mission and 2.32 lakh connections through the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.
• Essentially, Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal is a cluster of four state schemes under various categories that were launched to provide clean drinking water through taps in urban and rural homes. The common goal: easy access to clean drinking water with the larger aim of improving public health across the board.
• Under the scheme, drinking water is supplied for two hours each in the morning, afternoon and evening.
• And to implement this, work is allotted to contractors by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), and Panchayati Raj and Urban Development departments, through Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs).
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Assam will mark World Rhino Day — September 22 — with a special ceremony by burning a stockpile of nearly 2,500 horns of the one-horned rhinoceros.

• The public ceremony — scheduled at Bokakhat in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as the chief guest — has been publicised as a “milestone towards rhino conservation” aimed at “busting myths about rhino horns”.
• “It’s a loud and clear message to the poachers and smugglers that such items have no value,”
• However, in the illegal market such horns can fetch a high price. A Forest Department release said “ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac.” In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.
• Thus the case for the destruction of horns — a process that is in compliance with Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.
• India is a signatory to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna). Thus, it is illegal to sell the horns in the country anyway.

How serious a threat is poaching?

• Several cases of rhino poaching were reported in the years leading up to 2013 and 2014.
• These two years witnessed the highest number of incidents in a decade, at 27 in each year. This has since decreased to 17 in 2015, 18 in 2016, 6 each in 2017 and 2018, and 3 in 2019.
• In 2020-21, it has reduced a bit, with two-three rhinos being poached — still, it is a well-organised crime and we must not let our guard down.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.