Daily Current Affairs MCQ - October 7, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released the Multilingual Dementia Research and Assessment (MUDRA) Toolbox in five Indian languages - Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

• MUDRA Toolbox is a comprehensive tool specifically to diagnose dementia in the Indian population.
• ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said that the toolbox includes various cognitive tests to assess different domains of cognition such as attention and executive function, memory, language, and visuospatial functions.
• It is a unique tool consisting of various tests and questionnaires and is sensitive to the factors that affect performance on cognitive tests including education, language and culture.
• MUDRA Toolbox is an initiative undertaken by ICMR Neuro-Cognitive Tool Box (ICMR -NCTB) consortium to transform India's dementia and mild cognitive impairment research and clinical practices.
• It is a collective effort by seven leading centres in India NIMHANS (Bengaluru), AIIMS (New Delhi), SCTIMST (Thiruvananthapuram), NIMS (Hyderabad), Apollo Hospital (Kolkata), Manipal Hospital (Bengaluru) and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College.
• Hence both statements are correct.

In a historic move, the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed the first anti-malarial vaccine.

• The WHO said that it was recommending the use of the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among children in sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high P. falciparum malaria transmission.
• The WHO’s recommendation was based on the results from an ongoing pilot programme in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.
• The development comes at a time when the WHO and its partners have reported a stagnation in the progress against the disease that kills more than 2,60,000 African children under the age of five annually.
• Malaria remains a primary cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The vaccine does significantly reduce life-threatening severed malaria, but It’s not the only tool. Vaccination against #malaria does not replace or reduce the need for other measures, including bed nets against mosquitoes.
• Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

To position India strongly on the Global textiles map, the Government of India has approved the setting up of 7 PM MITRA parks as announced in Union Budget for 2021-22.

• PM MITRA is inspired by the 5F vision of Prime Minister Modi. The '5F' Formula encompasses - Farm to fibre; fibre to factory; factory to fashion; fashion to foreign.
• The 7 Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (PM MITRA) will be setup at Greenfield / Brownfield sites located in different willing States.

The PM MITRA parks will have following:

• Core Infrastructure: Incubation Centre & Plug & Play facility, Developed Factory Sites, Roads, Power, Water and Waste Water system, Common Processing House & CETP and other related facilities e.g. Design Centre, Testing Centres etc.
• Support Infrastructure: Workers’ hostels & housing, logistics park, warehousing, medical, training & skill development facilities
• Hence all statements are correct.

The two day Online Meeting of 30 range countries of Central Asian Flyway began with a resolve to strengthen the conservation actions for migratory birds and their habitats in the Central Asian Flyway.

• Central Asian Flyway (CAF) covers a large area of Eurasia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans.
• This flyway comprises several important migration routes of birds.
• Including India, there are 30 countries under the Central Asian Flyway.
• At the 13th meeting of the Conference of Parties (CoP) to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), held at Gandhinagar in February, 2020, a resolution (UNEP/CMS/Resolution 12.11 (Rev.COP13) and Decision 13.46 were adopted initer-alia providing for establishing, by COP14, under the umbrella of CMS an institutional framework, under the leadership of India with the aim to agree on conservation action for migratory birds.
• With a view to fulfill its commitment, India is organizing two day online meeting on 6th -7th October 2021 with CAF Range Countries, anchored in Wildlife Institute of India.
• Approximately one in five of the world's 11,000 bird species migrate, some covering enormous distances. Conserving migratory birds requires cooperation and coordination along the entire flyway between countries and across national boundaries.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the occasion of Mahalaya.

• Mahalaya marks the beginning of the Devipaksha and the end of the Pitrupaksha according to Hindu calendar. Pitru Paksha is a 16-lunar day period when Hindus pay homage to their ancestors through shradh prayers and food offerings.
• In Bengal, Mahalaya marks the beginning of Durga Puja festivities. Mahalaya is the day when the goddess Durga is believed to have descended to Earth.
• Bengali people traditionally wake up early in the morning on Mahalaya to recite hymns from the Devi Mahatmya (Chandi) scripture. Offerings to the ancestors are made in homes and at puja mandaps (temporary shrines).
• Hence both statements are correct.

• According to India State of Forest Report, 2019, the Total Forest and Tree cover is 24.56% of the geographical area of the country.
  • Forest Cover (Area-wise): Madhya Pradesh> Arunachal Pradesh> Chhattisgarh> Odisha> Maharashtra.
  • National Forest Policy of India, 1988 envisages a goal of achieving 33% of the geographical area of the country under forest and tree cover.
• Through the 42^nd Amendment Act, 1976 Forests and Protection of Wild Animals and Birds were transferred from State to Concurrent List along with Education, Weights & Measures and Administration of Justice. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • Article 51 A (g) of the Constitution states that it shall be the Fundamental Duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests and Wildlife. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • Article 48 A in the Directive Principles of State policy, mandates that the State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.

• RTS,S/AS01, trade name Mosquirix, is an injectable vaccine targeting P. falciparum, the most prevalent malaria strain in Africa. It is the first and only vaccine to show partial protection in young children. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It was developed by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 1987.
• The active substance in Mosquirix is made up of proteins found on the surface of the Plasmodium falciparum parasites (PFP).
  • RTS,S aims to trigger the immune system to defend against the first stages of malaria when the PFP enters the human host’s bloodstream through a mosquito bite and infects liver cells.
• It also helps protect against infection of the liver with the Hepatitis B virus. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The vaccine's effectiveness at preventing severe cases of malaria in children is only around 30%, but it is the only approved vaccine. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.
  • The European Union's drugs regulator approved it in 2015, saying its benefits outweighed the risks.
• Its side effects are rare, but sometimes include a fever that may result in temporary convulsions.

• On the Occasion of the World Teachers’ Day (5th October), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its 2021 State of the Education Report (SOER) for India: “No Teacher, No Class”. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Findings of the Report:
  • Lack of Teachers: There are nearly 1.2 lakh single-teacher schools in the country of which an overwhelming 89% are in rural areas.
    • The report projects that India needs 11.16 lakh additional teachers to meet the current shortfall.
  • Performance of States (Women Teachers): Tripura has the least number of women teachers, followed by Assam, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
    • Chandigarh leads the chart followed by Goa, Delhi, Kerala.
  • Increase in Number of Teachers in Private Sector: The proportion of teachers employed in the private sector grew from 21% in 2013-14 to 35% in 2018-19. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
    • The Right to Education Act stipulates that the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) should be 30:1 in classes 1-5 and 35:1 in higher grades.

The Union Cabinet approved the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days' wages for the financial year 2020-21 for all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel).

• About 11.56 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees are likely to benefit from the decision. Payment of PLB to eligible railway employees is made each year before the Dusshera/ Puja holidays. The decision of the Cabinet shall be implemented before the holidays for this year as well.
• Railways were the first departmental undertaking of the Government of India wherein the concept of PLB was introduced in the year 1979-80.
• The PLB Scheme for the Railways came into force from the year 1979-80 and was evolved in consultation with the two recognized Federations namely, All India Railwaymen's Federation and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen and with the approval of the Cabinet. The scheme envisages a review every three years.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Union Minister of Science & Technology Jitendra Singh today said that the Government will be setting up 75 Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Hubs in different parts of the country, exclusively for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

• This will not only promote scientific talent but also contribute to socio-economic development of these communities.
• Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Hubs being established by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will develop, nurture and ensure the delivery of appropriate and relevant technologies for inclusive socio-economic development through creation of sustainable livelihoods for the SC and ST population in tune to their growing aspirations.
• The training and skill development programmes under the STI Hubs will build the Science Technology and Innovation (STI) Capacities and Capabilities among SC/ST population.
• The STI Hubs also improve the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) through inputs of S&T and converting them to appropriate technologies for creating better livelihood options, he added.
• In the last two years, 20 STI Hubs (13 for SCs and 7 for STs) have already been established by DST which will directly benefit 20,000 SC and ST population through various interventions spreading across farm, non-farm, other allied livelihood sectors and various livelihoods assets like energy, water, health, education, etc.

STI hubs will have mainly three-fold objectives:

1. To address the weakest linkages in the predominant livelihood systems through Science & Technology (S&T) interventions;
2. Creation of social enterprises based on the strengths in livelihood systems; and
3. To improve the Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) through inputs of S&T for strengthening the livelihoods.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.