Daily Current Affairs MCQ - November 15, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

46 cadres of the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA), along with Commander-in-Chief Mushrang, laid down arms in Assam’s Dima Hasao district to join the mainstream.

• A relatively new insurgent group, the DNLA, operating in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong districts, was formed in 2019.
• A release by the group at the time of formation said it was “committed to revamp the national struggle and fight for the liberation of a sovereign, independent Dimasa Nation”.
• The Dimasas (or Dimasa-Kacharis) are the earliest known rulers and settlers of Assam, and now live in Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong, Cachar, Hojai and Nagaon districts of central and southern Assam, as well as parts of Nagaland.
• Prior to Ahom rule, the powerful Dimasa kings — believed to be the descendants of the rulers of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom — ruled large parts of Assam along the south bank of the Brahmaputra between the 13th and 16th centuries.
• Their earliest historically known capital was Dimapur (now in Nagaland), and later Maibang in North Cachar Hills.
• The hill districts of Assam — Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao (earlier North Cachar Hills) — have had a long history of insurgency by Karbi and Dimasa groups which peaked in the mid-1990s, and was rooted in a core demand of statehood. Both districts are now protected under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and are run by the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, respectively.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred the 1st instalment of PMAY-G to more than 1.47 lakh beneficiaries of Tripura.

• More than Rs 700 crore were credited directly to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries on the occasion.
• Taking in to account unique geo-climatic condition of Tripura, the definition of ‘kuccha’ house has been changed specifically for the state, which has enabled such a large number of beneficiaries living in ‘kutcha’ houses to get assistance to construct a ‘pucca’ house.

The PMAY-G was established with the goal of providing pucca houses to all homeless poor people in rural areas. The cost of unit assistance is to be shared between Central and State Governments in the ratio 60:40 in plain areas and 90:10 for North Eastern and hilly states.

Hence both statements are correct.

Five new Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) will be set up on the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal to ensure better connectivity and security.

• The decision was taken during the high-level meeting of the Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla with senior officials of West Bengal government in Kolkata, said the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI).
• In total 7 ICPs will be set up in West Bengal which will strengthen border security and boost trade with India’s neighbouring countries. These include 5 ICPs on the Indo-Bangladesh border and one ICP each on borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
• The five ICPs on the Indo-Bangladesh borders will be set up at Changrabandha in Cooch Behar, Phulbari in Jalpaiguri, Hilli in South Dinajpur, Mahadipur in Malda and Gojadanga in North 24-Parganas.
• One ICP will be set up at Panitanki in Darjeeling district bordering Nepal and another at Jaigaon in Alipurduar bordering Bhutan.
• Hence both statements are correct.

The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru has developed an indigenous, medium class multi-copter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or Drone that can transport essential supplies to remote locations during exigencies.

• This Octacopter with eight propellers has advanced flight instrumentation systems, on board embedded computers, and latest generation sensors for versatile applications like agricultural pesticide spraying, crop monitoring, mining survey, magnetic Geo survey mapping among others.
• The drone was successfully used in Bengaluru to deliver 50 vials of Covid 19 vaccines along with syringes in a special container from Chandapura Primary Health Centre to Haragadde Primary Health Centre.
• This drone can carry a payload of 15 kgs with a hovering endurance of 40 minutes and can fly at an operational altitude of 500 meters above the ground level.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

President Ram Nath Kovind promulgated two Ordinances to extend the tenure of Directors of probe agencies Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) up to five years.

• The Ordinances are, the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance 2021.
• As per the ordinances, the Chiefs of the top agencies can be given extensions, every year for up to three years after they complete the two-year term.
• The ordinances said, no such extension will be granted after the completion of a period of five years in total including the period mentioned in the initial appointment.
• The present tenure of the Chiefs of the Central Agencies is two years.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

• Kamo’oalewa was discovered in 2016 (through the PanSTARRS telescope in Hawaii),
  • It is a word that is part of a Hawaiian chant, and alludes to an offspring that travels on its own.
  • It is one of Earth’s quasi-satellites, a space rock that orbits the Sun, but remains relatively close to the planet – in this case about 9 million miles away.
  • The asteroid is roughly the size of a Ferris wheel – between 150 and 190 feet in diameter.
  • Because of its small size (about 50 metres wide), this quasi-satellite has been difficult for scientists to study, and little was known about it so far.
• Hence, option D is correct.

• Recently, the Prime Minister has launched the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme by amalgamating three ombudsman schemes of RBI - banking ombudsman scheme of 2006, ombudsman scheme for NBFCs of 2018 and ombudsman scheme of digital transactions of 2019.
• The unified ombudsman scheme will provide redress of customer complaints involving deficiency in services rendered by RBI regulated entities viz. banks, NBFCs (Non banking Financial Companies) and pre-paid instrument players if the grievance is not resolved to the satisfaction of the customers or not replied within a period of 30 days by the regulated entity. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • It also includes non-scheduled primary co-operative banks with a deposit size of Rs 50 crore and above. The integrated scheme makes it a “One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach and jurisdiction neutral. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• The Scheme defines ‘deficiency in service’ as the ground for filing a complaint, with a specified list of exclusions.
  • Therefore, the complaints would no longer be rejected simply on account of “not covered under the grounds listed in the scheme”.
  • The scheme is jurisdiction neutral and a centralised receipt and processing centre has been set-up in Chandigarh for initial handling of complaints in any language.
• RBI’s Executive Director-in charge of Consumer Education and Protection Department would be the Appellate Authority under the integrated scheme. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• Recently, Arunachal Pradesh has approved the large, brightly coloured Kaiser-i-Hind as the State butterfly. Kaiser-i-Hind literally means Emperor of India.
• It is one of the very rare and elusive swallowtail butterflies which are found at medium and higher elevations.
  • It flies high in the canopy of broad leaved temperate evergreen forests found in the Eastern and Western Himalayas.
• This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in (West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam, Sikkim and Manipur) along the Eastern Himalayas.
  • The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
• Hence, option B is correct.

Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying Parshottam Rupala will launch a Nationwide AHDF KCC Campaign in hybrid mode.

• The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in association with the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Financial Services is going to organize this Nationwide Campaign from tomorrow till 15th February 2022.
• Under this Campaign, the target for the Department is to cover all eligible farmers who are involved in various Animal Husbandry activities like rearing of bovines, goats, pigs, poultry, and other allied activities.
• The campaign will attempt to saturate all eligible dairy farmers associated with milk unions or MPCs who have not yet been covered in the earlier campaign.
• Hence both statements are correct.

An elusive swallowtail butterfly carrying ‘India’ in its name and found in next-door China will become the State butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.

• The State Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Pema Khandu approved the large, brightly coloured Kaiser-i-Hind as the State butterfly. The Cabinet meeting was for the first time held outside State capital Itanagar at an unusual location — Pakke Tiger Reserve.
• The Cabinet also adopted the Pakke Tiger Reserve 2047 declaration on climate change-resilient and responsive Arunachal Pradesh aimed at lowering emissions and sustainable development.
• Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis) literally means Emperor of India. This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in six States along the eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in well-wooded terrain.
• The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
• Although the Kaiser-i-Hind is protected under Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, it is hunted for supply to butterfly collectors.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.