Daily Current Affairs MCQ - February 27, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

Bloatware apps are being criticized for taking up the storage of the device unnecessarily and affecting the system’s battery life and overall performance.

• Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP), more popularly known as bloatware apps are needless programs that take a toll on your device’s performance.
• Device manufacturers introduced these bloatware apps to provide users with additional programs that they might want to use, while making money on the way. Gradually, these apps, rather than being helpful, end up being a headache for users.
• Generally, these apps that run in the background are hidden and locating them becomes a tough job for the users. It could be any software on your computer, phone or tablet that consumes a lot of resources like — memory, storage and battery life.

Different types of bloatwares found on devices

• There are three most common types of bloatwares that can be found on any device.
• Utilities: These types of bloatwares come from manufacturers and third-party developers and are usually pre-loaded on your device. These offer added functionality to your device.
• Trialware: Users can experience the app as most of them offer free trial modes in new devices. However, these programs keep on consuming your device’s resources, even after the trial period is over.
• Adware: These types of bloatware typically gets downloaded while downloading softwares from the internet.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that a joint team of scientists and engineers from DRDO and IIT Delhi successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link for a distance of over 100 km between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh.

• The technological breakthrough was achieved over the commercial-grade optical fibre already available in the field.
• This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.
• QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication, which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.
• The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, so only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving a very highly-secure communication.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A US patient has become the third person in the world, and the first woman, to be cured of HIV, the deadly virus that causes AIDS.

• The woman, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017, recovered after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to HIV.
• Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is an infection that attacks the immune system by destroying the body’s immune cells called CD4, which help it respond to infection.
• The umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or funiculus umbilicalis) is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. The umbilical vein supplies the fetus with oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the placenta.
• First, this was the first time an umbilical cord blood transplant was successfully carried out on an HIV patient.
• Second, the patient was a middle-aged mixed-race woman. This is significant since the majority of donors in the US are of Caucasian descent. Since this breakthrough treatment only requires partial matches and not exact matches, it opens up treatment options for people from diverse racial backgrounds.

Hence both statements are correct.

The World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’.

• The ‘Sustainable Cities India program’ intends to enable cities to decarbonize in a systematic and sustainable way that will reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems.
• The Forum and NIUA will adapt the Forum’s City Sprint process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonization in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years.
• The City Sprint process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops involving business, government, and civil society leaders to enable decarbonization, especially through clean electrification and circularity.
• As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, densely populated countries that are highly dependent on agriculture, such as India, are especially vulnerable to climate insecurity. Decarbonization in cities is a real opportunity to keep global warming well below 2°C and cities in India can make an enormous contribution in reaching this goal.
• The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities’ mission is to create an enabling environment for clean electrification and circularity, resulting in urban decarbonization and resilience.
• Established in 1976, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is India’s leading national think tank on urban planning and development.

Hence both statements are correct.

• Carbon sequestration is the long-term storage of carbon in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean. It occurs both naturally and as a result of anthropogenic activities and typically refers to the storage of carbon. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Types:
  • Terrestrial Carbon Sequestration:
    • Terrestrial carbon sequestration is the process through which CO2 from the atmosphere is absorbed by trees and plants through photosynthesis and stored as carbon in soils and biomass (tree trunks, branches, foliage, and roots)
  • Geologic Carbon Sequestration:
    • CO₂ can be stored, including oil reservoirs, gas reservoirs, unmineable coal seams, saline formations and shale formations with high organic content.
  • Ocean Carbon Sequestration:
    • Oceans absorb, release and store large amounts of CO₂ from the atmosphere. This can be done in two ways- enhancing productivity of ocean biological systems through Iron fertilization, and injecting CO₂ into the deep ocean.
    • The dumping of iron stimulates phytoplankton production, which in turn leads to enhanced photosynthesis from these microorganisms, helping in CO₂ absorption. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

State of Children in India

• National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) Findings: The recent NFHS 5 survey has revealed a mixed picture on child health and nutrition.
• On one hand there are definite positives like reduction in child mortality rates, improvements in the levels of nutrition indicators like stunting and wasting etc. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• On the other hand, incidents of anaemia among children have gone up from 58.6% in NFHS 4 to an alarming level of 67.1% in this round, leading experts to point out that more efforts are needed for meeting the 2030 SDG targets. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Ahom Kingdom

• Chaolung Sukapha was a 13^th century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. The Ahoms ruled the land till the province was annexed to British India in 1826 with the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• Political Setup:
  • Ahoms created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans (landlords).
  • The Ahom state depended upon forced labour. Those forced to work for the state were called paiks. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Society:
  • Ahom society was divided into clans or khels. A khel often controlled several villages.
  • Ahoms worshipped their own tribal gods, yet they accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
    • However, the Ahom kings did not completely give up their traditional beliefs after adopting Hinduism.

India confirmed a $400 million currency swap with Sri Lanka while deferring another $500 million due for settlement to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), in a move aimed at helping the island nation witnessing an unprecedented economic crisis.

• India’s assistance follows a request from Sri Lanka during Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi in December, for emergency financial assistance, including Lines of Credit for importing essentials and a currency swap to boost Sri Lanka’s draining foreign reserves.
• Sri Lanka is facing a severe dollar crunch that economists say might lead to a default on external debt and create a food shortage in the imports-reliant nation.
• Colombo must service over $7 billion outstanding debt in 2022, including bond repayments of $500 million in January and $1 billion in July.
• In July 2020, the RBI extended a similar swap facility — of $400 million — to help Sri Lanka cope with the impact of the first wave of the pandemic, and later provided a three-month roll over until February 2021, when the Central Bank of Sri Lanka settled it.
• The recent announcement on RBI assistance includes deferring the payment of $500 that Sri Lanka owes to the ACU, a regional initiative with the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
• Significantly, India’s confirmation of the swap comes a week after the two countries signed a long-pending agreement on jointly developing the strategically located Trincomalee oil tank farm along the north-eastern coast of the island.

Hence both statements are correct.

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country.

• The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country.
• As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km.
• Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest. Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km).
• Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).
• 17 states/UT’s have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 percent forest cover.
• Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km. An increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2019. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Odisha (8 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).
• Total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes and there an increase of 79.4 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2019. The annual increase in the carbon stock is 39.7 million tonnes.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia discussed the ongoing situation in Ukraine and its implications for security in Europe.

• The talks happened at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) which took place at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.
• NRC is a forum for consultation with Russia on security issues and cooperation.
• NATO was founded in 1949, and is meant to ensure collective protection for its members — the United States, Canada, and American allies in Europe — against the threat of possible post-War communist expansion and aggression by the Soviet Union.
• The Soviet Union too, formed its own defence and political alliance with Eastern European nations as a counterbalance to NATO — the Warsaw Pact that was signed in 1955. This alliance was disbanded after the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991.
• Since April 2014, practical civil and military cooperation under the NRC with Russia has been suspended.
• This happened in response to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which NATO allies do not recognise and have referred to as “illegal” and “illegitimate”.
• This was the first time since WWII that a European nation had annexed territory from another country. The region that Russia annexed in 2014 is now under Russian-backed separatists and even today fighting continues there.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.