Daily Current Affairs MCQ- April 23, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

There is concern about ACs not being environmentally friendly. Therefore, as an alternative to them, some cities in the US are considering using heat pumps that are considered to be more eco-friendly.

• The US Department of Energy notes that for climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air-conditioners.
• It says that much like a refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space to a wam space. This makes the cool place cooler and the warm place warmer.
• Therefore, a heat pump does not create any heat or cool air, but it merely shifts air.
• For instance, if a heat pump is being used inside a room to make it cool, it will absorb the heat in the room and will release it outdoors with the help of an outdoor compressor. In heating mode, the heat pump will absorb heat from outside and release it indoors.
• There are mainly two types of heat pumps depending on the type of medium they extract heat from. One type extracts heat from the ground and the other from air.
• A heat pump does not generate heat or cold air, therefore it does not use fuel.
• However, a heat pump works more or less like a refrigerator and does use some amount of electricity to run. Therefore, a heat pump cannot exactly be called a renewable technology.
• But compared to ACs, they fare much better when it comes to impacting the environment.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Central Reserve Police Force, CRPF has signed a MoU with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing C-DAC to train the manpower of the force in advanced technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, High-Performance Computing and Big Data Analytics.

• The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is the premier central police force of the Union of India for internal security.
• It functions under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India.

Timeline

• Originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, it is one of the oldest Central para military forces (now termed as Central Armed Police Force).
• CRPF was raised as a sequel to the political unrest and the agitations in the then princely States of India following the Madras Resolution of the All-India Congress Committee in 1936 and the ever-growing desire of the Crown Representative to help the vast majority of the native States to preserve law and order as a part of the imperial policy
• After Independence, the force was renamed as Central Reserve Police Force by an Act of Parliament on December 28, 1949. This Act constituted CRPF as an armed force of the Union.
• Shri V.G.Kanetkar was appointed as first DG, CRPF.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Commerce and Industry Minister congratulated Invest India, which has been awarded the world's most innovative Investment Promotion Agency 2021 by OCO Global.

• Invest India, set up in 2009, is a non-profit venture under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
• It is the national investment promotion and facilitation agency.
• Invest India focuses on sector-specific investor targeting and development of new partnerships to enable sustainable investments in India.
• In addition to a core team that focuses on sustainable investments, Invest India also partners with substantial investment promotion agencies and multilateral organizations.
• Invest India also actively works with several Indian states to build capacity as well as bring in global best practices in investment targeting, promotion and facilitation areas.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

A consignment of Geographical Identification (GI) certified Fazil mango variety sourced from Malda district of West Bengal was exported today to Bahrain.

• This shipment to Bahrain comes a few days after APEDA organized a mango promotion programme at Doha, Qatar where nine varieties of mangoes including GI certified from West Bengal & Uttar Pradesh were displayed at the stores of importer Family Food Centre.
• The nine varieties which were exported includes GI certified Khirsapati (Malda, West Bengal), Lakkhanbhog (Malda, West Bengal), Fazli (Malda, West Bengal), Dusshheri (Malihabad, Uttar Pradesh) and Amrapali and Chausa (Malda, West Bengal) and Langda (Nadiya, West Bengal).

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) celebrated the National Fish Farmers Day virtually.

• The National Fish Farmers day is observed every year to demonstrate solidarity with all fisher folk, fish farmers and concerned stakeholders throughout the Country.
• This annual event is celebrated to commemorate Professor Dr. Hiralal Chaudhury and his colleague Dr. Alikunhi for their contribution in achieving the successful induced breeding of major carps on 10th July,1957 at Angul in Odisha for the first time in the country.
• This pioneering work of induced breeding over the years has transformed the growth of aquaculture sector from traditional to intensive aquaculture practices and led to success of modern aquaculture industry.
• The day was also celebrated as NFDB Foundation Day.

Hence both statements are correct.

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has recently secured trademark registrations in three countries – Bhutan, UAE and Mexico – a big stride towards protecting the identity of brand “Khadi” globally.

• So far KVIC was having Trademark registrations for the word mark “KHADI” in 6 countries namely Germany, UK, Australia, Russia, China and EU where trademark registrations were granted in certain classes.
• However, with recent trademark registrations in Bhutan, UAE and Mexico, the number of such countries has gone up to nine.
• The development assumes great significance as there have been instances of some private local entities in countries like Mexico and Germany seeking trademark registration for brand name “Khadi” in their respective countries.
• In these countries, KVIC has got registrations in various classes that pertain to Khadi fabric, Khadi readymade garments and village industry products like Khadi soaps, Khadi cosmetics, Khadi incense sticks among others.
• Apart from these countries, KVIC’s trademark applications are pending in 40 countries across the world that include the USA, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Japan, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil and others.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Scientists at the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)-Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar have reported for the first time a reference-grade whole genome sequence of a highly salt-tolerantand salt-secreting true-mangrove species, Avicennia marina.

• Avicennia marina is one of the most prominent mangroves species found in all mangrove formations in India.
• It is a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater.
• It is among the rare plant species, which can excrete 40% of the salt through the salt glands in the leaves, besides its extraordinary capacity to exclude salt entry to the roots.
• The genomic resources generated in the study will pave the way for researchers to study the potential of the identified genes for developing drought and salinity tolerant varieties of important crop species of the coastal region.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

In the US, Republicans have been railing against ‘critical race theory’, with many state legislatures controlled by the party passing laws restricting how race can be taught in public schools.

• Critical race theory (CRT) is a body of legal scholarship and an academic movement of civil-rights scholars and activists in the United States.
• It seeks to critically examine U.S. law as it intersects with issues of race in the U.S. and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice. CRT examines social, cultural and legal issues primarily as they relate to race and racism in the United States.
• CRT originated in the mid-1970s in the writings of several American legal scholars. It emerged as a movement by the 1980s, reworking theories of critical legal studies (CLS) with more focus on race.

Features

• The basic tenets of CRT include that racism and disparate racial outcomes are the result of complex, changing and often subtle social and institutional dynamics rather than explicit and intentional prejudices on the part of individuals.
• CRT scholars also view race and white supremacy as an intersectional social construction which serves to uphold the interests of white people against those of marginalized communities at large.

Hence both statements are correct.

Since 1900, 127 countries have registered malaria elimination. In 2021, two countries El Salvador on February 25 and China on June 29 were declared malaria-free by the WHO.

• China followed some specific strategies, namely strong surveillance following the ‘1-3-7’system: malaria diagnosis within 1 day, 3 days for case investigation and by day 7 for public health responses.
• Molecular Malaria Surveillance for drug resistance and genome-based approaches to distinguish between indigenous and imported cases was conducted. All borders to the neighbouring countries were thoroughly screened to prevent the entry of unwanted malaria into the country.

Global Malaria Report 2020

• As per the Global Malaria Report 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019 an estimated 229 million malaria cases and 409,000 deaths in 87 malaria-endemic countries are recorded, with a large concentration of the total malaria burden (94%) in Africa.
• India shared 2% of the total global malaria cases in 2019.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Sikkim, the smallest State with less than 1% of India’s landmass, is home to 27% of all flowering plants found in the country, reveals a recent publication by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

• Flora of Sikkim – A Pictorial Guide, released earlier this week, lists 4,912 naturally occurring flowering plants in the tiny Himalayan State.
• The total number of naturally occurring flowering plants in the country is about 18,004 species, and with 4,912 species, the diversity of flowering plants in Sikkim, spread over an area of 7,096 sq. km, is very unique.
• The State, which is a part of the Kanchenjunga biosphere landscape, has different altitudinal ecosystems, which provide opportunity for herbs and trees to grow and thrive.
• The publication details 532 species of wild orchids (which is more than 40% of all orchid species found in India), 36 species of rhododendron and 20 species of oak, and more than 30 species of high-value medicinal plants, among other species.

Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules, 2017

• This notification states that “the State government shall allow any person to associate with trees standing on his or her private land or on any public land by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.”
• The notification encouraged people to adopt a tree “as if it was his or her own child in which case the tree shall be called an adopted tree”.

Hence both statements are correct.