Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 3, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Ministry of Defence recently announced that it has signed a contract with the Hyderabad-based public-sector Bharat Dynamics Ltd. for supply of the Astra Mark-1, air-to-air missile.

• The Astra Mk-1 is a beyond visual range (BVR), air-to-air missile (AAM).
• BVM missiles are capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles or 37 kilometres.
• AAMs are fired from an airborne asset to destroy an airborne target.
• Astra project was officially launched in the early 2000s and around 2017, the development phase of Mk-1 version was complete.
• The missile is fully integrated on the Sukhoi 30 MKI I and will be integrated with other fighter aircraft in a phased manner, including Tejas and the Mig-29K of the Navy.
• Designed and developed by: Defence Research and Development Organisation
• Range: 110 Km.
• Speed: In excess of Mach 4.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

During his recent visit to Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially inaugurated the country’s first liquid nano urea plant at Kalol.

• Urea is a chemical nitrogen fertiliser, white in colour, which artificially provides nitrogen, a major nutrient required by plants.
• Liquid nano urea is essentially urea in the form of a nanoparticle.
• The product has been developed at IFFCO’s Nano Biotechnology Research Centre (NBRC) at Kalol.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Astronomers now have an explanation for why Neptune and Uranus appear in different colours.

• Neptune and Uranus have much in common — they have similar masses, sizes, and atmospheric compositions — yet their appearances are in different shades of blue.
• At visible wavelengths, Neptune is a rich, deep azure hue, while Uranus is a distinctly pale shade of cyan.
• The reason is that the haze around Uranus is thicker than that around Neptune.
• Uranus’s stagnant, sluggish atmosphere makes it appear a lighter tone than Neptune.
• If there was no haze in the atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus, both would appear almost equally blue as a result of blue light being scattered in their atmospheres,

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, (HAL) will convert six Boeing-767 civilian aircraft into mid-air refuellers for the Indian Air Force (IAF), for which it had entered into an agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) in April.

• The IAI has expertise in undertaking such conversion. The overall process is expected to take at least three or four years. The IAF has been looking to procure mid-air refuellers for some time.
• Mid-air refuelling significantly enhances the range and payload of fighter jets.
• It also allows aircraft to stay in the air much beyond their normal limits allowing better exploitation of the platform’s capabilities.

Hence both statements are correct.

• The Urban Sustainability Assessment Framework (USAF) developed under the Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SCIAP) project. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It is being Implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UN-Habitat.
• The Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot (SCIAP) project has received funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF-6) to estimate the carbon sequestration potential of Indian cities. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Goa Liberation Day commemorates the annexation of Portuguese-ruled Goa by Indian military forces. On this day, India was also fully free of European rule. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:
  • Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• The Astra Mk-1 is a Beyond Visual Range (BVR), Air-to-Air Missile (AAM). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • BVR missiles are capable of engaging beyond the range of 20 nautical miles or 37 kilometers.
• AAMs are fired from an airborne asset to destroy an airborne target.
• The range for Astra Mk-1 is around 110 km. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• The missile has been designed based on requirements specified by the Indian Air Force (IAF) for BVR as well as close-combat engagement, reducing the dependency on foreign sources.
• The missile can travel at speeds more than four times that of sound and can reach a maximum altitude of 20 km, making it extremely flexible for air combat.
• Designed and developed by: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• The Wildlife Institute of India had prepared a Rs 260-crore cheetah reintroduction project seven years ago.
• This could be the world’s first inter-continental cheetah translocation project.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in the 19^th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) released an “Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India”. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has decided to bring 50 African Cheetah from Namibia within the next 5 years. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The West Nile Virus is a flavivirus related to the viruses that are also responsible for causing St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, and yellow fever.
  • It is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus (not DNA virus). Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• In 80% of the infected people, the disease is asymptomatic. In the rest of the 20% cases, West Nile fever or severe WNV is observed with symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, rash, and swollen glands.
• Severe infection may even cause neurological diseases like West Nile encephalitis or meningitis or West Nile poliomyelitis or acute flaccid paralysis.
  • As of now, no treatment/vaccine for WNV is available. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• Avulsion refers to the phenomenon of change in the course of river flow causing the abandonment of the old established river channel and formation of a new channel.
  • Rivers lining tropical and desert regions are more prone to avulsions. Hence, 1 statement is not correct.
• Avulsions occur less frequently, only once a decade or century, or even less. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The rare occurrence of avulsions makes them less discussed despite their catastrophic effects as compared to more frequent extreme weather events and the continuous effect of sea-level rise.