Daily Current Affairs MCQ- August 8, 2022 - UPSC MCQ

The Central government has extended the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) for students from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for another five years in the wake of the encouraging response it has received.

The Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) was introduced by the Central government

Objective:

• To promote employment opportunities for students from J&K and Ladakh.
• Under the scheme, funding is provided to 5,000 meritorious students each year to study in private and government educational institutions across the country.
• The scheme offers 4,500 seats for general education courses (Bachelor’s in Arts, Commerce and Science), and 250 each for engineering and medical degrees.
• Budget: Rs 180-190 crore annually.
• Implementing Agency: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Union Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated North India’s First Biotech Park at Ghatti, Kathua district, J&K.

• This biotech park will carry out research on biodiversity, medicinal and aromatic plants of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and it will also promote green category businesses.
• The biotechnology park at Kathua has a potential to produce 25 startups in a year which will be among its great contributions to this region.
• The work on the two Industrial Biotech Parks, one at Ghatti, Kathua, Jammu and other in Handwara, Kashmir jointly funded by department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, Ministry of Science & Technology and Jammu & Kashmir Science, Technology & Innovation Council was started in February 2019.
• CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, (CSIR-IIIM) Jammu has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of this project.

Hence both statements are correct.

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog organised 'National Outreach Meet' for the second edition of the Atal New India Challenge (ANIC) at International Centre Goa, hosted by AIC-GIM Foundation.

• ANIC is a flagship program of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
• The program aims to seek, select, support and nurture technology-based innovations that solve sectoral challenges of national importance and societal relevance.
• Each ANIC winner will be eligible for a funding of up to INR 1 crore.
• The sectors in which ANIC 2.0 launched the challenges include E-mobility, Road Transportation, Space Technology and Application, Sanitation, Medical Devices and Equipment, Waste Management and Agriculture.
• The first edition of the ANIC program received more than 1000 applications for 24 challenges and is currently supporting 30+ startups through grants, partnerships, networking, tech support, mentorship, infrastructure and access to investors.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Senior IAS officers Sanjeev Khirwar and his wife Rinku Dugga were transferred from their posts in Delhi to two different places, after a picture of the couple was published along with their dog walking on the tracks of Thyagraj Stadium at a time when young athletes should have been practising on it.

• The three All India Services (IAS, IPS, Indian Forest Service) are governed by the All India Service Conduct Rules, 1968.
• There are 23 Rules in all, which have been amended 37 times since they were first notified.
• The other civil services are governed by the Central Civil Services (CCS) Conduct Rules, 1964, which comprise 25 Rules which have seen 44 amendments so far.
• The overarching Rule for civil servants is: “Every member of the Service shall at all times maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty and shall do nothing which is unbecoming of a member of the Service".

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

The Union government has extended a scholarship scheme from the United Progressive Alliance era for students from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh for another five years in the wake of the encouraging response it has received.

• The Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) was introduced by the Congress-led UPA government in 2011 to provide funding to 5,000 meritorious students each year to study in private and government educational institutions across the country.
• Aimed at promoting employment opportunities for students from J&K and Ladakh, the scheme, with an annual budget of ₹180 crore to ₹190 crore, is implemented by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
• The term of the scheme was due to end last year, but the Central government decided to extend it for another five years for the benefit of students.
• The scheme offers 4,500 seats for general education courses (Bachelor’s in Arts, Commerce and Science), and 250 each for engineering and medical degrees.
• While the scholarship offered for general education courses is ₹1.3 lakh, including a ₹1 lakh maintenance fee to cover hostel and mess charges, it is ₹2.25 lakh for engineering and ₹4 lakh for medical degrees.

Hence both statements are correct.

Posing a challenge for urban planners, UN-Habitat has identified multi-hazard vulnerabilities, urban sprawl, weak urban mobility and “green-blue disconnect” as the pressing issues for Jaipur city.

• The global body has based its findings on a sustainable cities integrated approach pilot project, as part of which the “sustainable urban planning and management” component was implemented in collaboration with the Jaipur Development Authority and Jaipur Greater Municipal Corporation.
• Jaipur has received an overall sustainability rating of three on the Urban Sustainability Assessment Framework (USAF) on the basis of data collected for 87 of its 131 parameters.
• Experts have identified urban sectors where the city needs to pay maximum attention, and made recommendations to increase its green cover, strengthen urban biodiversity, and enhance the quality of life for citizens.
• The project has received funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF-6) to estimate the carbon sequestration potential of Indian cities.
• Mitigating urban sprawl remains a major challenge in the State capital, with the UN body emphasising the concept of a compact city with re-development and re-densification of the existing urban areas.
• As an indirect measure to curb development on the city’s outskirts, linking the distance from the main city to the development charges imposed on citizens could be considered.

Hence both statements are correct.

India would see the highest decline in South Asia due to learning losses for the young.

This has been highlighted by a new working paper published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

• ADB (founded in 1966) is an international development finance institution.
• Its mission is to help its developing member countries reduce poverty and improve the quality of life of their people.
• Headquartered in Manila, ADB is owned and financed by its 68 members, of which 49 are from the region and 19 are from other parts of the globe.
• The two largest shareholders of the Asian Development Bank are the United States and Japan.
• ADB is an official United Nations Observer.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A new species of old world monkey recorded from Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a strategic mountain pass at 13,700 ft above sea level.

• Sela macaque (Macaca selai), the new-to-science primate was identified and analysed by a team of experts from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Calcutta.
• Their study has been published in the latest edition of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Phylogenetics relate to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms.
• The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Sela macaque was geographically separated from the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of Tawang district by Sela.
• This mountain pass acted as a barrier by restricting the migration of individuals of these two species for approximately two million years, the study said.
• Sela is situated between Dirang and Tawang towns in western Arunachal Pradesh.
• The study says the Sela macaque has a tail longer than the Tibetan macaque, Assamese macaque, Arunachal macaque and the white-cheeked macaque but shorter than the bonnet macaque and toque macaque.
• Sela macaque belongs to the sinica species-group of Macaca, but it differs from all other members of thisgroup through attributes such as brown collar hair and muzzle, and the absence of chin whiskers, the study says.

Hence both statements are correct.

The National Facility for Gene Function in Health and Disease (NFGFHD) was inaugurated in Pune by Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education.

• The NFGFHD has been set up at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. It has been built by IISER Pune and supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• This will be one-of-its-kind large facilities providing timely supply of animal models to researchers studying a range of diseases from cancer to diabetes.
• Rats, mice and rabbits will be housed here, doing away with the need to import them.
• Why it is needed? With a growing zoonotic disease burden on human health, there is an increased urgency to perform disease studies based on physiological evidence and methods.
• The facility houses molecular biology laboratories and mico-injection setups to generate mouse models, in which scientists will knock out existing genes and replace them with external or artificial genes that are linked to the disease under study. This is done through CRISPR / Cas9 systems.

Hence both statements are correct.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's biggest Drone Festival - Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022. The Prime Minister also gave away 150 drone pilot certificates.

• Several industry leaders, government officials, foreign diplomats, representatives from Public Sector Units, private companies and drone start-ups are participating in the Mahotsav. They will deliberate upon India’s Civil Aviation sector.
• PM Modi highlighted the importance of drone technology in the fields of defence, disaster management, agriculture, tourism, film and entertainment. He said that the use of this technology is bound to increase in the coming days.
• Appreciating the use of drones in PM-SVAMITVA scheme, he said, 65 lakh property cards have been generated with the help of drones.
• Drone industry in India is estimated to achieve 15 thousand crore rupees turnover by the year 2026. He also narrated the use of drones in his official decision making through examples of PRAGATI reviews and Kedarnath projects.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.