Daily Current Affairs MCQ- January 18, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has recently discovered two 1200-year-old miniature votive stupas during landscaping activities near Sarai Tila mound on the premises of ‘Nalanda Mahavihara’, a world heritage site in Nalanda district.

• These are forms of the stupas, with their distinctive domelike drum, originating in eight cylindrical structures in which the Buddha's relics were placed after his death.
• The stupa shape has become associated with the Buddhist goal of release from the cycles of suffering and rebirth.
• In addition to the drum, this stupa has a tiered base and is crowned with a series of stylized umbrellas that symbolize royalty and divine status.
• The larger ones at Bodhgaya were probably given by visiting kings, while smaller stupas such as this one were offered by monks and lay pilgrims.
•  Beginning in the 7th century CE in India, small miniature terracotta stupas became popular as votive offerings.

What is a stupa?

• It is a Buddhist commemorative monument usually housing sacred relics associated with the Buddha or other saintly persons.

Hence both statements are correct.

The first G20 Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under G20 India Presidency will take place in Pune, Maharashtra on 16th -17th January 2023.

• The meeting will be joined by the IWG member countries, guest countries and international organizations.
• The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Government of India will host the two-day IWG meetings, along with Australia and Brazil as the co-chairs.
• The first IWG meeting in Pune would be attended by 65 delegates across the G20 membership, invitee countries and International Organizations.
• Theme: Financing Cities of Tomorrow: Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable.
• The theme will focus on various facets of making cities economic centres of growth, financing urban infrastructure, building future-ready urban infrastructure, directing fiscal investments for unlocking private financing for energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable infrastructure and mitigating social imbalances.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, The Central Government decided to give an additional ₹2,000 crore to States under the Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme to incentivise them to scrap old vehicles and also provide tax concessions to individuals for it.

About Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment Scheme

• Under this Scheme, financial assistance is provided to the States Governments in the form of a 50-year interest free loan for capital investment projects.
• To avail the benefit for investments made this fiscal, states will have to submit details like name of the project, capital outlay, completion period and its economic justification to the expenditure department of the Union finance ministry.
• The loan provided under the scheme will be over and above the normal borrowing ceiling allowed to the States.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

During the Education ministers session of ‘Voice of Global South’ summit held recently, Indian Union minister of Education talks about establishing a National Digital University, which will transform access to higher education drastically reducing all direct and opportunity costs.

About National Digital University(NDU):

• What is it? The Central Government in its Budget 2022-23 announced the establishment of a digital university that provides access to students for world-class quality universal education with personalized learning experiences at their doorsteps.
• Structure of NDU:
• The institution will function under a hub-and-spoke model, which is where one product is delivered to various stakeholders from a central location.
• The digital content for various courses will be hosted on the Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) platform.
• The IT and administrative services will be provided through the government's Samarth portal.
• Facilities offered:
• The university will offer exclusively online courses from its partner institutes, which could be both private and public universities, so far as they follow the NDU’s model.
• The students can opt for certificate, diploma, or degree courses.
• NDU will allow students to pursue multiple courses at a time from the various partner institutes of NDU.
• Students will be able to register for programmes of individual universities through this Digital University.
• NDU aims to give students the liberty to design their own courses.

Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 3 is not correct.

For the first time, the Army Day parade, which used to take place in Delhi, was moved out of the national capital and took place in Bengaluru at Parade Ground, MEG & Centre.

About Indian Army Day:

• India celebrates Army Day on January 15 every year to commemorate the achievements of the first Indian Commander in Chief of the Indian Army — General (later Field Marshal) K.M. Cariappa.
• The Army Day is celebrated every year to honor Cariappa and the defence forces.
• Until last year, the main Army Day parade was held at the Cariappa Parade ground in Delhi where Service Chiefs paid homage to the Indian Army.
• The Army Day Parade showcases the evolution of various weapon systems held in the Indian Army’s inventory.
• Soldiers are also awarded with Gallantry awards and Sena medals on the day.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently 4 snow leopards were spotted in a rare sighting in Himachal Pradesh.

• It is found in the mountainous regions of central and southern Asia.
• In India, it is seen in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The Hemis National Park has a good presence of Snow Leopard.
• They play a key role as a top predator, an indicator of the health of their high-altitude habitat, and, increasingly, an important indicator of the impacts of climate change on mountain environments. 

What is the Conservation status?

• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
• Under CITES: It is listed in Appendix I 
• Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

A research team from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has recently identified and reported the solitary waves in the Martian magnetosphere.

Key facts about the Solitary wave

• Solitary waves are distinct electric field fluctuations (bipolar or monopolar) that follow constant amplitude-phase relations.
• Their shape and size are less affected during their propagation.
• The magnitude and duration of these pulses are found to be 1-25 milivolt/meter and 0.2–1.7 milliseconds, respectively.
• These pulses are dominantly seen in the dawn and afternoon dusk sectors at an altitude of 1000–3500 km around Mars.
• Through simulations, it is found that the spatial extent of these structures is very small (30-330 meters). As these waves are known to be responsible for the plasma energization and its transport in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recent, the Supreme Court said that grant of default bail will not operate as an absolute bar to canceling it once the charge sheet is filed and the same can be considered if a strong case is made out

What is a Default bail?

• Also known as statutory bail, this is a right to bail that accrues when the police fail to complete investigation within a specified period in respect of a person in judicial custody.
• It is a right, regardless of the nature of the crime.
• The stipulated period within which the charge sheet has to be filed begins from the day the accused is remanded for the first time.
• It includes days undergone in both police and judicial custody, but not days spent in house-arrest.
• A requirement for the grant of statutory bail is that the right should be claimed by the person in custody.
• If the charge sheet is not filed within the stipulated period, but there is no application for bail under Section 167(2), there is no automatic bail.
• Once the accused files an application for bail under Section 167(2), it is considered that he/she has enforced the right to be released on default bail.
• This right only comes into place after the stipulated time limit for investigation has expired.
• If the accused fails to apply for default bail after the investigation time period has expired, and the investigating agency files a charge-sheet or seeks more time before the accused makes such an application for default bail, then the right of default bail is no longer applicable.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, researchers have discovered the ruins of a large Mayan town buried beneath the rainforest while surveying northern Guatemala from the air.

About Mayan Civilization

• The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of Mesoamerica.
• Originating in the Yucatán peninsula around 2600 B.C., they rose to prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala, northern Belize and western Honduras.
• Building on the inherited inventions and ideas of earlier civilizations, the Maya developed astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing.
• The Maya were noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools.
• They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizable underground reservoirs for the storage of rainwater.
• The Maya were equally skilled as weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.
• The Maya made paper from the inner bark of wild fig trees and wrote their hieroglyphs on books made from this paper. Those books are called codices.
• Their society consisted of many independent states, each with a rural farming community and large urban sites built around ceremonial centers. It started to decline around A.D. 900.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Contributions to mutual fund schemes through systematic investment plans, or SIPs, remain unfazed from the market volatility in 2022 with inflow growing to ₹1.5 lakh crore in 2022, a surge of 31% from a year earlier, due to higher retail participation.

What is a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP)?

• SIP is an investment methodology offered by mutual funds wherein an individual saver can invest a fixed amount in a chosen scheme periodically at fixed intervals - say once a month, instead of making a lump sum investment.
• The SIP installment amount can be as small as ₹500 per month and is similar to a recurring deposit.

Benefits of SIP:

• SIPs are done in open-ended funds where the investors can invest and take out the money anytime.
• There is no fixed tenor for running SIP. Once the SIP tenor is fixed, it can BE stopped in between or could be continued even after the tenor by placing the request with the respective mutual fund company.
• Full and partial withdrawal is possible during or after the SIP tenor.
• The SIP amount can be increased or decreased.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.