Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 30, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

A top government official recently indicated that investors in the popular small saving schemes Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA), whose rates have not been hiked since January 2019, are unlikely to get higher returns anytime soon.

About Public Provident Fund (PPF) Scheme:

• The PPF Scheme is a very popular long-term savings scheme in India because of its combination of tax savings, returns, and safety. 
• The PPF was first offered to the public in the year 1968 by the Finance Ministry’s National Savings Institute.
• Objective: To help individuals make small savings and provide returns on the savings.
• It is one of the safest investment products. i.e., the government of India guarantees your investments in the fund
• Tenure: 15 years (Can be renewed in blocks of 5 years).
• Interest rate: Interest rates currently payable on such accounts stand at 7.1%.
• Investment Amount: Minimum Rs.500, Maximum Rs.1.5 lakh p.a.
• Who is eligible for a PPF account? Any Indian citizen can open a PPF account.
• The PPF accounts cannot be held jointly, though you can make a nomination.
• Investment in PPF is tax-exempt under section 80C of the Income Tax Act (ITA), and the returns from PPF are also not taxable.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union minister of state for science and technology and earth sciences recently said that India will continue to support setting up two Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Antarctica to protect marine life and its ecosystem services.

About Marine Protected Areas (MPAs):

• MPAs are areas of the ocean set aside for long-term conservation aims.
• They support climate change adaptation and mitigation while providing other ecosystem services.
• The specific purposes, legal authority, level of protection, management approaches, and use allowance of individual marine protected areas (MPAs) can vary greatly from site to site
• Many MPAs allow people to use the area in ways that do not damage the environment. Some ban fishing. A few do not allow people to enter the area at all.
• MPAs currently cover about 6.35% of the ocean. However, only just over 1.89% of that area is covered by exclusively no-take MPAs that do not allow any fishing, mining, drilling, or other extractive activities.

Hence both statements are not correct.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

About Tactical Nuclear Weapons:

• Nuclear weapons, just like other weapons, can be categorised into two types — strategic and tactical.
• Strategic Nuclear Weapons: They refer to nuclear weapons that have bigger objectives, such as destroying cities or larger targets, with larger war-waging objectives in mind.
• Tactical Nuclear Weapons (TNWs):
• They are nuclear weapons used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield.
• They are intended to devastate enemy targets in a specific area without causing widespread destruction and radioactive fallout.
• These are designed for use in battle as part of an attack with conventional weapon forces. 
• These warheads can be delivered via a variety of missiles, torpedoes and gravity bombs from naval, air or ground forces. They could even be simply driven into an area and detonated.
• The explosive yield of tactical nuclear weapons can range from under one kiloton to about 100 kilotons, whereas strategic nuclear weapons can have a yield of up to one thousand kilotons.
• Delivery systems for tactical nuclear weapons also tend to have shorter ranges, typically under 310 miles (500 kilometres), compared with strategic nuclear weapons, which are typically designed to cross continents.
• They are the least-regulated category of nuclear weapons covered in arms control agreements. 

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Central Government recently put the onus of regulating the practices of market index providers on the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

About Index Provider:

• Index providers are those institutions that formulate and manage indices. 
• One of the important roles of the index provider is to classify and define markets, as their indices represent a market or a proportion of a market and provide a benchmark of performance for that market or sector.
• They have the responsibility to set the rules that decide what securities to include in each index, how the index will be managed and how securities will be added or removed from that index over time.  
• They also usually determine how stocks can be classified, e.g. is a particular stock a Healthcare or an Oil & Gas stock, or is it a Developed or Emerging market stock.  
• An index allows investors and other stakeholders to get a snapshot of the market.
• S&P Dow Jones, MSCI, and Bloomberg are some of the globally renowned institutions that provide indices.
• In India, this activity is generally carried out by subsidiaries of stock exchanges. The most prominent indices in India are the Nifty50 by NSE Indices and Sensex provided by a venture of S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE Lied. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare informed Lok Sabha about the LaQshya Programme.

• It aims to ensure Quality of Care during intrapartum and immediate post-partum periods in Labour Room and Maternity Operation Theatre.
• It covers all Government Medical College Hospitals, District Hospitals & equivalent health facilities, designated FRUs as well as high case load CHCs.
• Goal: To reduce preventable maternal and newborn mortality, morbidity and stillbirths associated with the care around delivery in the Labour room and Maternity OT and ensure respectful maternity care.
• Under the purview of LaQshya, one of the facility-level targets is to achieve a 5% or less Surgical Site Infection Rate in Maternity OT or at least a reduction of 30% from the baseline.
• At the time of LaQshya certification, compliance with the above-mentioned requirement is verified by the independent empanelled NQAS assessors.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Rubber Board has launched a mobile app CRISP to inform growers about rubber cultivation and provides solutions online.

• The Comprehensive Rubber Information System Platform (CRISP) application has been developed by the Rubber Research Institute of India (RRII) in collaboration with the Digital University of Kerala. 
• Natural rubber is a polymer made up of a chemical molecule called isoprene.
• It is a native of the Amazon basin which was introduced to countries in the tropical belts of Asia and Africa in the late nineteenth century.
• Climatic conditions required for Rubber
  • Rainfall: It requires moist and humid climates with heavy rainfall of more than 200 cm.
  • Temperature: It grows well in equatorial climates and temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius.
  • Soil: Well-drained, weathered soils.
• Rubber Growing Areas in India: Primarily in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari District and Kerala, Coastal Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra’s Konkan Region, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the northeastern provinces, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, among other places.

Hence both statements are not correct.

Recently, the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), New Delhi achieved a breakthrough in busting pan-Delhi level drug syndicate involved in the supply of various types of narcotics, psychotropic and synthetic drugs for high profile parties.

• During the British East India Company Rule, collection of revenue from opium was made part of fiscal policy and various Opium Agencies such as the Bengal, Benaras, Bihar, and Malwa Agencies were formed over time.
• Before 1950, the administration of the Narcotics Laws, namely, the Opium Act of 1857 & 1878 and the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1930 vested with the Provincial Government.
• The amalgamation of these Agencies laid the foundation of the Opium Department in November 1950 which is presently known as the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN).
• Functions of the Central Bureau of Narcotics
• License farmers to cultivate opium poppy.
• Supervises and controls the cultivation.
• Procures the opium produced by licenced cultivators.
• Nodal Ministry: Under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal has produced cloned female calves of the desi breed Gir.

• It is India's first cloned Gir female calf named Ganga.
• To clone the Gir, oocytes are isolated from live animals using ultrasound-guided needles, and then, matured for 24 hours under control conditions.
• The somatic cells of elite cows are used as donor genomes, which are fused with OPU-derived enucleated oocytes. Following chemical activation and in-vitro culture, the developed blastocysts are transferred into recipient mothers to deliver the Gir calf.
• The term cloning describes a number of different processes that can be used to produce genetically identical copies of a biological entity.
• Cloning can be natural or artificial. Examples of cloning that occur naturally are as follows:
  • Vegetative reproduction in plants, e.g. water hyacinth producing multiple copies of genetically identical plants through apomixis
  • Binary fission in bacteria.
• Clones can also be produced through artificial means. Biotechnological methods are employed to produce such clones.

Hence both statements are correct.

INS Sumedha which is presently deployed in the Mediterranean Sea entered Port Algiers, Algeria on 26 Mar 23 for an operational turnaround.

• INS Sumedha is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel deployed for multiple roles independently and in support of Fleet Operations. 
• It is part of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam and functions under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.
• It is the third ship of the indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV) Project to be inducted into the Indian Navy. 
• The ship has been designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited.  
• The primary role of the ship is to undertake EEZ surveillance, anti-piracy patrols, fleet support operations, provide maritime security to offshore assets and carry out escort operations for high-value assets.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, scientists from Boise State University in the US have just developed a new kind of plastic that, unlike existing plastics, isn't made from crude oil and its derivatives.

• The new recyclable plastic is based on Poly(ethyl cyanoacrylate) or PECA, which is prepared from the monomer used to make Super Glue.
• It is formed through a process of polymerization where single, repeating monomer units are strung together in a chemical reaction to make one long chain.
• It has comparable properties to existing plastics and is stable in hot, humid environments.
• The long polymer chains of the PECA plastic can be thermally 'cracked' at temperatures of 210 °C and the resulting monomers distilled into a clean product to use again.
• Ethyl cyanoacrylate is a highly reactive monomer that has been used nearly exclusively to make Super Glue and related fast-setting adhesives
• It is produced on the ton scale from methanol, chloroacetic acid, and sodium cyanide, which themselves are sourced from hydrogen, nitrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide. 

Hence both statements are correct.