Daily Current Affairs MCQ- March 27, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

In recently published a review of 34 currently licensed vaccines for the duration of their protective immunity and found that only five vaccines provide long-lasting protection spanning more than 20 years and only three provide lifelong protection. 

• Post-vaccination immunity develops in a complex process.
• Process
• In the fundamental immunological mechanism, our lymph nodes first produce the memory B cells that confer long-term protection against a disease.
• These cells ‘memorise’ the antigen the vaccine has delivered.
• When a foreign object like a virus enters the body bearing the same antigen, the B cells will trigger the production of a large number of potent antibodies to destroy it, removing the infection.
• These memory B cells require T cell support, and only vaccines that stimulate T cells can also induce the body to produce them. Further, not all vaccines – including the polysaccharide typhoid and the pneumococcal vaccines – prompt the body to make B cells.
• In some cases, frequent boosters are required to enhance the duration of immunity the cells confer, ranging from six months to a few years.
• Also, vaccines trigger the production of memory B cells to different degrees, plus having memory B cells alone does not guarantee protection.
• Another essential immune cell, called long-lasting plasma cell (LLPC), migrates from the lymph node to the bone marrow and may endure for decades.
• LLPCs are the main immunological factor in vaccine-induced immunity. Every vaccine tries to create long-lasting plasma cells for lifelong protection.
• The measles and rubella vaccines produce these cells in the bone marrow. However, some potent vaccines, such as the mRNA COVID-19 shots, fail to activate these cells in the bone marrow. 
• To provide long-term protection, then, vaccines must generate memory B cells and LLPCs in the bone marrow. Different vaccines differ in their ability to produce these cells, explaining the disparity in their durabilities.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

Telangana is presently grappling with forest fires in Tadvai region of Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary.

• It was declared as wildlife sanctuary in 1953.
• The sanctuary is located near the border of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
• The perennial river Dayyam Vagu flows through this beautiful sanctuary. This Vagu separates the wildlife sanctuary into two parts.
• The sanctuary is also famous for the Sammakkka Sarakka Jathra, one of the Asia’s largest tribal jahtra, taking place here every two years.
• The River Godavari also passes through the sanctuary.
• Vegetation: The region falls in the tropical dry deciduous type of vegetation.
• Flora: The sanctuary is thus rich in the growth of teak, bamboo and other trees like madhuca and terminalia. Climbers are the unique features which are found in abundance across the length and breadth of this Sanctuary.
• Fauna:
• The keystone species in the sanctuary are Indian gour and giant squirrel. 
• It provides the dwelling ground for Tiger, Leopard, Jackals Sloth Bear, Panther, Wolf, Wild Dogs,Chousingha, Sambar

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Recently, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved the setting up of Bima Sugam.

• It is like an e-commerce platform where insurance companies can sell their products.
• It onboards all the companies that offer life and non-life insurance products under one roof.
• It aims to provide an 'end-to-end' digital journey to all policyholders like from buying insurance policies to renewals to claim settlement to portability to grievance redressal
• This marketplace serves as a one-stop solution for all insurance stakeholders, including customers, insurers, intermediaries and agents, thereby, promoting transparency, efficiency, and collaboration across the entire insurance value chain
• It will be a unified platform, which will be integrated with various government databases, insurers, intermediaries, insurance repositories, etc., for fetching customer details, providing product information, and buying and servicing Insurance policies.
• Bima Sugam aims to eliminate the paperwork as you can simply have your policy in an electronic format.
• Customers can view all their policies — life, health and non-life insurance — in one single application or window under Bima Sugam.

Hence both statements are correct.

The conduct of elections requires meticulous planning and execution to ensure a free, fair, and inclusive electoral process and a cornerstone of this planning process is the District Election Management Plan (DEMP).

• It is a comprehensive document that uses statistics and analysis to ensure the smooth conduct of elections.
• When is the DEMP prepared?
• As per the Election Commission of India, the DEMP is to be prepared at least six months before the tentative poll day.
• Executing the DEMP requires a collaborative effort involving election officials, administrative authorities, law enforcement agencies etc.
• Elements of DEMP:
• The plan starts with a district profile that serves as the foundation of the electoral strategy.
• This includes a political map outlining constituencies, key demographic and infrastructure statistics, a brief on the district’s administrative setup and socio-economic features.
• The plan encompasses detailed strategies for improving the availability and accessibility of polling stations, ensuring that all stations have essential facilities like ramps, electricity, lighting, drinking water, toilets, and internet connectivity.
• Special attention is given to voters with disabilities (PwD) and senior citizens through help desks, 24/7 control rooms, home voting options, and advanced postal ballot voting for essential service personnel.
• Another critical component of the DEMP is the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) plan, which focuses on increasing electoral participation.
• It outlines a comprehensive strategy for the planning, training, welfare, and deployment of election personnel. It highlights the importance of creating a poll personnel database, categorising available personnel by cadre and group while assessing their requirement and strategies to address gaps in personnel needs across various election roles.
• The plan also includes training district-level teams to enforce the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and providing a training program for all election personnel to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Bhang, obtained from the Cannabis sativa plant or true hemp, is popularly consumed on the occasion of Holi across India.

• It is found mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plains – in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal – along with the Deccan region.
• Cannabis is termed Ganzai in Telugu, Ganja in Tamil, and Bangi in Kannada.
• Three products can be obtained from the plant – fibre, oil, and narcotics.
• Bhang is obtained from the seeds and leaves of the plant, which are reduced to powder. Then, the powder is filtered and prepared for drinking, mixed often with cold, flavoured milk or thandai on Holi.
• Other uses of Cannabis
• Hemp-seed oil is used in varnish industries as a substitute for linseed oil, and in the manufacturing of soft soap. It has many medicinal uses, too.
• As per ICAR, the ash of cannabis is applied on animals’ skin in cases of haematoma, a condition in which blood clots outside of the blood vessels. 
• It is cultivated in the Chhota/Bada Bhangal of Kangra and the Karsog area of Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh.
• While cultivation for extraction of addictive narcotics is illegal, states allow controlled and regulated cultivation of cannabis for obtaining its fibre and seed for industrial or horticultural purposes.
• Treating paddy seed with bhang is effective in paddy seed germination and this treatment is common in temperate areas of Jammu and Kashmir, where temperature during nursery raising is low.
• The cannabis plants are used for controlling threadworms in paddy nurseries by the farmers of the Solki area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Cannabis leaves are heated and crushed to make a paste for treating honey bee or wasp sting.

Hence both statements are correct.

Kerala’s move towards an alternate model for the rollout of smart electricity meters, effectively jettisoning the Centre’s Rs 3 lakh crore smart meters project, comes as a spanner in the works for the Union Government scheme.

What is a Smart Meter? 

• A smart meter is used for recording the consumption of electricity, but it also measures voltage levels.
• While traditional meters measure the power consumption of a home or business, smart meters live up to their name and transmit the same information every 15 minutes or hourly to utility providers.
• Since they are connected to the internet, smart meters can communicate information to the consumer about usage and also to the utility provider for monitoring purposes and accurate billing.

About Smart Meter National Programme (SMNP): 

• It is an initiative by the Government of India to promote the use of smart meters across the country.
• The aim of the SMNP is to improve the billing and collection efficiencies of distribution companies (DISCOMs) operating in the country.
• SMNP aims to replace 25 crore conventional meters with smart meters in India.
• The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
• EESL is a joint venture of four National Public Sector Enterprises: NTPC Limited, PFC, REC, and POWERGRID, and was set up under the Ministry of Power.
• This roll-out is under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) model, wherein EESLwillundertake all the capital and operational expenditure with zero upfront investment from states and utilities.
• EESL recovers the cost of these meters through the monetization of energy savings, resulting from enhanced billing accuracy, avoided meter reading costs, and other efficiencies.
• The smart meters are installed as per guidelines issued by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
• Benefits associated with smart meters:
• For consumers, smart meters can help save on electricity bills by allowing them to track their consumption and make decisions accordingly.
• For utilities, smart meters can improve operational efficiency and help in managing power demand.
• Smart meters are connected through a web-based monitoring system, which will help reduce commercial losses of utilities, enhance revenues, and serve as an important tool in power sector reforms.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Apple, Alphabet’s Google and Meta Platforms will be investigated for potential breaches of the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, European antitrust regulators said recently.

About Digital Markets Act (DMA): 

• It is the European Union’s (EU’s) law to make the markets in the digital sector fairer and more contestable.
• It aims to create a safer internet, empower citizens, enhance consumer protections, and foster higher-quality digital services.
• In order to do so, the DMA establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to identify “gatekeepers”.
• Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing so-called core platform services, such as online search engines, app stores, and messenger services. 
• Gatekeepers will have to comply with the do’s (i.e., obligations) and don’ts (i.e., prohibitions) listed in the DMA.
• The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies.
• Key Measures:
• Tighter restrictions on how digital gatekeepers can use people’s data—users must give their explicit consent for their activities to be tracked for advertising purposes.
• Messaging services and social media platforms teaming up and sharing users. This could mean, for example, Meta-owned WhatsApp users being able to send messages directly to a completely different messaging service, such as Telegram.
• Presenting users with the option to uninstall preloaded applications on devices.
• Gatekeepers are banned from ranking their own products or services higher than others in online searches.
• The DMA complements, but does not change EU competition rules, which continue to apply fully.

Hence option d is the correct answer.

The Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change recently notified Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024.

Captive Elephants under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972:

• Elephants are, according to the provisions of the WPA, a Schedule 1 species, and therefore, be it wild or captive, cannot be captured or traded under any circumstances.
• Section 12 of the Act allows Schedule I animals to be translocated for ‘special purposes’ such as education and scientific research.
• They can also be translocated for population management of wildlife without harming any wild animals and the collection of specimens for recognised zoos/museums.
• Captive elephants, because of their historical role in forest management, timber transport, presence in estates of erstwhile royal families and in temple precincts for religious purposes can be owned and therefore come under a special category. However, strict rules guide the transfer of such elephants.
• Section 40(2) of the WPA prohibits the acquisition, possession, and transfer of a captive elephant without the written permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden(CWW) of the State. 
• The Environment Ministry in 2021 brought in an amendment that allowed the transfer of elephants for ‘religious or any other purposes’.

Captive Elephant (Transfer or Transport) Rules, 2024:

• It lays down the procedure to be followed for the transfer of captive elephants within a State or between two States.
• The notification authorises the CWW of States and UTs to permit or reject the transfer of captive elephants. 
• The CWW shall permit the inter and intra-State transfers if the owner of the elephant is no longer in a position to maintain it or if the animal will have a better upkeep than in the present circumstances.
• The transfer of captive elephants won’t be permissible unless the genetic profile of the animal has been entered in the electronic monitoring application of the MoEFCC (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). 
• The application for transfer of captive elephants should be made to the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), having jurisdiction over the area where the elephant is registered. 
• The DCF will conduct an inquiry and physical verification of the facility where the elephant is presently housed, and also the facility where the elephant is proposed to be housed and obtain a certificate of a veterinary practitioner, and then forward the details to the CWW, who within seven days will accept or reject the transfer.

Hence option b is the correct answer.

A team of Stony Brook University physicists and their collaborators have taken a significant step toward the building of a quantum internet testbed by demonstrating a foundational quantum network measurement that employs room-temperature quantum memories.

• It is a theorized and much sought-after network of interconnected quantum computers that will allow people to send, compute, and receive information using quantum technology.
• A quantum internet would be a network of quantum computers, sensors, and communication devices that will create, process, and transmit quantum states and entanglement.
• It is anticipated to enhance society's internet system and provide certain services and securities that the current internet does not have.
• The purpose of the quantum internet is not to replace the internet we know today, but to instead create a co-existent network that can be used to solve specific types of problems.
• Working
• Quantum computers use fundamental units of information similar to the bits used in classical computing. These are called “qubits.”
• However, unlike conventional computer bits—which convey information as a 0 or 1—qubits convey information through a combination of quantum states, which are unique conditions found only on the subatomic scale.
• Qubits are not either 0 or 1, but rather both and neither, in a quantum phenomenon called superposition.  

Hence both statements are correct.

In a first, the Centre has on boarded 11 fair price shops on the state-run e-commerce portal Open Network Digital Commerce (ONDC).

• It is an open-source network set up to enable buyers and sellers to transact with each other irrespective of the e-commerce platform on which either of them are registered.
• It will enable local commerce across segments, such as mobility, grocery, food order and delivery, hotel booking and travel, among others, to be discovered and engaged by any network-enabled application.
• It is an initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Purpose
• To promote open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. 
• To create new opportunities, curb digital monopolies and by supporting micro, small and medium enterprises and small traders and help them get on online platforms.
• It seeks to democratise digital or electronic commerce, moving it from a platform-centric model to an open-network.
• Benefits:
• It offers small retailers an opportunity to provide their services, and goods to buyers across the country through an e-commerce system.
• It enables merchants to save their data to build credit history and reach consumers.
• It is expected to digitise the entire value chain, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics and enhance value for consumers.
• ONDC protocols would standardize operations like cataloguing, inventory management, order management and order fulfilment.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.