Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 24-11-19 | Free PDF

MCQ 1

1. Lumpy skin disease is an infectious disease in cattle that reduces milk production, causes infertility, poor growth and chronic debility
2. Its caused by Neethling bacteria

 Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None
 China warns cattle imports as India notifies OIE about cattle disease in Odisha

• The Chinese Government has issued warnings against import of cattle and related products from India. The warning comes after India submitted its notification about “lumpy skin disease” virus in cattle to the World Organization of Animal Health (OIE).
• China does not officially import buffalo meat from India. However, a large quantity of beef gets smuggled into China through roads and ports.

 Notification

• India notified to OIE that the outbreak of disease was in August. Also, there were three cases and all three were from the state of Odisha. The main purpose of the organization is to control epizootic diseases. Epizootic is a disease that is prevalent in nonhuman animal population that is analogous to epidemic in humans.

 World Organization of Animal Health

• OIE is an intergovernmental organization that supports, coordinates and promotes animal disease control. The organization was formed in 1924 as Office International des Epizooties and hence the name OIE. However, in 2003, it became the World Organization for Animal Health retaining its historical name.

 Lumpy skin disease

• It is an infectious disease in cattle that reduces milk production, causes infertility, poor growth and chronic debility. The disease is caused by the virus Poxviridae. The virus is also called the Neethling virus. The disease causes permanent damage to the skin of the animals and hence has great economic implications.

MCQ
2 Dallol Geothermal Field is located in

1. Himachal Pradesh
2. Antarctica
3. Australia
4. Ethiopia

Researcher finds Earth’s Most Uninhabitable Place

• Researchers have found an aquatic environment on Earth with complete absence of any form of life. The findings revealed that any form of microbial life was absent in the hot, saline, hyperacid ponds of Dallol Geothermal Field in Ethiopia. The research was published in journal, ‘Nature Ecology and Evolution’. About Dallol geothermal field Dallol is a unique, terrestrial hydrothermal system located in Ethiopia, a country in East Africa. It lies in the evaporitic plain of Danakil depression at Afar Triangle, in prolongation of Erta Ale basaltic volcanic range. It is known for its unearthly colors and mineral patterns, as well as the very acidic fluids that are discharging from its hydrothermal springs. The wider area of Dallol is known as one of the driest and hottest places on planet Earth. It is also one of the lowest land points, lying 125 m or 410 ft below mean sea level (MSL). Key Findings
• The researchers verified that there is no microbial life in these salty, hot and hyperacid pools or in the adjacent magnesium-rich brine lakes. The findings may lead to an improved understanding of limits of habitability.
• As per researchers, the study may lead to an improved understanding of limits of habitability and presents evidence that there are places even on Earth’s surface which are sterile even though they contain liquid water. The place was even proposed as a terrestrial analogue of early Mars. • Dallol’s landscape extends over a volcanic crater full of salt, constantly releasing toxic gases with water boiling in middle of intense hydro thermal activity. It is one of the most torrid environments on planet with daily temperatures in winter exceeding over 45 degrees Celsius or 113 Fahrenheit. The landscape had abundant hyper saline and hyper acid pools, with pH — which is measured on a scale from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline) even hitting the negative mark.
• Earlier studies had pointed that certain microorganisms can develop in this multi-extreme environment but now they have presented this place as an example of limits of conditions that can support life. Earlier findings also included a great diversity of a type of primitive salt-loving microorganisms in desert, and the saline canyons around hydro thermal site but not in hyper acid and hyper saline pools, nor in Black and Yellow lakes of Dallol which are rich in magnesium (Mg). And all these findings are despite the fact that microbial dispersion in this area, due to the wind and to human visitors, is intense.

MCQ 3

1. The GoI has set a target to make the biotechnology sector as a 1000 billion USD industry.
2. Global Bio-India Summit: India’s first largest biotechnology conference was organized by the Department of Bio Technology

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(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• India’s largest biotechnology conglomerate was held in New Delhi between 21 November, 2019 and 23 November, 2019. The event was organized by the Department of Bio Technology under Ministry of Science and Technology along with BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) and CII.

Highlights

• The summit provided opportunity to exhibit the bio technological advances in the country to the international forum. The Minister of S&T, Earth Sciences and Health and Family Welfare released a report on “Private Investment in Biotechnology” at the summit Highlights of the Report
• The report highlighted the need for the government to find why there is inadequate private investment in the biotech research. It suggested the setting up of a single window system for approvals in the field of biotechnology.
• The GoI has set a target to make the biotechnology sector as a 100 billion USD industry. The report wanted the government to encourage industry-academia linkages in order to achieve the target set

Significance

• The Biotechnology sector is considered as the sunrise sector of an economy. In India, experts believe that it is the key driver of the country’s economy and will play a major role in achieving India’s 5 trillion USD target by 2025. This is because the sector has a potential of contributing 22% of 12 billion USD of Indian trade by 2025.
• The summit acted as a platform to showcase the potential of India in the sector. The summit also helped to identify key challenges in the areas of Bio-agri, biopharma, bio-industrial, bio-services and bio-energy.

MCQ 4

1. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) bacteria are primary cause of diarrhea
2. An oral ETEC vaccine candidate, named ‘ETVAX is developed by CSIR

 Choose correct
 (A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• The researchers of University of Gothenburg in Sweden have developed a potential Diarrhea vaccine candidate, named as ‘ETVAX’. This vaccine has been proved safe and effective in an early-stage clinical trial in Bangladesh. The findings were published in Science journal, The Lancet.

Key Findings

• Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) bacteria are primary cause of diarrhea. At present there is no ETEC vaccine available on the market for use in children in the ETEC high-risk areas. But now, an oral ETEC vaccine candidate, named ‘ETVAX’, was developed at University of Gothenburg in collaboration with Scandinavian Biopharma, Stockholm. ETVAX consists of inactivated E. coli bacteria expressing high levels of protective antigens as well as ETEC-based B subunit protein LCTBA.
• The report stated that 80% to 100% of children aged 2 to 5 years and 50% to 80% of infants aged 6 to 11 months, selected for the study responded to all key immunity generating components of vaccine. The vaccine has been proved safe and effective in an early-stage clinical trial in Bangladesh against enterotoxigenic E. coli diarrhea in children from half year (6 months) to 5 years of age.
• Diarrhea leads to substantial illness and death in children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). As per the researchers, there is no vaccine yet for use for children and vaccine development for Diarrhea is a World Health Organization (WHO) priority.

 MCQ 5

1. Bharat Net Project aims to provide affordable broadband connectivity at a speed of 100 Mbps for all
2. The entire project is being funded by Universal service Obligation Fund (USOF)

Choose correct
(A) Only 1
(B) Only 2
(C) Both
(D) None

• Government of India has set a target of providing broad band connectivity to two lakh Gram Panchayats by March 2020. So far (till 7th November, 2019) over 1,28,000 Gram Panchayats have already been connected. The project is being implemented under the BharatNet Project.

 Highlights

• According to the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology, Wi-Fi hotspots have been installed in 45,000 Gram Panchayats. Service is being provided to 16,000 Panchayats. The updates were presented by the Electronics and Information Minister Shri Ravi Shankar in the Lok Sabha.

National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN)

• National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is an ambitious initiative to trigger a broadband revolution in rural areas. NOFN was envisaged as an information super-highway through the creation of a robust middle-mile infrastructure for reaching broadband connectivity to Gram Panchayats.
• The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) aims to connect all the 2,50,000 Gram panchayats in the country and provide 100 Mbps connectivity to all gram panchayats (GPs). To achieve this, the existing fibres of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) were utilised and incremental fibre was laid to connect to Gram Panchayats wherever necessary. Dark fibre network thus created was lit by appropriate technology thus creating sufficient bandwidth at the Gram Panchayats.
• Non-discriminatory access to the NOFN was provided to all the service providers like Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), ISPs, Cable TV operators and Content providers to launch various services in rural areas. The NOFN project was funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
• Based on NOFN experiences, newer, updated and upgraded version – BharatNet was conceived as a nation-wide broadband network.

BharatNet

Vision

• BharatNet is a project of national importance to establish, by 2017, a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a nondiscriminatory basis, to provide on demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on demand capacity to all institutions, to realise the vision of Digital India, in partnership with States and the private sector.
• The entire project is being funded by Universal service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country. The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to the rural India.

 Implementation

• The project is a Centre-State collaborative project, with the States contributing free Rights of Way for establishing the Optical Fibre Network. The three-phase implementation of the BharatNet project is as follows
• The first phase envisages providing one lakh gram panchayats with broadband connectivity by laying underground optic fibre cable (OFC) lines by Decmeber 2017.
• The second phase will provide connectivity to all 2,50,500 gram panchayats in the country using an optimal mix of underground fiber, fiber over power lines, radio and satellite media. It is to be completed by March 2019. For success in phase-2, which will also involve laying of OFC over electricity poles, the participation of states will be important. This is a new element of the BharatNet strategy as the mode of connectivity by aerial OFC has several advantages, including lower cost, speedier implementation, easy maintenance and utilization of existing power line infrastructure. The last mile connectivity to citizens was proposed to be provided creating Wi-Fi hotspots in gram panchayats
• In the third phase from 2019 to 2023, state-of-the-art, future-proof network, including fiber between districts and blocks, with ring topology to provide redundancy would be created.

 MCQ 6
 Green Channel Policy by the Ministry of Defence is related to

1. Weapons procurements
2. Indigenous manufacturing
3. Quality certification of products
4. Environment-friendly weapons

GoI new scheme: Rs 400 crores for testing MSME Defense products

• The Government of India is planning to launch a new scheme to test defense products manufactured by MSMEs. In order to achieve this, the Ministry of Defence has allocated Rs 400 crores.
• Features of the scheme
• The test units that are to function under the scheme will be installed in north and south defence corridors. Under the scheme, 75% of the cost of equipment for the testing units will be provided by the Central Government. The first test facility is to be launched for drones.
• Significance
• Government is working to increase its defence exports. This is being done to achieve the set target of Rs 90,000 crore by the end of 2019-20 financial year. To achieve this, several initiatives are being launched. To mention some, recently DRDO offered free access to its 450 patents.
• The launch of new scheme will help in achieving the target. It will also aid the startups entering defence production.
• The announcement was made in the Quality Assurance-Industry Conclave that was held in Chennai on November 23, 2019. In the conclave, L&T was provided with the “Green Channel Status” under the Green Channel Policy. GoI new scheme: Rs 400 crores for testing MSME Defense products

Green Channel Policy

• The policy was launched by the Ministry of Defence. The policy provides eligibility criteria for firms to obtain Green Channel Status. It also defines the constitution of green channel committee, defect investigation, submission of bank Guarantee, etc.
• The nodal agency implementing the policy is Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D)
• Under the policy, when a firm gains the “Green Channel status” it can self-certify its products for their quality.

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