Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC 2020 / IAS / 12-12-19

Table of Contents

MCQ 1

RISAT-2BR1 is a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg.
Satellites were launched under a commercial arrangement with Antrix Corp. the only commercial arm of ISRO.

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

PSLV C-48

PSLV in its 50th flight (PSLV-C48), successfully launched RISAT-2BR1 along with 9 commercial satellites.
RISAT-2BR1 is a radar imaging earth observation satellite weighing about 628 kg.
It will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management. The mission life of RISAT-2BR1 is 5 years.
The nine commercial satellites were from Israel, Italy, Japan and USA.
These satellites were launched under a commercial arrangement with New Space India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of ISRO.
It is the 3rd generation launch vehicle and first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
It emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India with consecutively successful missions.
It successfully launched two spacecraft such as Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013.
3 variations in PSLV – PSLV-G (General), PSLV-XL variants and PSLV-CA (Core Alone).
It has 4 stages in its operation to provide thrust in launching spacecraft to different orbits.
Stage I: It uses solid rocket motor that is augmented by 6 solid strap-on boosters.
Stage II: It uses an Earth storable liquid rocket engine, known as the Vikas engine.
Stage III: It uses solid rocket motor that provides high thrust after the atmospheric phase of the launch.
Stage IV: It comprises two Earth storable liquid engines.
New Space India Limited (NSIL) is a Central Public Sector Enterprise of Government of India. It was established on 6 March 2019 under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS), India. The main objective of NSIL is to scale up industry participation in Indian space programmes.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on 5 July 2019, mentioned the establishment of NSIL.
on 6 March 2019, the Department of Space (DoS) registered its second commercial entity called NSIL in ISRO.
The first commercial venture of DoS was Antrix Corporation Limited, which was set up in September 1992 to market products and services of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The NSIL was incorporated for commercially utilising research and development (R&D) activities carried out by ISRO in area of space.

MCQ 2

Lead and zinc are the most abundant Heavy metals in Indian rivers according to a CWC report
Arsenic contamination is a major environmental issue that affects only groundwater.

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

Heavy Metal Contamination in Indian Rivers

Central Water Commission released a report which pointed out that 2/3rd of the water quality stations spanning India’s major rivers showed contamination by one or more heavy metals.
The study spanned 67 rivers in 20 river basins.
The concentration of heavy metals exceeds safe limits set by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
The presence of metals in drinking water in trace amounts is required for good health and when present above safe limits, it will bring range of disorders.
Iron emerged as the most common contaminant in most of the sampled sites registering levels of the metal above safe limits.
The other major contaminants found in the samples were lead, nickel, chromium, cadmium and copper.
Lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium and copper contamination were more common in non-monsoon periods.
While iron, lead, chromium and copper exceeded ‘tolerance limits’ in monsoon periods most of the time.
None of the sites registered arsenic and zinc levels above the safe limit.
Arsenic contamination is a major environmental issue that affects groundwater more.
The main sources of heavy metal pollution are mining, milling, plating and surface finishing industries that discharge a variety of toxic metals into the environment.

MCQ 3

All of the 17 Rare Earth Elements are radioactive.
China dominates the production of these elements.
India has the second largest reserve of RE elements

Choose correct
(A)1 and 3
(B)Only 2
(C)All of the above
(D)None

Rare Earth Metals

Rare Earth Elements or Rare Earth Metals are a set of 17 chemical elements in the periodic table that have similar chemical properties.
It includes 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium.
One of the Rare Earths, promethium, is radioactive.

Applications of Rare Earth Metals

Cerium is used in Space shuttle components, jet engine turbines and drones
Scandium is used in Televisions and fluorescent lamps
Yttrium is used in drugs to treat rheumatoid arthritis and cancer
Other applications – Technologies of consumer electronics, computers and networks, communications, clean energy, advanced transportation, healthcare, environmental mitigation, and national defence.

China dominates the production of these elements.

Recent Development – The United States Army has planned to fund the construction of a Rare Earths processing facility,
This is to secure the domestic supply of minerals that are used to make military weapons and electronics.
The decision comes after China threatened to stop exporting Rare Earth materials to the US amid the ongoing trade war between the countries.
This will be the first financial investment by the US military into commercial-scale Rare Earths production since the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb during World War II.
As of 2017, China has 36.6% of world resources, followed by Vietnam which has 18.3% of resources while India holds about 6% of the world’s rare earth reserves.
India however produces less than 2% of the total Rare Earth (RE)Oxide produced globally. This disparity highlights an underutilization of resources and at the same time, merely selling the oxides might not be the best strategy across all the rare earth elements.
In India, certain REs are present in much larger quantities than others. These are Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Samarium, Gadolinium, Yttrium and Dysprosium. The economic and strategic exploitation of these resources comes from downstream products as these are more valuable and useful.

MCQ 4

The 7th Economic Census was launched by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
It will cover all households/establishments engaged in agricultural & non-agricultural economic activities including construction.

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

Economic Census

The 7th Economic Census was launched by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) in Delhi.
The ministry has tied up with Common Service Centre (CSC), an SPV under Ministry of Electronics and IT to carry out the census.
It is expected to be completed by March 2020.
One of the main aims of the Economic Census is preparation of a National Business Register which can be linked with existing databases at the central and state government levels.
The economic census was started in the year 1977 in collaboration with States/UTs.
The subsequent Censuses were conducted in the years 1980, 1990, 1998, 2005, 2013.
The 7th economic census is the first one being done using digital platform which has reduced time for survey to 6 months from 2 years earlier.
It will cover all households/establishments engaged in nonagricultural economic activities including construction.
But it will not cover public administration, defence and compulsory social security.
Population Census 2011 will form the primary geographical unit for this.
It will provide disaggregated information on various operational and structural aspects of all establishments in the country.

MCQ 5
SAANS Initiative is related to

Customs clearance
Pneumonia
National security
Tribal product marketing

SAANS Initiative

Social Awareness and Actions to Neutralize Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS) is an initiative under National Health Mission.
It is to accelerate action to reduce deaths due to Childhood Pneumonia.
Under this, the government is targeting a reduction in pneumoniacaused deaths by 2025 to less than 3 deaths out of 1000 live births.
Under SAANS, health and wellness centres can use pulse oximeter (device to monitor oxygen saturation) to identify low oxygen levels in the blood of a child, and if required, treat him by use of oxygen cylinders.
A health campaign will be conducted to mobilise people to create awareness.
As per Health Management Information System (HMIS) data, Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of pneumonia-caused child deaths, followed by Gujarat.

MCQ 6

International Geological Congress (IGC) comes under the aegis of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
First time India is going to organize (36th) congress, to be held in Delhi.

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

International Geological Congress

International Geological Congress (IGC) is the prestigious global platform for the advancement of Earth Science.
It was founded as a non-profit scientific and educational organization in 1878 but came under the aegis of International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in 1961.
Since 1961, the meetings of IGC are held in collaboration and under scientific sponsorship of IUGS. • So far 35 congresses have been held throughout the world at 3 to 5-year intervals.
The last session (35th) was held in Capetown, South Africa in 2016.
This time (36th) congress is going to be held in Delhi, India with the theme “Geosciences: The Basic Science for a Sustainable Future”.
India had already hosted a congress in 1964 (24th congress). Thus, India becomes the first Asian country to host the event twice.
The 36th IGC is funded by the Ministry of Mines and the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.
It is supported by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and the science academies of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Geological Survey of India is the nodal agency for organizing the event.

MCQ 7

BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power.
It organizes annual workshop on “Energy Efficient Cooling” under its SEAD initiative

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

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an agency under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation’s 2001 Energy Conservation Act.
The agency’s function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.
The government has proposed to make it mandatory for certain appliances in India to have ratings by the BEE starting in January 2010.
The mission of Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to “institutionalize” energy efficiency services, enable delivery mechanisms in the country and provide leadership to energy efficiency in all sectors of the country.
The primary objective would be to reduce energy intensity in the economy.

International workshop on “Energy Efficient Cooling”

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), as part of “Energy Conservation Week (9 – 14th Dec)”, conducted an International Workshop on “Energy Efficient Cooling” in New Delhi.
It was organized in association with International Energy Agency (IEA), under SEAD initiative of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).
Its objective was to chart out steps towards accelerating the development and deployment of efficient cooling appliances, equipment and systems.
The event highlighted action plans, international best policy practices, measures to stimulate innovation and deliberations on steps forward.
The Super-Efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial and the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation aim to make it easier for governments and the private sector to capitalize on these opportunities.
Employing current best practices in economies that are participating in SEAD can, by 2030, reduce annual electricity demand by 2,000 terawatt-hours (as much energy as is produced by 650 mid-sized coal-fired power plants) and annual fuel energy demand by 30 million tonnes of oil equivalent.
These measures would decrease carbon dioxide emissions by 11 billion metric tons over the next two decades.

ABOUT THE CLEAN ENERGY MINISTERIAL

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum to promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technology, to share lessons learned and best practices, and to encourage the transition to a global clean energy economy.
Initiatives are based on areas of common interest among participating governments and other stakeholders.
The Framework for the Clean Energy Ministerial, adopted at the seventh Clean Energy Ministerial in 2016, defines the CEM governance structure and outlines the mission statement, objectives, membership, and guiding principles.

MCQ 8

India has not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Mental Illness is not a disability under Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016

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

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 is the disability legislation passed by the Indian Parliament to fulfill its obligation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which India ratified in 2007.
The Act replaces the existing Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunity Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995
The types of disabilities have been increased from existing 7 to 21 and the Central Government will have the power to add more types of disabilities. The 21 disabilities are given below:-

MCQ 9
Cirque is a landform in

Desert
Glacier
Coast
River plain

A cirque (French, from the Latin word circus) is an amphitheatre like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie.
A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from fluvial erosion.
The concave shape of a glacial cirque is open on the downhill side.
Cliff-like slopes, down which ice and glaciated debris combine and converge, form the three or more higher sides. If the cirque is subject to seasonal melting, the floor of the cirque most often forms a tarn (small lake) behind a dam which marks the downstream limit of the glacial over deepening:

MCQ 10
Marawah Island is located in

Indian Ocean
Bay of Bengal
Arabian Sea
Persian Gulf

The oldest known natural pearl in the world was discovered recently off the coast of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Abu Dhabi archaeologists working at a Neolithic site on Marawah Island.
It has been dubbed as ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’.
It was discovered in soil layers that have been radiocarbon dated to 5,800-5,600 BCE, during the Neolithic period.
Significance of this discovery:

It gives proof that pearls and oysters were being used in UAE nearly 8,000 years ago. It also represents the earliest known evidence for pearling yet discovered anywhere in the world.
MCQ .11
Name of Embroidery Produced mainly in