Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 13-10-19

Table of Contents

MCQ 1

International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020 Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU for 5G networks, devices and services
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a standards organization which was associated with 5G development

Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(C) Both

(D) None

U.S. Senator warns against Huawei

India will risk losing intelligence from the U.S. if it allows Chinese telecom major Huawei to be part of its 5G infrastructure, a U.S. Republican Senator said during a visit to Delhi that coincided with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Chennai.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who also plays a crucial role in the U.S. reaction to developments in J&K, told The Hindu that while “legal questions” were for India to resolve internally, escalating India-Pakistan tensions were a cause for worry in America.
5G is the fifth generation cellular network technology. The industry association 3GPP defines any system using “5G NR” (5G New Radio) software as “5G”, a definition that came into general use by late 2018. Others may reserve the term for systems that meet the requirements of the ITU IMT-2020.
3GPP will submit their 5G NR to the ITU.
It follows 2G, 3G and 4G and their respective associated technologies (such as GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE Advanced Pro and others).

IMT-2020

International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020 Standard) are the requirements issued by the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2015 for 5G networks, devices and services.
The standard is expected to be completed in 2020, but parts of it have been finalized earlier.
Following the publication of the requirements the developers of radio access technologies such as 3GPP were expected to develop 5G technologies meeting these requirements. 3GPP is developing radio access technologies NR, LTE-M and NB-IoT that together are expected to meet all requirements
The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a standards organization which develops protocols for mobile telephony. Its best known work is the development and maintenance of:

GSM and related 2G and 2.5G standards, including GPRS and EDGE
UMTS and related 3G standards, including HSPA
LTE and related 4G standards, including LTE Advanced and LTE Advanced Pro
5G NR and related 5G standards
An evolved IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) developed in an access independent manner

3GPP is consortium with seven regional telecommunication associations as primary members (“organizational partners”) and a variety of other organizations as associate members (“market representation partners”). The 3GPP organizes its work into three different streams: Radio Access Networks, Services and Systems Aspects, and Core Network and Terminals.
The project was established in December 1998 with the goal of developing a specification for a 3G mobile phone system based on the 2G GSM system, within the scope of the International Telecommunication Union’s International Mobile Telecommunications-2000. It should not be confused with 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2), which developed a competing 3G system, CDMA2000.
The 3GPP headquarters (known as the “Mobile Competence Centre”) is located at the European Telecommunications Standards Institute headquarters in the Sophia Antipolis technology park in France
The seven 3GPP Organizational Partners are from Asia, Europe and North America. Their aim is to determine the general policy and strategy of 3GPP and perform the following tasks:
The approval and maintenance of the 3GPP scope;
The maintenance of the Partnership Project Description; ▪ Take the decision to create or cease a Technical Specification Groups, and approve their scope and terms of reference;
The approval of Organizational Partner funding requirements; ▪ The allocation of human and financial resources provided by the Organizational Partners to the Project Co-ordination Group;
Act as a body of appeal on procedural matters referred to them.

5G NR (New Radio) is a new radio access technology (RAT) developed by 3GPP for the 5G (fifth generation) mobile network.
It was designed to be the global standard for the air interface of 5G networks.
The 3GPP specification 38 series provides the technical details behind NR, the RAT beyond LTE.
Study of NR within 3GPP started in 2015, and the first specification was made available by the end of 2017. While the 3GPP standardization process was ongoing, industry had already begun efforts to implement infrastructure compliant with the draft standard, with the expectation that the first large-scale commercial launch of 5G NR would occur in 2019.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) originally the International Telegraph Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.
It is the second oldest international organization after the Rhine Navigation Commission (1815).
The ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and assists in the development and coordination of worldwide technical standards. The ITU is also active in the areas of broadband Internet, latest-generation wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, satellite-based meteorology, convergence in fixed-mobile phone, Internet access, data, voice, TV broadcasting, and next-generation networks.

MCQ 2

Shannon limit is related to

Visibility in space
Planet’s mass & gravity
Ecological balance in an ecosystem
Digital communication

5G NR speed in sub-6 GHz bands can be slightly higher than the 4G with a similar amount of spectrum and antennas, though some 3GPP 5G networks will be slower than some advanced 4G networks, such as TMobile’s LTE/LAA network, which achieves 500+ Mbit/s in Manhattan and Chicago.
The 5G specification allows LAA (License Assisted Access) as well but LAA in 5G has not yet been demonstrated. Adding LAA to an existing 4G configuration can add hundreds of megabits per second to the speed, but this is an extension of 4G, not a new part of the 5G standard.
The similarity in terms of throughput between 4G and 5G in the existing bands is because 4G already approaches the Shannon limit on data communication rates. 5G speeds in the less common millimeter wave spectrum, with its much more abundant bandwidth and shorter range, and hence greater frequency reuseability, can be substantially highe
In information theory, the noisy-channel coding theorem (sometimes Shannon’s theorem or Shannon’s limit), establishes that for any given degree of noise contamination of a communication channel, it is possible to communicate discrete data (digital information) nearly error-free up to a computable maximum rate through the channel. This result was presented by Claude Shannon in 1948 and was based in part on earlier work and ideas of Harry Nyquist and Ralph Hartley.
The Shannon limit or Shannon capacity of a communications channel is the theoretical maximum information transfer rate of the channel, for a particular noise level

MCQ 3

Quilombos are the community found in

South Sudan
Brazil
Burkina Faso
Eretria

A quilombo is a Brazilian hinterland settlement founded by people of African origin including the quilombolas, or maroons and others sometimes called Carabali.
Most of the inhabitants of quilombos (called quilombolas) were escaped slaves. However, the documentation on runaway slave communities typically uses the term mocambo, an Ambundu word meaning “hideout”, to describe the settlements. A mocambo is typically much smaller than a quilombo. Quilombo was not used until the 1670s and then primarily in more southerly parts of Brazil.
A similar settlement exists in the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, and is called a palenque. Its inhabitants are palenqueros who speak various Spanish-Africanbased creole languages.
Quilombos are identified as one of three basic forms of active resistance by slaves. The other two are attempts to seize power and armed insurrections for amelioration.
Typically, quilombos are a “pre-19th century phenomenon”. The prevalence of the last two increased in the first half of 19th-century Brazil, which was undergoing both political transition and increased slave trade at the time

MCQ 4

National Physical Laboratory maintains the standards of measurements in India
It is not related to CSIR

Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(D) None

The National Physical Laboratory, India was set up in 1900) is one of the earliest national laboratories set up under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research. Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of NPL on 4 January 1947. Dr. K. S. Krishnan was the first Director of the laboratory. The main building of the laboratory was formally opened by Former Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 21 January 1950. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, inaugurated the Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Laboratory on 23 December 1975.

NPL Charter:-

The main aim of the laboratory is to strengthen and advance physics-based research and development for the overall development of science and technology in the country. In particular its objectives are:
To establish, maintain and improve continuously by research, for the benefit of the nation, National Standards of Measurements and to realize the Units based on International System (Under the subordinate Legislations of Weights and Measures Act 1956, reissued in 1988 under the 1976 Act). To identify and conduct after due consideration, research in areas of physics which are most appropriate to the needs of the nation and for advancement of field
To assist industries, national and other agencies in their developmental tasks by precision measurements, calibration, development of devices, processes, and other allied problems related to physics.
To keep itself informed of and study critically the status of physics

MCQ 5

Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-negative, roundshaped bacterium that is a usual member of the microbiota of the body
S. aureus biofilm has high resistance to antibiotic treatments and host immune response

Choose correct

(A) Only 1

(B) Only 2

(D) None

Druggable targets found for S. aureus

Novel protein targets that can be used by candidate drug molecules to kill antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, including vancomycin-resistant S. aureus, have been identified by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune.
The protein targets identified are crucial for the growth and survival of the bacteria, and hence S. aureus are less likely to cause mutations in them to confer drug-resistance. Any drug candidate that can bind to the targets will be able to inhibit the protein from functioning leading to eventual death of S. aureus, including the drug-resistant ones.
The researchers used a small molecule (quinone epoxide) and attached an indole residue to it to increase the ability of the molecule to cross the cell barrier of the bacteria and bind to the proteins. “Many small molecules lack the ability to cross the cell barrier. By making the small molecular permeable, it became possible to know which proteins are crucial for bacterium’s survival,” says Harinath Chakrapani from the Department of Chemistry at IISER Pune, one of the corresponding authors of a paper published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
The small molecule bound to multiple proteins, including a few that are crucial for growth and survival of the bacteria. These proteins are crucial as they bind to the DNA activate it for normal cellular functioning.
The small molecule was found to bind to a particular amino acid (cysteine) that is very important for many catalytic functions in the cell. So inhibiting the functioning of this amino acid (cysteine) can have a cascading effect leading to death of the bacteria.
The small molecule was found to be very specific to S. aureus and was highly potent in cell culture studies. “But in animal studies the molecule did not appear to be as potent. Nevertheless, it’s a good starting point to eventually develop an antibiotic that is effective even against the multidrug-resistant bacteria,” says Dr. Siddhesh S. Kamat from the Department of Biology at IISER Pune and another corresponding author of the paper. “Now that we have a new small molecule that can cross the cell barrier, bind to proteins and kill the bacteria, we can always decorate the molecule with functional groups and make it more bioavailable in animals.”
Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive, round-shaped bacterium that is a member of the Firmicutes, and it is a usual member of the microbiota of the body, frequently found in the upper respiratory tract and on the skin. It is often positive for catalase and nitrate reduction and is a facultative anaerobe that can grow without the need for oxygen.
Although S. aureus usually acts as a commensal of the human microbiota it can also become an opportunistic pathogen, being a common cause of skin infections including abscesses, respiratory infections such as sinusitis, and food poisoning.
Pathogenic strains often promote infections by producing virulence factors such as potent protein toxins, and the expression of a cell-surface protein that binds and inactivates antibodies.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus such as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a worldwide problem in clinical medicine. Despite much research and development, no vaccine for S. aureus has been approved.
An estimated 20% to 30% of the human population are long-term carriers of S. aureus which can be found as part of the normal skin flora, in the nostrils, and as a normal inhabitant of the lower reproductive tract of women. S. aureus can cause a range of illnesses, from minor skin infections, such as pimples, impetigo, boils, cellulitis, folliculitis, carbuncles, scalded skin syndrome, and abscesses, to lifethreatening diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, bacteremia, and sepsis.
It is still one of the five most common causes of hospital-acquired infections and is often the cause of wound infections following surgery. Each year, around 500,000 patients in hospitals of the United States contract a staphylococcal infection, chiefly by S. aureus. Up to 50,000 deaths each year in the USA are linked with S. aureus infections
The treatment of choice for S. aureus infection is penicillin. An antibiotic derived from some Penicillium fungal species, penicillin inhibits the formation of peptidoglycan cross-linkages that provide the rigidity and strength in a bacterial cell wall.
Antibiotic resistance in S. aureus was uncommon when penicillin was first introduced in 1943. Indeed, the original Petri dish on which Alexander Fleming of Imperial College London observed the antibacterial activity of the Penicillium fungus was growing a culture of S. aureus. By 1950, 40% of hospital S. aureus isolates were penicillin-resistant; by 1960, this had risen to 80%
Staphylococcal resistance to penicillin is mediated by penicillinase (a form of beta-lactamase) production: an enzyme that cleaves the β-lactam ring of the penicillin molecule, rendering the antibiotic ineffective.
Penicillinase-resistant β-lactam antibiotics, such as methicillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, cloxacillin, dicloxacillin, and flucloxacillin are able to resist degradation by staphylococcal penicillinase.

Biofilm

Bioflims are groups of microorganisms, such as bacteria, that attach to each other and grow on wet surfaces.
S. aureus biofilm has high resistance to antibiotic treatments and host immune response. One hypothesis for explaining this is that the biofilm matrix protects the embedded cells by acting as a barrier to prevent antibiotic penetration. However, the biofilm matrix is composed with many water channels, so this hypothesis is becoming increasingly less likely, but a biofilm matrix possibly contains antibiotic‐degrading enzymes such as β-lactamases, which can prevent antibiotic penetration.
Another hypothesis is that the conditions in the biofilm matrix favor the formation of persister cells, which are highly antibiotic-resistant, dormant bacterial cells. S. aureus biofilms also have high resistance to host immune response.
Though the exact mechanism of resistance is unknown, S. aureus biofilms have increased growth under the presence of cytokines produced by the host immune response. Host antibodies are less effective for S. aureus biofilm due to the heterogeneous antigen distribution, where an antigen may be present in some areas of the biofilm, but completely absent from other areas

MCQ 6 _______approved as food by U.S. regulators to tackle malnutrition