Daily Current Affairs MCQ / UPSC / IAS / 17-09-19 | Free PDF

MCQ 1

 Oumuamua, recently in news is a

1. African tribe
2. Nuclear facility in japan
3. A spacecraft by JAXA
4. None

• is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Formally designated 1I/2017 U1, it was discovered by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, on 19 October 2017, 40 days after it passed its closest point to the Sun on 9 September of the same year. When it was first observed, it was about 21,000,000 mi; 0.22 AU (33,000,000 km) from Earth (about 85 times as far away as the Moon), and already heading away from the Sun.
• Interstellar objects
• In 2017, The Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii spotted a strange, spaceship-shaped object passing through the Solar System.
• It was named “Oumuamua”, it became the subject of speculation whether it was really an alien spaceship.
• It was eventually declared by scientists to be an interstellar object, the first such known visitor to the Solar System.
• Now, it appears that a second interstellar object is paying a visit.
• On August, the MARGO observatory in Crimea spotted a comet and is believed to have originated from outside the Solar System,
• although the official confirmation has not been made yet.
• The comet has been designated “C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)”.
• It is still inbound toward the Sun. It will remain farther from Earth than the orbit of Mars.
• It was detected by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Scout system.
• JPL automatically flagged the object as possibly being interstellar.
• The comet’s current velocity is about 150,000 kph, which is well above the typical velocities of objects orbiting the Sun.
• The high velocity indicates that the object likely originated from outside our Solar System and head back to interstellar space.

MCQ 2

1. Saudi Aramco is the world’s largest oil Refinery
2. Saudi Aramco operates the Ghawar Field, the world’s largest onshore oil field and the Safaniya Field, the world’s largest offshore oil field

Choose correct

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

• Saudi Aramco officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly ArabianAmerican Oil Company), is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
• It is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, and according to accounts seen by Bloomberg News, the most profitable company in the world. Saudi Aramco has both the world’s second-largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 270 billion barrels (4.3×1010 m3 ), and second-largest daily oil production.
• Saudi officials have backed an official figure of $2 trillion for Saudi Aramco’s value. The company’s financial data were leaked in April 2018, and according to Bloomberg’s analysts the company could be valued at $1.2 trillion, a significantly lower sum.
• Saudi Aramco operates the world’s largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. Its 2013 crude oil production total was 3.4 billion barrels (540,000,000 m3 ), and it manages over one hundred oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia, including 288.4 trillion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas reserves. Saudi Aramco operates the Ghawar Field, the world’s largest onshore oil field, and the Safaniya Field, the world’s largest offshore oil field
• Strikes on Saudi oil facilities and its impact in Oil prices
• The Houthi rebels from Yemen carried out drone attacks on two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. • It includes the world’s biggest petroleum processing facility run by state-owned Saudi Aramco.
• This has impacted Saudi Arabia’s oil production and exports, and in turn the global oil market.
• The attack has cut output by 5.7 million barrels per day, this is close to half of the kingdom’s output and 5% of global oil supply.
• Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, ships more than 7 million barrels of oil to global destinations every day.
• The output cut was expected to send oil prices up $3-$5 per barrel.
• Saudi Arabia is the second largest supplier of crude and cooking gas to India.
• A sudden increase in global prices will affect India’s oil import bill and its trade deficit. Concerns for India:
• Saudi supplies 10 per cent of global world supply and is the world’s largest crude oil exporter.
• India imports 80% of the oil it consumes, which means there are multiple ways in which the country will be impacted by this disruption. With this attack, Oil prices may go up
• India is already trying to make up for the loss of supply from Iran after US-imposed sanctions. After Iraq, Saudi Arabia is India’s second-largest supplier of crude oil.
• Besides, the global supply has been volatile because of disruptions in some of the other big suppliers such as Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria.
• Supply constraints and rising oil prices would mean that the rupee will weaken further against the dollar — that’s because, as the dollar prices of crude oil rise, India would need to buy more dollars for the same amount of oil, thus depreciating the value of the rupee vis-à-vis the dollar.
• Rising oil prices will worsen the Indian government’s fiscal balance.
• Higher crude oil prices would also lead to higher domestic oil prices, which, in turn, will further depress the demand for all things, especially those that use oil as the primary input — say, cars.
• This dip in consumption demand, which is already under strain as the recent growth slowdown has shown, would likely mean lower economic activity and consequently lower revenues for the government.

MCQ 3

1. Food and Land use Coalition (FOLU) is floated by OECD group
2. According to its study The current methods of food production, consumption and land use systems incur ‘hidden’ environmental, health and poverty costs estimated at almost $12 trillion a year.

 Choose correct

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

• Food and Land use Coalition (FOLU), a collaboration of food, farming and green research groups, has released a report on ‘hidden’ environmental, health and poverty costs.

 Key findings:

• Food and land use systems are defined as the way “land is used, food is produced, stored, packed, processed, traded, distributed, marketed, consumed and disposed of”.
• These are the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions (up to 30 per cent) driving climate change.
• They are responsible for the degradation of the world’s tropical forests, grasslands, wetlands and other remaining natural habitats.
• They are also the leading cause behind the ongoing ‘sixth extinction’ of biodiversity.
• Malnutrition leads to the largest hidden costs: Today one-third of the world’s population is malnourished; by 2030 it is expected to rise up to 50 per cent.

Concerns raised:

• The current methods of food production, consumption and land use systems incur ‘hidden’ environmental, health and poverty costs estimated at almost $12 trillion a year.
• These hidden costs can cause irreversible damage to key ecosystems, fundamentally undermine food security in certain regions, and increase public health costs.
• If action is not taken timely the costs will rise to more than $16 trillion a year by 2050.
• It will also put the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris Agreement climate targets out of reach.
• This can further unleash food scarcity, disrupt markets and cause political instability, particularly in poor countries, and greately affect women and children.

The report proposes a reform agenda — centred around 10 critical transitions — of real actionable solutions:

• Healthy diets
• Productive and regenerative agriculture
• A healthy and productive ocean
• Protecting and restoring nature
• Diversifying protein supply
• Reducing food loss and waste
• Local loops and linkages
• Harnessing the digital revolution
• Stronger rural livelihoods
• Gender and demography

The need for reducing hidden costs:

• While an estimated $30 billion public investment is required to deliver the transition, if strongly implemented it can result in an estimated $1.285 trillion by 2030, and $1.920 trillion by 2050.
• Reducing the current ‘hidden costs’ of food and land use systems would add $5.7 trillion economic gains to society annually by 2030 and $10.5 trillion annually by 2050.
• A reduction in public health costs of $1.090 trillion a year by 2030 would be the biggest driver of the gain.

 MCQ 4

1. NIRVIK’ scheme to ease the lending process and enhance loan availability for MSME sector.
2. Its started by SIDBI

Choose correct

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

• Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) has introduced ‘NIRVIK’ scheme to ease the lending process and enhance loan availability for exporters. Key features of the scheme:
• Insurance cover guaranteed will cover up to 90 percent of the principal and interest.
• The increased cover will ensure that foreign and rupee export credit interest rates are below 4 percent and 8 percent respectively for the exporters.
• The insurance cover will include both pre and post-shipment credit.
• The gems, jewellery and diamond (GJD) sector borrowers with limit of over Rs 80 crore will have a higher premium rate in comparison to the non-GJD sector borrowers of this category due to the higher loss ratio.
• For accounts with limits below Rs 80 crore, the premium rates will be moderated to 0.60 per annum and for those exceeding Rs80 crore, the rates will be 0.72 per annum for the same enhanced cover.
• It mandates inspection of bank documents and records by ECGC officials for losses exceeding Rs.10 crore as against the present Rs 1crore.
• The banks shall pay a premium to ECGC monthly on the principal and interest as the cover is offered for both outstandings.

Benefits of the scheme:

• It will enhance accessibility and affordability of credit for exporters.
• It will help make Indian exports competitive.
• It will make ECGC procedures exporter friendly.
• The insurance cover is expected to bring down the cost of credit due to capital relief, less provision requirement and liquidity due to quick settlement of claims.
• It will ensure timely and adequate working capital to the export sector.

About ECGC:

• The Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) is a fully governmentowned company that was established in 1957 to promote exports by providing credit insurance services.
• The ECGC provides Export Credit Insurance to Banks (ECIB) to protect the banks from losses on account of export credit at the Pre and Post-Shipment stage given to exporters due to the risks of insolvency or protracted default of the exporter borrower.

MCQ 5

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was launched by

1. ISRO
2. NASA
3. ESA
4. ROSCOMOS

• The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO has been described as essential for planning NASA’s future human and robotic missions to the Moon. Its detailed mapping program is identifying safe landing sites, locating potential resources on the Moon, characterizing the radiation environment, and demonstrating new technologies.
• Launched on June 18, 2009, in conjunction with the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), as the vanguard of NASA’s Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, LRO was the first United States mission to the Moon in over ten years. LRO and LCROSS were launched as part of the United States’s Vision for Space Exploration program.
• The probe has made a 3-D map of the Moon’s surface at 100-meter resolution and 98.2% coverage (excluding polar areas in deep shadow), including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites. The first images from LRO were published on July 2, 2009, showing a region in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds).
• The total cost of the mission is reported as US$583 million, of which $504 million pertains to the main LRO probe and $79 million to the LCROSS satellite. As of 2019, LRO has enough fuel to continue operations for at least seven more years, and NASA expects to continue utilizing LRO’s reconnaissance capabilities to identify sites for lunar landers well into the 2020s.
• ISRO is attempting to figure out what happened to Chandrayaan2’s Vikram with the help of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissanc e Orbiter (LRO).

The objectives of LRO are to:

• Identify potential lunar resources.
• Gather detailed maps of the lunar surface.
• Collect data on the moon’s radiation levels.
• Study the moons polar regions for resources that could be used in future manned missions or robotic sample return missions.
• Provide measurements to characterize future robotic explorers, human lunar landing sites and to derive measurements that can be used directly in support of future Lunar Human Exploration Systems

MCQ 6

1. The India Cooling Action plan seeks to reduce cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25% by 2037-38 & reduce refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by 2037-38
2. India is the first country in world to develop such a document.

Choose correct

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

•  India’s Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) has received appreciation from the UN on World Ozone Day.
• Significance of ICAP: India is the first country in world to develop such a document. The goals emerging from the suggested interventions stated in ICAP are:
• Reduction of cooling demand across sectors by 20% to 25 % by year 2037-38.
• Reduction of refrigerant demand by 25% to 30% by year 2037-38.
• Reduction of cooling energy requirements by 25% to 40% by year 2037-38.
• Training and certification of 100,000 servicing sector technicians by the year 2022-23, in synergy with Skill India Mission.
• Recognize “cooling and related areas” as a thrust area of research under the national S&T Programme.
• The following benefits would accrue to the society over and above the environmental benefits: (i) Thermal comfort for all – provision for cooling for EWS and LIG housing, (ii) Sustainable cooling – low GHG emissions related to cooling, (iii) Doubling Farmers Income – better cold chain infrastructure – better value of produce to farmers, less wastage of produce, (iv) Skilled workforce for better livelihoods and environmental protection, (v) Make in India – domestic manufacturing of air-conditioning and related cooling equipment’s, (vi) Robust R&D on alternative cooling technologies – to provide push to innovation in cooling sector.
• Cooling is also linked to human health and productivity. Linkages of cooling with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are well acknowledged. The cross-sectoral nature of cooling and its use in development of the economy makes provision for cooling an important developmental necessity. The development of ICAP has been a multi-stakeholder inclusive process encompassing different Government Ministries/Departments/Organizations, Industry and Industry Associations, Think tanks, Academic and R&D institutions.

 MCQ 7

1. Rub’ al Khali is a desert in Iran
2. It is the largest contiguous sand desert (erg) in the world

, Choose correct

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

• The Rub’ al Khali is the largest contiguous sand desert (erg) in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The desert covers some 650,000 km2 (250,000 sq mi) (the area of long. 44°30′−56°30′E, and lat. 16°30′−23°00′N) including parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It is part of the larger Arabian Desert.
• Abqaiq is a Saudi Aramco gated community and oil-processing facilities located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-DammamKhobar metropolitan area, and north of the Rub’ al-Khali, the second largest sand desert in the world also known as the “Empty Quarter”. The community was built in the 1940s by Aramco (now Saudi Aramco). The Abqaiq community had a population of approximately 1,500 in 2012, though the inclusion of the population outside the Saudi Aramco community brings this number closer to 30,000.
• Abqaiq has been organizing a Safari Festival since 2017. The 10-days festival aims at presenting the Arab and desert heritage by presenting different shows

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