INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 15 December 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation: What Are The Differences Between An Asteroid, Comet, Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite?

• Asteroid: A relatively small, inactive, rocky body orbiting the Sun.
• Comet: A relatively small, at times active, object whose ices can vaporize in sunlight forming an atmosphere (coma) of dust and gas and, sometimes, a tail of dust and/or gas.
• Meteoroid: A small particle from a comet or asteroid orbiting the Sun.
• Meteor: The light phenomena which results when a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes; a shooting star.
• Meteorite: A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and lands upon the Earth’s surface.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/what-makes-the-geminids-meteor-shower-unique/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Model Code of Conduct(MCC):
• What is MCC?
  • These are the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for conduct of political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to speeches, polling day, polling booths, election manifestos, processions and general conduct.
  • This is in keeping with Article 324 of the Constitution, which mandates EC to conduct free and fair elections to the Parliament and State Legislatures.
• Aim: To ensure free and fair elections.
• When it comes into force?
  • So far, the Model Code of Conduct came into force immediately on announcement of the election schedule by the commission. The Code remains in force till the end of the electoral process.
• Status:
  • The need for such code is in the interest of free and fair elections. However, the code does not have any specific statutory basis. It has only a persuasive effect. It contains what is known as “rules of electoral morality”. But this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from enforcing it.
• Evolution:
  • The Commission issued the code for the first time in 1971 (5th Election) and revised it from time to time. This set of norms has been evolved with the consensus of political parties who have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code and also binds them to respect and observe it in its letter and spirit.
• What it contains?
  • The salient features of the Model Code of Conduct lay down how political parties, contesting candidates and party(s) in power should conduct themselves during the process of elections i.e. on their general conduct during electioneering, holding meetings and processions, poll day activities and functioning of the party in power etc.
• Enforcement:
  • The EC has devised several mechanisms to take note of the violation of the code, which include joint task forces of enforcement agencies and flying squads. The latest is the introduction of the cVIGIL mobile app through which audio-visual evidence of malpractices can be reported.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/model-code-of-conduct/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1 and S2: These are correct. See https://mplads.gov.in/MPLADS/UploadedFiles/MPLADSGuidelines2016English_638.pdf
• S3: Funds can be carried forward. Funds released to the District Authority by the Government of India are therefore non-lapsable. Funds left in the district can be carried forward for utilization in the subsequent years. Further, the funds not released by the Government of India in a year will be carried forward for making releases in the subsequent years
• S4: This is correct. The District Authority would be responsible for overall coordination and supervision of the works under the scheme at the district level and inspect at least 10% of the works under implementation every year. The District Authority should involve the MPs in the inspections of projects to the extent feasible.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/mp-local-area-development-scheme-mplads/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The National Health Agency (NHA) has released its data on “The role of private hospitals”. Key findings:
  • Patients seeking care at private hospitals tend to be older and a larger share consist of men compared with those seeking medical care at public hospitals.
  • Private hospitals account for over half of the empanelled hospitals, nearly two-thirds of claim volumes, and three-quarters of claim outlays in the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
  • The top PM-JAY packages by value — including knee replacement, cataracts, haemodialysis and cardiovascular surgeries — are overwhelmingly provided by private hospitals.
  • Over 72% of private empanelled hospitals are located in just seven States: Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka.
• S1: It is the apex body responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme ‘Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana’.
• S2: NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/ayushman-bharat-pradhan-mantri-jan-arogya-yojana-pm-jay/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S1: The NITI Aayog council comprises all the state Chief Ministers, along with the Chief Ministers of Delhi and Puducherry, the Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and a vice-chairman nominated by the Prime Minister. In addition, temporary members are selected from leading universities and research institutions. These members include a chief executive officer, four ex-official members, and two part-time members.
• S2: NITI Aayog has taken initiative on Blockchain usages in E-governance and has conceptualized the tech stack as ‘IndiaChain’. IndiaChain is the name given to Niti Aayog’s ambitious project to develop a nation-wide blockchain network.
• NITI Aayog has released a white paper: Vision 2035: Public Health Surveillance in India with the vision:
  • To make India’s public health surveillance system more responsive and predictive to enhance preparedness for action at all levels.
  • Citizen-friendly public health surveillance system will ensure individual privacy and confidentiality, enabled with a client feedback mechanism.
  • Improved data-sharing mechanism between Centre and states for better disease detection, prevention, and control.
  • India aims to provide regional and global leadership in managing events that constitute a public health emergency of international concern.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/vision-2035-public-health-surveillance-in-india/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Quoting a Planning Commission report, “For 2011-12, for rural areas the national poverty line using the Tendulkar methodology is estimated at Rs. 816 per capita per month and Rs. 1,000 per capita per month in urban areas. Thus, for a family of five, the all India poverty line in terms of consumption expenditure would amount to about Rs. 4,080 per month in rural areas and Rs. 5,000 per month in urban areas. These poverty lines would vary from State to State because of inter-state price differentials.”
• See http://planningcommission.nic.in/news/pre_pov2307 .pdf, page 2.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/how-did-china-go-about-reforming-its-agriculture-and-reducing-poverty/

Ans: (a)

Explanation: Himgiri:

• Himgiri is the first of the three stealth frigates being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, under Project 17A for the Navy.
• Under the Project 17A program, a total of seven ships, four at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) and three ships at GRSE are being built with enhanced stealth features, advanced indigenous weapon and sensor fit along with several other improvements.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/15/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-15-december-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• A transcriptome is the full range of messenger RNA, or mRNA, molecules expressed by an organism.
• The term “transcriptome” can also be used to describe the array of mRNA transcripts produced in a particular cell or tissue type.
• In contrast with the genome, which is characterized by its stability, the transcriptome actively changes.
• In fact, an organism’s transcriptome varies depending on many factors, including stage of development and environmental conditions.
• Refer: http://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/transcriptome-296

Source: UPSC CSE 2016

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Option A incorrect since it is difficult to envisage how this can be achieved because it is one thing to create an artificial chromosome and quite another to to make it functional. Option B is Artificial Gene Synthesis whereas Option D is Plant and Animal Tissue Culture Technology. Option C is Cloning.
• S2: Artificial gene synthesis, sometimes known as DNA printing is a method in synthetic biology that is used to create artificial genes in the laboratory. The method has been used to generate functional bacterial or yeast chromosomes containing approximately one million base pairs.
• See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21881/ and https://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/vgec/schoolsandcolleges/topics/recombinanttechniques and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_gene_synthesis
• https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/recombinant-dna-technology-and-transgenic-animals-34513

Source: UPSC CSE 2019

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Statement 3 is absurd. Rest of them are correct.
• S1: RNA interference (RNAi) is a biological process in which RNA molecules inhibit gene expression or translation.
• S2: Since the discovery of RNAi and its regulatory potentials, it has become evident that RNAi has immense potential in suppression of desired genes (gene silencing).
• Numerous studies have demonstrated that RNAi can provide a more specific approach to inhibit tumor growth by targeting cancer-related genes (i.e., oncogene).
• S4: RNAi has resulted in the invention of novel crops such as nicotine-free tobacco, decaffeinated coffee, nutrient fortified vegetation, and hypoallergenic crops. The genetically-engineered Arctic apples received FDA approval in 2015.
• While it was known that plants expressing virus-specific proteins showed enhanced tolerance or resistance to viral infection, it was not expected that plants carrying only short, non-coding regions of viral RNA sequences would show similar levels of protection. Researchers believed that viral RNA produced by transgenes could also inhibit viral replication.
• The reverse experiment, in which short sequences of plant genes were introduced into viruses, showed that the targeted gene was suppressed in an infected plant. This phenomenon was labeled “virus-induced gene silencing” (VIGS), and the set of such phenomena were collectively called post transcriptional gene silencing.
• See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_interference

Source: UPSC CSE 2019