[MISSION 2022] INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 27 October 2021) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (d)

Explanation: The Drone Rules 2021.

• Digital sky platform shall be developed as a business-friendly single-window online system.
• No flight permission required upto 400 feet in green zones and upto 200 feet in the area between 8 and 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• No pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use), nano drone and for R&D organisations.
• No restriction on drone operations by foreign-owned companies registered in India.
• Import of drones and drone components to be regulated by DGFT.
• No security clearance required before any registration or licence issuance.
• No requirement of certificate of airworthiness, unique identification number, prior permission and remote pilot licence for R&D entities.
• Coverage of drones under Drone Rules, 2021 increased from 300 kg to 500 kg. This will cover drone taxis also.
• Issuance of Certificate of Airworthiness delegated to Quality Council of India and certification entities authorised by it.
• Manufacturer may generate their drone’s unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route.
• Maximum penalty under Drone Rules, 2021 reduced to INR 1 lakh. This shall, however, not apply to penalties in respect of violation of other laws.
• Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries.
• Drone promotion council to be set up to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/10/27/framework-for-traffic-management-of-drones/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• With an outlay of ₹64,180 crore, PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, announced in the Budget 2021-22, is the largest pan-India Health Infrastructure Scheme that aims to provide a much-needed fillip to India’s capacity to address emergent Public Health issues.
• Its objective is to fill gaps in public health infrastructure, especially in critical care facilities and primary care in both urban and rural areas.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/10/27/what-is-ayushman-bharat-health-infrastructure-mission/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• S1 AIIB has 97 members and is open to accepting additional members.
• S2: The allocated shares are based on the size of each member country’s economy (calculated using GDP Nominal (60%) and GDP PPP (40%)), whether they are an Asian or Non-Asian Member, and the number of shares determines the fraction of authorized capital in the bank.
• China is the biggest shareholder followed by India.
• See https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R44754.pdf and https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/india-is-second-largest-shareholder-of-aiib-piyush-goyal-118062400640_1.html
• S3: It has members from outside Asia such as Fiji, New Zealand etc. Membership in AIIB is open to members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development or the Asian Development Bank. See https://www.aiib.org/en/about-aiib/governance/members-of-bank/index.html

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/10/27/asian-infrastructure-investment-bank-aiib-5/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S1: The South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
  • It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of Borneo.
  • It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea.
• S2: The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are also part of the South China Sea.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/10/27/south-china-sea-dispute-3/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The NPR is a register of usual residents linked with location particulars down to the village level and is updated periodically “to incorporate the changes due to birth, death and migration”.
• Who is a usual resident?
  • A usual resident is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has resided in a local area for the past 6 months or more or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next 6 months or more.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/10/27/national-population-register-3/

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: UPSC CSE 2016

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1: The DNA in any cell can be altered through environmental exposure to certain chemicals, ultraviolet radiation, other genetic insults, or even errors that occur during the process of replication. If a mutation occurs in a germ-line cell (one that will give rise to gametes, i.e., egg or sperm cells), then this mutation can be passed to an organism’s offspring. This means that every cell in the developing embryo will carry the mutation. As opposed to germ-line mutations, somatic mutations occur in cells found elsewhere in an organism’s body. Such mutations are passed to daughter cells during the process of mitosis, but they are not passed to offspring conceived via sexual reproduction.
• S2: This is correct, see news at MIT review https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/11/25/138962/exclusive-chinese-scientists-are-creating-crispr-babies/ ). This was controversially achieved by a team at the Southern University of Science and Technology, in Shenzhen, which recruited couples in an effort to create the first gene-edited babies. They planned to eliminate a gene called CCR5 in hopes of rendering the offspring resistant to HIV, smallpox, and cholera. Also see this article https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00673-1  and this research piece https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6813942/
• S3: This is correct as well, see https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/3883495
• Domesticated animals such as dogs, pigs and cows are considered excellent models for long-term experiments in regenerative medicines, and biomedical research in general, because of their similarities in physiology with humans compared to the laboratory mouse or rat.
• So, the techniques used to generate induced pluripotent stem cells from mouse and human were also suitable in pigs.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) can prevent pneumococcal disease.
• Pneumococcal disease refers to any illness caused by pneumococcal bacteria, including Pneumonia and sepsis (which is a bloodstream infection disease in children), So 1 is correct.
• See https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/pcv13.html
• S2: This is also correct, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6183139/
• Vaccines as tools to reduce Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) have historically been under-recognized, yet the positive effect in reducing AMR has been well established. For example Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) as well as Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) conjugate vaccines have impressive track records in not only preventing life threatening diseases caused by these bacteria, but also reducing antibiotic use and AMR.
• S3: Mild side effects of the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV), the version of the pneumococcal vaccine given to adults and children over the age of 2, include:
• mild soreness or hardness at the site of the injection lasting 1 to 3 days
• a slightly raised temperature
• More serious side effects of the PPV vaccine, such as allergic reactions, are rare.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1 and S2: Cells are the basic unit of a living organism and where all life processes are carried out.
• Animal cells and plant cells share the common components of a nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria and a cell membrane.
• Plant cells have three extra components, a vacuole, chloroplast and a cell wall.
• S3: Vacuoles are storage bubbles found in cells. They are found in both animal and plant cells but are much larger in plant cells. Vacuoles might store food or any variety of nutrients a cell might need to survive.
• See https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/znyycdm/articles/zmrtng8

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020

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

refer: UPSC CSE 2019