[MISSION 2022] INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 11 November 2021) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The fort’s name Chitrakaldurga, which means ‘picturesque fort’ in Kannada, is the namesake of the town Chitradurga and its administrative district.
• The fort was built in stages between the 11th and 13th centuries by the dynastic rulers of the region, including the Chalukyas and Hoysalas, later the Nayakas of Chitradurga of the Vijayanagar Empire.
• The Nayakas of Chitradurga, or Palegar Nayakas, were most responsible for the expansion of the fort between the 15th and 18th centuries.
• The fort was taken over for a short while by Hyder Ali at Chitradurga in 1779. The fort was captured by the British forces twenty years later, when they defeated his son Tipu Sultan.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/who-is-warrior-woman-onake-obavva-context/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Meteors, also known as shooting stars, are pieces of dust and debris from space that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, where they can create bright streaks across the night sky. When Earth passes through the dusty trail of a comet or asteroid’s orbit, the many streaks of light in the sky are known as a meteor shower. Particularly large chunks of material can create an extra-bright fireball streak, but most meteors are still small enough to entirely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
• If a meteor makes it to Earth it’s known as a meteorite. Before they hit atmosphere the objects are called meteoroids.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/what-is-leonids-meteor-shower/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS):
• It is an ongoing Central Sector Scheme which was launched in 1993-94.
• The Scheme enables the Members of Parliament to recommend works for creation of durable community assets based on locally felt needs to be taken up in their constituencies in the area of national priorities namely drinking water, education, public health, sanitation, roads etc.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been responsible for the policy formulation, release of funds and prescribing monitoring mechanism for implementation of the Scheme.
• Citing economic recovery, the Union Cabinet has restored the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) that was suspended in April 2020 subsuming the funds for the scheme in the consolidated fund of India. However, the MPs will get ₹2 crore instead of the annual approved ₹5 crore.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/what-is-mplad-scheme-2/

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/2021/11/11/what-is-mplad-scheme-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The CBI had filed the affidavit after the court inquired last month about the bottlenecks it faced, and the steps it had taken to strengthen prosecutions.
• Which states have withdrawn general consent, and why?
  • Eight states have currently withdrawn consent to the CBI: Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, and Mizoram. All except Mizoram are ruled by the opposition.
• Centre’s response:
  • State governments do not have any “absolute” power to keep the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from investigating crimes inside the State.
  • Not even the Union government”, has the authority to rattle the autonomy of the premier agency to conduct investigations.
  • Also, withdrawal of general consent would not stand in the way of constitutional courts entrusting the CBI with the cases “where it is found that the State Police would not effectively conduct a fair and impartial investigation”.
  • Besides, the CBI was empowered to probe cases concerning any of the Central subjects enumerated in the Union List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
• Why is consent necessary?
  • The CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act that makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting investigation in that state.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/general-consent-to-cbi-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: About CCPI:

• It is compiled by Germanwatch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action Network.
• It monitors climate mitigation progress of 60 countries and the European Union.
• It aims to enhance transparency in international climate politics and enables the comparability of climate protection efforts and progress made by individual countries.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/climate-change-performance-index/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The Yamuna is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganga and the longest tributary in India.
• It meets the Ganges at the Sangam in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh after flowing through Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/what-causes-frothing-in-delhis-yamuna/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The inaugural Global Drug Policy Index was released recently by the Harm Reduction Consortium.
• It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy: criminal justice, extreme responses, health and harm reduction, access to internationally controlled medicines, and development.
• It ranks Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia as the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.
• The five lowest-ranking countries are Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico.
• India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/11/11/mission-2022-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-11-november-2021/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1 and S2: Selection of resistant microorganisms is exacerbated by inappropriate use of antimicrobials since a number of microbes are resistant to these anti-biotics. So, S1 is irrelevant to MDR.
• The practice of adding antibiotics to agricultural feed promotes drug resistance.
• S3: As per WHO, the high volume of antibiotics in food-producing animals contributes to the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, particularly in settings of intensive animal production. These bacteria can be transmitted from animals to humans via direct contact between animals and humans, or through the food chain and the environment. See https://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/antimicrobial-resistance/amrfoodchain/en/
• S4: This is a confusing option, nonetheless seems correct.
• Many medical advances are dependent on the ability to fight infections using antibiotics, such as for treatment of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, and rheumatoid arthritis (See https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html ), and thus, multiple chronic diseases in some people may lead them to take more anti-biotics than others exacerbating the problem.
• Sometimes healthcare providers prescribe antimicrobials inappropriately, wishing to placate an insistent patient who has a viral infection or an as-yet undiagnosed condition. At times there could be a wrong identification of the disease. All these worsen the problem. Whether this is actually a reason or not is hard to testify unless we find a solid evidence, but based on reasoning alone this would be correct.
• Also, MDR provokes obstruction in disease control by intensifying the possibility of spreading of resistant pathogens, thus, declining efficacy of treatment and, hence, resulting in prolonged time of infection in patient. See https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ipid/2014/541340/

Refer: UPSC CSE 2019

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Cas9 (CRISPR associated protein 9) is a protein which plays a vital role in the immunological defense of certain bacteria against DNA viruses, and which is heavily utilized in genetic engineering applications. Its main function is to cut DNA and therefore it can alter a cell’s genome.
• See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cas9

Refer: UPSC CSE 2019