[Mission 2024] Current Affairs Quiz , 6 October 2023

Solution: a)

Only statement 1 is correct.

• Nipah is a zoonotic disease, primarily transmitted to humans through infected animals particularly bats or contaminated food,and it can also spread from person to person through close contact.
• Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, and vomiting, with severe cases potentially leading to encephalitis, coma, and death.
• The virus is primarily transmitted through consumption of contaminated food or direct contact with infected animals, particularly fruit bats.
• It is highly lethal, with mortality rates ranging from 40% to 75%.

Source

Solution: d)

Harami Nala is a 22-kilometer tidal channel that serves as a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. The channel carries water and mud and is inhabited by protected marine species. Vast marshy mudflats surround it, with temperatures reaching above 50° Celsius in summer.

Solution: c)

Statement 4 is incorrect.

The Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) is a flagship scheme for focused and sustainable development of fisheries sector in the country for its implementation during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 in all States/Union Territories, as a part of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Package. 

PMMSY is designed to address critical gaps in fish production and productivity, quality, technology, post-harvest infrastructure and management, modernization and strengthening of value chain, traceability, establishing a robust fisheries management framework and fishers’ welfare. While aiming to consolidate the achievements of  Blue Revolution Scheme, PMMSY envisages many new interventions such as fishing vessel insurance, support for new/up-gradation of fishing vessels/boats, Bio-toilets,  Aquaculture in saline/alkaline areas, Sagar Mitras, FFPOs/Cs,  Nucleus Breeding Centres, Fisheries and Aquaculture start-ups, Incubators, Integrated Aqua parks, Integrated coastal fishing villages development, Aquatic Laboratories Network and Extension Services, Traceability, Certification and Accreditation, RAS, Biofloc & Cage Culture, E-Trading/Marketing, Fisheries Management Plans, etc.

PMMSY scheme primarily focuses on adopting ‘Cluster or Area based approaches’ and creation of Fisheries clusters through backward and forward linkages. Special focus will be given for employment generation activities such as seaweed and ornamental fish cultivation. It emphasizes on interventions for quality brood, seed and feed, special focus on species diversification, critical infrastructure, marketing networks etc.

Solution: a)

Only statement 1 is correct.

Under clause 3 of Article 171 of the Constitution, as close as possible to one-twelfth of MLCs are to be elected by an electorate consisting solely of graduates and another one-twelfth by an electorate consisting of teachers.

Who can vote?

Any university graduate can register as a voter in these elections conducted after the six-year term of a member ends. The Election Commission prepares a separate voting list from the voters list.

According to Section 27 of the Representation of the People Act 1950, only those who have been graduates for at least three years or possess a certificate that the state government and the Election Commission recognise as equivalent to a degree are qualified to be enrolled in the voter rolls.

Similarly, everyone who is ordinarily a resident in a teachers’ constituency and has at least three years of teaching experience in any educational institution recognised by the state government is entitled to vote in the election.

What are these MLCs’ roles and responsibilities?

They are expected to help the state government make laws and regulations based on their knowledge and experience. They can ask questions of ministers and initiate debates. They can introduce ordinary bills, but not bills related to taxation, spending etc since only the Assembly can take up money bills.

Solution: d)

Muons are subatomic particles raining from space. They are created when the particles in Earth’s atmosphere collide with cosmic rays — clusters of high-energy particles that move through space at just below the speed of light. According to Scientific American magazine, “about 10,000 muons reach every square metre of the Earth’s surface a minute”.

These particles resemble electrons but are 207 times as massive. Therefore, they are sometimes called “fat electrons”. Because muons are so heavy, they can travel through hundreds of metres of rock or other matter before getting absorbed or decaying into electrons and neutrinos. In comparison, electrons can penetrate through only a few centimetres. Muons are highly unstable and exist for just 2.2 microseconds.