UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 9 May 2024

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Context: India’s healthcare system is witnessing positive developments, with significant increases in government health expenditure (GHE) as a proportion of GDP and per capita expenditure.
• National Health Systems Resource Centre
  • It was established in 2006-07 under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Government of India to serve as an apex body for technical assistance.
  • National Health Account (NHA) estimates prepared by the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC),

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/good-news-for-indias-healthcare-system/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Context: On World Press Freedom Day (May 3), India remembers Hicky’s Bengal Gazette, the country’s first newspaper.
• Launched in 1780 by James Augustus Hicky in Kolkata, it highlighted government corruption and civic issues but faced closure due to lawsuits. It was a weekly English-language publication that faced closure in 1782 after criticizing Governor General Warren Hastings.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/hickys-bengal-gazette/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Context: The Department of Consumer Affairs warns against drip pricing.
• What is Drip Pricing?
  • Drip pricing is a tactic where only part of a product’s price is advertised, with additional charges revealed later. It’s used to attract customers and has been labelled as a dark pattern under Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns, 2023

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/drip-pricing/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Only statement 3 is correct.
• Contect: India at 19th Interpol Conference of Heads of National Central Bureau
  • Online radicalization remains a major global security challenge. Internet platforms, especially social media, are utilized by terrorists for radicalization, indoctrination, recruitment, and financing of terror activities.
• Interpol, short for the International Criminal Police Organization, is an international organization that facilitates cooperation between law enforcement agencies worldwide. While it provides a platform for sharing information and coordinating efforts to combat various forms of crime, including terrorism, it does not have its own law enforcement agents and cannot make arrests. Instead, it acts as a liaison between national law enforcement agencies, assisting them in sharing intelligence and coordinating cross-border operations. Interpol’s headquarters is located in Lyon, France, not Geneva, Switzerland (which is the location of various other international organizations).

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/report-study-in-news/

ANs: (b)

Explanation:

• Contect: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive diagnostic procedure used to obtain images of soft tissues within the body, such as the brain, cardiovascular system, and joints.
• What is an MRI Scanner?
  • An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner is a medical device that uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to generate detailed images of the inside of the body, particularly the soft tissues like the brain, muscles, and organs.
• How does it work?
  • When a patient enters the MRI machine, their body’s hydrogen atoms align with the magnetic field. Radio waves are then used to temporarily disrupt this alignment. When the radio waves are turned off, the hydrogen atoms return to their aligned state, emitting energy that is detected by the scanner.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/magnetic-resonance-imaging-mri/

Ans:(b)

Explanation:

• Context: China’s Chang’e-6 mission, launched successfully, aims to collect rocks from the Moon’s far side, a complex endeavor requiring precise planning.
• About the Chang Mission:
  • Chang’e-6, China’s mission to the Moon’s far side, aims to retrieve 2 kilograms of samples, a feat never accomplished before. Unlike the Chang’e-5 mission, which brought back samples from the near side in 2020, this mission targets the unexplored territory of the far side. The spacecraft, equipped with a communications satellite called Queqiao-2, will land in the South Pole-Aitken basin, the Moon’s largest impact basin.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/chinas-change-6-mission/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Context: IIT Madras startup Mindgrove Technologies has launched Secure IoT, India’s first microcontroller chip, which is cheaper and more efficient.
• Microcontroller chips are designed to contain all the essential components needed for a computing system on a single integrated circuit. This includes a central processing unit (CPU), memory (both volatile and non-volatile), and a range of peripherals such as input/output ports, timers, analog-to-digital converters, communication interfaces, etc. Option A is correct because it accurately reflects the typical architecture of microcontroller chips. Option B is incorrect because microcontroller chips are generally not used in high-performance computing; instead, they are utilized in embedded systems, IoT devices, consumer electronics, etc. Option C is incorrect because while microcontroller chips integrate many components, they often require external components such as power supplies, oscillators, and sometimes additional memory or communication devices to function properly. Option D is incorrect because microcontroller chips can be programmed using a variety of methods, including specialized hardware tools as well as via software development environments and programming languages.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/secure-iot/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Context: Russia has ordered tactical nuclear weapons drills as a warning to Ukraine’s allies amid rising tensions.
• TNWs, or Tactical Nuclear Weapons, are weapons not classified as “strategic” under US-Russian arms control agreements. They include short-range options like land-based missiles (less than 500 km range) and air- or sea-launched weapons (less than 600 km range). TNWs are the least-regulated nuclear weapons category under arms control agreements and are widely present in nuclear arsenals worldwide.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/tactical-nuclear-weapons/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Context: The first case of a walrus dying from bird flu was recorded on Hopen Island in the Svalbard archipelago. However, it’s unclear whether it was the H5N1 or H5N8 strain, and there’s a possibility that other walruses found also had bird flu.
• Hopen, an island in the Svalbard archipelago (Norway), was discovered in 1596 during Willem Barentsz’s expedition. Since 1947, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute has operated a staffed weather station on the island with a crew of four. Hopen is home to a significant number of polar bears in winter. Additionally, Hopen is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/hopen-island-svalbard-archipelago/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Only statement 2 is correct.
• Context: The Indian Army and Air Force plan to deploy MQ-9B Predator drones at Sarsawa and Gorakhpur air bases in Uttar Pradesh to enhance surveillance along the Line of Actual Control with China.
• The US-made drones, with a flight time of over 36 hours and capable of reaching heights of 40,000 feet, will bolster India’s surveillance capabilities, particularly in the Indian Ocean Region and along its borders with China and Pakistan. The MQ-9B has previously been instrumental in monitoring anti-piracy operations and providing surveillance over long distances.
• MQ-9B, available in two variants – SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian, serves multiple roles such as surveillance and airborne early warning. Operated by the Indian Navy since 2020, the SkyGuardian is the next generation of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), capable of flying for over 40 hours in all weather conditions.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2024/05/08/mq-9b-predator-drones-2/