Day-563 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

Answer: B
Context: The United States lifted Title 42 that has blocked migrants caught at the U.S.-Mexico border from seeking asylum since 2020 in May 2023.
Explanation:
● The COVID restrictions, known as Title 42, were first implemented under Republican then-President Donald Trump in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
● At the time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the order was needed to stem the spread of the coronavirus in crowded detention settings.
● Title 42 allowed border agents to rapidly expel many migrants to Mexico, but some public health experts, Democrats and advocates criticized its health justification, saying it was part of Trump’s goal of curbing legal and illegal immigration.

Answer: A
Context: The Arab League in May 2023 voted to reinstate Syria’s membership after its suspension more than 10 years ago, underlining the thawing relations between Damascus and other Arab countries. Syria’s participation has been suspended since November 2011 as a consequence of government repression during the Syrian Civil War.
Explanation:
Statement 1 is incorrect: It is a regional organization of Arab states in the Middle East and parts of Africa to strengthen ties among member states.
Statement 2 is correct: It was formed in Cairo, Egypt, following the adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944.
Statement 3 is incorrect: It currently consists of 22 members, but Palestine is not one of its founding members. Members: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Founding members: Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria.

Additional information:
● It aims to strengthen and coordinate the political, cultural, economic, and social programs of its members and to mediate disputes among them or between them and third parties.
● The signing on 13th April 1950, of an agreement on joint defense and economic cooperation also committed the signatories to coordination of military defense measures.
● According to the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think tank, “The League makes decisions on a majority basis, but there is no mechanism to compel members to comply with resolutions. “It has been criticised for its internal conflicts and collective inaction on important international issues.”

Answer: C
Context: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister has unveiled a colossal 108-foot statue of the 8th-century Hindu philosopher and saint, Adi Shankaracharya in September 2023 at Omkareshwar town, in Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh
Explanation:
● According to Sri Shankaracharya, knowledge is the only way to achieve salvation and to attain liberating enlightenment.
● He mentions that Sri Krishna in Srimad Bhagavadgita compares knowledge to a bright lamp that destroys the darkness of ignorance.
Additional information:
Shankaracharya (c. 788 – 820 CE)
● One of the mystic Bhakti poet-saint leaders who gave a new orientation to Hinduism.
● He was born in Kaladi in Kerala. He propounded the Advaita (Monism) philosophy and the idea of Nirgunabrahman (god without attributes).
● In Advaita, the reality of the world is denied, and Brahman is considered the only reality. It is only Brahman at its base that gives it its reality.
● His famous quotes include, ‘Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya Jivo Brahmatra Naparaha’ meaning, “The Absolute Spirit is the reality, the world of appearance is Maya” and ‘Ekameva Adviteeyam Brahma’ meaning, “The absolute is one alone, not two”.
● Upadesasahasri, Vivekachudamani, Bhaja Govindum Stotra are some of the works authored by Shankaracharya. He also wrote commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, the Brahma Sutra and the Upanishads.
● He set up mathas at Dwarka, Puri, Sringeri and Badrinath.

Answer: D
Context: The Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking across States (Tele MANAS), helpline has reached a significant milestone. The toll-free service has received over 2,00,000 calls from various parts of the nation since the launch in 2022, portraying a consistently progressive trend.
Explanation:
● The Tele (Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States) MANAS, the digital arm of the ‘District Mental Health Programme’) launched by the Government of India in October 2022 to strengthen mental health service delivery in the country.
● Ministry: Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
● It aims to establish a digital mental health network that will withstand the challenges amplified by the pandemic.
Objectives of Tele MANAS: –
● To enable people to seek support for their mental health issues while maintaining the anonymity of the callers, thereby reducing the stigma generally surrounding mental health issues.
● To exponentially scale up the reach of mental health services to anybody who reaches out, across India, any time, by setting up a 24×7 tele-mental health facility in each of the States and UTs of the country.
● To implement a full-fledged mental health-service network that, in addition to counselling, provides integrated medical and psychosocial interventions including video consultations with mental health specialists, e-prescriptions, follow-up services and linkages to in-person services.
● To extend services to vulnerable groups of the population and difficult-to-reach populations.
Salient Features of Tele MANAS: –
● Tele MANAS will be organized as a two-tier system. (Tele-MANAS)
● Tier 1: comprise the State Tele MANAS cells, which include trained counsellors and mental health specialists.
● Tier 2: comprise specialists at District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for physical consultation and/or e Sanjeevani for audio-visual consultation.
● Toll-free helpline numbers: 14416 or 1-800-891-4416 with multi-language provision allows callers to select the language of their choice for availing the services. (Address Stigma and Discrimination in Mental Health)
Eligibility:
● Any individual with mental health issues can reach out to Tele MANAS services for help.
● Family members of persons with mental health issues can reach out for help.
● Grass-root health care providers/community health providers., Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), and community volunteers from the community can reach out to Tele MANAS on behalf of an individual or individuals in that community with mental health issues.

Answer: C
Context: After a seven-year-round trip, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx brought asteroid samples to Earth in September, 2023.
Explanation:
● NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is a robotic spacecraft that has been on a seven-year mission to collect and return samples from an asteroid called Bennu which is billions of kilometers from Earth.
● It took more than two years to reach Bennu after OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016. It then spent almost as much time mapping the asteroid, finding a site to scrape and collecting about 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of the rock. Then it began its journey back toward Earth.
Additional information:
● It is the United States’ first asteroid sample return mission, aiming to collect and carry a pristine, unaltered sample from an asteroid back to earth for scientific study.
● The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) spacecraft was launched in 2016 for the journey to Bennu.
● The mission is essentially a seven-year-long voyage and will conclude when at least 60 grams of samples are delivered back to the Earth (in 2023).
● As per NASA , the mission promises to bring the largest amount of extraterrestrial material back to the Earth since the Apollo era.
● Apollo was the NASA program that resulted in American astronauts’ making a total of 11 space flights and walking on the moon (1968-72).
● The spacecraft contains five instruments meant to explore Bennu, including cameras, a spectrometer and a laser altimeter.