Day-695 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

Answer: B
Explanation:
The Context: The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways inaugurated an indigenous Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS) called Sagar Sampark.
SAGAR SAMPARK is an indigenous Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS). The Differential Global Navigation Satellite System is a terrestrial based enhancement system which corrects the errors and inaccuracies in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) allowing for more accurate positioning information.
Sagar Sampark at six locations will assist the Director General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) to provide radio aids to ships for marine navigation. The system will provide accurate information to the ships for safe navigation and will reduce the risk of collisions, groundings, and accidents in the port and harbour areas.

Answer: C
Explanation:
The Context:
Recently, researchers found Bacteriophages can be used as fecal indicators or microbial water quality bioindicators as an early warning of contamination by sewage, and as an efficiency marker of water or wastewater treatment.
What are Bacteriophages?
A bacteriophage is a type of virus that infects bacteria. The word “bacteriophage” literally means “bacteria eater,” because bacteriophages destroy their host cells. All bacteriophages are composed of a nucleic acid molecule that is surrounded by a protein structure. A bacteriophage attaches itself to a susceptible bacterium and infects the host cell.
The specificity of bacteriophage infection allows their application in several areas such as biotechnology, ecology, health and environment (bacterial control), and as environmental monitoring agents.
Hence option (c) is the correct answer.
Additional Information:
Following infection, the bacteriophage hijacks the bacterium’s cellular machinery to prevent it from producing bacterial components and instead forces the cell to produce viral components. Eventually, new bacteriophages assemble and burst out of the bacterium in a process called lysis. Bacteriophages occasionally remove a portion of their host cells’ bacterial DNA during the infection process and then transfer this DNA into the genome of new host cells. This process is known as transduction.
Since their discovery, bacteriophages have been considered to be potential antibacterial therapeutics for the treatment of various infectious diseases in humans. In recent times, the rapid rise of multi-drug resistant bacteria worldwide has led to a renewed interest in phage therapy as a possible alternative to antibiotics or, at least, a supplementary approach for the treatment of some bacterial infections. Furthermore, bacteriophage-based vaccination is emerging as one of the most promising preventive strategies.

Answer: C
The Context—Due to the rise in global temperatures, fires are also spreading farther north and into the Arctic. The upsurge in zombie fires in Canada, Siberia, and other places is a pressing environmental issue. Canada has been reeling under such fires recently.
Explanation-
Statement 1 is correct: The underground fires in the peatlands of the polar regions are known as “zombie fires”. These fires keep smouldering for months and release huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere which is a matter of huge concern. The increase in such zombie fires over recent years is the rising temperature, particularly in the Arctic. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification.
Arctic soil fires can smoulder through the winter and reignite during early spring when temperatures rise, hence the nickname “zombie fires
Statement 2 is incorrect: Lightning and thunderstorms remain infrequent at very high latitudes in general. However, as the climate warms and generates more storms that can produce lightning, these events are likely to increase in the future and expand over larger territories into the far north. Under such circumstances, zombie fires would become even more challenging.
Thus, the zombie fires now are tied to global warming and consequent overheating in the Arctic.

Answer: B
Explanation:
The Context: In India, Uttar Pradesh was the first state to use drones in prisons. Recently, the State Prisons Department of Maharashtra, by becoming the second state, has decided that it shall be using drones for surveillance of prisoners. The decision is said to be taken for strengthening the security in the prisons by keeping an eye over the complete movement of prisoners to be monitored by drones.
Statement 1 is correct: The Supreme Court in State of Andhra Pradesh v. Challa Ramakrishna Reddy held that the right to life is one of the basic human rights which is guaranteed to every person by Article 21. It is so fundamental that even the State has no authority to violate it.
A prisoner does not cease to be a human being even when lodged in jail. He continues to be a human and therefore is entitled to enjoy all the fundamental rights including the right to life.
Statement 2 is correct: In Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar (1991) a Public Interest Litigation was filed against two iron and steel companies alleging that they were polluting the nearby river Bokaro by dumping waste into it. The petitioner pointed fingers at the State Pollution Control Board for failing to prevent this and offered to collect the waste and sludge himself.
The court confirmed that the Fundamental Right to Life includes the right to enjoy pollution-free water and air, and if anything endangers the quality of water and air then a citizen can file a petition in court.
Statement 3 is incorrect: The Courts in plethora of cases have very well affirmed the fact that there is a necessity to install CCTV cameras in prisons as it helps the authorities in reporting the cases of abuse, violence and escape of inmates from prisons.
Installation of cameras at specified areas in the prisons is justifiable by balancing the interest of prison security and privacy of prisoners.

Answer: D
The Context- Russia while taking advantage of the Ukraine-Russia war started to export discounted crude oil to countries such as China and India. Statistics indicate that Russia has emerged as the largest source of crude oil in India.
Explanation-
Statement 1 is incorrect- India imports sour crude oil from the Arabian countries such as Oman, UAE, etc.
Sour crude is produced largely in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, the Canadian province of Alberta, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, Saudi Arabia etc.
Statement 2 is correct- The amount of sulphur content in crude oil decides its nature as sweet or sour. Sweet crude oil contains low sulphur content as impurity. It is easier to process as compared to the sour crude oil in which the concentration of sulphur is relatively higher.
● If the oil contains more than 0.5% of sulphur, then it is referred to as sour crude.
● The most popular crude oil, Brent crude, is sourced from the North Sea. It is sweet and light in nature.
● India imports various grades of crude oil to meet its consumption demand. The Indian Crude Basket is weighted average of Dubai and Oman (sour) and the Brent Crude (sweet) crude oil prices.