Daily Current Affairs Quiz: December 31 2022

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

• The marine biologists identified these species as Mytella strigata or Charru musselswhich are Native to South America.
• These mussels have invaded tidal wetlands in several parts of the world, including Vembanad in Kerala. This is spreading due to the discharge of ballast waters from ships visiting the ports of Kattupalli.
• After Cyclone Vardah in December 2016, the mussels began to intensify and spread far north towards the Pulicat waters.
• Human interference in the wetlands, pollution and nature’s actions have triggered the rapid spread of the species.
• Threats: These mussels spread like a carpet over the river bottoms and thus preventing prawns from grazing or burying themselves in the sediment.
• Its spread is wiping out the locally prevalent yellow clams and green mussels.

What is an invasive species?

• An invasive species is an non-native organism that is introduced into the local environment either intentionally or by chance.
• Its presence more often has a negative impact on the local ecosystem, completely altering it and bringing about environmental or economic damage.

Facts about the Charru Mussel

• A mussel is a common term for several families of bivalve molluscs primarily found in saltwater and freshwater habitats
• Charru Mussels are found in Panama, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. In the Philippines, Thailand and India however, they are invasive species.
• Charru Mussels are also speculated to be native to the Galapagos Islands and the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Ecuador.
• These species of mussels can survive bst in temperatures from 20℃ – 23℃but they have also been known to thrive in 13℃-36℃. They cannot survive beyond 36℃ and have lower chances of survival in colder temperatures.
• A Mytella Strigata spawns between the months of July and October. The embryos develop larvae before mauring into a bivalve veliger resembling small clams.

ANSWER: D

• A team of Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics detected strange hot stars in the Globular clusters using the Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) images on AstroSat (India’s first dedicated space observatory, which has been operating since 2015).

What are Globular clusters?

• Globular clusters are spherical aggregates of several thousand to millions of stars bound by gravity. These systems are thought to have formed early on in the Universe and can serve as perfect astrophysical laboratories for astronomers to understand how stars evolve through various phases.
• Omega Centauri is a globular clusterin the constellation of Centaurus that was first identified as a non-stellar object by Edmond Halley in 1677.
• Located at a distance of 17,090 light-years, it is the largest-known globular cluster in the Milky Way at a diameter of roughly 150 light-years.

What is Galaxy?

• A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems bound together by gravity.
• Milky Way, is stuffed with between 100 billion and 400 billion other stars, many of them with planets of their own. The Milky Way got its name from the way it looks from the ground: like a streak of spilt milk across the sky

ANSWER: A

• Ramappa Temple, also known as the Rudreshwara temple, is a Kakatiya style Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva, located in Telangana.
• The medieval Deccan Ramappa Temple which dates back to 1213 AD, was built by the patronage of the Kakatiya ruler Kakati Ganapathi Deva under the authority of his Chief Commander Rudra Samani.
• The temple got its name Ramappa because of its chief sculptor Ramappa. Ramappa Temple is probably the only temple in India that is named after the architect.
• In 2021, the temple was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Siteas “Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana”.
• Architectural features:
  • Earthquake-proof: Made out of clay mixed with acacia wood, chaff and myrobalan fruit (a family of amla), the bricks used in building the gopuram of the temple are light enough to float on water. Using this technique has made the temple light, meaning, in case of a natural event like an earthquake, the probability of it collapsing would be very low.
  • Sandbox technique: The temple construction was done using the sandbox technique. This is a technique where the foundation pit is filled with a mixture of sand-lime, jaggery and black myrobalan fruit. This mix acts as a cushion in case of earthquakes.
  • The temple’s many carved pillars are positioned in such a way that when the sunlight hits these pillars. One of the pillars has a Lord Krishna carved into it. When gently hit, the pillar produces musical notes.

ANSWER: A

About:

• Data from the study showed that a single dose of the therapy was superior to the current standard of care in helping reduce the bleeding rate in patients with moderately severe to severe forms of hemophilia B.

What is Haemophilia?

• It is a medical condition, mostly inherited, in which the ability of blood to clot is severely reduced.
• This disease is caused by a mutation in one of the genes, that provides instructions for making the clotting factor proteins needed to form a blood clot.
• This change or mutation can prevent the clotting protein from working properly or to be missing altogether. These genes are located on the X chromosome.
• Men are more vulnerable to haemophilia than women. It is a rare disease where in about 1 in 10,000 people are born with it.

ANSWER: C

• The Indian Coast Guard has concluded maiden contract for ten multicopter drones to boost marine surveillance and interdiction capabilities.
• This is in consonance with Government’s policy of embracing drone technology.
• Defence Ministry said these drones are capable of being launched from ships whilst underway, as well as shore stations.
• These drones are going to assist in search and rescue, both by day as well as night. The Coast Guard plans to induct one hundred additional drones by 2025.
• This will meet the growing challenges in India’s Maritime Zones and Search and Rescue Region.

ANSWER: C

• The industrial sector saw the state getting mega projects like bulk drugs park and medical device park this year with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying their foundation stones.
• The foundation stone of the Rs 350-crore medical device park at Nalagarh was laid on October 5.
• Himachal Pradesh is one of the four states that has been selected for this park. Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) of more than Rs 800 crore have been signed for this project with prospective investors.
• Himachal Pradesh is the second state where a bulk drugs park is being set up while only three states have been granted this key project. Its foundation stone was laid by the Prime Minister on October 13.
• For the Rs 1,923-crore Bulk Drug Park Project, the Central grant will be worth Rs 1,118 crore while the state government will contribute the remaining amount of Rs 804. 54 crore.
• The drug park is expected to attract an investment of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore and likely to generate employment for 15,000-20,000 persons.
• The project is slated to provide a major fillip to the socio-economic development of the region. Setting up of this park will reduce export dependence of active pharmaceutical ingredients of the pharmaceutical industries.
• Apart from these projects, as many as 209 industrial projects were approved in the state this year which are slated to generate employment for 25,564 persons, while fetching an investment of Rs 8,314.98 crore.
• A  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs. 5000 crore  was signed between the State Government and M/s SMPP Private India Ltd regarding setting up of ammunition manufacturing facility in the State for tanks and artillery guns.
• In a bid to develop the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) has initiated an exercise under the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor Project. It will provide ease of logistics to the industry, create jobs and spur economic growth.

ANSWER: B

• The state government has appointed RD Dhiman, the incumbent Chief Secretary, as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of the
• RD Dhiman will retire from the post of Chief Secretary on December 31.
• His appointment as CIC will be for three years from the date on which he assumes the office.
• The post of CIC had been lying vacant since June, when last CIC Narendra Chauhan’s term had expired.

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER: C