UPSC 2017: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz - April 09 - 15

• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation, located in The Hague, Netherlands.
• The organisation promotes and verifies the adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention which prohibits the use of chemical weapons and requires their destruction. The verification consists both of evaluation of declarations by member states and on-site inspections.
• The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.
• The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty which outlaws the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors. The full name of the treaty is the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction and it is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

“The Brahmaputra receives numerous tributaries in its 750 km long journey through the Assam valley. Its major left bank tributaries are the Burhi Dihing and Dhansari (South) whereas the important right bank tributaries are the Subansiri, Kameng, Manas and Sankosh. The Subansiri which has its origin in Tibet, is an antecedent river. The Brahmaputra enters into Bangladesh near Dhubri and flows southward. In Bangladesh, the Tista joins it on its right bank from where the river is known as the Yamuna. It finally merges with the river Padma, which falls in the Bay of Bengal.”

“Despite the deficit monsoon, unseasonal rains and hailstorm in the major part of the country, the production of horticulture crops have outpaced the production of foodgrains since 2012-13…”

NFSM includes coarse cereals as well as commercial crops.

A PIL may be introduced in a court of law by the court itself (suo motu), rather than the aggrieved party or another third party. For the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction, it is not necessary for the victim of the violation of his or her rights to personally approach the court.

The member of the public may be a non-governmental organization (NGO), an institution or an individual.

Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) as an independent regulatory body shall ensure fair and open access and set access charges; establish tariffs in cases where there the market fails to discover a price; and adjudicate disputes between the track-owning organization and train operators; and between competitors.

Technical and non-technical services classification as suggested for recruitment process can be as follows: The Indian Railway Technical Service (IRTechS) comprising the existing five technical services (IRSE, IRSSE, IRSEE, IRSME and IRSS) and the Indian Railway Logistics Service (IRLogS), comprising the three non-technical services (IRAS, IRPS and IRTS).

PVTG are a special class of tribal groups, classified as such by the govt of India, due to their specially low development indices when compared to other local tribes.

These were classified under the Dhebar Commission (1960-61), so as to better facilitate their growth, on par with other STs on national scale, and help them include in the mainstream development, while using their indigenous knowledge.

PVTG’s characteristics include:

1. Pre agricultural system of existence, i.e. they practice hunting or gathering
2. Zero or negative population growth
3. Extremely low level of literacy
4. Absence of a written language

The Inter State Council is an Indian constitutional body set up on the basis of provisions in Article 263 of the Constitution of India. The Council is formed to discussing or investigating policies, subjects of common interest, and disputes, among states.

Note : Recently it was Standing Committee meeting of Inter-State Council in which Home minister presided the meeting.

The body was formed by a Presidential Order dated 28 May 1990 on recommendation of Sarkaria Commission.

The Inter State Council composes of the following members:

    Prime Minister, Chairman

    Chief Ministers of states and union territories

    Administrators of union territories

    Six members of Cabinet rank

The olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. They can also be found in warm waters of Atlantic ocean.

It is an endangered species.

Gahirmatha Beach is a beach in the Indian state of Odisha. The beach separates the Bhitarkanika mangroves from the Bay of Bengal and is the world’s most important nesting beach for Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. The beach is part of Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, which also includes the adjacent portion of the Bay of Bengal.

• Before the Parliament, in 1988, inserted Section 61A in the RP Act and Rules, legitimising them, EVMs were used in select constituencies by the EC by invoking its emergency powers under Article 324.
• Some parties had suggested that in order to increase transparency, the EC should explore the possibility of introducing VVPAT, in which a voter immediately gets a printout of her vote, which is then deposited in the ballot box. So, every voter can see whether her vote has been registered correctly. VVPAT does not record the voter id.

• Lingaraja Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Harihara, a form of Shiva and Vishnu and is one of the oldest temples in Bhubaneswar
• The central tower of the temple is 180 ft (55 m) tall.
• The temple represents the quintessence of the Kalinga Architecture and culminating the medieval stages of the architectural tradition at Bhubaneswar.
• The Kaḷinga architectural style is a style which flourished in the ancient Kalinga region or present eastern Indian state of Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh. The style consists of three distinct types of temples: Rekha Deula, Pidha Deula and Khakhara Deula.

Basic Information: Rubella

• Commonly referred to as German Measles
• A mild infection, but can have serious consequences if it occurs in pregnant women.
• The introduction of these new vaccines in the Universal Immunisation Programme aims to reduce childhood mortality and protect children from three major highly preventable and potentially fatal diseases — measles, pneumonia and diarrhoea.

The International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) was founded in January 2006. It is an independent group of arms-control and nonproliferation experts from sixteen countries, including both nuclear weapon and non-nuclear weapon states. The mission of the IPFM is to analyze the technical basis for practical and achievable policy initiatives to secure, consolidate, and reduce stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. These fissile materials are the key ingredients in nuclear weapons, and their control is critical to nuclear disarmament, halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and ensuring that terrorists do not acquire nuclear weapons.

The Global Fissile Material Report is released by IPFM.

• The High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation (KEK) completed the much-awaited ‘rolling-in’ of the Belle-II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan,
• Belle-II is designed to study violations of the Standard Model of particle physics.

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act,2003

Since the act is primarily for the management of the governments’ behaviour, it provided for certain documents to be tabled in the Parliament annually with regards to the country’s fiscal policy. This included the following along with the Annual Financial Statement and demands for grants:

• Document titled Medium-term Fiscal Policy Statement – This report was to present a three-year rolling target for the fiscal indicators with any assumptions, if applicable. This statement was to further include an assessment of sustainability with regards to revenue deficit and the use of capital receipts of the Government (including market borrowings) for generating productive assets.
• Document titled Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement – This was a tactical report enumerating strategies and policies for the upcoming Financial Year including strategic fiscal priorities, taxation policies, key fiscal measures and an evaluation of how the proposed policies of the Central Government conform to the ‘Fiscal Management Principles’ of this act.
• Document titled Macro-economic Framework Statement – This report was to contain forecasts enumerating the growth prospects of the country. GDP growth, revenue balance, gross fiscal balance and external account balance of the balance of payments were some of the key indicators to be included in this report.

State fuel retailers currently revise rates on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on average international price in the preceding fortnight and the currency exchange rate.

Fiscal Deficit= Total Expenditure – (Revenue receipts + Non-debt creating capital Receipts)

There is some concern that the move to amend Motor vehicle Act overly emphasizes the concurrent jurisdiction of the center at the cost of State powers ,but the proposed changes comes after a long consultation exercise.

PIB: Media Coverage during the period referred to in Section 126 of the RPA, 1951: “The schedule for calling general election to the Legislative Assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh & Uttarakhand has been announced on 4th January, 2017. Poll is scheduled to be held in seven phases. Section 126 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, prohibits displaying any election matter by means, inter alia, of television or similar apparatus, during the period of 48 hours before the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in a constituency..”

“…attention is also invited to Section 126A of the R.P. Act 1951, which prohibits conduct of Exit poll and dissemination of their results during the period reckoned from the commencement of polls in the first phase and till half an hour after the close of poll for the last phase in all the States.”

Paika rebellion of 1817 –

• A valiant uprising of soldiers led by Buxi Jagabandhu [Bidyadhar Mohapatra] took place in Khurda of Odisha.
• Buxi Jagabandhu was the commander (Bakshi) of the forces of the king of Khordha
• It took place when the British East India company wrested the rent-free land that had been given to the Paiks for their military service to the Kingdom of Khurda.
• Failed to get recognition- The rebellion, by the landed militia of Khurda called Paiks, predates the first war of independence in 1857 but did not get similar recognition.

• It is an orthomyxovirus that contains the glycoproteins haemagglutinin and neuraminidase. For this reason, they are described as H1N1, H1N2 etc. depending on the type of H or N antigens they express with metabolic synergy. Haemagglutinin causes red blood cells to clump together and binds the virus to the infected cell. Neuraminidase is a type of glycoside hydrolase enzyme which helps to move the virus particles through the infected cell and assist in budding from the host cells.

Gender Parity Index:-

• Commissioned jointly by FLO(FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO)) and FICCI.
• and the progress made over the years.
• The Index will serve as framework for measuring gender parity and produce an overall score of an organisation and reflect it on the index.