UPSC 2017: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jun 4 - 10

Assam was the first state to ratify the 122 nd amendment bill. This bill requires half of the 29 states consent to bring it to focus.

All the statements mentioned above are correct and are the objectives of the conference

• It aims to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so.
• It’s central aim is to keep the global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius.
• To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place.

Alcohol is exempted from the purview of the GST tax.

Mysore palace is not yet considered under the World heritage site.

For a property to be included on the World Heritage List, the World Heritage Committee must find that it meets one or more of the following criteria:

• to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
• to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
• to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
• to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history;
• to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
• to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
• to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
• to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
• to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
• to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

Nilgiri tahr: The Nilgiri tahr known locally as the Nilgiri ibex or simply ibex, is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu.

• The Nilgiri tahr known locally as the Nilgiri ibex or simply ibex, is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India.
• Nilgiri tahr has been classified as endangered species under IUCN’s Red Data book.

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis has recently launched a web portal ‘Mahaswayam’ for job seekers, employers, entrepreneurs and training institutes. At ‘Mahaswayam’, job seekers will be able to register themselves, search as well as apply for jobs, inquire for training, get information on self-employment and get details of job fairs. Besides, training institutes can also register, get details on participation in the state skill development programme, get training fee receipts, and can also receive training fee through ECS. Apart from this, entrepreneurs can also post job vacancy advertisements at the portal.

The lion-tailed macaque or the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India. The lion-tailed macaque ranks among the rarest and most threatened primates. Their range has become increasingly isolated and fragmented by the spread of agriculture and tea, coffee, teak and cinchona, construction of water reservoirs for irrigation and power generation, and human settlements to support such activities.

: Kailashanatha Temple Architecture of Cholas : a)Brihadishwara Temple of Tanjore was built by Rajaraja Chola-I. b)Koranganatha Temple,Srinivasanallur was built by Parantaka Chola-I. c)Airavateshwar Temple, Darasuram was built by Rajaraja Chola II Chola-I. »Kailashanatha Temple , Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) was built by Pallava King ,Narsimhamvarman. »Kailasanathar Temple of Ellora was built by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna I.

The Manipur government has recently declared Dailong village of Tamenglong district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site of the state under Section 37(1) of Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The village covers an area of 11.35 sq km & has population of 1634 of which 819 are males while 815 are females as per Population Census 2011.

The Governor is an agent of the President who holds the office during the pleasure of the President. So, to remove him / her from office, president does not need to seek advice from anybody.

Kindly note that sandalwood is found in tropical decidous forests or monsoon forests which are found in western ghats, deccan plateu, northern plains and foot hills of Himalayas. Thus, sandalwood grows naturally in Himalaya foothills.

Satipati Sampradaya, a tribal community in South Gujarat which resists associating itself with the administration, has been enrolled for the first time in the voters’ list and is likely to exercise franchise in the 2012 state assembly polls, officials said. The Sampradaya members have been enrolled in districts like Tapi, Dang, Narmada, Valsad, amongst others, and few have also been issued Electoral Photo Identity Cards enhancing probability of their participation in the elections. The tribal community takes pride in keeping themselves aloof from any of the government’s schemes. Dang, where around 90 per cent population is tribal, is considered to be base of Satipatis, with an estimated population of around 3,000 people.

A lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus (the mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont) (usually algae) growing together in a symbiotic relationship.

The World Environment Day (WED) is observed every year on June 5 to raise awareness about forests and wider issues of environmental protection. The 2017 theme is ‘Connecting People to Nature’. It implores us to get outdoors and into nature, to appreciate its beauty and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that we share.

Nagarjuna (ca. 2nd or 3rd century) was a patriarch of Mahayana and the founder of Madhyamika School.

The Coriolis effect influences the paths of moving objects on Earth and is caused by Earth s rotation. Because Earths surface rotates at different velocities at different latitudes, objects in motion tend to veer to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The Coriolis effect is nonexistent at the equator but increases with latitude, reaching a maximum at the poles.

Nabakalebara festival is an ancient ritual that is observed in most of the Jaganath temples, Odisha. In this festival, the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced by new idols. Nabakalebara is usually comes in every twelve to nineteen years based on the auspicious two months of Ashadha as per the Hindu calendar.

Article 317 deals with the removal of the Chairman or any other member of a Public Service Commission. Only president is empowered to remove members / chairmen of UPSC, JPSC as well as state PSCs. They can be removed from office by order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on reference being made to it by the President, has, on inquiry held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in that behalf under article 145, reported that the Chairman or such other member, as the case may be, ought on any such ground to be removed.

The Mukurthi National Park (MNP) is a 78.46 km2 protected area located in the western corner of the Nilgiris Plateau west of Ootacamund hill station in the northwest corner of Tamil Nadu state in the Western Ghats mountain range of South India. It is home to an array of endangered wildlife viz. royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, Nilgiri langur, Bonhote’s mouse, Nilgiri tahr, etc. The park is a part of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India’s first International Biosphere Reserve.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

• SCO is a Eurasian economic, political and military organisation.
• Its aim is jointly preserving and safeguarding regional peace, security and stability and also establishing a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
• Headquarters: Beijing, China.
• Established: 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders 6 countries viz. China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• It is an outcome of The Shanghai Five grouping established in 1996 by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
• SCO’s first enlargement was in 2001 with addition of Uzbekistan and second enlargement was in July 2015 with addition of 2 new members India and Pakistan.
• Presently, it has four observers Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia.

Jaduguda Mine has the distinction of being the first Uranium Mine of the country where mining operations began in 1967. Jaduguda uranium mine, the deepest operating underground mine of the country, is in uninterrupted operation since 1968. It has depth of nearly 3000 feet, one of the deepest in the country.

OPEC members include, as of July 2016, Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Gabon, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

President of India launches mobile app ‘Selfie with Daughter’

• Mobile Application ‘Selfie with Daughter’
• This campaign was initially launched in Haryana.
• Selfie-with-Daughter has become a world-wide movement against female foeticide and sex selection.
• Basic Information:The ‘Selfie with Daughter’ campaign was started by Shri Sunil Jaglan in June 2015 in village Bibipur, Jind, Haryana. The aim of the campaign is to motivate society to feel proud to be parents of a girl child which will result in improving the child sex ratio.

• Keratitis is the inflammation of the eye
• It starts with redness and itching and might eventually lead to blindness
• Cause of infection
• Keratitis can be caused by both bacteria and fungi
• Fungi attach themselves to the cornea and release enzymes that break down the corneal proteins for their nutritional requirements
• In the process the cornea also gets inflamed