UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Apr 09 - Apr 15

• All the statements are correct.
• Bond yields are directly proportional to the interest rates in the economy.
• Rising bond yields imply a rise in the risk-free interest rate and hence lower equity valuations.
• A bond’s price moves inversely with its yield or interest rate; the higher the price of a bond, the lower its yield.
• The reason for the inverse relationship between price and yield is due, in part, to bonds being fixed-rate investments.

• NIXI is a not-for-profit organization under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, formed in 2003.
• It was set up for peering of internet service providers among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country, instead of taking it all the way to US/abroad.

• Tangkhuls are a major ethnic group living in the Indo-Burma border area occupying the Ukhrul and Kamjong districts in Manipur.
• Among the 75 listed Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12).
• Maram Naga Tribe of Manipur is listed as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG).

• Konyak is one of the 16 Naga tribes and people of this community live mainly in the Mon district of Nagaland. They are also found in Myanmar.
• Aoleng is a festival celebrated by the Konyak Tribes in the first week of April to welcome the spring and also to invoke the Almighty’s (Kahwang) blessing upon the land before seed-sowing.
• Another festival, ‘Lao Ong Mo’, is the traditional harvest festival celebrated in the months of August/September.

• Heparin is a blood thinner that has long been used in patients vulnerable to blood clots in their legs, lungs, heart or other body parts.
• It is used to reduce their risk of heart attacks, strokes and pulmonary embolism. Several patients with critical illnesses, including those requiring kidney dialysis, are given the drug.

• The double mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2 reported in India is scientifically named B.1.617.
• The double mutant Covid variant is a concern as the Union health ministry said in its statement that “such mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity” to the coronavirus.
• Studies have shown reduced efficacy of vaccines against the double mutant strain of SARS-CoV-2.

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is an atmosphere-ocean coupled phenomenon in the Indian Ocean.
It is characterised by a difference in sea-surface temperatures.
IOD is the difference between the temperature of the eastern (Bay of Bengal) and the western Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea).

Know more about the Great Indian Bustard here.

Lagrange points:

• Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At Lagrange points, the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.

Significance:

• These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
• The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the sun. The major advantage of such a placement is that it would allow the satellite to continuously view the Sun without any occultation/ eclipses.

• India’s pharmaceutical exports grew 18.7% to $24.44 billion in the financial year ended March 31, spurred by strong demand for the country’s generic drugs. The record growth was due to a surge in demand for made-in-India generics, owing to their quality and affordability.
• Drug formulations and biologicals remained the second-largest commodity exported by India.
• North America remains the largest market for Indian pharmaceuticals, accounting for a more than 34% share.
• South Africa emerged as the second-largest market for Indian pharmaceuticals.
• Europe accounts for the third-largest market for Indian pharmaceutical exports.
• There is a growing demand for Indian pharmaceutical products in non-traditional markets such as Latin America, CIS countries and Middle East.

• The cynodonts are small rat-like animals that lived about 220 million years ago.
• Cynodonts are important in evolutionary studies as this group ultimately gave rise to the present-day mammals.
• Cynodonts and living mammals both belong to a group of egg-laying vertebrates (amniotes) called synapsids. The close relationship of cynodonts with living mammals is seen in their bones. They also have differentiated teeth, a secondary palate in their mouths, which, like humans, allowed them to breathe and eat at the same time.

• Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar in Odisha is an 11th-century temple.
• It is a symbol of Kalinga style architecture built in red stone.
• The temple was built by King Jajati Keshari, who belonged to Soma Vansh.
• It is dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• The central deity of the temple, Lingaraja, is worshipped both as Shiva and Vishnu.
• The harmony between the two sects of Hinduism, Shaivism, and Vaishnavism, is seen in this temple where the deity is worshipped as Harihara, a combined form of Vishnu and Shiva.

• Oxygen is used as a bleaching chemical in paper manufacturing (pulp bleaching).
• It is used in steel production. Oxygen is used for decarburization (the process of decreasing the level of carbon in metals) and the conversion of hot metal formed in a blast furnace to liquid steel.
• Raw materials used to manufacture urea are liquid ammonia – NH₃ and liquid carbon dioxide – CO2.
  • Carbon dioxide (CO2) is prepared by the decomposition of limestone (CaCO3). When CaCO3 is heated, it decomposes to CaO and CO2.

• There are 130 species of bats in India. The disc-footed bat has raised the variety of bat species in Meghalaya to 66 making the state the one with the highest number of species of bats in the country.
• The disk-footed bat is a species of vesper bat in the Vespertilionidae family found in Laos and Myanmar.
• Recently, the disc-footed bat was recorded in the northeastern Indian state’s Lailad area near the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary. It is about 1000 km west of the bats’ nearest known habitat in Myanmar.

• Panchayati Raj was constitutionalised through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992
• The scheme of Panchayati Raj was first established in Rajasthan and inaugurated on October 2, 1959.
• Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh and other states.
• Balwant Rai Mehta Committee recommended the establishment of a 3-tier structure Panchayati Raj system.
• Ashok Mehta Committee recommended that the three-tier Panchayati Raj system should be replaced with a two-tier system.

• Ingenuity’s flight is the first powered flight on another planet.
• Ingenuity travelled to Mars attached to the underside of NASA’s Perseverance.
• Perseverance is on a mission to search for signs of extra-terrestrial life. However, the helicopter’s mission is experimental in nature and completely independent of the rover’s science mission.
• Ingenuity’s goal is to demonstrate its technology works, and it won’t contribute to Perseverance’s science goals.
• Ingenuity is solar-powered, able to charge on its own.

The Brus also known as the Reangs, are spread across Tripura, Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram.
They are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in Tripura.

• Khajuraho Group of Monuments are a group of Hindu and Jain Temples in Madhya Pradesh patronised by Chandela Kings.
• The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and their erotic sculptures.
• The temples at Khajuraho are all made of Sandstone.
• It is a UNESCO World heritage Site.

• Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, provides the legal basis for setting up ARCs in India.
• There are no specific ceilings or flooring limits on the extent of debt an ARC can take over from banks.
• The ARC can take over only secured debts which have been classified as a non-performing asset (NPA).

• The rupee value depends on two factors, DEMAND and SUPPLY. In very simple terms if the supply of rupee is more in the economy, then its value decreases and if the supply is less and demand is more, then the value increases.
• The supply and demand are affected by the Imports and Exports of the country including some other factors.
• When there is a need to increase the value of the Rupee, what RBI does is pump foreign currency into the market and take away the Indian rupee from the market. This results in an increase in the foreign currency supply and a decrease in the Indian currency supply. This results in appreciating the rupee value.
• When there is a need to depreciate the rupee value, RBI just buys foreign currencies from the market pumping more rupees into the market. This results in an increase in rupee supply and a decrease in foreign currency in the market. This results in the depreciation of the rupee value.

• The rupee value depends on two factors, DEMAND and SUPPLY. In very simple terms if the supply of rupee is more in the economy, then its value decreases and if the supply is less and demand is more, then the value increases.
• The supply and demand are affected by the Imports and Exports of the country including some other factors.
• When there is a need to increase the value of the Rupee, what RBI does is pump foreign currency into the market and take away the Indian rupee from the market. This results in an increase in the foreign currency supply and a decrease in the Indian currency supply. This results in appreciating the rupee value.
• When there is a need to depreciate the rupee value, RBI just buys foreign currencies from the market pumping more rupees into the market. This results in an increase in rupee supply and a decrease in foreign currency in the market. This results in the depreciation of the rupee value.

• A stronger rupee will help India cuts its crude import bill which will have a favourable impact on inflation in India.
• Exports will be expensive if the value of the Indian rupee appreciates because Indian products will be expensive compared to other competing nations. This will adversely impact India’s export competitiveness and impact price-sensitive foreign trade-oriented sectors in India.
• The appreciation in rupee value may also adversely impact foreign investment into India. The primary reason for foreign investment in India is the cheap labour cost. Appreciating rupee value may not augur well for this scenario.

The main objective of the RESPOND Programme is to establish strong links with premier academic institutions in the country to carry out research and developmental projects which are of relevance to space and derive useful outputs of such R&D to support ISRO programmes.
RESPOND programme aims to enhance the academic base, generate quality human resources and infrastructure at the academic institutes to support the Indian space programme.
Under RESPOND, projects in the advanced areas of relevance to the space programme are encouraged to be taken up by premier universities/academic institutions.

Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) is a proposed economic engagement agreement between India and the EU.

• USCIRF is an independent bi-partisan commission.
• It was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
• USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
• In its Annual Report, USCIRF describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department countries for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.”
• USCIRF also recommends to the State Department that non-state actors cited for similarly severe violations be designated as “entities of particular concern” (EPCs).
• The USCIRF recommendations are non-binding.

Arrangement of the major ports of Sri Lanka from West to East: Colombo Port, Galle Port, Hambantota Port, Trincomalee Port.

• World Press Freedom Index is published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French non-governmental organisation.
• The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
• It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.
• It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking.
• It is not an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.

• Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure.
• PSA operates at near-ambient temperatures (temperature relating to the immediate surroundings) and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.
• Cryogenic separation is a commercial process that takes place at very low temperature.

• Sabang is a city consisting of a main island and several smaller islands off the northern tip of Sumatra.
• The Sabang port is located near the Strait of Malacca, a strategic shipping channel.
• Sabang lies at the northern entrance to the Strait of Malacca. It is also known as the northernmost and westernmost city of Indonesia.

Competition Commission of India is a statutory body responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002.
The mandate of the Commission is to:

1. Eliminate practices having an adverse effect on competition.
2. Promote and sustain competition.
3. Protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants, in markets in India.