UPSC 2023: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Aug 26 - Sep 01

• Statement 01 is correct, NALSA is a statutory body constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act of 1987 to create a nationwide network uniform in nature that would provide competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society at no cost. The Authority came into force only in November 1995.
• Statement 02 is correct, The Patron-in-chief is the Chief Justice of India.The Executive Chairman of the Authority is the second senior-most judge of the SC.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, the President of India appoints the Executive Chairman of the NALSA.

• Pair 01 is correctly matched, Bina Das was an Indian revolutionary and nationalist from West Bengal. She was a member of Chhatri Sangha, a semi-revolutionary organisation for women in Kolkata. On 6 February 1932, she attempted to assassinate the Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson, in the Convocation Hall of the University of Calcutta.
• Pair 02 is correctly matched, Lila Nag was a Indian woman politician and reformer, and a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.She was the first female student of Dhaka University. In 1925 she joined the Sri Sangha, a revolutionary society of Dacca.
• Pair 03 is correctly matched, Kalpana Dutt was amongst the initial members of the armed independence movement led by prominent Bengali revolutionary, Surya Sen. She was arrested and brought to trial in what was known as the Chittagong Armoury Raid Supplementary Case, in which she was sentenced for life. After the nationwide campaign for the release of the imprisoned Bengal revolutionaries, she came out of prison in 1939.
• Pair 04 is correctly matched, Nalini Bala Devi  was an Indian writer and poet of Assamese literature, known for nationalistic as well as mystical poetry.She joined the Jugantar Party  led by her nephew, Amarendranath Chattopadhyay. Nanibala was the first and only woman to be tortured by the police under the Regulation III of 1818. She also became the Calcutta jail’s first woman prisoner.

• Quantum computing is a form of computing which employs technology based on quantum theory.
• Quantum theory explains the behaviour of energy and material on the atomic and subatomic levels.
• Employment of quantum theory will make sure computers work far beyond their binary code, as in they can only process information in bits that take the value of 1 or 0, restricting their ability in the process.
• All the above-mentioned options are possible applications of Quantum Computing.

Read more on Quantum Computing

• The Dark Sky Reserve is located at Hanle in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It will boost Astro tourism in India and will be one of the world’s highest-located sites for optical, infrared, and gamma-ray telescopes.

• The term ‘liberty’ means the absence of restraints on the activities of individuals, and at the same time, providing opportunities for the development of individual personalities within the limitations mentioned in the Constitution itself. Hence the most appropriate definition of liberty is to provide opportunity to develop oneself fully.

• Statement 01 is correct, Himalayan Chandra Telescope is a  2-m diameter optical-infrared Telescope  at the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO), Mt. Saraswati, Hanle, Ladakh
  • It is located at an altitude of 4500 m above mean sea level.
  • It is operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore.
• Statement 02 is correct, The Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment Telescope (MACE) is India’s largest and the world’s highest gamma-ray telescope  in Hanle, Ladakh.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, The Union ministry of Science and Technology  has undertaken to set up India’s first-ever Night Sky Sanctuary in Ladakh.
• The proposed Dark Sky Reserve will be located at Hanle in Ladakh as a part of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Martand Sun temple is a 8th century temple recognised as a “Site of national importance” by Archaeological Survey of India located in  Jammu and Kashmir.
• According to Kalhana in his Rajatarangini, the Martand Sun Temple was commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida of Karkota dynasty dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• It was an excellent specimen of Kashmiri architecture, which had blended the Gandharan, Gupta and Chinese forms of architecture.
•  It was destroyed during the rule of Sikandar Shah Miri between 1389 and 1413.

Image Source: Wikipedia

• A new fund offer (NFO) is the first time subscription offer for a new scheme launched by the asset management companies (AMCs).
• It is launched in the market to raise capital from the public in order to buy securities like shares, govt. bonds etc. from the market.
• It is similar to the initial public offer (IPO) with an attempt to raise capital from the market.
• NFOs are offered for a stipulated period.

• Kurki means attachment of a farmer’s land, already pledged to the money lending institution or individual, in case of a loan default.
• Apart from banks, private moneylenders, commission agents also get these decrees against farmers from time to time.
• Kurki orders are executed under Section 60 of Civil Procedure Code, 1908.

• Pair 01 is correctly matched, Eripatti was Tank lands i.e land donated by individuals, the revenue from which was set apart for the maintenance of the village tank.
• Pair 02 is incorrectly matched, Taniyurs was a large village and were distinct revenue units under Cholas. Villages donated to a single Brahmin or a group of Brahmins were called Brahmadeya.
• Pair 03 is correctly matched, A Ghatika was a centre of learning including religion smaller in size compared to Agrahara. Ghatikas were institutions mostly attached to temples.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Ramappa Temple, also known as the Rudreshwara temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva.
  • The temple is named after its architect – Ramappa.
• Statement 2 is correct, It is an example of Kakatiya architecture built around 1213 AD by a Kakatiya general Recharla Rudra under Ganapati Deva.
• Statement 3 is correct, The temple was accorded the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.

• Hilsa fish is a very popular fish in the Indian Subcontinent and is the national fish of Bangladesh and the state fish of West Bengal.
• Bangladesh is the largest producer of Hilsa and makes a good profit through exports to India. Bangladesh has used Hilsa diplomacy to bridge ties between the two nations.

• A Dark Sky Reserve is public or private land with a distinguished nocturnal environment and starry nights that has been developed responsibly to prevent light pollution.
• India will establish the country’s first Dark Sky Reserve in the cold desert regions of Ladakh.
• The key objectives of the Dark Sky Reserves are to:
  • Promote astronomy tourism in a sustainable and environment-friendly manner
  • Facilitate astronomical observations
  • Protect nocturnal species which rely on darkness to hunt and forage
  • Use of various scientific methods to preserve the night sky from ever-increasing light pollution

• Statement 1 is correct, PM Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) is a new centrally sponsored scheme.
• Statement 2 is correct, Under the scheme, over 14,500 schools across states and Union Territories will be redeveloped to reflect the key features of the NEP, 2020.
  • These schools will be equipped with modern infrastructure such as labs, smart classrooms, libraries, sports equipment, art room, etc.
  • These schools will also be developed as green schools with water conservation, waste recycling, energy-efficient infrastructure and integration of an organic lifestyle in the curriculum.
• Statement 3 is correct, PM SHRI schools will also “offer mentorship” to other schools in their vicinity.

• The Munda rebellion is also known as ‘Ulgulan’ or ‘the Great Tumult’ which was led by Birsa Munda.
• The main rebellion took place in the region south of Ranchi in 1899-1900.
• The word Ulgulan means ‘Great Tumult’ and the rebellion sought to establish the rights of the indigenous people over their resources which were being snatched away from them by landlords and money lenders.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 recombinant nasal vaccine has been approved by the Ministry of Health’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for primary immunisation of those aged 18 years and above in emergency situations.
• Statement 2 is correct, Nasal vaccines aim to overcome potential difficulties with mass vaccination and reduce the cost by doing away with the need for needles and syringes.
• Statement 3 is correct, According to experts, there is very little evidence to back the effectiveness of this route of delivery so far and, save for some flu vaccines, attempts to deliver vaccines like this have not been successful.

• Statement 1 is correct, Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal once complete will help in sharing the waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas between the states of Punjab and Haryana.
• Statement 2 is correct, The construction of the SYL Canal was launched in April 1982 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Kapoori village in the Patiala district of Punjab.
• Statement 3 is correct, Water resources are under the State List, while the Parliament has the power to make laws regarding inter-state rivers under the Union List.

• In the Shreya Singhal case, 2015, Supreme Court had declared Section 66A of the IT Act, which made the online posting of information considered “grossly offensive” a crime punishable by jail, as being violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and not saved under the ambit of reasonable restrictions defined in Article 19(2).
• The Supreme Court had held that the expressions used in Section 66A were open-ended, undefined and therefore arbitrary.

• Statement 1 is correct, Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koria in present-day Chhattisgarh is widely believed to have killed the last three recorded cheetahs in India in 1947.
• Statement 2 is correct, Cheetah was declared extinct from India in 1952.
• Statement 3 is not correct, Under the intercontinental cheetah translocation project at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, eight cheetahs were brought from Namibia.

• Statement 1 is correct, Global warming might cause the melting of ice triggering the release of methane gas from these deposits and has a significant impact on climate change.
• Statement 2 is correct, Large deposits of ‘methane hydrate’ are found in Arctic Tundra and under the seafloor.
• Statement 3 is correct, Methane in the atmosphere oxidizes to carbon dioxide after a decade or two.

• Statement 1 is correct, The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a pollution control initiative with the aim to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter of diameter 10 micrometer or less, or PM10) and fine particles (particulate matter of diameter 2.5 micrometer or less, or PM2.5) by 20% – 30% by 2024, with 2017 as the base year for comparison.
• Statement 2 is correct, NCAP was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change in January 2019.
• Statement 3 is correct, It includes 123 non-attainment cities across the country based on the 2014-2018 Air Quality data since these cities did not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for these 5 straight years.

• Statement 1 is correct, Owing to political differences, Subhash Chandra Bose resigned from the Congress Presidentship in 1939 and organised the All India Forward Bloc which was a faction within the Congress in Bengal.
• Statement 2 is not correct, On 21st October 1943, Subhash Chandra Bose announced the formation of the Provisional Government of Azad Hind (free India) in Singapore.
• Statement 3 is correct, The INA was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and comprised Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan (present-day Malaysia) campaign and at Singapore.

• Non-communicable diseases are a diverse group of chronic diseases that do not spread from one person to another.
• Cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease and Diabetes are all Non-communicable diseases.
• Tuberculosis caused due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Malaria caused due to plasmodium parasites are examples for communicable diseases.

• Statement 1 is correct, Initially, BRO was functional under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. But since 2015, it is being managed and is functional under the Ministry of Defence
• Statement 2 is not correct, The BRO undertakes projects in India and also in friendly countries.
• Statement 3 is correct, BRO was conceived and raised in 1960 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for coordinating the speedy development of a network of roads in the North and the North Eastern border regions of the country.

• International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a nuclear fusion power plant.
• The seven members are: European Union (EU), India, China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US
• If this experiment succeeds, the immediate advantage of India is it can build fusion reactors for power generation.

• Statement 01 is correct, The Human Development  Index is part of the Human Development Report 2021-2022 released by the UNDP.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, The HDI measures the average achievement of a country in three basic dimensions of human development calculated using four indicators.
  • A long and healthy life – calculated based on  ‘life expectancy at birth’.
  • Education – based on ‘mean years of schooling’ and ‘expected years of schooling’.
  • A decent standard of living based on ‘Gross National Income (GNI) per capita’.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The Delhi Durbar was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organised by the British to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India.
  • Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was held three times, in 1877, 1903, and 1911.
• Statement 02 is correct, The 1911 Delhi Durbar was organised to celebrate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in June of that year in London, Great Britain, to commemorate the historic moment.
• Statement 03 is correct, The 1911 Durbar was the only one that a sovereign, George V, attended.

• Bhitarkanika National Park is a large national park in northeast Kendrapara district of Odisha in eastern India. Bhitarkanika is the second-largest Mangrove ecosystem in India.
• It is the breeding place for the endangered saltwater crocodiles.
• It obtained the status of a Ramsar site on August 19, 2002.
• It lies in the estuarial region of Brahmani-Baitarani with the Bay of Bengal lying in the East

Read more on Bhitarkanika National Park.

• Miyawaki is an afforestation method based on the work of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki in the 1980s.
• This unique method is used worldwide for urban afforestation by growing a forest in someone’s backyard.

Read more on the Miyawaki method.

• Pair 01 is incorrectly matched, The Ghataprabha Reservoir is located in Belagavi, Karnataka. The Ghataprabha River is a major tributary of the River Krishna.
• Pair 02 is correctly matched, The Gandhi Sagar Dam is one of the four major dams built on the Chambal River. It is a masonry dam located in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.
• Pair 03 is incorrectly matched, The Indira Sagar Dam is the largest dam in India, in terms of volume of water stored in the reservoir. It is located on the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh.
• Pair 04 is incorrectly matched, Maithon dam is located on the banks of river Barakar in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The dam with an underground power station is one of its kind in the whole of Southeast Asia.