UPSC 2021: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Dec 18 - Dec 24

None of the statements is incorrect.

• ELISA test is used to diagnose antibody-antigen interaction after certain virus infection to a person.
• ELISA is the basic assay technique, known as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (also referred to as EIA: Enzyme Immunoassay) that is carried out to detect and measure antibodies, hormones, peptides and proteins in the blood.
• ELISA can provide a useful measurement of antigen-antibody concentration.
• It is used to diagnose HIV that causes AIDS, Zika virus, etc.

• The Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) are ideals which are not legally enforceable by the courts for their violation.
• The DPSP followed the idea of the ‘Instrument of Instructions’ of the Government of India Act of 1935.
• The idea of Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) has been borrowed from the Irish Constitution and enumerated in Part IV (Article 36-51) of our Constitution.
• Directive Principles of State Policy embody the concept of a ‘welfare state’ and not that of a ‘police state’.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) annually releases HDR with 5 composite indices:

1. Human Development Index
2. Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index
3. Gender Development Index
4. Gender Inequality Index
5. Multidimensional Poverty Index

• The National Hydrology Project (NHP) was started in 2016 as a Central Sector Scheme with 100% grant to implementing agencies on a pan-India basis.
• The project aims at improving the extent, reliability and accessibility of water resources information and to strengthen the capacity of targeted water resource management institutions in India.
• Thus, the NHP is facilitating the acquisition of reliable information efficiently which would pave the way for an effective water resource development and management.
• Under the Project, the National Water informatics Centre (NWIC) has been established, which is a nationwide repository of water resources data.

Self-explanatory.

Both the statements are correct.

• Human Freedom Index is a global ranking of personal, civil and economic freedom.
• The index is published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute in Canada.
• It takes into account 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank 162 countries.
• The scoring is done on a scale of 0 to 10, where 10 represents more freedom.

• The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction now in its current form is known as the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
• It is tasked with the implementation, follow-up, support and review of the Sendai Framework.
• UN Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) is published once in two years by the UNDRR and is the product of the contributions of nations, public and private disaster risk-related science and research, and others.
• ARISE, the Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies, is a network of private sector entities led by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
• Members of ARISE include 140 countries worldwide including India, which joined it in 2019.

• Inner Line Permit (ILP) is an official travel document issued by the concerned state government to allow inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.
• It is obligatory for Indian citizens from outside those states to obtain a permit for entering into the protected state.
• Inner Line Permit is currently applicable for Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.

• Ethanol is a biofuel and a common by-product of biomass left by agricultural feedstock such as corn, sugarcane, hemp, potato, etc.
• It is produced mainly from molasses, a byproduct of sugar manufacture.
• The National Policy on Bio-fuels has set a target of 20% blending of biofuels.
• The current permissible level of ethanol blending is 10%.

• Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion.
• Sikh tradition states that Guru Tegh Bahadur stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him to intercede on their behalf with the emperor and ask him to revoke a recently imposed jizya (tax) and was publicly killed in 1675 on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
• Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.

• Sampriti Exercise is a bilateral defence cooperation exercise between the armies of India and Bangladesh.
• It is seen as a part of Indo-Bangladesh defence cooperation.
• There are nine editions of Sampriti, the latest being Sampriti-IX that started off from February 3 – February 16, 2020, in Meghalaya.

• LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array) is currently the largest radio telescope operating at the lowest frequencies that can be observed from Earth. Unlike single-dish telescope, LOFAR is a multipurpose sensor network, with an innovative computer and network infrastructure that can handle extremely large data volumes.
• After a decade, the International LOFAR Telescope has grown to encompass nine countries. Next to the Netherlands (38 stations), these are Germany (six stations), Poland (three stations), France, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (one station each); a station in Italy is funded to be built soon.

III-IV-II-I is the correct order.

Switzerland is not a part of NATO, while the other three are members of NATO.

• Christian female students were kidnapped from the Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria.
• Responsibility for the kidnappings was claimed by Boko Haram, an extremist terrorist organization based in northeastern Nigeria.

• Guru Tegh Bahadur is the ninth Guru of the Sikh religion.
• He founded the city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab in 1665.
• He was beheaded on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb on 24 November 1675 in Delhi.
• Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib was built in 1783 at the place where he was beheaded.
• The mortal remains of Guru Tegh Bahadur were cremated at Gurudwara Rakabganj.

All the statements are correct. Read more on this topic covered in 20^th December 2020 PIB Summary and Analysis.

• Thang-Ta is a popular term for the ancient Manipuri Martial Art known as Huyen Langlon.
• Kalaripayattu is a traditional martial art form originating from Kerala.
• Gatka originates from the state of Punjab. It is a traditional fighting style of the Nihang Sikh Warriors and is used in self-defence as well as sport. 

• The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located in Gurugram is the nodal agency for maritime data fusion. It was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
• It is jointly operated by the Navy and Coast Guard.
• It is located in Gurugram.

The Patuxent River flows in the state of Maryland, United States of America.

• Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS) is the one-way electronic transmission of the postal ballots to the Service Voters.
• It has been developed by ECI and C-DAC.
• Though recommendations have been made to extend it to overseas voters, currently it is restricted to only service voters.

All of the above statements are true.

• Leopards are classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by IUCN.
• Leopards are in maximum number in the Western Ghats region.

Copenhagen consensus deals with micronutrient fortification of basic food items with iodine and iron and is an incredibly cheap, simple intervention that saves lives.

• Mouling National Park is located in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Temperate alpine and coniferous forest at the upper reaches whereas the lower area is covered with tropical evergreen forest.
• Ornamental plants like foxtail, orchids are abundant in this area.
• The park has also an impressive area of animals and birds. Many endangered species like takins, snow clouded leopard, golden langur, hornbill are spotted here.

Article -43-A belongs to Socialistic DPSP and was added by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act.

ILO was formed in 1919 as a part of the Treaty of Versailles.