UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Feb 12 - Feb 18

• The Indian leopard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• It is listed on a par with Tigers under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972.
• A melanistic leopard is called black panther or jaguar.
• The rosettes of each leopard are unique in shape and size, making the species identifiable individually.

• The Sarkaria Commission had recommended that Governors must not be removed before completion of their five-year tenure, except in rare and compelling circumstances.
• It also suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past.

• While a money bill can be introduced in Lok Sabha only, financial bills under Article 117 (1) can be introduced in Lok Sabha only and financial bills under Article 117 (3) can be introduced in both Houses.
• There is no provision for a joint sitting, in case of a deadlock over the provisions in a money bill.
• A money bill is defined by Article 110 of the Constitution.

• The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a global partnership launched in 2017 to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics.
• CEPI was conceived in 2015 and formally launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
• Founders: India, Norway, Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Economic Forum.
• It is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

• Trincomalee Harbour, formerly a British naval base, was taken over by the Ceylonese government in 1956 to be developed as a commercial port.
• It is in the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka.

• A nine-judge Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court had in the Indira Sawhney case capped the reservation at 50%.
• It is a very significant pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the question of reservation of posts for backward classes.
• The concept of a creamy layer was laid down and it was directed that such a creamy layer be excluded while identifying backward classes.

Read more on Indra Sawhney Case.

• Hyderabad has been bestowed with the ‘Tree Cities of the World’ title.
• The southern city is the only one from India to get recognition for its commitment to growing and maintaining the urban forest.
• Haritha Haram is a large-scale tree-planting program implemented by the Government of Telangana to increase the amount of tree cover in the state.

• Arunachal Pradesh is the largest of the Seven Sister States of Northeast India by area.
• Arunachal shares its longest border with China, followed by Myanmar and Bhutan.
• The Great Hornbill is the state bird of Arunachal Pradesh.

All the statements are correct.

• The QUAD is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.
• The idea was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007.
• Exercise Malabar originally began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015. With Australia’s participation in the exercise in 2020, it was the first time in 13 years that all members of the regional grouping known as the Quad engaged militarily.

Aoleng is the biggest festival of the Konyak Nagas. It is the festival celebrated to welcome the spring (in April). Lao Ong Mo is the traditional harvest festival celebrated in the months of August/September.

The purpose of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is to:

• Ensure that every household has access to a tap with the assured supply of water and a sewerage connection,
• Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) and
• Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport.

Water supply systems, water treatment plants and universal metering; Sewerage connections; Urban transport, constructing facilities for non-motorized transport; Development of green space and parks are all among its program components.

• The Centre amended the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, to facilitate the setting up of District Development Councils (DDC).
• DDCs are tasked with the preparation and approval of district plans and capital expenditure.
• This system effectively replaces the District Planning and Development Boards in all districts.
• The term of the DDC is five years.

• Perseverance is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission.
• It is fuelled by electrical power by using the heat of plutonium’s radioactive decay.
• It carries the Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE): Technology test to produce oxygen (O2) from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
• It will, for the first time, manufacture molecular oxygen on Mars using carbon dioxide from the carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere.

• Shifting Cultivation is known as Ladang in Indonesia, Caingin in the Philippines, Milpa in Central America & Mexico, Ray in Vietnam, Taungya In Myanmar, Tamrai in Thailand, Chena in Sri Lanka, Conuco in Venezuela, Roca in Brazil, Masole in central Africa.
• In India, it is known by various local names. Most common among these is ‘Jhum’ cultivation.

• Under Australia’s News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code Bill 2020, tech and social media giants such as Facebook and Google will have to pay local news outlets for using their content.
• The Australian law would force Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google to reach commercial deals with Australian publishers or face compulsory arbitration.

• Einsteinium is an element with the symbol Es and atomic number 99.
• Einsteinium is a member of the actinide series. Einsteinium was discovered as a component of the debris of the first hydrogen bomb explosion in 1952.
• It is exceptionally radioactive.
• Recently, chemists have studied and characterised its properties in the lab.

• Maldives is a part of the Indian Ocean Regional Association and also the SAARC.
• The Maldives also rejoined the Commonwealth in February 2020, three years after it quit the organisation.

RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) is a nuclear-derived method for detecting the presence of specific genetic material from any pathogen, including a virus.
RT-PCR is a laboratory technique combining reverse transcription of RNA into DNA and amplification of specific DNA targets using polymerase chain reaction.
It is primarily used to measure the amount of a specific RNA.

• Guru Ravidas/Sant Ravidasji was a North Indian mystic poet of the bhakti movement.
• The saint chose to focus on spiritual pursuits and also penned several devotional songs which made a huge impact on the Bhakti movement during the 14th to 16th century CE.
• Some of the devotional verses composed by him are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
• He was the founder of the Ravidassia sect.
• Guru Ravidas spoke against the caste divisions and spoke of removing them to promote unity. His teachings resonated with the people, leading to a religion being born called the Ravidassia religion.

• ‘Atoms for Peace’ was the organisation’s first name when it was formally established in 1957.
• It is an autonomous organisation within the United Nations system and not a specialised agency of the UN.
• India became a member in 1957 itself. It is a founding member.

• International Mother Language Day is observed on 21 February every year.
• It is part of the initiative to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world.
• The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh.
• It was announced by UNESCO in 1999 and was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002.
• The theme for IMLD 2021 is “Fostering multilingualism for inclusion in education and society”.

• Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) has been set up with an outlay of Rs. 15,000 crore as a part of the 20 lakh crore stimulus package under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• The AHIDF would promote infrastructure investments in dairy, meat processing and animal feed plants.
• Farmer producer organizations (FPOs), MSMEs, Section 8 companies, private companies and individual entrepreneurs would be eligible to benefit from the fund.
• Beneficiaries will have to contribute a 10 per cent margin towards the proposed infra project and the rest 90 per cent would be a loan component by scheduled banks.

• Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) provides for an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between two countries.
• India recently signed the CECPA with Mauritius.
• It is India’s first such free trade agreement with an African country.

• A “No Confidence Motion” against the Government can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha under rule 198.
• No prior reason needs to be stated for its adoption in the Lok Sabha.
• While Article 75 specifies that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, the Constitution of India does not mention either a Confidence or a No Confidence Motion.

• The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in July 1989 by a Group of Seven (G-7) countries in a Summit held in Paris.
• FATF issues a grey list, officially referred to as Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring. The countries in FATF Black List are “High-Risk Jurisdictions subject to a Call for Action”.
• The first FATF blacklist was issued in 2000 with an initial list of 15 countries.

• 197 languages in India are either vulnerable, endangered or extinct.
• Among the extinct languages are Ahom, Andro, Rangkas, Sengmai, Tolcha — all spoken in the Himalayan belt.
• 8th Schedule of the Constitution consists of 22 languages & these 22 languages are called Scheduled languages.
• The UN has declared the 10 year period between 2022 and 2032 as the decade of indigenous languages.

• The Black-necked Crane is central to Buddhist mythology and culture. Locals in Assam call this bird “Deu Korchon”, signifying its key role in Buddhist culture.
• In 2020, a re-assessment of the crane’s population led its status to change from Vulnerable to Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
• It is listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Both the statements are correct.

• Blue Mormon is the state butterfly of Maharashtra.
• By declaring Blue Mormon as its state butterfly, in 2015, Maharashtra became the first state in India to have a ‘State butterfly’.