UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jan 20 - Jan 26

• A team at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune came up with a custom-designed unique molecular sponge-like material — macro/microporous ionic organic framework — which can swiftly clean polluted water by soaking up sinister contaminants.
• The team has prepared a newly engineered material called viologen-unit grafted organic-framework (iVOFm).
  • The material employs amalgamation of electrostatics driven ion-exchange combined with nanometer-sized macropores and specific binding sites for the targeted pollutants.
  • The size and number of tunable macropores along with the strong electrostatic interaction of iVOFm can quickly remove various toxic pollutants from water.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis is a non-statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Statement 02 is correct, As per the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the NCSK has been assigned the work to monitor the implementation of the Act, tender advice for its effective implementation to the Center and State Governments and enquire into complaints regarding contravention/non-implementation of the provisions of the Act.

• Statement 01 is correct, BCS theory or Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory (named after John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer) is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity.
  • The theory describes superconductivity as a microscopic effect caused by a condensation of Cooper pairs. The theory is also used in nuclear physics to describe the pairing interaction between nucleons in an atomic nucleus.
  • The BCS theory explains the superconductivity of only TYPE I superconductors and does not explain Type II superconductors.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, Due to the high critical magnetic field, type-II superconductors can be used for manufacturing electromagnets used for producing a strong magnetic field.

MCA21 is an e-Governance initiative of the Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA), Government of India that enables easy and secure access of the MCA services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, Indian Diaspora is the group of people who are currently living outside India (temporary or permanent) and those who can trace their origin to India. In India, diaspora is commonly understood to include Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).
• Statement 02 is correct, The Union ministry of External Affairs manages all matters related to Indian Diaspora.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, 
  • Antimicrobial resistance does not mean our body is resistant to antibiotics or antifungals. It means the bacteria or fungi causing the infection are resistant to the antibiotic or antifungal treatment.
  • Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
• Statement 02 is correct, One Health is the collaborative effort of multiple health science professions to attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, plants, and our environment.
  • The drivers of antimicrobial resistance include antimicrobial use and abuse in human, animal, and environmental sectors and the spread of resistant bacteria and resistance determinants within and between these sectors and around the globe. Therefore, WHO urges for the adoption of One Health Approach to deal with AMR.
• Statement 03 is correct, The Government of India has formulated a National Action Plan to tackle AMR (NAP-AMR), largely modelled on the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on AMR.

Statement 01 is incorrect, The Malthusian Theory of Population stated that population increases in a geometric progression while food production increases in arithmetic progression. Thus population grew faster than food production and tended to outstrip it in a short time.
Statement 02 is correct, Low Birth rates can eventually lead to a high dependency ratio in the population.
The dependency ratio relates the number of children (0-14 years old) and older persons (65 years or over) to the working-age population (15-64 years old).

• Manufactured sand (M-Sand) is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction. It is produced by crushed hard granite stone.
• The crushed sand is of cubical shape with rounded edges, washed and graded to as a construction material. The size of manufactured sand (M-Sand) is less than 4.75mm.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) is operated under the guidelines and directions of the Union Ministry of Commerce.
• Statement 02 is correct, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) functions as the secretariat for the implementation of NPOP.
• Statement 03 is correct, Sikkim became India’s first fully organic State in 2015 by implementing organic practices on around 75000 hectares of agricultural land.

• Statement 1 is correct, National Science Day is celebrated every year on the 28th of February.
• Statement 2 is not correct, National Science Day is celebrated to commemorate the discovery of the “Raman Effect” by Sir C.V. Raman on 28 February 1928.
• Statement 3 is correct, The theme for National Science Day 2023 is “Global Science for Global Wellbeing”.

• Statement 1 is correct, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes the brain to shrink (atrophy) and brain cells to die.
  • Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.
  • Dementia is a syndrome in which there is a deterioration in cognitive function affecting memory, thinking and social abilities.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Alzheimer’s disease is thought to be caused due to the abnormal build-up of proteins in and around brain cells on account of age-related changes.
  • Thus Alzheimer’s disease is not a genetic disease.
• Statement 3 is not correct, There are drugs such as Aducanumab and Lecanemab approved to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

• Statement 1 is correct, The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016.
• Statement 2 is not correct, BIS is the National Standard Body of India established for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization, marking and quality certification of goods and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
  • Foreign Manufacturers Certification Department (FMCD) under BIS is responsible for managing manufacturing units located overseas and performing factory audits to determine whether a manufacturer complies with all the necessary requirements illustrated by BIS.
• Statement 3 is not correct, BIS works under the aegis of the Department of Consumer Affairs of the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Pair 1 is correct, Operation Ganga was launched in 2022 to bring back Indians stranded in Ukraine.
Pair 2 is not correct, Operation Raahat was an operation launched by the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military.
Operation Devi Shakti was India’s mission to evacuate its citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul after its takeover by the Taliban.
Pair 3 is correct, Operation Safe Homecoming was an operation launched by India in February 2011 to evacuate its nationals, who were fleeing from the Libyan civil war.

The major reason for the decline in the cultivation of Indigo in India was the invention of synthetic indigo, which made natural indigo non-profitable for farmers and traders.

• Statement 1 is correct, the Prithvi-II missile is a short-range ballistic missile with a range of around 250 km to 350 km.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Prithvi-II missile is an indigenously developed missile by DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).
• Statement 3 is correct, the Prithvi-II missile is a nuclear-capable missile and has been an integral part of India’s nuclear deterrence.

• Statement 1 is correct, India lies in the Alpine earthquake belt which is one of the most destructive belts of earthquakes.
  • The Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt extends up to the Andaman-Nicobar island region.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The seismic zoning map of India is prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) based on historical seismicity and strong ground motions.
  • According to the seismic zoning map of India, the country has been divided into four zones namely zone V, IV, III and II.
• Statement 3 is correct, The National Centre for Seismology (NCS) is the nodal agency of the Government of India for monitoring earthquake activity in the country.
  • NSC is an office under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

• The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting air quality on a daily basis.
• It is a measure of how air pollution affects one’s health within a short time period.
• AQI keeps a tab on 8 major air pollutants in the atmosphere namely,
  • Particulate Matter (PM10)
  • Particulate Matter (PM2.5)
  • Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
  • Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO)
  • Ozone (O3)
  • Ammonia (NH3)
  • Lead (Pb)

• Statement 1 is correct, The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a transnational body composed of nuclear supplier countries that aim to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons by curbing the export of nuclear weapons development materials and related technology.
  • By joining NSG, countries will get access to the latest, most efficient nuclear technologies and sophisticated nuclear technology.
• Statement 2 is not correct, India is not a member of the NSG but wishes to be a part of the NSG. However, since India is not a  member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), China and Pakistan have objections to its enrollment.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Article 6 deals with the Rights of Citizenship of individuals who have migrated to India from the territory now included in Pakistan.
• Statement 2 is correct, As per Article 10: Any person who is considered a citizen of India under any of the provisions of this Part shall continue to be citizens and will also be subject to any law made by the Parliament.
• Statement 3 is correct, According to Article 11: The Parliament has the right to make any provision concerning the acquisition and termination of citizenship and any other matter relating to citizenship.
• Statement 4 is not correct, The right to property ceased to be a Fundamental Right by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978.
  • However, it continues to be a human right in a welfare state, and a constitutional right under Article 300 A of the Constitution.
  • Article 300 A provides that no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law.

• Indian Skimmers were once distributed across the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, China, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
• However, much of the Indian Skimmer population is now limited to India and Pakistan.
• In India, the birds belonging to this species of Skimmer are found in the coastal estuaries of western and eastern India.
• According to wildlife experts, the Godavari estuary in Andhra Pradesh has become a prime and safe habitat for the Indian Skimmer. Recently, Indian Skimmers were sighted in the southern part of the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Beypore Uru is a wooden ship/sailing boat/sailing vessel handcrafted by skilled artisans and carpenters in Beypore, Kerala.
• Statement 2 is correct, According to records, various communities are traditionally associated with Uru-making. However, Odayis and Khalasis are prominent communities associated with Uru-making.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The District Tourism Promotion Council of Kozhikode has applied recently for a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Beypore Uru.

• Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had called Vivekananda the “maker of modern India.”
• In order to honour Swami Vivekananda, the Government of India in 1984 declared his birthday (January 12th) as National Youth Day.

• Domestic content requirement (DCR) mandates the use of solar cells and modules manufactured domestically as per specifications and testing requirements fixed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• The domestic content requirement (DCR) category, which requires solar projects in India to utilize domestically manufactured solar modules and cells, was instituted with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

• Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Lohri are the names of the Winter harvest festivals which are usually celebrated in the month of January.
• Kati Bihu, which is commonly known as Kongali Bihu, is a festival associated with the state of Assam. It is usually celebrated in the month of October.

• Statement 1 is correct, The National Statistical Office (NSO) releases the data on retail inflation in India.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data is released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

• Statement 1 is not correct, Dedicated legislations for Mental Health in India include Mental Healthcare Act (MHCA), 2017 and the Mental Health Act, 1987.
• Statement 2 is correct, the Ayushman Bharat scheme for the first time in India extended cover for mental illness.

Statement 1 is not correct, National awards such as Bharat Ratna, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri do not amount to titles within the meaning of Article 18(1) of the Constitution.
Statement 2 is not correct, Padma awards were set on the ground in the year 1954 and have been handed out every year to various recipients except for the years 1978, 1979, 1993, and 1997.
Statement 3 is not correct, The number of annual awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year. On conferment of the award, the recipient receives a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion.

• Statement 1 is correct, MV Ganga Vilas is touted to be the world’s longest river cruise.
  • The river cruise vessel will cover a distance of 3,200 km from Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh in about 51 days.
• Statement 2 is not correct, MV Ganga Vilas is the first ever indigenously made cruise vessel in India.

• The city of Soledar is a small town centre of the Donbas region, located in eastern Ukraine.