UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jan 29 - Feb 04

• ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ is a monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order, started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896.
• The journal ‘Prabuddha Bharata’ has been an important medium for spreading the message of India’s ancient spiritual wisdom.
• Its publication was started from Chennai (erstwhile Madras), where it continued to be published for two years, after which it was published from Almora.
• Later, in April 1899, the place of publication of the Journal was shifted to Advaita Ashrama and it has been continuously published from there since then.

• The Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance presents the Economic Survey of India in Parliament every year, just before the Union Budget.
• This document is submitted to both houses of Parliament during the Budget Session.
• The first Economic Survey of India was presented in 1950-51 as part of the Union Budget. After 1964 it was separated from the Budget and presented each year during the Budget Session before the presentation of the budget.

Changpa tribes are nomadic high-altitude pastoralists rearing the prized Pashmina goat in Ladakh for Cashmere wool. These tribes rear Changthangi and are the traditional producers of the Pashmina wool in the Ladakh region.

All the given statements are correct. Read about the STARS project.

Possible benefits of vehicle scrappage policy:

• The move will aid environment-friendly phasing out of polluting old vehicles and spur adoption of electric vehicles. This would play a critical role in reducing air pollution in the cities.
• With this new policy, India could emerge as a hub for automobile manufacturing as key raw material available from scrapping steel, aluminium and plastic were bound to be recycled, bringing down automobile prices by “20-30%.”
• This would also help reduce Indian oil dependence and help improve the current account deficit of which oil imports form a major proportion.
• This would help reduce import of critical raw material from other countries helping improve India’s trade balances with such countries.
• This policy would spur investments in the automobile sector, which would help economic revival in India and will also help generate additional employment opportunities.

All the given statements are correct.

• Chauri Chaura incident led Gandhi to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement (NCM) from Bardoli in February 1922.
• Many Congress leaders like Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das were against the calling off of the movement as they felt that success was being gained in the country.
• When Gandhi stopped the Non-Cooperation movement (NCM) after the Chauri-Chaura incident, Bose called it a “National Calamity”. H was against Gandhiji’s decision.

Read more on the Chauri Chaura incident.

All the statements are correct. Read more about Lithium.

• Orobanche is a serious hidden parasitic weed in mustard causing severe yield loss to the extent of up to 50%.
• There are no absolute control measures developed for it.
• Also called broomrapes, they are aggressive root parasitic weeds which attack strategic food crops, such as legumes and vegetables, and threaten the livelihood of many nations.
• Heavy Orobanche infestation does not only lead to a complete crop failure, but make field soils Orobanche-sick over a long period of time, preventing the reasonable production of legumes and vegetables in the infested fields for many years to come.

• The Gobardhan Scheme (Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources – DHAN) was launched by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• It is being implemented as part of the Swachch Bharat Mission (Gramin).
• The scheme is aimed at managing cattle and biodegradable waste and also help augment farmers’ incomes.
• The GOBAR-DHAN scheme, with its focus on keeping villages clean, increasing the income of rural households, and generation of energy from cattle waste, is an important element of the ODF-plus strategy of the Swachch Bharat Mission.
• The scheme aims to support villages in effectively managing their cattle and biodegradable waste.

Myanmar is bordered by Bangladesh and India to its northwest, China to its northeast, Laos and Thailand to its east and southeast.

The LRA was founded three decades ago by a former Catholic altar boy and self-styled prophet Kony. The group originated in Northern Uganda as a movement to fight for the rights of the Acholi people. Joseph Kony waged a bloody campaign in four African nations to set up a state based on the Bible’s Ten Commandments. The Lord’s Resistance Army is a rebel group led by leader Joseph Kony. LRA’s activities are spread across Uganda, Congo, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic.

• The Micro Irrigation Fund (MIF) was set up with NABARD under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for facilitating the States to mobilize additional resources for expanding coverage of Micro Irrigation.
• The fund is to be accessed by the State Government and not by individual farmers.
• The fund was set up under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY).
• It was instituted with NABARD with an initial corpus of Rs. 5000 crore.

The government has launched a campaign namely Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness Campaign (KAPILA) for Intellectual Property Literacy and creating patent awareness.

• National Safety Council (NSC) was set up by the Ministry of Labour, Government of India (GOI) in 1966 to generate, develop and sustain a voluntary movement on Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) at the national level.
• It is an apex not-for-profit tripartite body, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950.
• The chairperson of the NSC is nominated by the government and is generally an eminent industrialist.

• Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) is an early-stage funding for start-ups.
• The Scheme aims to provide financial assistance to start-ups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.
• It will be implemented with effect from 1st April 2021.
• The implementing body of the scheme is the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

• e-CHARAK is a mobile application as well as a web portal for the promotion and marketing of medicinal plants/herbs.
• It was jointly developed by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), Ministry of AYUSH and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
• It is an e-channel for herbs, aromatics and raw materials and is a platform to enable information exchange between various stakeholders mainly farmers involved in the medicinal plants sector across the country.
• The e-CHARAK application supports different local languages and it also provides the fortnightly market price of 100 Medicinal Plants from 25 herbal markets across India.

All the statements are correct.

• Registered unrecognised parties are those that are
  • Either newly registered parties (or)
  • Those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in Assembly or General Elections to become a State party (or)
  • Those which have never contested in elections since being registered
• Such parties don’t enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties.
• Only parties recognised as State or National Parties are entitled to exclusive allotment of the reserved symbol to the candidates set up by it. They get broadcast/telecast facilities over Akashvani/Doordarshan during general elections.
• A registered unrecognised political party cannot have any star campaigners.

• There are three different species of cotton used to make the products we know and love. The most common type is Upland cotton, comprising nearly 90% of all cotton produced around the world. The remaining 10% is made up of two higher-quality cottons — Egyptian cotton and pima cotton.
• Egyptian and pima cotton are classified as “extra-long staple cottons”, a term that refers to the length of the individual cotton fibers. These longer, silkier fibers produce a luxuriously soft fabric that is also incredibly strong.
• Pima cotton is primarily grown in the United States, and Egyptian cotton thrives in the hot, dry climate of the Nile River Valley.

The K9 Thunder is a South Korean self-propelled 155 mm howitzer designed and developed by the Agency for Defense Development and Samsung Aerospace Industries for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces.

• Western disturbance is an extra-tropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that brings winter rain to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
• Extratropical storms are a global phenomena with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere, unlike their tropical counterparts where the moisture is carried in the lower atmosphere.
• It is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the westerlies. The moisture in these storms usually originates over the Mediterranean Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
• In the case of the Indian subcontinent, moisture is sometimes shed as rain when the storm system encounters the Himalayas. Western disturbances are more frequent and strong in winter season.
• Western disturbances are important for the development of the Rabi crop, which includes the locally important staple wheat.

• There are two main types of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Lipoproteins are made of fat and proteins. Cholesterol moves through your body while inside lipoproteins.
• HDL is known as “good cholesterol” because it transports cholesterol to your liver to be expelled from your body. HDL helps rid your body of excess cholesterol so it’s less likely to end up in your arteries.
• LDL is called “bad cholesterol” because it takes cholesterol to your arteries, where it may collect in artery walls. Too much cholesterol in your arteries may lead to a build up of plaque known as atherosclerosis. This can increase the risk of blood clots in your arteries. If a blood clot breaks away and blocks an artery in your heart or brain, you may have a stroke or heart attack.

Both statements are correct.

• Only the United States, India, the former Soviet Union, and the European Space Agency have successfully sent missions to orbit Mars – the fourth planet from the sun.
• Al-Amal, which mean “Hope” is the first Arab space mission to Mars.
• It is an unmanned probe to Mars.

• K2 Mountain is the highest peak in the Karakoram.
• It is the world’s second-highest mountain after Mount Everest.
• Kangchenjunga is known as ‘five treasures of snow’.

• Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) deals with all matters relating to the management of Central Government investments in equity including disinvestment of equity in Central Public Sector Undertakings.
• The four major areas of its work relate to Strategic Disinvestment, Minority Stake Sales, Asset Monetisation and Capital Restructuring.
• It also deals with all matters relating to sale of Central Government equity through offer for sale or private placement or any other mode in the erstwhile Central Public Sector Undertakings.
• DIPAM works as one of the Departments under the Ministry of Finance.

• The National Crisis Management Committee is a committee set up by the Government of India in the wake of a natural calamity for effective coordination and implementation of relief measures and operations.
• It deals with major crises which have serious or national ramifications.
• It is chaired by Cabinet Secretary.
• Its functions are to oversee the Command, Control and Coordination of the disaster response; giving direction to the Crisis Management Group (CMG).

• The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.
• It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
• Its members are elected by the members of the General Assembly.
• The UNHRC has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis.
• No member may occupy a seat for more than two consecutive terms.

• Article 341 of the Constitution of India defines who would be Scheduled Castes with respect to any State or Union Territory.
• 103^rd Constitutional Amendment granted 10% reservation to the EWS category in government jobs and educational institutions.
• The amendment aims to fulfil the commitments of the directive principles of state policy under Article 46, to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society.

In the Constitution of India, water is a matter included in Entry 17 of List-II i.e. State List.
Central Water Commission is a premier Technical Organisation in the country in the field of water resources.
CWC is headed by a Chairman, with the status of Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government of India. The work of the Commission is divided among 3 wings namely, Designs and Research (D&R) Wing, River Management (RM) Wing and Water Planning and Projects (WP&P) Wing.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors and prepares monthly reports on the state of glacial lakes and waterbodies measuring 10 hectares and above via satellite.