UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jul 06 - Jul 12

• All the above projects are developed by the Border Roads Organisation.
• Project Beacon was launched in the 1960s. The project currently looks after road infrastructure development and maintenance in important areas of Kashmir.
• Project Vijayak along with Project Himank are responsible for the construction and maintenance of critical road infrastructure in Ladakh.
• Project Dantak is a joint initiative by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) of India and the Royal Government of Bhutan for the construction and maintenance of roads and infrastructure in Bhutan. The project was started in 1961 and has since then been responsible for the construction of over 1,500 km of roads and 168 bridges in Bhutan.
• Project Sampark was raised by BRO in 1975. It looks after the construction, improvement and maintenance of approximately 2,600km of strategic roads in the border district of Jammu, Kathua, Doda, Udhampur, Rajouri, Reasi and Poonch.
  • Ujh Bridge and Basantar Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir which was constructed under this project were inaugurated in 2019.
• Project Vartak was formed in 1960 as Project Tusker and later renamed Project Vartak in 1963.
  • It is the first established project of the Border Roads Organisation. Its task was later expanded to construct and maintain roads in Arunachal Pradesh and adjoining districts of Assam.

Article 355 of the Indian Constitution is a provision that empowers the central government to take all necessary measures to protect any state against external aggression and internal disturbance.

• This provision gives the central government the authority to intervene in the affairs of a state if there is any threat to national security or law and order.
• The central government can take various measures, such as deploying armed forces, to protect a state from external aggression or internal disturbance.
• However, the provision also imposes certain restrictions on the central government’s powers. The central government can only use its powers under Article 355 if the state government has requested its assistance or if the President, on receiving a report from the Governor or otherwise, is satisfied that the situation in a state warrants such intervention.

• The World Health Organisation defines a rare disease as an often debilitating lifelong disease or disorder condition with a prevalence of 1 or less, per 1000 population.
• Most rare diseases are genetic in origin and thus are present throughout the person’s entire life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear.
  • Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSD), Pompe disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, and haemophilia are some examples of rare diseases.
• Categorization of rare diseases according to the national policy of rare diseases.
  • Group 1: Disorders amenable to one-time curative treatment.
  • Group 2: Those requiring long-term or lifelong treatment.
  • Group 3: Diseases for which definitive treatment is available but challenges are to make optimal patient selection for benefit, very high cost and lifelong therapy.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The Loyumba Shinyen is an 11th-12th century written constitution, regulated in the Manipur kingdom during the regime of King Loyumba (1074 AD-1112 AD).
  • Pitambar Charairongba also known as “Eningthou Ningthem Charairongba” was the Meitei king and the ruler of Kangleipak from 1697 to 1709.
• Statement 02 is correct, China’s trade with Manipur has brought about certain economic innovations like the introduction of silk and silkworm and gunpowder. Manipur learned the art of making gunpowder from the Chinese merchants.
• Statement 03 is correct, In the First Anglo-Burmese War, the British helped Prince Gambhir Singh regain his kingdom of Manipur, which had been heretofore occupied by the Burmese. Subsequently, Manipur became a British protectorate.

A geostationary orbit is a circular geosynchronous orbit in which the satellite is placed at an altitude of approximately 35786 km above mean sea level. The orbit lies in the plane of the Earth’s equator. An object in such an orbit has an orbital period equal to Earth’s rotational period and thus appears motionless.

• Statement 1 is correct: Geoglyphs are a form of prehistoric rock art, created on the surface of laterite plateaus by removing a part of the rock surface through incision, picking, carving, or abrading.
• Statement 2 is correct: Ratnagiri has more than 1,500 pieces of petroglyphs, locally called “Katal Shilpa”.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Under the PMLA, the burden of proof lies with the accused, who has to prove that the suspect property/assets have not been obtained through proceeds of crime.
• Statement 2 is correct: PMLA is a Predicate Offence oriented Law. A predicate offence is an offence whose earnings may become the subject of any money-laundering offences established under the Convention.

• Statement 1 is not correct: The Tagin’s are one of the major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Statement 2 is correct: The most important festival of the Tagins is the Si-Donyi Festival, which involves the veneration of the earth and the sun.
• Statement 3 is correct: Tagin is a Sino-Tibetan language.

Swarming migratory locusts avoid being eaten by other locusts by producing a smelly pheromone called phenylacetonitrile (PAN).

• Statements 1 and 3 are correct: The knowledge of the arrangement or relative positions of genes or DNA sequences on a chromosome is helpful in determining the pedigree of livestock and developing disease-resistant animal breeds.
• Statement 2 is not correct: It is not possible to understand the causes of all human diseases through such knowledge.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START) is an introductory-level online training programme launched by the ISRO.
  • The programme is aimed at post-graduate and final-year undergraduate students of physical sciences and technology and will be delivered by scientists from Indian academia and ISRO.
• Statement 2 is correct, The START programme is designed in such a way that it covers various aspects of space science, such as Astronomy, Astrophysics, Aeronomy, Heliophysics, Sun-Earth interaction and Instrumentation.

• “Shoot-at-sight” orders can be passed under:
  • Sections 41-60 and Sections 149-152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973.
  • Section 3(a) of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA),
  • Section 81 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860

• A 18-foot-high obelisk, made of grey Aberdeen granite and standing on a sandstone base, was unveiled by Lord Curzon on April 19, 1902 inside the Kashmere Gate Telegraph Office.
• The words “The Electric Telegraph has saved India” are inscribed on the Telegraph Memorial which is dedicated to the efforts and sacrifice of telegraphers during the Revolt of 1857.

• Pair 1 is correct, Chandauli is an aspirational district, also known as the “rice bowl of Uttar Pradesh”, the District Administration of Chandauli through the “Chandauli Black Rice Initiative” tried to increase the income of the farmers by employing innovative methods.
• Pair 2 is correct, Kalika Chetarike was launched by the Karnataka Government in order to bridge the learning gap induced by the Covid pandemic.
• Pair 3 is not correct, Santhe Kaushalkar is the first of its kind SHG/Artisan profiling platform and mobile application offering SHGs/Artisans a digital identity to showcase their products, thus increasing their visibility and value.
  • With this application, Government of Karnataka and UNDP are providing business connections to match directly with the customers and compete effectively in the online market.
• Pair 4 is not correct, SARTHI & SAKHI -Mental Health Helpline are  dedicated mental health helplines established for individuals to access mental health care from a professional in Covid-19 times.
  • Nodal agency is the District administration, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

• Statement 1 is correct, According to Article 30 of the Constitutions, “All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice”.
• Statement 2 is not correct, There is no provision for the President of India to automatically nominate a member of a minority religious community to the Lok Sabha.
• Statement 3 is correct, Minorities can derive benefits from the Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme which was launched in 2005.
  • The programme envisages to ensure the welfare of minorities in the fields of education, skill development, employment and prevention of communal conflicts.

All three statements are correct.

All three statements are correct.

Wolbachia is a bacteria naturally present in many insects. The Wolbachia method involves introducing this bacteria in mosquito populations.

First statement is incorrect and the second statement is correct.

Read more about open market operations in the link.

All three statements are correct.