UPSC 2021: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jul 10 - Jul 16

2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 only are correct. Following the withdrawal of the U.S from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the remaining 11 countries renegotiated parts of the TPP and later signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also known as TPP-11. TPP-11 is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Labour Force Participation Rate is the section of the working population in the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment.

All the statements are correct.

Statement 2 only is correct. India has an open skies policy with SAARC countries and those beyond the 5,000-km radius, which implies that nations within this distance need to enter into a bilateral agreement and mutually determine the number of flights that their airlines can operate between the two countries. An open sky air service agreement allows for airlines from the two countries to have an unlimited number of flights as well as seats to each other’s jurisdictions.

A Himalayan butterfly named golden birdwing is now India’s largest butterfly (wingspan of 194 mm). While the male golden birdwing (Troides aeacus) is much smaller at 106 mm wingspan, the female of the species is marginally larger than the southern birdwing. The record was earlier held by southern birdwing (wingspan of 190 mm) for 88 years. The smallest is the quaker (Neopithecops zalmora) with a wingspan of 18 mm.

All three are correct.

• Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) is the northernmost corner of the Indian Territory in Ladakh.
• DBO has the world’s highest airstrip, originally built during the 1962 war but abandoned until 2008, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) revived it as one of its many Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) along the LAC, with the landing of an Antonov An-32.
  • It is located at an altitude of 16,614 ft.
• DBO is less than 10 km west of the LAC at Aksai Chin. A military outpost was created in DBO in reaction to China’s occupation of Aksai Chin, and is at present manned by a combination of the Army’s Ladakh Scouts and the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

Idlib is a province in Syria. Its proximity to the Turkish border makes Idlib strategically important to the Syrian government.

Both statements are correct.

Statement 3 only is correct. It is an annual exercise between the navies of India, Japan and the U.S. It began in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the U.S. Then it got permanently expanded into a trilateral format with the inclusion of Japan in 2015. Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.

Mongolian Kanjur, the Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes, is considered to be the most important religious text in Mongolia. In the Mongolian language ‘Kanjur’ means ‘Concise Orders’- the words of Lord Buddha in particular.

Both statements are correct. According to Orchids of India: A Pictorial Guide, as published by the Botanical Survey of India, Western Ghats have high endemism of orchids. The highest number of orchid species is recorded from Arunachal Pradesh with 612 species, followed by Sikkim (560 species) and West Bengal; Darjeeling Himalayas have also a high species concentration, with 479 species.

Statement 3 is incorrect. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has launched an AI-based ASEEM digital platform to bridge the demand-supply gap of skilled workforce across sectors. ASEEM stands for Atmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping. ASEEM is developed and managed by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in collaboration with Bengaluru-based company Betterplace, specialising in blue-collar employee management.

Statements 1 and 3 only are correct. Boeing has handed over the last of the five AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The AH-64 Apache is the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopter and is also used by the US Army. India contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015 under a $3 billion deal.

All the statements are correct. Rewa Solar project is Asia’s largest 750 MW solar power project. It is located in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh. It is India’s first renewable energy project to supply to an institutional customer outside the State, i.e, Delhi Metro.

Statements 1 and 3 are incorrect. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the ratio of a bank’s capital to its risk. It is arrived at by dividing the capital of the bank with aggregated risk-weighted assets for credit risk, market risk, and operational risk. It is also known as the Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR). In other words, it is the ratio of a bank’s capital to its risk-weighted assets and current liabilities. In general terms, a bank with a high CRAR/CAR is deemed safe/healthy and likely to fulfil its financial obligations. The higher the CRAR of a bank the better capitalized it is. CRAR is decided by central banks and bank regulators to prevent commercial banks from taking excess leverage and becoming insolvent in the process. RBI tracks CRAR of a bank to ensure that the bank can absorb a reasonable amount of loss and complies with statutory Capital requirements. The Basel III norms stipulated a capital to risk-weighted assets of 8%. In India, scheduled commercial banks are required to maintain a CAR of 9% while Indian public sector banks are emphasized to maintain a CAR of 12% as per RBI norms.

All the statements are correct. The ‘Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act’ (CAATSA) was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2017. CAATSA’s stated purpose was to counter aggression by the Governments of Iran, the Russian Federation, and North Korea. There are provisions in the law for secondary sanctions on people who engage in significant transactions with Iran, Russia and North Korea. Given the India-U.S. growing defence relationship, the U.S. Congress passed a CAATSA waiver for India as part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2019.

Turkey

Statement 2 only is correct. The concept of Fundamental Duties has been borrowed from the Russian Constitution. The 42nd Amendment added 10 fundamental duties. The 11th was added by the 86th Amendment.

All four chilli varieties have been granted GI tag status.

Statements 1 and 3 only are correct. National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) is an integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India. The intelligence gathering mechanism relates to immigration, banking, individual taxpayers, air and train travels. The office of NATGRID is attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Statements 1 and 4 are incorrect. The Eleventh Schedule was inserted in the Constitution of India by the 73^rd Amendment. Constitutional status was accorded to Panchayati Raj Institutions through the 73^rd Amendment Act. It provided that one-third of the seats in all Panchayat councils, as well as one-third of the Pradhan (chairperson) positions, be reserved for women. It fixed the minimum age for contesting in elections to Panchayat at 21 years.

Both statements are correct.

Statement 1 is incorrect. A Government Security (G-Sec) is a tradable instrument issued by the Central Government or the State Governments. The purchase of government securities by the RBI under its Open Market Operations will infuse liquidity into the system. G-Secs practically carry no risk of default and, hence, are called risk-free gilt-edged instruments. Gilt-edged securities are high-grade investment bonds offered by governments and large corporations as a means of borrowing funds.

Both statements are correct. Cytokines are small proteins secreted by immune cells to communicate and alter the actions of other immune cells. They can be pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, thus promoting or inhibiting the proliferation and functions of other immune cells. Cytokine storm is an overproduction of immune cells and their activating compounds.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Khangchendzonga National Park in Sikkim is the only “Mixed World Heritage Site” in India to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Kaziranga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site (Natural site). It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the conservation of avifaunal species. It was declared a tiger reserve in 2006.

The PRAGYATA guidelines include eight steps of online/digital education that is, Plan- Review- Arrange- Guide- Yak(talk)- Assign- Track- Appreciate. The guidelines on Digital/Online Education provide a roadmap or pointers for carrying forward online education to enhance the quality of education.

Statements 1 and 2 only are correct. The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-regional developed countries. Special Drawing Rights (SDR) refers to an international type of monetary reserve currency created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969 that operates as a supplement to the existing money reserves of member countries. SDRs are units of account for the IMF and not a currency per se. They instead represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged.

Total Fertility Rate refers to the average number of children born to women during their reproductive years. In simple terms, it refers to the total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her lifetime if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population (reproductive years).

Both statements are correct. The Chiang Mai Initiative was a financial swap mechanism that emerged in the aftermath of the late 1990s Asian financial crisis. It is a currency swap agreement among ASEAN +3 i.e, ten members of ASEAN, the People’s Republic of China including Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.

All three are correct.

Sarkaria Commission, Puncchi Commission and Rajmannar Committee dealt with centre-state relations.

• In 1983, the Central government appointed a three-member Commission on Centre-state relations under the chairmanship of R S Sarkaria, a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
• In April 2007, the Government of India constituted a Commission on Centre-State Relations under the chairmanship of Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi to look into the new issues of Centre-State relations keeping in view the changes that have taken place in the polity and economy of India since the Sarkaria Commission had last looked at the issue of Centre-State relations over two decades ago.
• In 1969, the Tamil Nadu Government appointed a three-member committee under the chairmanship of Dr P V Rajamannar to examine the entire question of Centre-state relations and to suggest amendments to the Constitution so as to secure utmost autonomy to the states.