UPSC 2023: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jul 15 - Jul 21

• Statement 1 is correct, CRPF is India’s largest Central Armed Police Force.
• Statement 2 is correct, CRPF operates under the authority of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Statement 3 is not correct, National Security Guard (NSG) is a specialized unit under Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF). 
  • Specialized units of the CRPF include:
    • Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA)
    • Special Duty Group
    • Parliament Duty Group
    • Rapid Action Force (RAF)

• Statement 1 is correct, According to the Warehousing (Development and Regulation) Act of 2007, the registration of warehouses with the Warehousing Development and Regulation Authority is optional at present.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Warehousing Development and Regulation Authority ensures scientific storage by prescribing infrastructural and procedural standards. However, captive warehouses such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI) are excluded from the ambit of the Act.

• Statement 1 is not correct, India is a major producer of Millets, accounting for 80% of Asia’s production and 20% of global production.
• Statement 2 is correct, India’s average yield of Millets (1239 kg/hectare) is higher than the global average yield (1229 kg/hectare).
• Statement 3 is not correct, Major Millets grown in India are
  • Pearl Millet (Bajra) – 61% share
  • Jowar (Sorghum) – 27%
  • Finger Millet (Mandua/Ragi) – 10%

• Statement 1 is not correct, China is the largest exporter of tea globally.
  • India is among the top 5 tea exporters in the world.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The majority of the tea exported out of India is black tea followed by Regular tea, Green tea, Herbal tea, Masala tea and Lemon tea.
• Statement 3 is correct, Russia is the largest importer of Indian tea, followed by Iran.

• Article 142 of the Indian Constitution empowers the Supreme Court’s verdicts and rulings to be enforced. It stipulates that in the performance of its jurisdiction, the top court may issue any verdict or order necessary to provide “complete justice” in just about any case before it.
• Such Supreme Court orders are enforceable across India, as provided by any statute enacted by Parliament or by the executive order of the President of India.

• Statement 1 is not correct, In the Lok Sabha, Rules 374 and 374(A) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business give the Speaker the power to suspend a member either through a motion or by themselves.
  • However, the Rajya Sabha Chairman does not have the power to suspend a Member and can only suspend a member through a motion.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Article 122 of the Constitution says that the validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.

• USTAAD: The Scheme aims at upgrading Skills and Training in preservation of traditional Ancestral Arts/Crafts of minorities.
• Hamari Dharohar: The Scheme aims to preserve the rich heritage of minority communities in the context of Indian culture.
• Nai Manzil: A bridge course to bridge the academic and skill development gaps of the deeni Madrasa passouts with their mainstream counterparts.
• Nai Udaan: Support for students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), State Public Service Commission (PSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), etc
• Naya Savera: The Scheme aims to provide free coaching to students/candidates belonging to minority communities for qualifying in entrance examinations of technical/medical professional courses and various competitive examinations.

• Statement 1 is correct, Samudraya is India’s first manned ocean mission.
• Statement 2 is correct, The mission aims to send individuals into the deep sea in a submersible vehicle for deep-ocean exploration and mining of rare minerals.
• Statement 3 is correct, The mission will carry three individuals in a manned submersible vehicle named MATSYA 6000 to a depth of 6000 metres in the ocean.

Image Source: Wikipedia

• Lake Faguibine in northern Mali is dry and has been since the 1970s.
• Erratic rainfall patterns due to climate change, sand dunes blocking parts of the channels, extensive use of water for large-scale irrigation and to produce hydropower, have combined to deprive Lake Faguibine of much needed water.

• Statements 1 and 2 are correct, Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) refers to a production volume index that measures the collective and individual production performances of eight selected core industries.
  • These industries are Natural Gas, Coal, Refinery Products, Crude Oil, Cement, Electricity, Steel, and Fertilizers.
• Statement 3 is incorrect, the base year of IIP is 2011-12.

• Statements 1 and 2 are correct, Gold is tightly regulated in India and currently only nominated agencies and banks approved by the Reserve Bank of India can import gold and sell it to dealers and jewellers across the country.
  • In order to become qualified jewellers to import gold through the IIBX, entities require a minimum net worth of Rs 25 crore and 90 per cent of the average annual turnover in the last 3 financial years through deals in goods categorized as precious metals.
  • Non-resident Indians and Institutes can also participate in the exchange after registering with the IFSCA (International Financial Services Centers Authority).
• Statement 3 is correct, Jewelers can transact in IIBX only as a trading member or as clients of a trading member by establishing a branch in IFSC.

• Statement 2 is correct, 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games commenced in the city of Birmingham, United Kingdom with the theme, “Games for Everyone”.
• Statement 1 is correct, Women’s cricket tournament is included in the Games for the first time in this edition. The matches are being played as T20 Internationals.
• Statement 3 is correct, Overall at Commonwealth Games, India has won 503 medals – 181 golds, 173 silvers and 149 bronzes. The most successful individual Games were the 2010 edition, in New Delhi with 101 medals. The second-best was the 2002 Games in Manchester with 69 medals.

Read about National Tiger Conservation Authority here.

Assets and Liabilities are defined as follows:

• The assets of the commercial bank are Investments,  Cash in hand, Advances, Bills discounted and purchased, Loans
• While the liabilities are Capital and Reserves, Deposits, Borrowings, and other liabilities
• Therefore, option b is correct.

• Statement 1 is correct- Udham Singh belonged to the Ghadar Party. Statement 2 is incorrect as he was known for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 March 1940. The assassination was done in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919.

• Sonitpur Tiger reserve located in the eastern hill forest of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
• Intanki Wildlife Sanctuary is home to varied wildlife, located in Kohima of Nagaland.
• Anamudi is a mountain located in Ernakulam district and Idukki district of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and in South India.
• The Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS), also known as Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary is in Tamil Nadu.

• Statement 1 is correct – on 30 June 1855, two Santal rebel leaders, Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, mobilized roughly 60,000 Santhals and declared a rebellion against the East India Company .The basic purpose was to collect taxes by making and enforcing his own laws.
• Statement 2 is incorrect -The Ulgulan revolt was a 19th century tribal rebellion led by Birsa Munda. It took place in the region south of Ranchi in 1899-1900.
• Statement 3 is incorrect – Santhal Paragana was the area demarcated for Santhals by the British post the santhal rebellion.

• Statement 1 is incorrect- It is largest in India but not in the world.The largest is in China.
• Statement 2 is correct – The water body underneath the solar modules helps in maintaining their ambient temperature, thereby improving their efficiency and generation.

The Service Area Approach (SAA) was introduced in April 1989, in order to bring about an orderly and planned development of rural and semi- urban areas of the country, was extended to all Indian scheduled commercial banks including Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).

• Residual mountains are the remains of previously existing mountains that have been subjected to weathering and erosion for an extended period.
• They owe their current shape to erosion by  glaciers, rivers, wind, etc
• Aravalli hills, Nilgiri Hills, Javadi hills, Girnar hills, Sierra of Spain are so[me of the examples of Residue mountains.

Read more on Mountain Formation

• Statement 01 is correct, Aravalli range acts as a barrier to check further spread of desertification to the east of Rajasthan and subsequently to Gangetic plains.
• Statement 02 is correct, Guru Shikhar is the highest peak of Aravalli with 1722 meters, located near Mount Abu.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, Chambal, the only perennial river of Rajasthan, originates from the Northern slopes of Vindhya Range

Read more on Aravalli Range here

• It takes place between contingents of the Indian Army and the Royal Army of Oman.
• Fourth edition of Al Najah is set to take place at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges, Rajasthan.
• Focus of fourth edition will be on Counter terrorism operations.

• Statement 01 is correct, The Kerch Strait is in Eastern Europe connecting Black Sea and the Sea of Azov separating the Crimean Kerch Peninsula in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia in the east.

Image Credit: The Economist Intelligence Unit

• Statement 1 is correct. Economic reforms initiated in 1986, along with beneficial global trends, have helped Vietnam move from being one of the world’s poorest nations to a middle-income economy in one generation.
  • Between 2002 and 2021, GDP per capita increased 3.6 times, reaching almost US$3,700.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. Vietnam is a one-party socialist republic.
• Statement 3 is correct: Vietnam’s export-led growth strategy and global integration are the major contributors in its growth and poverty reduction.
• Statement 4 is correct: By minimizing trade and foreign investment restrictions, Vietnam attracted several multinational companies. Along with this and its low wages, it became an attractive platform for manufacturing and exports.
• Statement 5 is incorrect: Vietnam has one of the most productive e-service sectors in the Indo-Pacific region but cannot be called the most productive e-service sector in the entire Indo-Pacific region.

• Statement 1 is correct, Lumpy skin disease is a viral disease that causes prolonged morbidity in bovines such as cattle and buffaloes.
• Statement 2 is not correct, There are three licensed vaccines for the disease which include the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) Neethling vaccine, Kenyan sheep and goat pox (KSGP) O-180 strain vaccines and Gorgan goat pox (GTP) vaccine.
• Statement 3 is not correct, 10% mortality has been observed in LSD.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial exercise hosted by the Australian Air Force.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Indian Air Force (IAF) participated in the Pitch Black exercise for the first time in 2018.

• India has signed and ratified:
  • Antarctic Treaty in 1983
  • Protocol on environment protection to the Antarctic treaty in 1998
  • Convention on the conservation of Antarctic marine living resources in 1985
• Hence option d is correct.

• Statement 1 is correct, Minimum Wages Act, 1948 prescribes fixing, reviewing and revising the minimum wages of even the migrant labourers employed in the scheduled employments.
• Statement 2 is correct, The concerned administration is mandated to revise the minimum rates of wages at intervals not exceeding five years.

Participatory notes also referred to as P-Notes, or PNs, are financial instruments required by investors or hedge funds to invest in Indian securities without having to register with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Hence option d is correct.