UPSC 2019: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jul 27 - Aug 02

Which of the following is a cause of the decline of the Mauryan Empire?

Which of the following is/are correct about the Indo-Greek rulers of India?

1. The Indo-Greek kings imbibed Indian culture and became political entities with a mix of Greek and Indian culture.
2. Their rule ended with the invasions of the Indo-Scythians (Sakas).

Who among the following ancient Indian kings is also called ‘the Indian Napolean’?

Which of the following is/are correct about Pallava king, Narasimhavarman I?

1. He assumed the title ‘Vatapikonda’.
2. He sent a naval expedition to Sri Lanka.
3. Fa Hien visited the Pallava kingdom during his reign.

Which of the following is/are correct about Ibadat Khana at Fatehpur Sikri?

1. It was built by Akbar.
2. It held spiritual meetings and discussions in which leaders of various religions participated.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Charter Act of 1793?

1. This Act separated the revenue administration and the judiciary functions of the East India Company.
2. The Governor-General was given authority over the governors of Madras and Bombay.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Morley-Minto Reforms?

1. The Act introduced communal representation in Indian politics.
2. It increased Indian participation in the legislative councils, especially at the provincial levels.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Anandamath was based on which of the following?

Which of the following is/are correct about the First Polygar War?

1. The First Polygar War was led by Veerapandi Kattabomman.
2. It was also called the South Indian Rebellion.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Cripps Mission?

1. It proposed the setting up of an Indian Dominion.
2. It proposed that any province unwilling to join the Indian dominion could form a separate union and have a separate constitution.

Which of the following is/are correct about Fundamental Duties?

1. They are not enforceable by law, hence the Parliament cannot provide for the imposition of appropriate penalty or punishment for failure to fulfill any of them.
2. They help the courts in examining and determining the constitutional validity of a law.

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. The duties enumerated in Article 51-A are non-statutory duties and are not enforceable by law.
2. Parliament can prescribe a penalty for the violation of Specific Duties.

Which of the following is not a Fundamental Duty?

1. To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.
2. To exercise our Universal Adult Franchise at the time of general elections.
3. To value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Parliament?

1. The Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government as well of State government.
2. Parliament occupies a pre-eminent and central position in the Indian democratic political system due to the adoption of the parliamentary form of government, also known as ‘Westminster’ model of government.

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. Under the Constitution, the Parliament of India consists of three parts namely, the President, the Council of States and the House of the People.
2. In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok Sabha’ were adopted by the Council of States and the House of People respectively.
3. The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) and the Lok Sabha is the Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House).

Which of the following is/are correct with respect to the composition of the Rajya Sabha?

1. The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250.
2. Out of this 250, 238 are to be the representatives of the states and union territories (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the president.

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. The voting age of an individual was reduced from 21 to 18 years by the 61st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.
2. The representatives of states in the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states.

Which of the following statement is/are not true about the status of Governor of a state in India?

The oath of office to the Governor is administered by

In case of death of a sitting governor, who among the following will discharge the functions of the governor of that state?

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. Strong El Nino: Drought in South America
2. La Nina: Heavy rains over Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. North American Monsoon gives rain to the west coast in the US.
2. East Asian Monsoon gives rain to southern China, Korea and parts of Japan.

Which of the following is/are triggered by an earthquake?

1. Tsunami
2. Landslide
3. Avalanche
4. Volcanic activity

Which of the following is/are correct about earthquakes?

1. An earthquake’s point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter.
2. The epicenter is the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.

Which of the following is/are correct?

1. The temperature of air rises when its pressure falls.
2. The pressure of air falls when the temperature rises.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project?

1. It is fully funded by the Central Government.
2. The objectives of DRIP are to improve the safety and operational performance of selected existing dams.

Which of the following best describes ‘REDD+’?

Which of the following is not a tributary of river Ganga?

In recent time uranium contamination in the groundwater has increased. Which of the following is/are the prime factor for this?

‘Neonicotinoids’ recently seen in the news relates to

Which of the following is/are correct about the Sanchi Stupa?

1. It was built by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.
2. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.

Which of the following is/are not correctly matched?

Which of the following is/are correct about temple architecture?

1. The most common Nagara style is the Rekha-prasada style.
2. Rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber is in the Valabhi style.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Dashavatara Vishnu Temple?

1. It is in the Panchayatana Style of architecture.
2. It is a west-facing temple.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Konark Sun Temple?

1. Only the Jagamohana of the structure has survived and the Shikhara fell in the 19th century.
2. The Jagamohana is the largest enclosed space in Hindu architecture.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA)?

1. It is a component of the National Rural Health Mission and ASHA is a trained female community health activist.
2. She will be selected from the village itself.
3. She will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.

Which of the following is/are correct about Mission Indradhanush?

1. The goal of the scheme is to ensure full immunization with all available vaccines for children up to five years of age and pregnant women against seven vaccine-preventable diseases.
2. The diseases covered include diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B only.

Which of the following is/are correct about the PM Jan Arogya Yojana?

1. It is a centrally sponsored scheme.
2. It is an umbrella of two major health initiatives, namely Health and wellness Centres and National Health Protection Scheme.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana?

1. Its aim is to correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.
2. Setting up of new AIIMS is one of its components.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana?

1. It was launched in 2016 to provide financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events.
2. It also encourages farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.

Which of the following is/are correct about the BrahMos?

1. It is the fastest cruise missile of its class in the world.
2. The missile has been jointly developed by India and France and is named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.

Which of the following is incorrect about the Pinaka Rocket System?

Which of India’s submarine is also called the Tiger Shark?

What is ASTROSAT?

Which of the following is/are correct about the Gaganyaan?

1. It is India’s first manned space mission.
2. The mission aims to send an Indian man or women to space by 2025.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Chandrayaan II?

1. The mission includes soft-landing on Moon and moving a rover on its surface.
2. The Orbiter spacecraft was launched from Sriharikota.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Ultima Thule?

1. It is located in the Kuiper belt in the outermost regions of the Solar System, beyond the orbit of Pluto.
2. In January 2019, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft became the first explorer to fly past Ultima Thule.

Which of the following is/are correct about the Banking Ombudsman?

1. Banking ombudsman is a quasi-judicial authority created to resolve customer complaints against banks relating to certain services provided by them.
2. It covers only public sector banks.

Which of the following is/are correct about currency derivatives?

1. They are exchange-based futures and options contracts that allow one to hedge against currency movements.
2. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) recently, gave the go-ahead to start cross currency contracts as well on euro-dollar, pound-dollar and dollar-yen.

Which of the following is/are correct about Exchange-Traded Fund?

1. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, much like stocks.
2. They are basically a basket of stocks with assigned weights that reflects the composition of an index.