UPSC 2023: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Jun 25 - Jul 01

• Kerala is the largest producer of rubber in India.
• The world’s first GM Rubber was planted in Assam. It has been inserted with additional copies of the gene MnSOD (manganese-containing superoxide dismutase), to withstand extreme environmental stresses like cold.
• Rubber planting is eligible for carbon credits that can be obtained and sold in the Clean Development Mechanism market.

• Alapana, Niraval, Kalpanaswaram and Ragam Thana Pallavi are the main vocal forms of Carnatic Music while Dhrupad, Tarana and Dadra are the main vocal forms of Hindustani Music.
• The first references to Carnatic music were found in Haripala’s “Sangeeta Sudhakara”.
• Syama Shastri, Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshitar are referred to as the Carnatic Musical Trinity.

• The word hidden hunger refers to a more insidious type of deficiency caused by eating food that is cheap and filling but deficient in essential vitamins and micronutrients.
• Hidden hunger describes deficiency of micronutrients, such as vitamins, iron, iodine and other trace elements.

Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is a national park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve, Important Bird Area and a biosphere reserve. It is located in Assam.

A high content of organic matter in soil increases the soil’s water holding capacity.
Soil does play an important role in the Sulphur Cycle. Sulphur reservoir is in the soil. Also, sulphur bound in living beings is carried to the soil through decomposition and excretion. Therefore, soil is a part of the sulphur cycle.
Irrigation over a period of time can contribute to the salinization of some agricultural lands as the water could contain some dissolved salts.

Both the statements are correct. The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution includes the following provisions with regard to the disqualification of MPs and MLAs on the grounds of defection:

• If an elected member gives up his membership of a political party voluntarily.
• If he votes or abstains from voting in the House, contrary to any direction issued by his political party.
• If any member who is independently elected joins any party.
• If any nominated member joins any political party after the end of 6 months from the date on which he takes his seat in the House.

The decision on disqualification questions on the ground of defection is referred to the Speaker or the Chairman of the House, and his/her decision is final. All proceedings in relation to disqualification under this Schedule are considered to be proceedings in Parliament or the Legislature of a state as is the case.

An Electoral Trust is a non-profit company established for orderly receipt of the voluntary contributions from any person (or company) for distributing the same to the respective political parties, registered under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951.

Electoral trust can receive voluntary contributions from:

• Citizens of India
• A company registered in India
• A firm or Hindu undivided family or an association of persons or a body of individuals, resident in India.

The electoral trust cannot accept contributions from:

• An individual who is not a citizen of India
• Any foreign entity whether incorporated or not
• From any other electoral trust

• The doctrine of pleasure has its origin in England.
• It means that the holder of an office under the pleasure of the president can be removed at any time, without notice, without assigning cause, and without there being a need for any cause.
• Governors of the states, Attorney General of India, Civil Services of the centre hold the office during the pleasure of the President.
• Chief Election Commissioner, though appointed by the president, does not hold the office under the pleasure of the President.
• Advocate General holds the office at the pleasure of the Governor.

• The Thanjavur Maratha kingdom of the Bhonsle dynasty was a principality of Tamil Nadu between the 17th and 19th centuries.
• Venkoji was the founder of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom.
• The language used in the kingdom was Sanskrit and Telugu. The Thanjavur Maratha Rajas were more in favour of these two languages.
• This period saw a decline of the Tamil language.

Region often in news                    Country

1. Chechnya:                        Russian Federation
2. Darfur:                                            Sudan
3. Swat Valley:                                 Pakistan

• Mediterranean climatic conditions are seen in and around the Mediterranean Sea and the western portion of continental masses, roughly between 30 to 45 degree north and south of the equator.
• The climate receives its name from the Mediterranean Basin, where this climate type is most common.
• The basic cause of this type of climate is the shifting of winds belts.
• Mediterranean Climate is characterized by dry summers and mild, wet winters.

• Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia and Turkey border the Black Sea.

Region in News                                Country

Tokara Islands                                         Japan

Tigray region                                         Ethiopia

Dzukou Valley                      India (located at the border of Manipur and Nagaland)

• Kabir Das was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Hinduism’s Bhakti movement.
• Kabir was the most famous disciple of Ramananda.
• He was brought up by a Muslim couple who were weavers by profession.
• He criticized all forms of worship of idols.
• He aided the common people to shed age old superstitions and attain salvation through Bhakti or pure devotion.

• Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 is an Act of Parliament of India enacted for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas or village courts for speedy and easy access to justice system in the rural areas of India.
• Gram Nyayalayas can hear both criminal and civil cases.
• The Gram Nyayalayas are presided over by a Nyayadhikari, who will have the same power, enjoy same salary and benefits of a Judicial Magistrate of First Class. Such Nyayadhikari are to be appointed by the State Government in consultation with the respective High Court.
• Gram Nyayalayas allow for conciliation of the dispute and settlement of the same in the first instance.
• The Act allows local social activists as mediators/reconciliators.

• The FATF blacklist is the common shorthand description for the Financial Action Task Force list of “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories” (NCCTs).
• The FATF blacklist has been issued by the FATF since 2000 and lists countries which FATF judges to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
• Currently, Iran and North Korea are on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) blacklist.

• Article 224 deals with the appointment of additional and acting Judges.
• Duly qualified persons can be appointed by the President of India as additional Judges of a high court for a maximum period of two years.
  • The President may appoint additional judges for the time being when there is a temporary increase in the business of the High Court or arrears of work.
  • Also, when a Judge of a High Court other than the Chief Justice is by reason of absence or for any other reason unable to perform the duties of his office or is appointed to act temporarily as Chief Justice, the President can appoint a duly qualified person to act as a Judge of that Court until the permanent Judge has resumed his duties.
• An acting judge/additional judge holds office until the permanent judge resumes his office.
• However, the additional Judge cannot hold office after attaining the age of 62 years.

• Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) was created to compensate for the loss of tangible as well as intangible benefits from the forest lands which were diverted for non-forest use.
• National Compensatory Afforestation Fund is established under the Public Account of India.
• As per the rules, 90% of the CAF money is to be given to the states while 10% is to be retained by the Centre.

• The Pinaka is a multi-barrel rocket system.
• Recently, the DRDO successfully test-fired an extended-range version of the indigenously developed Pinaka rocket.
• The enhanced range version of the Pinaka rocket system can destroy targets at distances up to 45 km.
• Pinaka was developed by the Pune-based Armament Research and Development Establishment and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory with manufacturing support from Economic Explosives Limited, Nagpur.

The multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) bases its estimation on:

• Education (years of schooling and attendance in schools)
• Health (child mortality and nutrition)
• Standard of living (electricity, sanitation, drinking water, flooring of the house, cooking fuel and asset ownership).

The idea behind this index is to measure acute multidimensional poverty across developing countries using various indicators. It was developed by OPHI with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2010. It is a part of UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) and is released annually.

The multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) bases its estimation on:

• Education (years of schooling and attendance in schools)
• Health (child mortality and nutrition)
• Standard of living (electricity, sanitation, drinking water, flooring of the house, cooking fuel and asset ownership).

The idea behind this index is to measure acute multidimensional poverty across developing countries using various indicators. It was developed by OPHI with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 2010. It is a part of UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) and is released annually.

• Ethanol burns well because it is an oxygenate, meaning that ethanol molecules contain oxygen. Oxygen atoms inside ethanol join forces with oxygen molecules in the air to help ethanol burn more completely. This extra amount of oxygen also helps gasoline burn better when it is blended with ethanol. Hence, carbon monoxide production from ethanol fuel is significantly lower than that of petrol engines.
• Given that ethanol can be produced from a variety of feed stocks such as sugar cane, bagasse, switch grass and also other cellulose biomass waste, it can be a potential solution to agricultural waste
• The government has advanced the country’s target of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by five years to 2025, from the earlier 2030.

• The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
• ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by state governments and union territories.
• The following services are sponsored under ICDS to help achieve its objectives:
  • Immunization
  • Supplementary nutrition
  • Health checkup
  • Referral services
  • Pre-school education(Non-Formal)
  • Nutrition and Health information
  • Contraceptive counselling for adolescents

• Research has indicated that the global warming seems to be having an impact on the gender ratio of the green turtles. Warmer temperatures have led to feminization of green turtles, leading to significant scarcity or absence of adult males.
• The Green turtle feeds on sea grass beds and by cropping the grass provide a nursery for numerous species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans.
• Green sea turtles are found around the world in warm subtropical and tropical ocean waters, including the Indian Ocean.

• The List of World Heritage in Danger is compiled by UNESCO.
• The list is intended to increase international awareness of the threats and to encourage counteractive measures.
• Previous delisted India sites include:
  • Group of Monuments at Hampi
  • Manas Wildlife sanctuary

The domestic content requirement (DCR) category was instituted in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission from the beginning of 2010 in an effort to create a healthy and robust indigenous manufacturing base and to elevate India’s status as a solar hub.

• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is known as Sahitya Samrat.
• He is widely regarded as a key figure in the literary renaissance of Bengal.
• His political novel Anandamath depicted a Sanyasi army fighting the British soldiers. It was inspired by the sanyasi rebellion.
• Anandamath is the source of the national song “Vande Mataram”.
• His other celebrated books are Kapalkundala, Mrinalini, Vishbriksha, Durgeshnandini, Rajmohan’s Wife.

1-4-2-3 is the correct sequence.

• The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
  • The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• The total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister in the council of ministers shall not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members of the legislative assembly of that State. Provided that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State, shall not be less than twelve.
  • This provision was introduced through the 91st Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2003.
• A person who is not a member of either house of the state legislature can also be appointed as a minister. However, he must be elected or appointed to either of the houses within 6 months of such appointment, failing which he ceases to be a minister. 

Marib is located in Yemen.