UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Mar 16 - Mar 22

• Ex Desert Flag is an annual multinational large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the UAE Air Force.
• The 2023 edition will be held from February 27 to March 17, 2023. The Indian Air Force participated in the exercise for the first time in 2021.
• Air Forces from UAE, France, Kuwait, Australia, the UK, Bahrain, Morocco, Spain, Korea, and the US are also participating in the exercise.

• Statement 01 is incorrect,  The Governing Council of NITI Aayog, comprises Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with legislatures and Lt Governors of other Union Territories.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, Ex Officio members: Maximum of 04 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
• Statement 03 is correct, Chief Executive Officer of Niti Aayog is to be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

• The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) established in 1948, is a multi-disciplinary government organisation under the Department of Mines, Ministry of Mines, engaged in promotion of  conservation, scientific development of mineral resources and protection of environment in mines other than coal, petroleum & natural gas, atomic minerals and minor minerals.
• It also undertakes scientific, techno economic, research oriented studies in various aspects of mining, geological studies, ore beneficiation and environmental studies.
• IBM is also mandated to function as the National Technical Regulator in respect of the mining sector, and lay down regulations, procedures and systems to guide the State Governments (first tier of regulation); provide technical consultancy services; participate in international collaborative projects in the area of regulation and development of the mineral sector.

• Statement 01 is correct, Coal controller organisation (earlier Coal Commissioner), established in 1916, is one of the oldest offices in the Indian Coal sector. Main aim behind setting up this office was to have Government control to adequately meet the coal requirement during the First World War.
  • Under Collection of Statistics Act, 2008, Coal Controller has been made the statistical authority with respect to coal and lignite
• Statement 02 is correct, It is entrusted with the task of monitoring captive mines. Work such as permission for opening and reopening of coal mines… has been entrusted to CCO.
• Statement 03 is correct, Under Coal Bearing Area (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, Coal Controller is the competent authority under this act to hear any objection to the Union Government’s Notification relating to acquisition of coal bearing land and to furnish his reports to the Union Government.
• Statement 04 is incorrect, Ensuring that coal mining companies deliver the coal to end users in the prescribed time is not the function of the Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO).

• Lokur Committee (1965) was tasked with advising the government on proposals by the states and union territories (UTs) to revise existing Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) lists in a “rational and scientific manner.”
• Bhuria Commission (2002-2004) was tasked with investigating and reporting on the problems of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in India, formulating a comprehensive tribal policy and outlining a vision for the future of STs.
• Xaxa Committee (2013) was set up to improve the socio-economic, health and educational status of the tribal communities in India.
• The Hrusikesh Panda Committee was constituted in February 2014 to look into the forest rights of pastoral communities.

• Statement 1 is correct, Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act and came into existence in 1997.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of Prasar Bharati are vested in the Prasar Bharati Board.
  • The Prasar Bharati Board is headed by the Chairman and comprises of the Executive Member, the Member (Finance), the Member (Personnel), six Part-time Members, a representative of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the Directors General of All India Radio and Doordarshan as ex-officio Members.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) is  a radio telescope located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile 
• Statement 2 is not correct, The telescope consists of 66 high-precision antennas, spread over a distance of up to 16 km.
• Statement 3 is not correct, ALMA is a transformative radio telescope that can study cosmic light that straddles the boundary between radio and infrared.
  • The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) is associated with the collection of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and the ALMA telescope does not have anything to do with FRBs.

• The First Factory Act was passed in the year 1881 during the administration of Lord Ripon.
• The First Factory Act sought to reduce the working hours of local factory workers and improve their conditions.
• Lord Ripon was appointed as the Viceroy of India in 1880 and his tenure ended in 1884.

• Statement 1 is correct, Unlike the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council is not subject to dissolution and hence is a permanent body unless abolished by the Legislative Assembly and Parliament by due procedure.
• Statement 2 is not correct, One-sixth of the members of the Legislative Council are nominated by the Governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in matters like science, literature, cooperative movement, art and social service.
• Statement 3 is correct, A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the Legislative Council of a State to be filled by election unless he is an elector for any Assembly constituency in that State.

• Statement 1 is correct, The Union Finance Minister while presenting the Union Budget 2023-24 has announced that the government will work in “mission mode” to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
• Statement 2 is correct, Sickle Cell Disease is covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana and provides full treatment for sickle cell disease, free of cost.
• Statement 3 is correct, Sickle Cell Disease is an inherited genetic blood disorder or red blood cell (RBCc) disorder.

Statement 1 is not correct, The Agnipath scheme was launched by the Indian government to hire individuals for the Army, Navy, and Airforce.
The minimum age for applying under this yojana is 17.5 years & maximum age is 21 years.
Statement 2 is correct, According to the Agnipath scheme, after the completion of four years on the job, 75% of the soldiers will be discharged from their services and only 25% will be allowed to continue for another 15 years under permanent commission.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Inelastic products are those whose demand does not change relative to changes in prices.
  • i.e. the demand for such goods or services remains unchanged even when the price changes.
• Statement 2 is correct, Supply of perishable goods is inelastic as the supply of such goods cannot be increased or decreased easily.
• Statement 3 is correct, The demand for food is relatively inelastic as it is considered a basic necessity.

• Legal tender means banknotes and coins which are offered in payment of debts and which must be accepted.
• Legal tenders are those currencies which cannot be refused by any citizen of the country for the settlement of any kind of transaction.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The Business 20 (B20) leads the process of galvanizing global business leaders for their views on issues of global economic and trade governance and speaks in a single voice for the entire G20 business community.
  • The members of B20 would be the representatives of industry and business leaders from all G20 members.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The B20 is the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community.

• GDP only includes final products i.e. the goods for sale, rather than intermediate goods that are used to make final products.
• Furthermore, GDP measures the aggregate production of final goods and services taking place within the domestic economy during a year.
• Thus, a car that gets assembled in India and a software program developed in India by a foreign company are included in India’s GDP.
• However, a pack of screws that will be used for the assembly of the car and a finished computer imported from Russia to run the program on are not included in India’s GDP.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The concept of the whip has been borrowed from the British parliamentary system.
• Statement 2 is not correct, the Three-line Whip which is issued to members directing them to vote as per the party line is the strictest of all whips.
  • One-line Whip is issued to inform the members about a vote. In case a member decides not to follow the party line, one line whip allows the member to withhold.
  • Two-line Whip is issued to direct the members to be present in the House at the time of voting but no instructions are given on the voting pattern.
• Statement 3 is correct, As per the Tenth Schedule i.e. Anti-Defection Law, a political party has a right to issue a whip to its members.
  • If a member violates the whip of the party, he/she can be disqualified from the House under the Anti-Defection Law.

• Statement 1 is correct, India is a signatory to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. (India ratified it in 1977).
• Statement 2 is correct, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 was enacted to regulate the possession and trade of antiquities and art treasures, to prevent smuggling and fraudulent dealings in antiquities.
• Statement 3 is correct, The National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) is an Indian government agency responsible for maintaining the cultural heritage database under the Ministry of Culture of the Government of India.

• In India, only some nuclear reactors are kept under IAEA Safeguards because they use imported uranium while the others use domestic supplies.

• Statement 1 is correct, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) was launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India in November 2008.
• Statement 2 is correct, The key objective of the PMBJP is to make quality generic medicines available at affordable prices to all.
• Statement 3 is correct, The product basket of PMBJP consists of both drugs as well as surgical items.

• Pair 1 is not correct, Garuda Shakti is a bilateral exercise between special forces of the armies of India and Indonesia.
• Pair 2 is not correct, Dharma Guardian is a Joint Military Exercise conducted between India and Japan.
• Pair 3 is not correct, India conducts a regular Naval exercise named Excercise Varuna with France.
• Pair 4 is correct, Shinyuu Maitri is the Indian Air Force’s military exercise with the Japanese Air Self Defence Force.

• Statement 1 is correct, India State of Forest Report (ISFR) is a biennial publication of the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
• Statement 2 is correct, All land areas with tree canopy density of 40% and above are considered dense forests.
• Statement 3 is not correct, All land areas between 10-40% are considered open forests and are counted as forested areas.
• Statement 4 is not correct, Plantations are included in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR).

• Statement 1 is correct, The FCRA was enacted during the Emergency in 1976 with the objective to regulate the acceptance and usage of foreign funds by individuals and associations.
• Statement 2 is correct, NGOs are required to open and maintain an FCRA account in the State Bank of India (SBI), Delhi, in order to receive foreign donations.
• Statement 3 is correct, The NGOs are also required to specify the purpose of receiving the funds and utilise such funds only for the purpose specified.
• Statement 4 is not correct, The FCRA prohibits the transfer of funds to another NGO.

• Statement 1 is correct, The Charter Act of 1813 ended the trade monopoly of the East India Company in India except for trade in tea and trade with China.
• Statement 2 is correct, The Charter Act of 1813 asserted the Crown’s sovereignty over British possessions in India.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The revenues of India were controlled by the British parliament through the Pitt’s India Act, 1784.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The Speaker doesn’t vacate his/her office immediately whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved but continues till the first meeting of the newly elected Lok Sabha.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Speaker may, at any time, resign from Office by writing under his/her hand to the Deputy Speaker.

• The five forms that represent Buddha are:
  • Lotus and Bull – Birth
  • Horse – Renunciation
  • Bodhi Tree – Mahabodhi
  • Dhammachakra Pravartana – First sermon

• Statement 1 is correct, Nano-encapsulated conventional fertilizers help in the slow and sustained release of nutrients over an extended period of time.
• Statement 2 is correct, Scientists have further identified that nano-fertilizers increase agricultural productivity by improving photosynthetic activity, seedling growth, rate of seed germination, nitrogen metabolism, carbohydrate and protein synthesis and reducing the crop cycle period.

• Statement 1 is correct, A Joint Parliament committee (JPC) is a temporary organisation formed to consider a specific issue for a predetermined amount of time.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The JPC recommendations have value but are not binding upon the government.
  • The government may accept it or launch a fresh investigation based on the report.
• Statement 3 is correct, The number of members can vary as the Members of the JPC are decided by the Parliament and there is no fixed number.

• Statement 1 is correct, The albedo of an object will determine its visual brightness when viewed with reflected light.
  • Example:  the brightness of planets depends upon the amount of light received from the sun and their albedo.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The albedo of Mercury is less than the albedo of the Earth.

Image Source: hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu

• Statement 01 is correct, National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) was set up as a registered society under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 on November 24, 2005, with a mandate for dope-free sports in India.
• Statement 02 is correct, India is a signatory to the “UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention”, which was ratified by India on 07 November 2007. The Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping in Sport was agreed to by the Government of India in March 2003.