UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Mar 26 - Apr 01

Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east.

The title of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) is a status or level of treatment given by one country to another with respect to international trade. This ensures that the country conferring the title must give all sorts of trade benefits to the most-favoured nation.
Most Favored Nation (MFN) is a non-discriminatory trade policy as it ensures equal trading among all WTO member nations rather than exclusive trading privileges.
It requires a country to provide any concessions, privileges, or immunities granted to one nation in a trade agreement to all other World Trade Organization member countries.
India revoked the MFN status given to Pakistan in 2019.

Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) was founded in 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.
It provides a platform for sincere and results-oriented regional cooperation by placing Afghanistan at its centre.
It was established to address the shared challenges and interests of Afghanistan and its neighbours and regional partners.

Star campaigners are the people nominated by parties to campaign in a given set of constituencies. They are usually prominent and popular faces within the party.
A recognised (mainstream) party can field a maximum number of 40 star campaigners while unrecognised political parties can field up to 20 campaigners.
A Star Campaigner, by standard definition, is a candidate chosen by a political party to contest in a given constituency.
He/she is chosen usually on the basis of popularity but there is no specific definition under Indian law and the Election Commission (EC).

All the statements are correct.

• BIMSTEC was formed in 1997, originally with Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, and later included Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.
• BIMSTEC now includes five countries from South Asia and two from ASEAN.
• It includes all the major countries of South Asia, except Maldives, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil its key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’.

• On April 1, 1936, Orissa (now Odisha) became a separate state to be formed on a linguistic basis, and the date since then is commemorated as Utkal Divas.
• This Day is also known as Vishuva Milan.
• The leaders of the movement demanding a separate state for all the Odia-speaking regions were Madhusudan Das, Gopabandhu Das, Maharaja Sri Ram Chandra Bhanj Deo and others.
•  Andhra Pradesh was the first Indian state  to be created on a linguistic basis post-independence.

• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evum Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme is a farmer-oriented scheme involving decentralised solar power production.
• Under the scheme, the farmers have the option to sell additional power to the grid through solar power projects set up on their barren lands.
• The scheme was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• The first farm based solar power plant under the scheme has been set up in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Rabha is an indigenous Tibeto-Burman community.
They are found in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Hamja is a folk dance performed by the tribes.
The Hamja Dance is about paddy cultivation.
Baikho Dera is the main festival of Rabhas.

• India, Nigeria and China are the largest producers of millets in the world, accounting for more than 55% of the global production.
• In the 160th session of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council held in Rome in 2018, India’s proposal to observe an International Year of Millets in 2023 was approved.
• The United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets.
• Millets are photo-insensitive & resilient to climate change.
• They are hardy, resilient crops that have a low carbon and water footprint, can withstand high temperatures and grow on poor soils with little or no external inputs.

• Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India for conduct of political parties and candidates during elections mainly with respect to speeches, polling day, polling booths, election manifestos, processions and general conduct.
• The MCC comes into force from the date the election schedule is announced until the date that results are out.
• It does not have statutory backing. This means, if someone breaches the MCC, a case cannot be filed under any clause of the code itself.

• Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC)—the macroscopic ground-state accumulation of particles with integer spin (bosons) at low temperature and high density—has been observed in several physical systems, including cold atomic gases and solid-state quasiparticles.
• In condensed matter physics, a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a state of matter (also called the fifth state of matter) which is typically formed when a gas of bosons at low densities is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero (-273.15 °C).
• A Bose-Einstein condensate is a group of atoms cooled to within a hair of absolute zero. When they reach that temperature the atoms are hardly moving relative to each other; they have almost no free energy to do so. At that point, the atoms begin to clump together, and enter the same energy states.

Diphtheria is a serious infection caused by strains of bacteria called Corynebacterium diphtheriae that make toxin (poison). It can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, and even death.
The diphtheria toxin causes inflammation of heart muscle (myocarditis) and this can lead to death if not treated with diptheria antitoxin and proper antibiotics.
Diphtheria is a vaccine preventable disease – the toxoid vaccine elicits an immune response against the toxin which is encoded by a tox gene of the pathogen.
The increasing diversity of the bacterium species, emergence of variant toxin genes and progression of antimicrobial resistance may lead to an increase in the incidence of diphtheria.

Mojave desert is in North America.

All the above statements are correct.

The scheme provides financial assistance to poor patients living below poverty line and suffering from life-threatening diseases relating to heart, kidney, liver, etc. for their treatment at government hospitals.
It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of a ‘one-time grant’, which is released to the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital in which the treatment has been/is being received.

Global Gender Gap Report is published by the World Economic Forum.

Stand up India scheme was launched in April 2016, encouraging people from the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes and women across the country to become entrepreneurs by loaning them a sum of money to start a business.
Under the scheme, an amount ranging from Rs 10 lakhs to Rs.1 crore is provided as a loan, inclusive of working capital for setting up a new enterprise.
Loans under the scheme are available for only greenfield projects. Greenfield signifies, in this context, the first time venture of the beneficiary in the manufacturing or services or trading sector.
People belonging to the scheduled caste or scheduled tribe or women are eligible to avail loans under the scheme.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the authority vested with the responsibility of the administration of laws related to direct taxes through the Department of Income Tax.
It is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
All its members including the chairman are selected from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).
It is administered by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance.

“Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” as an ideal has been borrowed from the French Revolution to the Indian Constitution. The ideal “justice” in the Preamble to the Indian Constitution has been borrowed from the Russian Constitution.

The Bogibeel project was a part of the 1985 Assam Accord and was sanctioned in 1997-98.
It is a combined road and rail bridge built over River Brahmaputra in Assam.
It is India’s longest railroad bridge.

The CBI draws its legality from the 1946-Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE).
It functions under the Department of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances.
The precursor to the CBI was the Special Police Establishment, which was India’s first agency to investigate corruption. It was set in 1946 by the British.
In 1963, the Home Ministry expanded its power and changed its name to the Central Bureau of Investigation. But, it is still governed by the 1946 Act.
At present, the CBI director is appointed by the Centre on the basis of the recommendation of a search committee comprising the Prime Minister as the chairperson, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition.
CBI was established based on the recommendations of the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption.

All the statements are correct.

• The Supreme Court, in 2018, held that the NOTA option is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not for polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.
• The Election Commission has no power to call a fresh election even if NOTA secures the highest votes.
• NOTA option was first used in 2013 assembly elections held in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

COBRA is a special operation unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) of India proficient in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare.
It’s one of the few Indian Special Forces, that’s exclusively trained in guerrilla warfare.
Originally it was established to counter the Naxalite problem.
COBRA is deployed to address insurgent groups engaging in asymmetrical warfare.

It was established based on the recommendations of the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption.
It submits its report to the President.
The members of CVC are appointed by the President of India on the recommendations of a committee consisting of Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

• World Economic Outlook – International Monetary Fund
• Global Gender Gap Report – World Economic Forum
• World Cities Report – UN Habitat
• Global Corruption Report – Transparency International

National Legal Services Authority, alongside other Legal Services Institutions, conducts Lok Adalats.
Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 Lok Adalats have been given statutory status.
The decision made by the Lok Adalats is considered to be a verdict of a civil court and is ultimate and binding on all parties.
The award issued by a Lok Adalat, after the filing of a joint compromise petition, has the status of a civil court decree.

Located in the heart of western Tamil Nadu, Bhavani is famous for the art of making handloom Jamakkalams.
Bhavani Jamakkalam refers to blankets and carpets manufactured in Bhavani in Erode district, Tamil Nadu.
It has been recognized as a Geographical Indication by the Government of India in 2005-06.

• IMPacting Research, INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT) initiative is a national initiative of the Ministry of Education designed to address all major engineering challenges relevant to India through an inclusive and sustainable mode of translational research.
• IMPRINT India Programme is a joint initiative of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).
• It seeks to develop a road map for research to solve major engineering and technology challenges in 10 technology domains relevant for country.
• These domains include health care, information and communication technology, energy, sustainable habitat, nano‐technology hardware, water resources and river systems, advanced materials, manufacturing, security and defence, and environment and climate.