UPSC 2021: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz May 01 - May 07

1, 3 and 4 only are correct.

Kumbh Mela comes under UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was added to the list in 2017. Kumbh Mela is celebrated four times over a course of 12 years. Kumbh Mela locations in India:

• Haridwar on the Ganges in Uttarakhand.
• Ujjain on the Shipra in Madhya Pradesh.
• Nashik on the Godavari in Maharashtra.
• Prayagraj at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the mythical Sarasvati in Uttar Pradesh.

1 and 2 only are correct.

Statement 1 is only correct.

1 and 3 only are correct. Read more on the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Chakmas and Hajongs came to India from the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), having lost their homes and land to the Kaptai dam project (Karnaphuli river) the mid-1960s.
• Chakmas are Buddhists, while Hajongs are Hindus.
• Chakmas are close to Bengali-Assamese; Hajongs speak a Tibeto-Burman tongue written in Assamese.
• Only 75 tribes have been identified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Chakma and Hajong tribes are not classified as PVTGs.

Both are correct. Read more on SVAMITVA Scheme.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• The area under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), formed under the 2003 Accord, was called the Bodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD).
• Bodoland Territorial Area District comprises four districts of Assam.
• Bodo people are recognized as a plains tribe in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

1 and 2 only are correct.

1 only is correct.

• The Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution contains provisions relating to the administration of tribal areas in the state of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

• The tribal areas listed under the sixth Schedule are constituted as autonomous districts with each such autonomous district provided with a district council consisting of 30 members, partly elected and partly nominated.
• Governors can direct the manner in which acts of the state legislature apply to the sixth Schedule areas, while in respect of acts of the Parliament, such power rests with the President.
  • Governors can direct the manner in which acts of the state legislature apply to the sixth Schedule areas, while in respect of acts of the Parliament, such power rests with the President, except in the case of the state of Assam where the Governor enjoys such powers both with respect to state and central laws.

1 and 4 only are correct.

• Exercise Pitch Black: Australia
• Exercise Red Flag: U.S. air force
• Blue Flag Exercise: Israeli air force
• Samvedna Exercise: Indian air force

2, 4, 6, 5, 1, 3 is the correct order from east to west.

The cities arranged from east to west- Muscat, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Tehran, Aden, Jeddah

1 and 4 only are correct.

• The sowing season of cotton varies considerably from area to area and is generally early (April-May) in northern India and is delayed as one moves south (monsoon based in the southern zone).
• Cotton is a Kharif crop in the major parts of the country viz. Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and parts of Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka. In these areas, the irrigated crop is sown from March-May and the rain-fed crop in June-July with the commencement of the monsoon.
• In Tamil Nadu, the major portion of the irrigated and the rain-fed crop is planted in September-October, whereas the sowing of the rain-fed crop in the southern districts is extended up to November. Hence in Tamil Nadu, cotton is grown both as a Kharif and as a Rabi crop.
• Presently, about 90-95% cotton area in India is under Bt cotton, and India has emerged as the largest producer and second-largest exporter of cotton in the world.
• Cotton is part of the Minimum Support Price Mechanism procurement system and is procured through the Cotton Corporation of India.

2 only is correct. Africa is the most affected region due to malaria.

2 only is correct. Read more about NAFED.

Rohtang Pass connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, India. The pass is on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas.

Alkaline substances.

• Flue-gas desulfurisation (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulphur dioxide from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulphur dioxide emitting processes such as waste incineration.
• It generally involves using an alkaline substance to neutralize predominantly acidic gases like sulphur dioxide.
• Commonly employed methods:
  • Wet scrubbing, uses a slurry of alkaline sorbent, usually limestone or lime, or seawater to scrub the predominantly acidic gases.
  • Wet sulphuric acid process recovers sulphur in the form of sulphuric acid.
  • Dry sorbent injection systems introduce powdered hydrated lime or other sorbent material.

3 only is correct. Read more on the National Board for Wildlife.

Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is located in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra state in India. Created in 1995, the Reserve includes the Tadoba National Park and the Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary. The Andhari river meanders through the reserve. Tadoba National Park is Maharashtra’s oldest and largest national park.

1, 2 and 3 are correctly matched.

• Ambubachi Mela is an annual Hindu Mela held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
• The annual festival marks the menstruation of the goddess.
• The Ambubachi Mela symbolises the fertility cult of goddess Kamakhya.
• The festival is also known as ‘Mahakumbh of the East’ as it draws lakhs of devotees from all over the world.

Both are correct. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Wayanad wildlife sanctuary is contiguous to the protected areas of Nagarhole and Bandipur of Karnataka on the north-east and Mudumalai of Tamil Nadu on the south-east.

Arrangement from South to North: Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Pratas Islands, Senkaku Islands.

All the statements are correct.

• Reverse vaccinology is an improvement on vaccinology that employs bioinformatics.
• It is the name given to the examination of the genome of an organism in order to identify novel antigens and epitopes that might constitute vaccine candidates.
• It is the technique of identifying the proteins that are exposed on the surface by using genome instead of the microorganism.
• It was first used against Serogroup B meningococcus. Since then, it has been used on several other bacterial vaccines.
• Reverse vaccinology was used for designing vaccines against some diseases eg. Anthrax, Endocarditis, Meningitidis, etc.

Indonesia

• Solar dehydration is used as a way to preserve natural produce, thereby reducing food wastage.
• Equipment such as Solar Conduction Dryer (SCD), a portable solar-powered machine that dries vegetables and spices while retaining nutrients are used for dehydrating the natural produce.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other.
They cannot be traded or exchanged at equivalency like cryptocurrencies.

“Momentum for Change: Climate Neutral Now” is an initiative spearheaded by the UNFCCC Secretariat.

1 only is correct.

• Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure.
• PSA operates at near-ambient temperatures (temperature relating to the immediate surroundings) and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.
• Cryogenic separation is a commercial process that takes place at very low temperature.

Both are correct.