UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz May 04 - May 10

• Statement 1 is correct, In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, which are less developed among the tribal groups.
  • In 2006, the Union Government renamed it as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
• Statement 2 is not correct, Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs in India.
• Statement 3 is correct, In West Bengal, three tribes namely Lodha, Birhor and Toto have been declared as PVTGs.

• Following his education at Fergusson College in Pune, Jivatram Bhagwandas Kripalani, worked as a schoolteacher before joining the freedom movement following Gandhi’s return from South Africa.
• He was a professor of English and History.
• From 1920 to 1927, he worked as the principal of Gujarat Vidyapeeth which was an educational institution set up by Gandhi. There, he earned the epithet “Acharya”.
• In November 1946, he was elected the President of the Congress Party and steered the party in that position during the crucial partition period and the transfer of power.
• Kripalani was the first person to introduce a no-confidence motion on the floor of the House. This was in 1963 immediately after the Sino-Indian War.

• The Time Dissemination Project by ISRO and NPL aims to reduce India’s dependence on Western Time Accuracy.

• Statement 1 is not correct, UNDEF was created by UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan in 2005 as a United Nations General Trust Fund to support democratization efforts around the world on the sidelines of the India-US civilian nuclear cooperation deal.
• Statement 2 is correct, India is a founding member of UNDEF and played a key role along with the U.S. in the creation of UNDEF.
  • India is also one of the top contributors to UNDEF.

• Statement 1 is correct, India has 6 National Parties as declared by the Election Commission of India.
  • Recently, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been recognised as a national party by the Election Commission (EC).
  • However, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) have lost their national party status.
• Statement 2 is correct, According to the ECI’s Political Parties and Election Symbols, 2019 handbook, a political party shall be eligible to be recognized as a National Party, if, and only if, any of the following conditions is fulfilled:
  • A party must get at least a 6% vote share in four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and have at least four MPs; or
  • At least 2% of the seats in the Lok Sabha, with its candidates having been elected from at least three states; or
  • A party is recognized as a State party in at least four States.
• Statement 3 is correct, A party which is granted national party status is entitled to certain privileges and perks which include:
  • Grant of land from the government to build its headquarters
  • Reserved party symbols
  • National Presence
  • More Star Campaigners

• Statement 1 is not correct, El Nino is associated with weaker Monsoons.
  • All drought years in India have been El Niño years, However, not all El Niño years have produced droughts.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) primary index for tracking the ocean part of ENSO.

There are various factors that influence ocean currents. This includes:

• Wind and air pressure
  • Temperature gradient or the difference in temperatures
• Water salinity or the differences in water density
  • Coriolis effect
  • Gravitational force
• Rotation of the earth
  • Structure and shape of the continents

• Statement 1 is correct, Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule were social reformers who spearheaded the movement to emancipate women.
  • As a result of their efforts, the first girls’ school in India was established in Pune in 1848.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Deenbandhu, a newspaper representing the masses of the Indian society (Bahujansamaj) was started by Krishnarao Pandurang Bhalekar.
  • Krishnarao Pandurang Bhalekar was a close associate of the anti-caste social reformer, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.
• Statement 3 is correct, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers’ Society) in 1873 to focus on the rights of women and backward castes.

• The National Credit Framework (NCrF) is a comprehensive framework encompassing elementary, school, higher, and vocational education & training, integrating the learning on three-axis i.e. academics, vocational skills and experiential learning including relevant experience and professional levels acquired.
• National Credit Framework (NCrF) has been jointly developed by UGC, AICTE, NCVET, NIOS, CBSE, NCERT, the Ministry of Education, DGT, and the Ministry of Skill Development.
• The National Credit Framework (NCrF) is an inclusive umbrella framework to integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational & skill education.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission.
• Statement 2 is correct, The JUICE Mission, will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons namely Ganymede, Callisto and Europa to find if they have possible habitats to support life.

Image Source: Britannica Encyclopedia

• In 1993, a team of archaeologists surveyed Sannai in Karnataka and discovered a broken relief sculpture which had the emperor, his queen, and attendants engraved on a slab at the Kanaganahalli site.
• An inscription in Brahmi letter that read “Ranyo Ashoka” (Raja Ashoka) was seen alongside the stone picture of Ashoka.
• It is the first sculpture of Ashoka with his name engraved on it.

• Statement 1 is correct, As per REN21 Renewables 2022 Global Status Report, India stands 4th globally in Renewable Energy Installed Capacity (including Large Hydro), 4th in Wind Power capacity and 4th in Solar Power capacity.
• Statement 2 is correct, Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for the implementation of schemes and development of Renewable Energy projects in India and abroad.
• Statement 3 is correct, At COP 21, India had committed to achieving 40% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
  • India achieved this target in November 2021.

• Statement 1 is not correct, A rare disease is a disease that affects a small percentage of the population.
  • Rare diseases are debilitating lifelong conditions and about 95% of them have no approved treatment.
  • Therefore, approved treatment is available for a few of the rare diseases.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Rare diseases include genetic diseases, rare cancers, infectious tropical diseases and degenerative diseases.
  • Only about 80% of rare diseases are estimated to have a genetic origin.
• Statement 3 is correct, The Government launched the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD), 2021 in March 2021 for the treatment of rare disease patients.

• Statement 1 is correct, Crude oil is categorized as “sweet” or “sour” depending on the level of sulfur.
  • Sweet crudes have sulfur contents of 0.5% or less by weight.
  • Sour crudes have sulfur contents of 1% or more by weight.
• Statement 2 is correct, Sweet crude due to its low density is easy to distil and transport.
  • Sweet crude is also highly efficient and leaves minimal residue in its refinement process.

• Human capital formation as a concept is better explained in terms of a process, which enables increasing the knowledge, skill levels and capacities of the people of the country that is empowering the human resources with knowledge and skills.
• Human capital formation enables the accumulation of intangible wealth.
  • The intangible wealth of a nation refers to the skilled population, human resource base, culture and art of a nation.

• Statement 1 is correct, GN-z11 is a high-redshift galaxy found in the constellation Ursa Major and was one of the farthest known galaxies from Earth ever discovered.
• Statement 2 is not correct, GN-z11 is not a Spiral galaxy, it is an irregular type of galaxy.
  • Compared with the Milky Way galaxy, GN-z11 is 1/25 of the size, has 1% of the mass, and is forming new stars approximately twenty times as fast.

• Pair 1 is correct, Orion is one of the largest multinational exercises being carried out by the French defence forces.
• Pair 2 is not correct, Cobra Gold is an annual Asia-Pacific military exercise and the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise hosted by Thailand.
• Pair 3 is not correct, MILAN is a biennial multilateral naval exercise incepted by the Indian Navy in 1995 at Andaman and Nicobar Command.
• Pair 4 is correct, The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), is the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise which is hosted by the U.S.

• Statement 1 is correct, Listeriosis is a serious bacterial infection caused by the Listeria monocytogenes.
• Statement 2 is correct, The disease mainly affects pregnant women, newborns, older adults, and other people with weak immune systems.
• Statement 3 is correct, Symptoms of Listeriosis include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions.

• Statement 1 is correct, Since December 2014, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is implementing the Rashtriya Gokul Mission for the development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds and genetic upgradation of the bovine population.
• Statement 2 is correct, Rashtriya Gokul Mission was launched under the National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

• Baudhayan Sulva Sutra of 1000 BC is today known as the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
• According to Baudhayan theorem, in a Deerghchatursh (triangle), the chetra (square) of rajju (hypotenuse) is equal to the sum of squares of the parshvamani (base) and triyangmani (perpendicular line).

• Statement 01 is correct, The National Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the National Policy on Disaster Management, 2009, do not include heat waves in the list of natural calamities. The government, therefore, does not devote financial and infrastructure resources to the problem.
• Statement 02 is correct, The Heatwave is considered when the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C for Plains and at least 30°C for Hilly regions.

• FASTag is an electronic toll collection system in India, operated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). It employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it or directly toll owner.
• As per the  guidelines, FASTag is issued to each vehicle based on RC copy of the vehicle. If there is mismatch, the ETC system at the toll plaza will detect the class mismatch and the FASTag is liable to be ‘blacklisted’ by the issuer bank and no new FASTag can be issued further against that vehicle number.

• The Paris Club is an informal group of official creditors whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.
• As debtor countries undertake reforms to stabilise and restore their macroeconomic and financial situation, Paris Club creditors provide an appropriate debt treatment.
• The origin of the Paris Club dates back to 1956 when Argentina agreed to meet its public creditors in Paris.
• Since then, the Paris Club has reached 478 agreements with 102 different debtor countries.
• There are currently 22 Permanent Members of the Paris Club.

Image Source: clubdeparis.org

Uttaramerur inscription is from the reign of Parantaka Chola I (907-953 AD). It provides a detailed description about the village’s self-governance and has been cited by historians and political leaders alike as evidence of India’s history of democratic functioning.

G.K. Gokhale rejected the title of Knighthood and refused to accept a position in the Council of the Secretary of State for India.

Bhor Ghat mountain pass is located in Western Ghats. This mountain passage is located between Palasdari and Khandala. The ghat was the ancient route developed by Satavahana to connect the ports of Choul, Revdanda Panvel etc. on the Konkan coast and the surrounding areas on the Deccan plateau.

The Morung is a key institution of the Nagas in Nagaland, and also the centre of the social life of all the unmarried male members of the society. It is the place for the young boys where they learn about social practices and beliefs from their elders.

• Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) is the minimum lending rate below which a bank is not permitted to lend.
• It is a tenor-linked internal benchmark, which means the rate is determined internally by the bank depending on the period left for the repayment of a loan
• MCLR replaced the earlier base rate system to determine the lending rates for commercial banks.
• RBI implemented MCLR on 1 April 2016.

• Statement 01 is correct, Nizam-ul-Mulk, also known as Chin Qilich Kamaruddin Khan, Mir Qamar-ud-din Khan Siddiqi Bayafandi, Asaf Jah, and Nizam I, was the first Nizam of Hyderabad and a loyal nobleman and General of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
• Statement 02 is correct, Lord Wellesley signed the first subsidiary alliance with the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1798.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, The Battle of Palkhed was fought between the Maratha Army led by Peshwa Balaji Rao I and the forces of Hyderabad led by Nizam Asaf Jah I. Fought on February 28, 1728, the battle ended in a decisive victory for the Maratha Forces.