UPSC 2022: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz May 14 - May 20

Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover Perseverance and the small robotic, coaxial helicopter Ingenuity.

• Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana is the financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies of India initiated by the Government of India with the intent to find a permanent solution to the financial mess that the power distribution is in.

For more information on this refer to:

UDAY Scheme – Centrally Sponsored Scheme

• India officially recognised the State of Israel on 17th September 1950, whereas full diplomatic ties were established only in 1992.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India visited Israel in 2017 at the invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• In 2019, India voted in support of Israel at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
  • India voted in favour of Israel at ECOSOC to deny observer status to “Shahed”, a Palestinian Human Rights organization (a terrorist organization according to Israel) from securing an observer status at the United Nations.

• India has purchased Heron, SPYDER and Python from Israel.
• Heron is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial system (UAS) for strategic and tactical missions developed by Israel Aerospace Industries.
• The SPYDER (Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) is an Israeli short and medium range mobile air defence system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
• Python refers to a family of missiles developed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
• The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is an American twin-engine, tandem rotor, heavy-lift helicopter.

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous and statutory body of the Ministry of Women and Child Development set up in 1990.
• It functions as the nodal body/central authority for the adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
• India signed and ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption in 2003.

• The Centre is yet to constitute a National Tribunals Commission (NTC).
• The idea of an NTC was first mooted in L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997).
• It would be set up as an independent autonomous body responsible for oversight as well as administration of tribunals, also to oversee selection, appointment, salaries and service conditions of tribunal members.

• The Keibul Lamjao National Park is located in Manipur.
• The national park is characterized by a unique floating decomposed plant material locally called phumdi.
• It is a floating national park with floating vegetation that supports a rich biodiversity.

• Al-Badr operates in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in India.
• The group was allegedly formed by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 1998.
• Al-Badr was banned by India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 2004.
• Al-Shabaab operates in East Africa, especially in Somalia and Yemen.
• Boko Haram operates in Nigeria. It is based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon.

• The power to create new districts or alter or abolish existing districts rests with the State governments.
• The Centre has no role to play in the alteration of districts or creation of new ones.
• This can either be done through an executive order or by passing a law in the State Assembly.

Farzad B gas field is in the Farsi region which is located between the Iranian and Saudi territories.

• WPI-based inflation is used by the government in the preparation of fiscal, trade, and other economic policies.
• Headline inflation is the total inflation in the economy as it includes commodities such as food and energy prices, which tend to be much more volatile and prone to inflationary spikes.
• Core inflation excludes items frequently subject to volatile prices, like food and energy.
• 2011-2012 is the base year for the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).

• The Directive Principles of State Policy spell out the socio-economic democracy in the country.
• The provisions contained in the DPSPs are not enforceable by any court.

• Minsk agreement is an agreement between Ukraine and Russia to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
• It is an agreement to halt the war in the Donbass region of Ukraine.
• It was drawn-up by the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine, which comprised of representatives from Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE.

• Kerch Strait connects Black Sea with the Sea of Azov.
• Strait of Messina connects Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea.
• Strait of Dover connects North Sea with English Channel.

Both the statements are correct.

• The Competition Commission of India is the competition regulator in India.
• It is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 and promoting competition throughout India and to prevent activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India.
• It has suo moto power to enquire whether an anti-competitive agreement or abuse of dominant position causes or is likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition.
• It is a quasi-judicial body.

• An applicant making an RTI request for information is not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details.
• Intelligence and security organizations specified in the 2nd schedule of the Right To Information Act are exempted from providing information in all the cases except information pertaining to the allegations of corruption and human rights violations.
• For issues relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations, such organisations are required to provide information.

• The base effect refers to the impact of the rise in price level (i.e. last year’s inflation) in the previous year over the corresponding rise in price levels in the current year.
• If the inflation rate was too low in the corresponding period of the previous year, even a smaller rise in the Price Index will arithmetically give a high rate of inflation. This is referred to as inflation due to base effect.

• Gholvad Sapota from Maharashtra, Suvarnarekha mango and Banganapalli mango from Andhra Pradesh have all been accorded the Geographical Indication Tag.

• A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
• If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the President’s rule continues for six months.
• A law made by the Parliament or president or any other specified authority continues to be operative even after the President’s Rule.
• This means that the period for which such a law remains in force is not co-terminus with the duration of the proclamation. But it can be repealed or altered or re-enacted by the state legislature.
• Chhattisgarh and Telangana are the only Indian states that have never slipped to President’s rule.

• A person who has been Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a Judge of the Supreme Court can be the chairperson of the NHRC.
• The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Act, 2019 reduced the tenure of the Chairperson and members of NHRC to three years (earlier five years) or till the age of seventy years.

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India.
• It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
• It is not a statutory body. It derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
• With the nationalisation of the banks in 1969, the Public Sector Banks and their employees also came within the ambit of the CBI.

• The Tamil Siddhas are a religious order of mystics (liberated yogis) found in the southern part of India.
• They were monotheistic and condemned idolatry, as they believed in Nirakara or formless god.
• Lingayats are the followers of the 12th-century philosopher and poet Basavanna.
• Lingayats of the Kannada region questioned the theory of rebirth and rejected the caste hierarchy.
• They challenged the idea of caste and the “pollution” attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas.

• Unlike the President of India, the Governor does not have the power to pardon a death sentence.
• A governor can reprieve, respite, remit, suspend or commute a death sentence.
• Governor does not have the power to pardon the sentence inflicted by a court-martial on the convict.

A huge ice block has broken off from Ronne Ice Shelf in Western Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg in the world. This has been named A-76.

• Tropical cyclones have much more intense rainfall than temperate cyclones.
• Tropical cyclones are surrounded by closed isobars, the isobars of a temperate cyclone are generally elongated.
• While the velocity of wind in a tropical cyclone is much higher and more damaging, the velocity of air in a temperate cyclone is comparatively lower.

Also read: Major Differences between Temperate Cyclone and Tropical Cyclone

• The Northern Sea Route is one of several Arctic shipping routes along the Siberian coast in Russia.
• The Northern Sea Route runs from Norway to Alaska.
  • It runs from the Barents Sea, near Russia’s border with Norway, to the Bering Strait between Siberia and Alaska.
• It will help reduce the transportation time and cost.
• It could potentially cut the travel distance between East Asia and Western Europe.
• However, the disadvantage is that it would increase the insurance costs and safety considerations as the route is open only for 3 months of the year. The region is ice-free only during the summer.

• Genetic Engineering or Recombinant DNA technology allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between nonrelated species.
• It allows genes to be transferred across different species of plants, from animals to plants and from microorganisms to higher organisms.

• Bao Dhaan is the Iron-rich ‘red rice’ grown in the Brahmaputra valley of Assam.
• This variety is grown without the use of chemical fertilizers.

• The Dhebar commission in 1973 created a separate category for Primitive Tribal Groups.
• There are 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in India.
• Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs. 13 tribes in the state are recognized as PVTGs. Andhra Pradesh has 12 PVTGs.

• Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) was conceptualized in 2002 during World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Koraput in Odisha is a recognised GIAHS site in India but not for Kayal cultivation.
• Kuttanad in Kerala for Kayal Cultivation and Kashmir valley’s Pampore for saffron cultivation have already been accorded the GIAHS status.