UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Nov 25 - Dec 01

• African Swine Fever is not a zoonotic disease meaning that it is a disease of animals which does not spread/infect humans.
• Swine Flu, Brucellosis, Yellow Fever and Salmonellosis are all examples of zoonotic diseases.

• Statement 1 is correct, PM KISAN is a central sector scheme implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The scheme was initially meant for small and marginal farmers (SMFs) having landholding upto 2 hectares but the scope of the scheme was extended to cover all landholding farmers with effect from June 2019.
• Statement 3 is not correct, Under this scheme, small and marginal farmers will be provided with income support of Rs.6,000 per year in three instalments which will be deposited directly to their bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

• The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children that a woman will have during her lifetime. It is measured in terms of children per woman.

In India, if a species of tortoise is declared protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, it enjoys the same level of protection as the tiger.
Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 includes Endangered species.

• Pair 1 is not correct, Nallur Tamarind Grove is located in Devanahalli Taluk, near Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• Pair 2 is correct, Ambaragudda is located in the Western Ghats village of Sagara taluk of Karnataka.
• Pair 3 is not correct, Ameenpur is situated in the Sangareddy District of Telangana.
• Pair 4 is correct, Arittapatti is a village set near a rocky hill close to Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

• Project UNNATI is a skilling project to upgrade the skill base of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) beneficiaries.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Gamosa is a white rectangular piece of cloth with embroidered red borders and is one of the most recognisable cultural symbols of Assam.
  • Jaapi is a traditional conical hat from Assam.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Uka means plain and meant for daily usage. Uka Gamosa has red borders on both sides without any design and is used for rituals, pujas and to wipe the body after a bath.
• Statement 3 is not correct, Cotton yarn is the most common material used for weaving Gamosa.

• Lachit Borphukan was a general of the Ahom Kingdom whose army he led successfully in resisting the imperial expansion of the Mughal Empire in the late 1600s.
• Lachit Borphukan was associated with the Battle of Saraighat and the Battle of Alaboi.
• The Battle of Samugarh was fought between Aurangzeb and Dara Shukoh.
• The Battle of Chausa was fought between the Mughal emperor, Humayun, and the Afghan, Sher Shah Suri.

• Statement 1 is correct, India ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of WTO in 2016 and became the 76th WTO member to accept the TFA.
• Statement 2 is correct, WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) is a part of the WTO’s Bali ministerial package of 2013.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The Trade Facilitation Agreement came into force in 2017.

• MAARG Portal is a National Mentorship Platform by Startup India to help and guide new start-ups to grow and flourish.

• Pair 1 is not correct, Mitra Shakti exercise is a bilateral joint military exercise between the armies of India and Sri Lanka.
• Pair 2 is correct, Garuda Shakti is a bilateral exercise between special forces of the armies of India and Indonesia.
• Pair 3 is not correct, Shakti Exercise is a bilateral exercise between the armies of India and France.
• Pair 4 is correct, Vajra Prahar is a joint military exercise between India and the US.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Japji Sahib was composed by Guru Nanak.
• Statement 2 is correct, In 1668 in Assam, Guru Tegh Bahadur was able to preach a treaty between the King of Ahom and Raja Ram Singh of Amber who was sent there by Aurangzeb.
• Statement 3 is not correct, “Langar” refers to the community kitchen in a Gurdwara where food is served to all the visitors without any distinction.
  • The institution of Langar was first started by Guru Nanak.
• Statement 4 is correct, Guru Tegh Bahadur was named Tyaga Mal at birth.

• Telstar, Azteca and Al Rihla are all names of the official footballs used in different FIFA World Cups.

• The Global Gender Gap Index ranking is published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• Statement 1 is not correct, India is still combating Measles and it is still not eradicated in India.
• Statement 2 is correct, Measles is a highly contagious viral disease. It remains an important cause of death among young children globally.
• Statement 3 is not correct, Vaccines are available for Measles, but the low vaccine coverage is one of the major causes of high deaths due to Measles.

• Statement 1 is correct, CDRI is India’s second international climate initiative. The first was the International Solar Alliance (ISA), launched at the 2015 Paris climate change conference. This demonstrates India’s leadership in climate change and disaster resilience issues.
• Statement 2 is correct, CDRI was started by India in 2019.
• Statement 3 is correct, The CDRI Secretariat is located in New Delhi, India.

• Statement 1 is correct, Wadati – Benioff zone is a zone of subduction, along which earthquakes are common, which are produced by the interaction of a downgoing oceanic crustal plate against a continental plate.
• Statement 2 is correct, The Alpide earthquake belt (mid Continental belt) extends from Java to Sumatra through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic.
  • This belt accounts for about 17% of the world’s largest earthquakes.
• Statement 3 is correct, Most of the mid-Atlantic Ridge is deep underwater and far from human development.

• “Manx” is a Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family which is a branch of the Indo-European language family.
• Manx is the historical language of the Manx people who belong to an ethnic group originating on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea in northern Europe.

• The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added four new Directive Principles to the original list. They require the State:
  • To secure opportunities for healthy development of children (Article 39).
  • To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor (Article 39 A).
  • To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries (Article 43 A)
  • To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wildlife (Article 48 A)

• Statement 1 is not correct, Supreme Court through the Shreya Singhal case judgement struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
  • The Supreme Court in 2018 through its landmark judgement in the Navtej Singh Johar case decriminalized homosexuality.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Special Marriage Act of 1954 provides a civil form of marriage for couples who cannot marry under their personal law and at present, sex marriages are not non-recognised under the Act.

• The description in the question refers to Dal lake in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The urban lake is integral to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is regarded as the “Jewel in the crown of Kashmir” or “Srinagar’s Jewel”.
• The lake is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting.

• A Special Category Status (SCS) is a classification given by the Centre to assist in the development of those states that face geographical and socio-economic disadvantages.
• States/UTs that enjoy Special Category Status (SCS): Assam, Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Uttarakhand.

• National Milk Day in India is celebrated every year on the 26th of November in honour of Dr. Verghese Kurien who is regarded as the “Father of the White Revolution in India” and the “Milkman of India”.
• National Milk Day celebrates the importance of milk in a human’s life and spreads awareness of the benefits of drinking milk.
• National Milk Day aims to strengthen the dairy sector by increasing the production of milk products.

• Statement 1 is not correct, The DMH-11 (GM mustard) is produced as a result of a crossing between two varieties of mustard namely the Varuna and Early Heera-2.
  • To facilitate such crossing, genes from two soil bacterium called Barnase and Barstar were introduced.
  • Barnase in Varuna induces temporary sterility and restricts its natural self-pollination traits and tendencies.
  • On the other hand, Barstar limits the effects of Barnase on Heera thereby allowing seeds to be produced.
• Statement 2 is correct, GM mustard has the genes that allow the plant cross-pollination and hybridization.
• Statement 3 is not correct, GM mustard has been developed by researchers at the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants at the University of Delhi.

• Statement 1 is correct: Registration of Births and Deaths in India is compulsory under the ambit of Registration of Births and Deaths (RBD), Act 1969. It is done on the basis of place of occurrence.
• Statement 2 is correct: Violation of the act is a punishable offence. RBD Act imposes various penalties.
• Statement 3 is correct: Ministry of Home Affairs has suggested certain amendments to the existing act. One of the proposed amendments is upgrading the Civil Registration System (CRS) to enable registration of births and deaths in real time with minimum human interface.

• Statement 1 is correct: Sacred groves also called sacred woods are communally protected areas that have special religious importance within a particular culture.
• Statement 2 is correct: Activities like hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited in these areas. However, collection of forest produce is allowed sometimes on a sustainable basis.
• Statement 3 is correct: The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 protects the sacred groves under ‘community reserves’.

• The Gutti Koya tribe is found in the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, near the Godavari and Sabari rivers. They are listed as Scheduled Tribe.
• They are ‘settled cultivators’ and cultivate Jowar, Bajra and other millets.
• They practice Podu Cultivation which in simple terms is slash-and-burn farming.
• Language: Only a few of them speak their Koya dialect since it is a forgotten dialect and presently, they speak Telugu and consider it their mother tongue.

• Statement 1 is correct: The Himalayan yaks are found in Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal and Uttarakhand.The total yak population in India is about 58,000.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Himalayan yaks are domestic animals.
• Statement 3 is correct: They are the lifeline for pastoral nomads living in the higher reaches of the Himalayas as it provides them milk, fibre, and meat.

• The Rukhmabai case was instrumental in the drafting of the Age of Consent Act in 1891.
• Dr. Rukhmabai (1864 –1955) was an Indian physician and feminist. She is best known for being one of the first practising women doctors in colonial India. She is also associated with the landmark case involving her marriage as a child bride between 1884 and 1888.
• She was married off at the young age of 11 with Dadaji Bhikaji(19). In 1885, after 12 years of marriage, Bhikaji filed a petition in the court and sought “restitution of conjugal rights”.

• The annual Khalanga Mela is held with great enthusiasm at the Khalanga War Memorial in Dehradun.
• The fair is organised every year in remembrance of the Gorkha warriors who fought bravely against the British in the battle of Nalapani on the outskirts of in 1814.
• It has been described as the only monument in the history of warfare to have been erected by a victorious army for its adversaries, as the British were reportedly impressed with the valour of the Gorkhas.