UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Oct 21 - Oct 27

• Statement 01 is correct, Web 3.0 is a decentralised internet to be run on blockchain technology.  Web3 focuses around the concept of decentralisation and frequently includes blockchain technologies, such as cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
• Statement 02 is incorrect,  According to Nasscom, India has a rapidly growing Web3 ecosystem with more than 450 active startups, which cumulatively raised $1.3 billion in funding till April 2022.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, The FATF was established in July 1989 by a G-7 Summit in Paris, initially to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering. India has been a member of the FATF since 2010.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, Countries under FATF grey list are officially referred to as Jurisdictions Under Increased Monitoring. The countries on this list may face economic sanctions from institutions like the IMF and the World Bank and experience adverse effects on trade.
• Statement 03 is correct, Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put on the blacklist. There are currently two “black-listed” countries: Iran and North Korea.

• The World Health Organisation issued a medical alert recently about four substandard cough syrups made in Haryana containing the toxic compounds diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol
• The WHO issued a medical alert about four substandard products— products “that fail to meet either their quality standards or specifications”.
• These were four cough syrup variants- Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup, whose manufacturer was stated as Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited, Haryana, India.
• The alert added that the substandard products mentioned were unsafe and their use, especially in children, could “result in serious injury or death”.

• The Union ministry of education recently launched the draft of the first ‘National Credit Framework’ (NCrF) that integrates the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational and skill education.
• The NCrF aims to integrate learning on all dimensions i.e. academics, vocational skills and experiential learning including relevant experience and professional levels acquired.

• The correct match is as follows:
  • Parivrajaka – Renunciant and Wanderers
  • Shramana – refer to the ascetics and renouncers of ancient India.
    • The Shramans included a variety of ascetics, as well as the monks and lay followers of various sects – Buddhist, Jaina, Ajivika, and others.
  • Upasaka – Lay follower of Buddhism.

• Green Crackers are developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), they emit pollutants at a 30% lesser rate than their conventional counterparts.
• There are three types of green crackers available in India –

1. SWAS – It is a safe water releaser, which suppresses the dust released by releasing water vapour in the air. It does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulphur and the particulate dust released will reduce approximately by 30 per cent.
2. STAR – It is a safe thermite cracker, which does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulphur, and emits reduced particulate matter and reduced sound intensity.
3. SAFAL –  It has minimal use of aluminium, and has more magnesium instead. It produces less sound as compared to traditional firecrackers.

• Pair 01 is incorrectly matched, Kasuti is the world-famous embroidery of Karnataka state.
  • Kasuti embroidery speaks about the people of Karnataka, their traditions, customs and professions.
  • The word Kasuti comprises ‘Kai’ meaning hand and ‘Suti’ meaning cotton thread, i.e. Kasuti is a handwork of cotton thread in the Karnataka language.
• Pair 02 is incorrectly matched, the only known village for Khneng embroidery, Mustoh village, is located near the Bangladesh border in Meghalaya, India. The pattern of Khneng embroidery resembles the multi-legged centipedes.
• Pair 03 is correctly matched, The village of Pipili, Odisha, is well known for its appliqué work, also known as Chandua. “Appliqué” comes from the French word appliquer, meaning “to put on”.
  • It is one of the products which has been granted a Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the government of India.
• Pair 04 is correctly matched, Sozni (also known as Sozan Kaari) is a popular needlepoint embroidery technique from Kashmir valley in Northern India. Kashmiri artisans have been practising Sozni embroidery since almost 500 years ago. It’s mainly done in woollen and silk fabrics and is very famous for its use in Pashmina Cashmere shawls and jackets.

Tamil Nadu government recently notified the Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary covering 11,806 hectares in Karur and Dindigul districts under Section 26 (A)(1)(b) of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.  It is India’s first-ever sanctuary for Slender Loris.

• Statement 01 is incorrect, Interpol was set up in 1923 with its headquarters in Lyon, France.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is designated as the National Central Bureau of India.

• Solar flares are intense bursts of radiation from the sun that can directly influence electronics on Earth. They are often associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are large clouds of gas that erupt from the sun’s interior into its atmosphere.
  • Large solar flares affect GPS navigation, mobile phone transmissions, and satellite TV and they potentially disrupt power grids and electrical networks in various regions of the planet.
  • Solar flares do not cause Tsunamis as it only affects the upper atmosphere.
  • The high-energy particles emitted by the flare could also cause certain atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere to glow, leading to auroras in Central Europe as well as North America.
  • There is no causal link between the coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the deadly forest fires.
  • Solar flares and storms heated and expanded the atmosphere and these effects could extend to the satellites’ orbits.
  • Solar flares allow interference with the short-wave radios that are being used, emitting more rays and allowing people to get more sunburn during this time frame.

• Mission LiFE is a global initiative to influence and persuade individuals, communities and organisations across the world to adopt an environment-conscious lifestyle.
• Mission LiFE aims to follow a three-pronged strategy for changing the collective approach towards sustainability.

• Statement 1 is correct, The Sampurnanand Telescope is located at ARIES, Manora Peak, Nainital.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The Chandra X-ray Observatory is the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope.
  • NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emissions from very hot regions of the Universe such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes.
• Statement 3 is correct, The discovery of new rings around Saturn and the rings of Uranus are some of the breakthrough scientific results contributed by the telescope.

• Pakhru tiger safari project is being undertaken in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand.
• The project is under the scanner after a Forest Survey of India (FSI) report found that over 6000 trees were illegally cut in the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve against the permission of 163 trees.

• The Third Geneva Convention provides a wide range of protection for prisoners of war.
• The convention defines the rights of prisoners of war and lays down detailed rules for their treatment and eventual release.

Image Source: http://www.metro.tokyo.lg.jp

• Lothal was one of the prominent cities of the Harappan civilization and is known for the discovery of the oldest man-made dockyard. National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) is being developed at Lothal.
• Dholavira had one of the most efficient drainage and water management systems of the ancient world.
• Banawali was the only city in the Harrapan civilization with radial streets.
• Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars, the world’s earliest attested ploughed field, and wooden ploughs.

• A new species of the genus Allmania called Allmania multiflora has been found on the granite hillocks of Palakkad,  Kerala.
• It is a frail-looking annual herb that grows to a height of about 60 cm.  It is found at heights in the range of 1,000 to 1,250 metres. It is erect with branches arising from the base. The stem is red to violet at the base and green above. Flowering and fruiting of the plant occur from the months of May to September.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Eucalyptus globulus, commonly known as southern blue gum or blue gum, is a species of tall, evergreen tree endemic to southeastern Australia.
• Statement 2 is correct: Eucalyptus has a rapid growth and has several uses like timber, essential oils, pulpwood, herbal tree, etc.
• Statement 3 is correct: The eucalyptus trees are water guzzlers and can make the soil acidic and show allelopathic effects.

The Prime Minister of India recently declared Modhera, a village in the Mehsana district of Gujarat as India’s first 24×7 solar-powered village.

• Statement 1 is correct: Indentured labour system started in India in 1834 and lasted till 1922. It was officially banned in 1917 by British India’s Imperial Legislative Council after pressure from freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: In Lord Chelmsford’s ‘War Conference’, Mahatma Gandhi supported the resolution on recruiting Indians for World War, to gain the trust of the British empire, and to attain swaraj.
• Statement 3 is correct: After the breaking of Salt law during the Civil Disobedience movement, the Indian National Congress was declared illegal by the British rulers.

• Statement 1 is not correct, CCI is a statutory body established in 2003 (became fully functional by 2009) under the provisions of the Competition Act 2002.
• Statement 2 is correct, The Commission consists of a Chairperson and not more than 6 Members appointed by the Union Government.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The orders passed by the CCI are not final and can be challenged at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

• Statement 1 is correct, Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LMV3) of ISRO recently carried the heaviest payload (5,796 kg) ever carried by an Indian launch vehicle into space.
• Statement 2 is correct, LMV3 uses solid fuels in the first stage, liquid fuels in the second stage and a cryogenic fuel in the upper stages.

Image source: World Atlas

• Mamani food festival and apricot blossom festival are associated with Ladakh. 

• Statement 1 is not correct, Saint Nimbarka was not a contemporary of Akbar as Saint Nimbarka lived around the 13th or 14th century while Akbar ruled in the 16th century.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Saint Kabir was the disciple of Ramananda. He was a follower of Nirguna Bhakti and lived in the 15th century.
  • Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi was an Islamic scholar of Naqshbandi Silsilah who lived during the 16th century.

• Statement 1 is correct, It monitors substantial acquisitions of shares and take-over of companies.
• Statement 2 is correct, It has powers to curb insider trading.
• Statement 3 is not correct, The Reserve Bank of India is the custodian of the foreign exchange reserves and is vested with the responsibility of managing their investment.
• Statement 4 is not correct, The Reserve Bank of India as a central bank has an operational role in oversight of the payment and settlement systems.
• Statement 5 is correct, SEBI conducts audits and inquiries of stock exchanges.

• Statement 1 is not correct, During the first few years of Akbar’s reign, Bairam Khan acted as his regent.
• Statement 2 is correct, In c. 1580 CE, Akbar divided the empire into 12 subas or provinces. These were Bengal, Bihar, Allahabad, Awadh, Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Multan, Kabul, Ajmer, Malwa and Gujarat.
• Statement 3 is correct, Akbar married the Rajput princess Jodha Bai, daughter of Raja Bharamal of Amber.

• Khangkhui (Khangkhui Mangsor) is a natural limestone cave located in Manipur’s Ukhrul district.
• Excavations by archaeologists have revealed that the cave was home to Stone Age communities.

• Statement 1 is correct, Reserve Bank has the sole authority to issue banknotes in India.
• Statement 2 is not correct, As per the Coinage Act, 2011 the Government of India is responsible for the designing and minting of coins in various denominations.

• Statement 1 is correct, A convertible bond is a mix between an equity and debt instrument and as there is an option to exchange the bond for equity, Convertible Bonds pay a lower rate of interest.
• Statement 2 is correct, The option to convert to equity affords the bondholder a degree of indexation to rising consumer prices as equity prices can differ widely from the given interest and the difference in that can be used as a hedge for inflation.