UPSC 2023: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Oct 29 - Nov 04

• The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula (Mg²+, Fe²+)₂ SiO₄.
• It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate.
• It is the primary component of the Earth’s upper mantle.

• The World Bank Group launched a new Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF) to ensure that billions of dollars are channelized to develop world-class infrastructure in emerging markets like India and developing economies.

A Heat Wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western parts of India in the month of March to June. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has provided the following criteria to define Heat Waves:

• Heat Waves need not be considered till the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C for Plains and at least 30°C for Hilly regions.
• A heat wave will be declared if there is a departure of 4.5 degrees C to 6.4 degrees C from the normal temperature.
• A departure above 6.4 degrees C is regarded as a severe heat wave.
• These criteria have to be met for at least two consecutive days.

• Jim Corbett National Park was India’s first National Park. It was set up as Hailey National Park after Sir Malcolm Hailey, the governor of the United Province.
• It was renamed Ramganga National Park, named after the river that flows through it, shortly after independence and was renamed yet again as Corbett National Park in 1956.
• In 1973, the park became the launchpad of Project Tiger – India’s first tiger protection programme. 

• The railway line between Jaynagar in Bihar and Bardibas in Nepal is Nepal’s first-ever broad gauge passenger service.
• The line has been built by Indian engineering major, IRCON.
  • Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON) is under the ownership of Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, Government of India.
• The operations and maintenance of the line will be the responsibility of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited.

• 99th Amendment replaced the collegium system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts with a new body called the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC).
• Later, the Supreme Court Bench led by Justice J S Khehar declared the National Judicial Appointments Commission and the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act as ‘unconstitutional and void’.

Read about 44th Amendment of the Indian Constitution.

• Article 222 of the Indian Constitution talks about the transfer of a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court.
• They may, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, transfer a Judge from one High Court to any other High Court.
• Only the transferred judge and no one else is entitled to file a case challenging such transfer.

OneWeb is a global communications company building a capability to deliver broadband satellite internet services worldwide by making use of low Earth orbit satellites.
Its objective is the provision of internet services from the satellite to the ground stations.

• The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) does not have the authority to declare any community as a minority. However, it can make recommendations to the central government.
• Only the central government has the authority to declare any community as a minority.
• In case of admission of the student, minority educational institutions can have a reservation of up to 50 per cent for the student of their own community.

• The IEA was founded in 1974 by industrialised countries – within the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – in response to the oil embargo.
• It is a Paris-based body that advises industrialised nations on energy policies.
• IEA is made up of 30 member countries and eight associate nations.
• India is not a member of the IEA. In March 2017, India became an associate member.
• Membership in the IEA is restricted to advanced economy members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• The World Energy Outlook is published by IEA.

‘Core Banking Solutions’ is a networking of a bank’s branches that enables customers to operate their accounts from any branch of the bank on its network regardless of where they open their accounts.

The G20 is an annual meeting of leaders from the countries with the largest and fastest-growing economies. It comprises 19 countries and the European Union.  The G20 summit founded in 1999 is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important aspects of the international economic and financial agenda. It brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies.

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach related to waste management.
• Under this policy, producers are given significant responsibility for the treatment or disposal of post-consumer products.
• The Environment Ministry has issued draft rules that mandate producers of plastic packaging material to collect all of their produce by 2024 and ensure that a minimum percentage of it be recycled.

For urea, the Centre sets a fixed maximum retail price. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates of non-urea fertilisers.

• Functional chromosomes cannot be created by joining segments of DNA taken from cells of different species.
• Pieces of artificial functional DNA can be created in laboratories. It is Artificial Gene Synthesis or DNA Printing.
• A piece of DNA taken out from an animal cell can be made to replicate outside a living cell in a laboratory. It is cloning.
• Cells taken out from plants and animals can be made to undergo cell division in laboratory petri dishes. It is called tissue culture.

• Exercise Malabar is a naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners.
• Yudh Abhyas is a joint military exercise, bilaterally occurring between India and the US.
• Vajra Prahar is the joint military exercise between the special forces of India and the United States (US).

• The Border Security Force (BSF) is one of the five Central Armed Police Forces of the Union of India.
• It is India’s border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
• It falls under the administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• In 2021, amendments have been made on the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) to exercise its powers in states where it guards the international border. It outlines the new jurisdiction as “whole of the area comprised in the States of Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya and Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and so much of the area comprised within a belt of 50 kilometers in the States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal and Assam, running along the borders of India”.

• One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) is a transnational electricity grid supplying solar power across the globe.
• It is an initiative of India.
• The Prime Minister of India first presented the idea in 2018 during the first assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Bandar Abbas is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf.

• The Chapchar Kut is a festival of Mizoram.
• Khongjom Parba is a style of ballad singing from Manipur using Dholak (drum) which depicts stories of heroic battles fought by Manipuris against the British Empire in 1891.
• The Thang Ta dance form has originated in Manipur. This dance is an Indian martial art form that involves the use of weapons for the performance. The Meiteis are the pioneers in Thang Ta.

• The Election Commission of India is responsible for conducting elections to the respective state legislatures.
• The state election commissions are responsible for conducting elections to the municipalities and panchayats within the state.
• The NRIs are allowed to vote in the parliamentary elections only when they are physically present in their voting constituency.
• Service voters in India are allowed to vote through proxy or postal ballots.

• Tuberculosis is a contagious infection caused by bacteria that mainly affects the lungs but can also affect any other organ including bone, brain and spine.
• It is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria.

• The Uber Cup, also called the World Team Championships for Women, is a major international badminton competition contested by women’s national badminton teams.
• The Uber Cup is named after a former British woman badminton player, Betty Uber, who in 1950 had the idea of hosting a women’s event similar to the men’s.

• The Supreme Court, in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad versus Union of India and Others (1996), have defined forest as, all areas which are recorded as ‘forest’ in any government record, irrespective of ownership, recognition and classification.
• The Act restricts the state government and other authorities to take decisions first without permission from the central government.
• The Forest Conservation Act gives complete authority to the Central government to carry out the objectives of the Act.

Read more on Forest Conservation Act (FCA 1980) – Objectives and Amendments

• Both the Supreme Court and the High Courts declare any central law to be constitutionally invalid if it violates the Indian Constitution.
• An amendment to the Constitution of India can be called into question, challenged or even struck down by the Supreme Court of India.

• Kuakhai River is a distributary of the Mahanadi River which flows by Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Mahanadi River branches off at Naraj, Cuttack as Kathajodi River, then immediately it is bifurcated, with its southern branch flowing as Kuakhai River.
• Tributaries are small streams of water that join together to form a river. Distributaries are formed when the river breaks down into small streamlets or channels.

• Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses. Seagrasses evolved from terrestrial plants which recolonised the ocean 70 to 100 million years ago.
• Like all autotrophic plants, seagrasses photosynthesize, in the submerged photic zone, and most occur in shallow and sheltered coastal waters anchored in sand or mud bottoms. Most species undergo submarine pollination and complete their life cycle underwater. Some species also reproduce through asexual methods as well.
• Seagrasses form dense underwater seagrass meadows which are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They function as important carbon sinks and provide habitats and food for a diversity of marine life comparable to that of coral reefs.
• Various coastal regions are dominated by one or few seagrass species. The regions in the tropical waters of the Indian and western Pacific oceans have the highest seagrass diversity. It is said that in the world Antarctica is the only continent without seagrasses.
• Sushi is made from Seaweeds.

• Khair (Acacia catechu) is a deciduous tree widely distributed throughout the greater part of India except the most humid, cold and the driest regions. It is common in the sub-Himalayan tract and outer Himalayas ascending from 900 to 1,200 m from Jammu to Assam.
• Khair tree is known for its medicinal properties and helps in curing skin problems. Ayurveda uses wood and bark of the tree for various formulations. It finds its major application in the treatment of skin and respiratory problems more in particular, of allergic origin. Also, it is used as an important constituent for maintenance of oral hygiene and also as local treatment for bleeding injuries as styptic agent by virtue of its astringent properties.

• Article 311 in the Constitution of India deals with dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State
  • No person who is a member of a civil service of the Union or an all India service or a civil service of a State or holds a civil post under the Union or a State shall be dismissed or removed by a authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed
  • No such person as aforesaid shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges against him and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges