UPSC 2023: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Sep 17 - Sep 23

• IUCN “Red List of Threatened Species” is a comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of animal, fungus and plant species.
• It defines the extinction risk of species assessed classified into nine categories.
• Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with global extinction.

Read more on: IUCN Red List

• Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere.
• Aerosols also can act as sites for chemical reactions to take place. These reactions can lead to the destruction of stratospheric ozone.
• Aerosols serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and thus have a substantial effect on cloud properties and the initiation of precipitation. Large concentrations of human-made aerosols have been reported to impact rainfall as a result of their radiative and CCN activities.
• Aerosols reduce the speed of winds near the earth’s surface, thus leading to a reduction in rainfall. The more is the aerosol pollution, the greater the reduction in rainfall.
• Recently, a team of Indian and international researchers have found that aerosols, dust, and clouds reduce solar energy generation from photovoltaic and rooftop solar installations resulting in substantial economic impact through financial losses.

• It intends to provide skill development and placement-oriented training across the entire textiles value chain excluding spinning and weaving in the organised sector.
• The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Textiles.

Samarth Scheme – Scheme For Capacity Building In Textile Sector (SCBTS)

• It is an apex-level body that was constituted through an executive order in 2010 and works under the Ministry of Finance.
• It is not a statutory body.
• It was set up for maintaining financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development.
• The Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister.
• Its members are the Governor of Reserve Bank of India; Finance Secretary and/or Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs; Secretary, Department of Financial Services; Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance; Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India; Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. It also includes the chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board (IBBI).

• The Indian Parliament enacted the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 1972, which provides for the safeguard and protection of the wildlife (flora and fauna) in the country.
• Schedule VI of WPA 1972 contains the plants which are prohibited from cultivation and planting. Cultivation of specified plants without a licence is prohibited.

• A bye-election is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
  • A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumbent dying or resigning, or when the incumbent becomes ineligible to continue in office or when an election is invalidated by voting irregularities.
• In the Indian context, bye-election should be held within a period of six months from the date of the occurrence of the vacancy of a MLA/MP.
• Elections need not be conducted if the remainder of the term of a member in relation to a vacancy is less than one year.

• A study published in The Astrophysical Journal identifies a new class of exoplanets termed Hycean worlds.
  • Exoplanets are planets that orbit other stars. These exoplanets are a prime target for the search for life beyond Earth.
• The Hycean worlds have planet-wide oceans and have temperatures as high as 200 degrees Celsius. These planets have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
• These exoplanets could support microbial underwater life.

• Amensalism- One species is harmed, the other is unaffected
• Commensalism- One species benefits, the other is unaffected

• The Komodo dragon is a member of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to some Indonesian islands.
• Found only in the World Heritage-listed Komodo National Park and neighbouring Flores they are listed as “endangered” under IUCN classification.
  • Komodo National Park was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991

• It is the largest extant species of lizard.

• Satyameva Jayate is taken from the Mundaka Upanishad.
• Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India. It is inscribed in the Devanagari script at the base of the Lion Capital of Ashoka and forms an integral part of the Indian national emblem.

• Khilafat movement was initiated under the leadership of the two Ali brothers namely Mohammed Ali and Shaukat Ali, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani. The movement was started to support the Sultan of Turkey whom the Muslim population in India considered their religious head.
• The Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles in Paris at the end of World War I, codified peace terms between the victorious Allies and Germany.

• Doppler weather radars are remote sensing instruments and are capable of detecting particle type (rain, snow, hail, insects, etc), intensity, and motion. Radar data can be used to determine the structure of storms and to help with predicting the severity of storms.
• Doppler radars also find usage in the radiology and healthcare sector as well as the aviation sector.
• Submarines use Sonar radars (based on sound waves).

• Valliyappan Ulaganathan Chidambaram Pillai, popularly known by his initials, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (also known as Kappalottiya Tamizhan or “The Tamil Helmsman”), was an Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress.
• He was a great believer in the Swadeshi movement.
• He founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 to compete against the monopoly of the British India Steam Navigation Company. He launched the first indigenous Indian shipping service between Tuticorin and Colombo with the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (SSNC), competing against British ships.

• The Government of India appointed a University Education Commission under the chairmanship of Dr. S Radhakrishnan in November 1948. The Commission made a number of significant recommendations on various aspects of higher education and submitted its report in August 1949.
• It recommended the establishment of the University Grants Commission along similar lines to the University Grants Committee of the United Kingdom.

• The Cabinet Secretariat functions directly under the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board.
• The business allocated to Cabinet Secretariat under Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 includes Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees.
• The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments.
• The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/ad hoc Committees of Secretaries.
• Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of various ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.
• Allocation of financial resources to the Ministries is not a function of the Cabinet Secretariat.

• National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) is a Navratna CPSE under the Ministry of Mines.
• It has been playing a key role in empowering the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) by providing a modern & innovative platform ‘NALCO Micro and Small enterprise Yogayog Application’ (NAMASYA).
• It is a bi-lingual App developed exclusively for the benefit of the Company’s MSE Vendors.
  • The NAMASYA App provides a platform to highlight the Company’s efforts towards the development of MSEs.
  • The App empowers MSEs with required information about the vendor registration process, items that can be supplied by them with technical specifications, vendor development and training programmes of NALCO.

Operation Samudra Setu:

Samudra Setu II

Operation Pawan:

Operation Pawan

Operation Maitri:

• It is the name of the rescue and relief operation in Nepal that was undertaken by the Government of India and Indian Armed Forces in the aftershock of the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

• The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR), an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institute, has recognised the Manda buffalo, as one of the unique breeds of buffaloes found in India.
• It is found in the Eastern Ghats and plateau of the Koraput region of Odisha.

Source: Indian Express

• Kinnaur is known for Apples. It is in Himachal Pradesh.
• Mewat in Haryana is not known for Mangoes.
• Coromandel in Tamil Nadu is known for many agricultural crops but not Soya Bean.
  • The production of soybean in India is dominated by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

• Turmeric has a warm, bitter taste and is frequently used to flavour or colour curry powders, mustards, butters, and cheeses.
• Turmeric provides a natural dye to colour cloth, leather, silk, palm fibre, wool and cotton.
• Because curcumin and other chemicals in turmeric might decrease swelling, it is often used to treat conditions that involve pain and inflammation. Turmeric is used as a herbal medicine for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic anterior uveitis, conjunctivitis, skin cancer, small pox, chicken pox, wound healing, urinary tract infections, and liver ailments.

• Established in 1950 after the end of WWII, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a UN agency mandated to help and protect refugees, internally displaced and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country.
• It was created in 1950 to address the refugee crisis that resulted from World War II.
• The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol are the key legal documents that form the basis of UNHCR work. With 149 State parties to either or both, they define the term ‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of refugees, as well as the legal obligations of States to protect them.
• India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a national refugee protection framework. However, it continues to grant asylum to a large number of refugees from neighbouring States and respects UNHCR’s mandate for other nationals, mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar.

• Article 243D of the Indian Constitution deals with the reservation of seats in Panchayats.
• It lays down provisions for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women.

• The recently launched Vidyanjali 2.0 portal will help facilitate private donors, corporate social responsibility contributions and volunteering activities towards school education in India. Thus the portal would help coordinate private contributions for school development.
• The increased private sector participation will help increase the quality of education in government schools.

• Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) refers to tax planning strategies used by multinational enterprises that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to avoid paying tax.

• MSP for the first time was introduced in the 1960s to incentivise the farmers and boost production.
• The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• There is no statutory backing for these prices or any law mandating their implementation.

• It is a street theatre form practised in the State of Tamil Nadu.
• The stories are derived from the Puranas, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana.

• The cement industry has been categorized as a highly polluting industry by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
• The main pollutants emitted from cement industries include Particulate Matter, Carbon Monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharata Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)

• The main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with four subsidiary shrines that are smaller and at the 4 corners.
• There are a total of five shrines and hence the name, Panchayatana.