UPSC 2024: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Sep 23 - Sep 29

• Statement 01 is incorrect,  PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, which are less developed among the tribal groups. In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as PVTGs.
• Statement 02 is correct, Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs in India while no PVTGs are found in the states of Punjab and Haryana.
  • 13 out of the 75 PVTGs are in Odisha.

• The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
• The Paris Club has 22 permanent members.
• The Paris Club stresses the informal nature of its existence. As an informal group, it has no official statutes and no formal inception date, although its first meeting with a debtor nation was in 1956, with Argentina.
• India is an observer state of the Paris Club from 2019.

• Statement 01 is correct,  Masala Bonds are rupee-denominated bonds. It is a debt instrument issued by an Indian entity in foreign markets to raise money, in Indian currency, instead of dollars or local denomination.
  • In 2019, Kerala became the first Indian state to issue Masala Bonds worth Rs. 2,150 crore on the London Stock Exchange. State-owned Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) had issued the bonds to raise funds in the overseas market.
• Statement 02 is correct, The first Masala Bonds were issued by World Bank in 2014 to fund an infrastructure project in India
  • The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment branch of the World Bank issued a 10-year, 10 billion Indian rupee bonds in November 2014 to increase foreign investment in India and mobilise international capital markets to support infrastructure development in the country
• Statement 03 is correct, These bonds can only be issued to a resident of such a country which is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

• Pair 01 is correctly matched, Cassini–Huygens is an unmanned spacecraft sent to the planet Saturn as a part of Cassini mission.
• Pair 02 is correctly matched, the DAVINCI  mission is a flyby mission to Venus and explores its harsh atmosphere in 2029.
  • It will be the first mission to study Venus by means of both flybys and descent.
• Pair 03 is correctly matched, Europa Clipper is a mission by NASA to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon Europa and investigate whether the icy moon could have conditions suitable for life.
• Pair 04 is correctly matched,  The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is a robotic lander designed to study the deep interior of the planet Mars. The InSight mission is part of NASA’s Discovery Program (1992).

• The Government of India Act 1919  relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects.
• The central and provincial legislatures were authorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects.
• It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts—transferred and reserved.
• The reserved subjects included subjects such as law and order, police, finance, land revenue, irrigation, etc.
• The transferred subjects included subjects such as education, health, local government, industry, agriculture, excise, etc.

• Statement 01 is incorrect,  Neelakurinji Flower has no smell or any medicinal value.
• Statement 02 is correct,  Some species of Strobilanthes are examples of a mass seeding phenomenon termed as masting. Which can be defined as “synchronous production of seed at long intervals by a population of plants”.
• Statement 03 is correct,  The Paliyan tribal people living in Tamil Nadu used it as a reference to calculate their age.

The correct sequence from North to South is: Javadi hills-Nilgiri Hills-Anamalai hills-Cardamom hills.

• In Cricket, ‘Mankading’ is  the act of a bowler running out a batter on the non-striker’s end if he/she is backing up and too far ahead of the crease before the ball is delivered.
• The act got its name through an action by Indian all-rounder Vinoo Mankad way back during India’s tour of Australia in 1947-48.
  • This incident was the first time such an event occured in international cricket. Till date, this act has been performed only a handful number of times.

• Gurmukhi script was developed by the Sikhs in India for their sacred literature.
  • It was standardised and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552).
  • Gurmukhi is written from left to right.
• Shahmukhi is written from right to left. It is also used as the main alphabet to write Pahari–Pothwari in Azad Kashmir and Jammu and Kashmir. The Shahmukhi alphabet was first used by the Sufi poets of Punjab.
• The Kharosthi script is an ancient script used in ancient Gandhara. It is a sister script of Brahmi and was deciphered by James Princep. It is written from right to left.
• Takri (also called Tankri)  script  was widely used in several northern princely Indian states from the 16th century.
  •  It was patronised by Dogra rulers of Jammu and Kashmir in the 17th century and employed extensively by them for official purposes, developing several regional variants and coexisting with the Persian script used to write Urdu and the Devanagari script.
  • It is written from left to right.

• Statement 01 is correct, The Pallavas ruled south-eastern India from the 3rd through the 9th centuries CE with Kanchipuram as capital. Their empire covered what is today the Tamil Nadu state.
• Statement 02 is correct, Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram was built  in the reign of Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman II, also known as Rajasimha who reigned from 700 to 728 CE.
  • The Kailasanathar temple, also referred to as the Kailasanatha temple, is a Pallava-era Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the oldest surviving monuments in Kanchipuram. It reflects a Dravidian architecture and was built about 700 CE by Narasimhavarman II with additions by Mahendra III.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, The Pallava King Narsimhavarman I assumed the title of ‘Vatapikonda’ (Conqueror of Vatapi), when he defeated and killed Pulakesin II (Chalukya King) and captured the Chalukyan capital, Badami/Vatapi in 642 AD.

Central Ground Water Authority was constituted under Section 3 (3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to regulate and control the development and management of groundwater resources in the country.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a space mission of NASA which is aimed at testing a method of planetary defense against near-Earth objects (NEOs).
  • DART is a joint project between NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL).
• Statement 2 is not correct, The mission involves crashing the spacecraft into the Dimorphos asteroid.
  • Dimorphos is a moon of a slightly larger asteroid called Didymos.
  • Didymos is about 780 m at its widest, whereas Dimorphos is about 160 metres.
  • Scientists chose the Dimorphos as the target because of its relatively shorter orbit around Didymos. The deviation in this orbit would be more noticeable and easier to measure.

• The “Dharamshala Declaration” aims to recognise India’s role in contributing towards global tourism as well as focusing on recovery by also promoting domestic tourism.
• The “Dharamshala Declaration” was adopted during the National Conference of State Tourism Ministers, which affirms commitment toward developing “sustainable and responsible tourism” and positions India as a “global leader in the tourism sector by 2047”.

• Statement 1 is not correct, La Nina refers to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phase in which sea-surface temperatures are cooler than normal.
• Statement 2 is correct, In the Indian context, La Nina is associated with good rainfall during the monsoon season. Hence, La Nina is considered beneficial for Indian Monsoons.
• Statement 3 is not correct, India is currently experiencing an extended spell of the La Nina, called a ‘triple dip’ La Nina which is a phenomenon lasting across three winter seasons in the northern hemisphere.
  • This is said to be the first “triple dip” La Nina of the century and the third since 1950.

• Statement 1 is not correct, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international, intergovernmental economic organization of 38 countries and most of its members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
  • India is still not a member of OECD. However, India is one of the non-member economies with which the OECD has working relationships.
  • OECD has been cooperating with India since 1995.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The World Economic Outlook is a flagship report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

• The Valley of Flowers National Park is situated at an altitude of about 3352 to 3658 metres above sea level and so lies completely in the temperate alpine zone.
• The Valley of Flowers National Park is situated in the state of Uttarakhand.

• Statement 1 is correct, According to Article 217 of the Constitution, the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Governor of the State.
• Statement 2 is correct, High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
  • The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court of the state concerned.
• Statement 3 is correct, The Government has, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India followed the policy of appointing the Chief Justice of High Courts from outside the respective States.

• Statement 1 is correct, Dadasaheb Phalke Award was introduced by the government in 1969 and it was awarded for the first time to Devika Rani, “the first lady of Indian cinema”.
• Statement 2 is not correct, Dadasaheb Phalke, popularly known as “the father of Indian cinema”, was an Indian filmmaker who directed India’s first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913).
• Statement 3 is correct, Actors Prithviraj Kapoor and Vinod Khanna are the only posthumous recipients of the award.

• Statement 1 is correct, In India, entry into forests is governed by two laws namely the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Statement 2 is correct, The Wildlife Protection Act empowers the Chief Wildlife Warden of a state to frame laws for tourists entering Protected Areas such as sanctuaries and national parks.
  • Under the same Act, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has the power to set rules for tiger reserves.
• Statement 3 is not correct, At present, there is no law in the country which prohibits night safaris in wildlife sanctuaries.

• Statement 1 is correct, Warmer oceans make stronger storms as the evaporation intensifies as temperatures increase and so does the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air.
• Statement 2 is correct, Studies have found that the ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat from human-caused global warming between 1971 and 2010.
• Statement 3 is correct, Higher surface temperatures allow hurricanes to reach higher levels of maximum sustained wind.

• Statement 01 is correct, The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. He is the highest law officer in the country. He can be part of any court in the Indian Territory.
• Statement 02 is correct, There is no fixed term for the Attorney General of India. The Constitution of India mentions no specified tenure for the Attorney General. Similarly, the Constitution also does not mention the procedure and ground of his removal.
• Statement 03 is incorrect,  He is not considered a government servant. He can practise privately too as he is not debarred from private legal practice.

• Statement 01 is correct, The 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law’ was inserted by the 52nd Amendment (1985) to the Constitution.
  • Shri Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India when this schedule became a part of the Indian Constitution. He served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989.
• Statement 02 is correct, There is no time limit as per the 10th Schedule within which the Presiding Officers should decide on a plea for disqualification due to defection.
• Statement 03 is incorrect, the 10th schedule does not mention any provisions to bar the members disqualified under the law from standing for re-election from the same seat they were representing before the disqualification.

• Statement 01 is correct,  The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces is the head and the highest-ranking officer of the Indian Armed Forces. CDS is first among equals, he enjoys the rank of Secretary within the Department of Military Affairs.
• Statement 02 is incorrect, the government of India in June 2022 amended service rules of the armed forces making all serving and recently retired three-star officers — Lt General, Air Marshal and Vice Admiral — under the age of 62 eligible for the post.
  • The new rules mean that the recently retired chiefs of services will not be considered due to the upper age limit of 62.
• Statement 03 is correct, The age limit for the CDS’ post is 65 years with no fixed tenure defined, unlike for the Service Chief which is three years of tenure or 62 years of age.

• Service area approach (SAA) is a developed version of the ‘area approach’ structure of the Lead Bank Scheme.
• Under the SAA plan, each commercial bank/RRB branch in a rural and semi-urban area is designated to serve 15 to 25 villages for the planned and orderly development of the areas.
• The Lead Bank Scheme is a scheme introduced in 1969 which aims at providing adequate banking and credit in rural areas through a ‘service area approach’.
• Under the Scheme, the service area approach was introduced in 1989 for the planned and orderly development of rural and semi-urban areas.

• Statement 1 is not correct,  Every phone or mobile broadband device has a unique 15-digit code called the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) that precisely identifies the device.
• Statement 2 is correct, Mobile phone manufacturers assign IMEI numbers to each device based on ranges allotted to them by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association.
• Statement 3 is correct, Dual SIM phones will have two IMEI numbers.

• Statement 1 is correct, The Pacific Island Countries are a group of 14 islands that are located in the tropical region of the Pacific Ocean between Asia, Australia and the two Americas.
• Statement 2 is correct, Despite these countries being some of the smallest and least populated countries, they have some of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) in the world.
  • Some of them have Exclusive Economic Zones larger than that of India.
• Statement 3 is correct, Due to the remoteness of these States from major population centres of the world and the Soviet Union, a few major nuclear weapon test centres of the nuclear powers such as the U.S., the U.K. and France were located in these countries.

• Statement 1 is correct, Interest rates on small saving schemes are reset on a quarterly basis, in line with the movement in benchmark government bonds of similar maturity.
• Statement 2 is not correct, The interest earned by the depositors through Small Savings Schemes is fixed.
• Statement 3 is correct, All deposits under small savings schemes are credited to the ‘National Small Savings Fund’ (NSSF).

• The current account deficit is a measurement of a country’s trade where the value of the goods and services it imports exceeds the value of the goods and services it exports.
• Government can reduce the Current Account Deficit by devaluing the domestic currency and by adopting suitable policies which attract greater FDI and more funds from FIIs.
• Reduction in the export subsidy actually hampers export growth thereby negatively impacting the Current Account Deficit.

• The Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field was signed between India and Russia on 5th October 2018 in New Delhi.
• The two countries intend to develop a project of six nuclear power units of Russian design at a new site in India, further enhance cooperation in the third countries and bring in new prospective nuclear technologies together with joint construction of nuclear power plants.

Statement 2 is incorrect; the AMASR Act applies to both publicly and privately owned monuments that are over 100 years old.