UPSC 2021: Weekly GK and Current Affairs Quiz Sep 25 - Oct 01

Only 3 is correct.

• Innovate in India (I3) program is a flagship program of the Government of India and has received financial assistance from the World Bank.
• It was launched under the National Biopharma Mission.
• It has been launched to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the biopharma sector.

Only 1 is incorrect.

• The Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.
• It is a forum based on the recognition that there is a close link between peace, security and stability in Asia and in the rest of the world.
• The key idea of the Conference is based on the priority of the indivisibility of security, joint initiative and mutually beneficial interaction of small and large states.
• It was established in 1999.
• It is headquartered at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
• For becoming a member of CICA, a state must have at least a part of its territory in Asia.
• India is a member of CICA since its inception.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The jurisdiction of the Permanent Lok Adalats is up to Rs. Ten Lakhs.

1 and 2 only are correct.

• Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is the skilling and placement initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
• It is tasked with the dual objectives of adding diversity to the incomes of rural poor families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youth.
• It is a part of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
• DDU-GKY is uniquely focused on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from poor families.
• It is a placement linked skill development program which allows skilling in a PPP mode and assured placements in regular jobs in an organization not owned by the skilled person.

None of the above statements is incorrect.

• Consolidated Fund of India is the most important of all government accounts. Revenues received by the government and expenses made by it, excluding the exceptional items, are part of the Consolidated Fund.
• It includes all revenues received by the government by way of direct taxes and indirect taxes.
• The money borrowed and receipts from loans given by the government are a part of the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Revenue generated from asset sale, earnings from state-run companies, etc. go into the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Money cannot be withdrawn from this fund without the Parliament’s approval.

2 and 3 are not correctly matched.

• Farakka Barrage – West Bengal
• Prakasam Barrage – Andhra Pradesh
• Jobra Barrage – Odisha
• Hathnikund Barrage – Haryana

2 and 4 only are correct.

• Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period.
• The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
• The presiding officer of a House can call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.
• Prorogation is the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.
• Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House. Usually, within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer, the President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session.

India is a signatory to all the four conventions.

1 and 2 only are correct.

Functions of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA):

• To protect and improve the quality of the environment and prevent and control environmental pollution in the National Capital Region.
• To enforce the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in NCR as per the pollution levels.

None of the above is incorrect.

• State Development Loans (SDLs) are dated securities issued by states for meeting their market borrowing requirements. It is a Government Security (G-Sec).
• In effect, the SDLs are similar to the dated securities issued by the central government.
• The purpose of issuing State Development Loans is to meet the budgetary needs of state governments.
• In India, the Central Government issues both, treasury bills and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue only bonds or dated securities, which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs).

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality.
• There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.
• AQI is calculated for eight major air pollutants: Ground-level ozone, PM10, PM2.5, Carbon monoxide, Sulfur dioxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Ammonia, Lead.

All three are correct.

• National Investigation Agency is a central agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India.
• It acts as the Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency.
• As per the NIA Act, Central Government can order NIA to take over the investigation of any scheduled offense anywhere in India.
• As per the NIA Act, NIA is empowered to deal with terror-related crimes across states without special permission from the states.
• Officers of the NIA are drawn from the Indian Police Service and Indian Revenue Service.

All three are correct.

• Cyanobacteria are a group of photosynthetic bacteria, some of which are nitrogen-fixing.
• Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms common in water and sometimes found in soil.
• Cyanobacteria get their name from the bluish pigment phycocyanin, which they use to capture light for photosynthesis.
• They also contain ‘chlorophyll a’, the same photosynthetic pigment that plants use.

2, 3 and 4 only are correct.

Dead Sea, Jordan and Israel border the West Bank area.

None of the above is incorrect.

• Basel III is an internationally agreed set of measures developed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in response to the financial crisis of 2007-09.
• Basel III regulations are designed to enhance the quality and quantity of capital held by banks.
• The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) hosts the Secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

Only 1 is incorrect.

• Neutrinos are elusive subatomic particles created in a wide variety of nuclear processes. Their name, which means “little neutral one,” refers to the fact that they carry no electrical charge. Neutrinos occur in three different types, or flavours.
• Of the four fundamental forces in the universe, neutrinos only interact with two — gravity and the weak force, which is responsible for the radioactive decay of atoms.
• Neutrinos are extremely difficult to detect because they have very little (weak) interaction with matter.

All the statements are correct.

• The 12th and the 13th centuries saw the emergence of the Kakatiyas.
• They were at first the feudatories of the Western Chalukyas of Kalyana, ruling over a small territory near Warangal.
• Prataparudra I established a sovereign dynasty in 1163 CE.
• Ganapathi Deva and Rudramadevi are the notable rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty.

Both statements are incorrect.

• Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) is an initiative by the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs that started in 2004 with the assistance of the World Bank.
• It was started in the year 2004.
• Among its objectives are:
  • Strengthening/maintaining a decentralized laboratory based IT enabled disease surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases to monitor disease trends.
  • Detecting and responding to outbreaks in the early rising phase through trained Rapid Response Teams (RRTs).

Tulung La is located in Arunachal Pradesh.

1, 2 and 3 only are correctly matched. Tamil Nadu has got the registration of  Geographical Indication Tag for Kandangi Sarees.

1, 2 and 3 only.

• The Social Security Code Bill replaces nine laws related to social security.  These include the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.
• The Occupational Safety Code subsumes and replaces 13 labour laws relating to safety, health and working conditions. These laws include: Factories Act, 1948; Mines Act, 1952; Dock Workers Act, 1986; Contract Labour Act, 1970; and Inter-State Migrant Workers Act, 1979.

All three are correct.

All three are correct.

• “CRISPR” stands for “Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats”.
• CRISPRs are specialized stretches of DNA. The protein Cas9 (or “CRISPR-associated”) is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA.
• CRISPR technology was adapted from the natural defence mechanisms of bacteria and archaea (the domain of single-celled microorganisms). These organisms use CRISPR-derived RNA and various Cas proteins, including Cas9, to foil attacks by viruses and other foreign bodies. They do so primarily by chopping up and destroying the DNA of a foreign invader.
• CRISPR technology is a powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops.

2 only is correct.

• Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected larval mites.
  • The mites are found in grasslands, forests, bush areas, wood piles, gardens, and beaches.
• Scrub Typhus can also be transmitted through unscreened blood transfusions and unhygienic needles. It does not spread from person to person.

All are correct statements.

• MPLADS is a centrally-sponsored plan scheme fully funded by the government of India under which funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities.
• Under the scheme, funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities.
• The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable.
• Funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to the subsequent years, subject to eligibility.

1 only is incorrect.

• Nandankanan Zoological Park is located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• It lies in adjacent to Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is the only zoological park in India to become an institutional member of World Association of Zoos and Aquarium (WAZA).
• The Nandankanan zoo hosts India’s only pangolin conservation breeding centre.

• Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
• The sloth bear is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• International trade of the sloth bear is prohibited as it is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Only 2 is incorrect.

• National Bamboo Mission is a sub-scheme under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).
• It is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• The Mission envisages promoting holistic growth of the bamboo sector by adopting the area-based, regionally differentiated strategy and to increase the area under bamboo cultivation and marketing.
• Under the Mission, steps have been taken to increase the availability of quality planting material by supporting the setting up of new nurseries and strengthening of existing ones.

None of the above is incorrect.

• The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO.
• Chilika Lake of Odisha and Keoladeo National Park of Rajasthan were the first ones to be recognized as Ramsar Sites of India in 1981.
• Rajasthan has two Ramsar sites: Keoladeo National Park and Sambhar Lake.

None of the above is incorrect.

• Gwadar Port is a warm water, deep sea port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
• The China Pakistan Economic Corridor will connect Gwadar Port with China’s Xinjiang province.