Karnataka (KAS) Prelims Paper-I Mock Test- 3 - KPSC KAS (Karnataka) MCQ

• Reservation in Indian law is a form of affirmative action whereby a percentage of seats are reserved in the public sector units, union and state civil services, union and state government departments and in all public and private educational institutions, except in the religious/ linguistic minority edu­cational institutions, for the socially and educationally backward communities who are inadequately represented in these services and institutions.
• Justice G. Rohini Committee was set up to examine the possibility of creating categories within OBCs for the reservation to ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities. Its objectives include working out a mechanism, criteria, norm and parameters through a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within the OBCs and identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.
• Part XVI deals with reservation of SC and ST in Central and State legislatures.
• Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution enabled the State and Central Governments to reserve seats in government services for the members of the SC and ST.

• Context: MethaneSAT, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon9 rocket, is a satellite designed to track and measure methane emissions globally.
• MethaneSAT aims to monitor the oil and gas sector, providing data on emission sources, trends, and changes over time.
• About MethaneSAT:
  • Developed by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in partnership with Harvard University, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the New Zealand Space Agency, MethaneSAT will orbit the Earth 15 times a day, collecting data that will be made publicly available in near real-time.
  • Equipped with advanced technology, including a high-resolution infrared sensor and spectrometer, MethaneSAT can detect methane concentrations as small as three parts per billion and identify both large and small emitters.​

• Only statements 2 and 3 are correct.
• Context: The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) announced the completion of India’s ‘10,000 genome’ project, aiming to create a reference database of whole-genome sequences representative of the country’s diverse population.
• The Genome India Project (GIP) is a national project that aims to sequence 10,000 genomes by the end of 2023. The project is funded by the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology and is led by the Centre for Brain Research (CBR). The GIP’s first phase aims to identify genetic variations by sequencing the genomes of 10,000 people across India. The project’s goal is to develop personalized medicine based on patients’ genomes.
• S1: Genome India Project funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, and spearheaded by Indian Institute of Science’s Centre for Brain Research(CBR).
• S2: The project aims to identify genetic variations through whole genome sequencing of 10,000 representative individuals across India in the first phase of the study.
• S3: Human genome is the entire set of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) residing in the nucleus of every cell of the human body. It carries the complete genetic information responsible for the development and functioning of an organism.

According to the latest report on “The State of the World’s Forests” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forests cover 31% of the Earth’s land surface (4.06 billion hectares) out of which approximately one-third (34%) are primary forests.

The 2023 World Trade Report, published by the WTO, explores the role of international trade in building a more secure, inclusive, and sustainable world.

The report addresses the shift in the narrative around globalization. It emphasizes policy goals beyond trade efficiency, including peace, security, poverty reduction, and sustainability. The report advocates for “re-globalization,” expanding trade integration to more economies, people, and issues.

The joint statement — ‘Horizon 2047: 25th Anniversary of the India-France Strategic Partnership, Towards A Century of India-France Relations’ — lays out a roadmap for the bilateral relationship till 2047.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• Ammonia is a colourless, pungent gas with the chemical formula NH3. It’s made up of hydrogen and nitrogen. In its aqueous form, it’s called ammonium hydroxide.
• Ammonia is a natural byproduct and respiratory stimulant. It’s produced naturally in the human body and in nature, including in water, soil, and air. In human health, ammonia and the ammonium ion are important components of metabolic processes.
• In its concentrated form, ammonia is dangerous and caustic.

Signs and symptoms of ammonia exposure include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Burns of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, and stomach

• In the 1919 plan for the construction of the Parliament, it was decided to have a council house, comprising a Legislative Assembly Chamber (which later became the Lok Sabha), a Council of States Chamber (which is now the Rajya Sabha) and the Chamber of Princes.
• The Chamber of Princes is the Library Hall in the Old Parliament.
• The Chamber of Princes, also known as Narendra Mandal, was established in 1920 by a Royal Proclamation of King Emperor George V to advocate the common interests of British India and the princely states.
• In 1937, the Federal Court of India began functioning from the Chamber of Princes.
• It was 12 years later that in this building, the Supreme Court of India was inaugurated. “The inaugural proceedings were simple but impressive,” according to the official account of the Supreme Court.

Only Statement 1 is correct.

“Phytoremediation”, a remediation method that uses living organisms like plants, microalgae, and seaweeds. One particular way to remove toxic heavy metals from the soil includes the use of “hyperaccumulator” plants that absorb these substances from the soil.

Phytoremediation refers to the usage of “hyperaccumulator” plants to absorb the toxic materials present in the soil and accumulate in their living tissue. Even though most plants do sometimes accumulate toxic substances, hyperaccumulators have the unusual ability to absorb hundreds or thousands of times greater amounts of these substances than is normal for most plants.

This process can be used to remove metals like silver, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc; metalloids such as arsenic and selenium; some radionuclides; and non-metallic components such as boron. But it cannot be used to remove organic pollutants from the ground due to metabolic breakdown.

Cropping pattern: It is a dynamic concept because it changes over space and time. It can be defined as the proportion of area under various crops at a point of time. In other words, it is a yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of sowing and fallow on a given area. In India, the cropping pattern determined by rainfall, climate, temperature, soil type and technology. 

The term oxidation was originally used to describe reactions in which an element combines with oxygen. The iron metal is oxidized to form the iron oxide known as rust.
Electrochemical reactions are great examples of oxidation reactions.
All the above are the examples of Oxidation Reaction.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• The SCO is an intergovernmental organisation founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai, China. It was established as a multilateral association to ensure security and maintain stability across the vast Eurasian region, join forces to counteract emerging challenges and threats, and enhance trade, as well as cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
• The SCO was founded with the primary aim to address security-related concerns, with addressing regional terrorism, ethnic separatism and religious extremism top in its list of priorities. In 2004, at the SCO Summit held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was established. Through RATS, SCO members share crucial intelligence, know-how, legal expertise as well as allow for extradition of terrorists.
• The SCO promotes cooperation in the fields of economics and culture, with the aim of promoting regional development as a part of a holistic approach towards tackling security issues. To that end, it has signed various treaties to promote trade and cultural exchanges within members.

The term Vande Mataram refers to a sense of respect expressed to the motherland. In 1870, Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay wrote a song which would go on to assume a national stature.

‘Inquilab Zindabad’ (Long live the revolution) was first used by Maulana Hasrat Mohani in 1921.

‘Do or Die’ by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

While Gandhi gave the clarion call of ‘Quit India’, the slogan was coined by Yusuf Meherally, a socialist and trade unionist who also served as Mayor of Mumbai.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

CDSL, or Central Depositories Services India Ltd, is a government-registered share depository, alongside its other state-owned counterpart National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).

Share depositories hold shares in an electronic or dematerialised form and are an enabler for securities transactions, playing a somewhat similar role to what banks play in handling cash and fixed deposits. While banks help customers keep their cash in electronic form, share depositories help consumers store shares in a dematerialised form.

CDSL was founded in 1999. It is a Market Infrastructure Institution or MII that is deemed as a crucial part of the capital market structure, providing services to all market participants, including exchanges, clearing corporations, depository participants, issuers and investors.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• The IPMDA was announced by the Quad grouping, comprising India, Australia, Japan and U.S., at the Tokyo summit in early 2022 to track “dark shipping” and build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters”, integrating three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific — the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the IOR.
• This initiative [IPMDA] seeks to establish a comprehensive system for monitoring and securing maritime activities in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring the safety of critical sea lines of communication, and promoting cooperation among like-minded nations in the region.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

FCRA was enacted during the Emergency in 1976 amid apprehensions that foreign powers were interfering in India’s affairs by pumping money into the country through independent organisations.

The law sought to regulate foreign donations to individuals and associations so that they functioned “in a manner consistent with the values of a sovereign democratic republic”.

Broadly, the FCRA requires every person or NGO seeking to receive foreign donations to be (i) registered under the Act, (ii) to open a bank account for the receipt of the foreign funds in State Bank of India, Delhi, and (iii) to utilise those funds only for the purpose for which they have been received and as stipulated in the Act.

Regenerative agriculture is a holistic farming approach that focuses on improving soil health, biodiversity, and sustainability by minimizing soil disturbance, diversifying crops, using cover crops, and integrating livestock. It aims to enhance resources rather than deplete them, by adhering to principles such as conservation tillage, crop diversification, soil cover with cover crops, and integration of livestock.

Only Statement 1 is correct.

• Raw sugar is what mills produce after the first crystallisation of juice obtained from crushing of cane. This sugar is rough and brownish in colour, with an ICUMSA value of 600-1,200 or higher. ICUMSA, short for the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis, is a measure of the purity of sugar based on colour. The lower the value, the more the whiteness.
• Raw sugar is processed in refineries for removal of impurities and de-colourisation. The end product is refined white cane sugar having a standard ICUMSA value of 45. The sugar used by industries such as pharmaceuticals has ICUMSA of less than 20.

• Context: The government has unveiled PB-SHABD, a news-sharing initiative by Prasar Bharati, DD News, and Akashvani News, along with an updated News on the Air mobile app.
• About PB-SHABD
  • It is a news-sharing initiative to provide news stories in major Indian languages across fifty categories. The service offers clean feeds curated from across the country, free for the first year, and without the Doordarshan logo. The revamped websites and apps of Doordarshan News and All India Radio will provide personalized news feeds, push notifications, multimedia integration, live streaming, social media sharing, and more.

Only Statement 3 is correct.

• Context: India has successfully conducted the first human clinical trial for gene therapy targeting ‘haemophilia A’.
• The trials utilized a novel technology involving a lentiviral vector to express an FVIII transgene in the patient’s own haematopoietic stem cell, leading to the expression of FVIII from specific differentiated blood cells.
• Hemophilia A, also known as classical haemophilia or factor VIII deficiency, is a hereditary bleeding disorder. It’s caused by a mutation on the X-chromosome’s Factor VIII gene, which means that only boys are affected. In most cases, the mutation is passed down from parent to child.

Natural sources (volcanoes, fires, phytoplankton) produce sulphur dioxide, but burning sulphur-rich fossil fuels—primarily coal, oil, and petroleum—is the main source of the gas. Smelter ovens, which are used to concentrate metals found in ore, also produce it. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The Union Cabinet, approved the extension of the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) to be implemented under the Infrastructure Development Fund (IDF).

The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) was announced under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.

The objective of AHIDF is to incentivize investments by various entities, including individual entrepreneurs, private companies, MSMEs, Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs), and Section 8 companies, in establishing dairy processing and value addition infrastructure, meat processing and value addition infrastructure, and animal feed plants.

Kapilvastu is in southern Nepal, near the Indian border. Lumbinī is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in Nepal. It is the place where, according to Buddhist tradition, queen Maya gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama at around 566 BCE.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

The Anthropocene epoch as a term was first coined by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen and biology professor Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present geological time interval, in which the Earth’s ecosystem has gone through radical changes due to human impact, especially since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

There are numerous phenomena associated with this epoch, such as global warming, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, mass-scale soil erosion, the advent of deadly heat waves, deterioration of the biosphere and other detrimental changes in the environment.

The planet’s geological time scale is divided into five broad categories: eons, epochs, eras, periods, epochs and ages. While eon is the broadest category of geological time, age is the smallest category. Each of these categories is further divided into sub-categories. For instance, Earth’s history is characterised by four eons, including Hadeon (oldest), Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic (youngest).

Statement 1 is incorrect.
About the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, is a significant protected area known for its diverse flora and fauna.
• Pong Dam Lake (Maharana Pratap Sagar) is a manmade reservoir created in 1975 with construction of Pong Dam on Beas River. It is also known as Pong reservoir or Pong Dam.
• In 1983, reservoir was declared as Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Pong Dam Lake was designated a Ramsar sitein 2002. There is a Vulture café in Pong wherein cattle carcass is dumped for Vultures.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• Agriculture Census in India is conducted every five years. In India, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has been organizing Agricultural Census, since 1970-71 in collaboration with the States and Union Territories as part of programme of World Census of Agriculture.
• Through Agriculture Census, basic data on important aspects of agricultural economy of operational holdings in the country is collected.
• The basic unit of data collection in Agriculture Census is the operational holding.

Europe’s most active volcano Mount Etna erupted on May 21, 2023.

Mount Etna is in an almost constant state of activity and it’s considered a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site.

The volcano’s height increased by over 30 metres following a six-month period of activity. This sudden growth spurt is the result of about 50 eruptions at the southeastern crater since February 16, 2021. The height grew due to the amount of volcanic material it spewed.

The history of smallpox holds a special place in the field of epidemiology. One of the deadliest diseases known to mankind, it is also the only one to have been eradicated by vaccination. However, the origins of smallpox have always been unclear. Until now, the earliest confirmed case of the disease was found in the mummified remains of a 17th-century Lithuanian child, even though written records suggest that it is much older. A new study carried out by an international team of researchers provides fresh insight into the origins of the disease caused by the Variola virus (VARV), suggesting that the smallpox was in existence as early as during the Viking age in the 8th century CE.