Test: April 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

Hasdeo movement (launched by activists against coal mining in the Hasdeo forests of Chhattisgarh).
Hasdeo Aranya is a biodiversity-rich forest which also happens to be a rich source of coal. For months in 2022, tribals and activists had protested against the operation of three coal mines in the region. The Hasdeo river, a tributary of Mahanadi, flows through it

A High Ambition Coalition, which now has more than 100 countries including India, the US, and the UK, came about and put the focus on ‘30×30’ goals – protecting 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030.
Statement 1 is incorrect.

• Soaring global temperatures could lead to more “hot lightning” strikes in many parts of the world, a new study has found. It added that this type of lightning is more likely to ignite wildfires than typical lightning.
• According to the researchers, lightning is a major cause of triggering wildfires and is responsible for producing the largest wildfires in some regions, including the Western United States. Lightning-caused wildfires are dangerous as they spread rapidly before a strong response can be implemented and release substantial amounts of carbon, nitrogen oxides and other trace gases into the atmosphere.
• Lightning is a rapid and massive electrical discharge that takes place between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves. Scientists believe that for lightning to occur, positive and negative charges must separate within a cloud. This happens, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), when the water droplets in the bottom part of the cloud are moved upwards, where the much colder atmosphere freezes them into small ice crystals.
• As these small ice crystals continue to go up, they gain more mass and eventually become so heavy that they start to fall down to Earth. This causes a system in which ice crystals going down collides with the water vapours coming up, leading to the accumulation of positive charges on the top of the cloud and negative changes gathering at the base, while the atmosphere between them in the cloud acts as an insulator.
• When the positive and negative charges grow large enough, their strength overpowers the insulating properties of the properties. As a result, the two kinds of charges meet with each other and produce lightning.
• Although most of the lightning takes place within the clouds, sometimes it is directed towards Earth also. With the base of the cloud becoming negatively charged, positive charges start accumulating on tall objects, like trees, poles and buildings.

The NAAC, set up in 1994, is entrusted with assessing the quality of India’s higher educational institutions. Following a multi-layered assessment process, it awards grades to colleges and universities. Its parameters include curriculum, faculty, infrastructure, research and financial well-being. The grades issued by NAAC range from A++ to C. If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.
While the UGC has over the years issued many circulars directing institutes to mandatorily undergo NAAC’s assessment, the process still remains largely voluntary.

The doctrine of “essentiality” was invented by a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in the ‘Shirur Mutt’ case in 1954. The court held that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion, and took upon itself the responsibility of determining the essential and non-essential practices of a religion.

Farmers are using the waste kinnow fruit to improve the pH level and soil fertility of their land by making Bio-enzymes from this waste fruit.
Spraying Bio-enzymes works as pest repellent and also improves the photosynthesis process of the crops

International organization partners:
The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as international organization partners (IOPs). These are:

• BirdLife International
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• Wetlands International
• WWF International
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

These organizations support the work of the convention by providing expert technical advice, helping implement field studies, and providing financial support. The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the conference of the parties and as full members of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel.

• The Red Fort was built during the reign of Shah Jahan in the mid-seventeenth century.
• The Red Fort was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.
• Bahadur Shah Zafar or Bahadur Shah II was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor of India. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the British East India Company.

United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 which governs the rights of countries regarding marine resources. Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles (or 370 km into the sea), till where it has special rights for exploration. Waters beyond that are known as open seas or high seas. Currently, it is estimated high or open seas constitute two-thirds of the world’s oceans, and only one per cent of them are legally protected.

Economic science has dominated public policy since the 20th century. Debates have raged between “Keynesian” economists and “Friedman” economists: between “welfarists” who see the need for a government hand in the economy and “monetarists” who want governments out of the way to let private entrepreneurs loose and let an “invisible hand” produce good outcomes for all. Both sides agree that growth in GDP — the size of the economy measured in money terms — is essential.

• Geostationary orbit is located at a height of 35,786 km over the Earth’s surface, directly above the Equator. Satellites in this orbit move at speeds of about 11,000 km per hour, and complete one revolution of the Earth in the same time that the earth rotates once on its axis. To the observer on the ground, therefore, a satellite in geostationary orbit appears stationary.
• Signals from geostationary orbit can cover a very large part of the Earth. Signals from one satellite can cover roughly a third of the planet — and three to four satellites would be enough to cover the entire Earth. Also, because they appear to be stationary, it is easier to link to them.
• However, there is a time lag — called latency — between a user seeking data, and the server sending that data.
• And because data transfers cannot happen faster than the speed of light, the longer the distance that needs to be covered the greater is the time lag, or latency.
• A transmission from a satellite in geostationary orbit has a latency of about 600 milliseconds.
• A satellite in the lower orbit, 200-2,000 km from the Earth’s surface, can bring the lag down to 20-30 milliseconds, roughly the time it takes for terrestrial systems to transfer data. 
• However, owing to their lower height, their signals cover a relatively small area. As a result, many more satellites are needed in order to reach signals to every part of the planet.

• Common salt has been used to preserve meat and fish for ages. Meat and fish are covered with dry salt to check the growth of bacteria. Salting is also used to preserve amla, raw mangoes, tamarind, etc.
• Preservation by Sugar – Jams, jellies and squashes are preserved by sugar. Sugar reduces the moisture content which inhibits the growth of bacteria which spoil food.

• A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. 
• All modern-era digital devices, as well as future innovations, rely on the semiconductor sector. These discrete, yet very sophisticated elements drive almost all upcoming technologies, including AI, cloud computing, quantum computing, enhanced wireless networks, blockchain applications, bitcoin mining, 5G, IoT, self-driving vehicles, drones, robots, gaming, and wearables.
• The Centre has sanctioned the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) and Design Linked Incentive (DLI) schemes to encourage the manufacturing of various semiconductor goods within India.

Thermosetting plastics are generally stronger than thermoplastic materials due to the three-dimensional network of bonds (crosslinking), and are also better suited to high-temperature applications up to the decomposition temperature since they keep their shape as strong covalent bonds between polymer chains cannot be broken easily.

Core inflation — that is the inflation rate when prices of food and fuel are taken away. Core inflation typically rises and falls more gradually than inflation in food and fuel.

Exposure to POPs can lead to cancer, damage to central & peripheral nervous systems, diseases of immune system, reproductive disorders and interference with normal infant and child development.
Uniqueness of POPs:

• POPs are lipophilic, which means that they accumulate in the fatty tissue of living animals and human beings.
• In fatty tissue, the concentrations can become magnified by up to 70 000 times higher than the background levels.
• As you move up the food chain, concentrations of POPs tend to increase so that animals at the top of the food chain such as fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans tend to have the greatest concentrations of these chemicals.

Nubra Glacier is located in Ladakh
Zemu Glacier is located in Sikkim

In Lok Sabha, questions that are not admitted include: those that are repetitive or have been answered previously; and matters that are pending for judgment before any court of law or under consideration before a Parliamentary Committee.

• Sattras are monastic institutions created as part of the 16th century Neo-Vaishnavite reformist movement started by Vaishnavite saint-reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449-1596). As the saint travelled across Assam, spreading his teachings and propagating an egalitarian society, these Sattras/Thans were established as centres of religious, social and cultural reforms in the 16th century. Today, Sattras are spread across the state, promulgating Sankardeva’s unique “worship through art” approach with music (borgeet), dance (xattriya) and theatre (bhauna).
• During the Ahom reign, the Sattras received a lot of donations in the form of land or money from the kings.

The Preamble of the Constitution of India presents the principles of the Constitution. The preamble gives an idea about the following: (1) the source of the constitution, (2) the nature of the Indian state (3) a statement of its objectives and (4) the date of its adoption.

• There are different elements classified as macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients which contribute to plant growth according to its function and plant requirements.
• Macronutrients which consists of primary and secondary nutrients are consumed in extensive quantities by plants.
• While the primary nutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, the secondary nutrients constitute Calcium, Magnesium and Sulphur.
• Micronutrients include iron, zinc, boron, chloride etc.

• Tornadoes are whirling, vertical air columns that form from thunderstorms and stretch to the ground. They travel with ferocious speed and lay waste to everything in their path.
• When winds vary in speed or direction at different altitudes–a condition known as wind shear–the updraft will start to spin.
• These changes in winds produce the spin necessary for a tornado. For especially strong tornadoes, changes are needed in both the wind’s speed and direction.

• e-Kuber is the Core Banking Solution of Reserve Bank of India. E-Kuber provides the provision of a single current account for each bank across the country, with decentralised access to this account from anywhere-anytime using portal-based services in a safe manner.
• Auction of Government securities is done through e-kuber system. Sovereign Gold Bonds are available for subscription at the branches of scheduled commercial banks and designated post offices through RBI’s e-kuber system.

• Precision agriculture is basically the ‘right-input’ at the ‘right-time’ in the ‘right-amount’ at the ‘right-place’ and in the ‘right-manner’ for improving productivity, conserving natural resources and avoiding any ecological or social tribulations.
• Today, precision agriculture is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI). IoT, satellite imagery, drones, Web-GIS frameworks, Big Data, cloud and machine learning are expected to improve global agricultural productivity in the near future.
• But to arrive at these desired results, huge amounts of data collation is required. Environmental data, through technological intervention, has already fuelled better farming techniques in developed countries.
• Sensors and analysis tools can boost crop yield. In order to do this, environmental data is collected in the geospatial format to measure quantifiable variables like weather, soil moisture, volumetric soil temperature, fertiliser rates, water run-off, agrochemicals movement and rain.

The ECI has periodically used guidelines issued for registration of parties under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to remind parties to conduct elections and to ensure that their leadership is renewed, changed or re-elected every five years. But the commission does not have any statutory power to enforce internal democracy in parties or to mandate elections.