Test: Monthly Current Affairs January- 1 - UPSC MCQ

In News: KVIC Brings Alive 1000-yrs Old Monpa Handmade Paper Industry in Tawang to Revive the Heritage Art.
Option D is correct: Recently, the 1000-year old heritage art – the Monpa Handmade Paper of Arunachal Pradesh – which was driven to the extinction, has come to life once again, with the committed efforts of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). The art of making Monpa handmade paper originated over 1000 years ago. Gradually the art became an integral part of local custom and culture in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. Monpas paper used to be sold to countries like Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand and Japan as no paper making industry existed in these countries at that time. The fine-textured handmade paper, which is called Mon Shugu in the local dialect, is integral to the vibrant culture of the local tribes in Tawang. The paper has great historic and religious significance as it is the paper used for writing Buddhist scriptures and hymns in monasteries. The Monpa handmade paper will be made from the bark of a local tree called Shugu Sheng, which has medicinal values too. Hence the availability of raw material will not be a problem.

In News: According to Himachal Pradesh wildlife officials, more than 750 migratory birds have been found dead under mysterious circumstances at the Pong Dam lake in Kangra in recent days.
Option B is correct: Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake is also known as Maharana Pratap Sagar in India. It is named in the honour of Maharana Pratap. The reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention. It has been constructed on the river Beas in the wetland of Shivalik Hills in the Himachal Pradesh. It is located in the trans-Himalayan fly path of various migratory birds.

The eight core sector industries include coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity. The eight core industries comprise nearly 40% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The eight Core Industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.

In News: India Ruled To Cap TFA In Fats, Oils At 2 Per Cent By 2022
Option A is correct: Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has capped the amount of Trans Fatty Acids (TFA) or Trans fats in oils and fats to 3% for 2021 and 2% by 2022 from the current permissible limit of 5%. In 2011, India first passed a regulation that set a TFA limit of 10% in oils and fats, which was further reduced to 5% in 2015. Trans fat is the most harmful type of fats which can have much more adverse effects on the human body than any other dietary constituent. These fats are largely produced artificially but a small amount also occurs naturally. Artificial TFAs are formed when hydrogen is made to react with the oil to produce fats resembling pure ghee/butter (a process called "Hydrogenation."). FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, which consolidates various acts and orders that have hitherto handled food-related issues. It works as an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. FSSAI launched two initiatives for reducing consumption of TFAs viz. Eat Right Movement and Heart Attack Rewind mass media campaign. 

Statement 1 is not correct: Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices. It was originally promoted by Maharashtrian agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar. The ZBNF promotes the application of jeevamrutha — a mixture of fresh desi cow dung and aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil — on farmland. The rearing of animals and cultivation of crops together are called mixed farming.
Statement 2 is correct: ZBNF principles are in harmony with the principles of Agroecology and it brings down the cost of production to nearly zero and returns to a pre-green revolution style of farming.
Statement 3 is correct: ZBNF promotes the application of jeevamrutha — a mixture of fresh desi cow dung and aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil — on farmland. This is a fermented microbial culture that adds nutrients to the soil, and acts as a catalytic agent to promote the activity of microorganisms and earthworms in the soil.

In News: Majuli is disappearing at an alarming rate due to soil erosion and heavy floods that are reducing the size of the island gradually.
Option D is correct: Majuli is the world's largest river island situated on the Brahma Putra River in Assam. It sprawls over an extensive area of 352 sq km. It has important cultural centres of Assam since the 16th century with the primary hub of the neo-Vaishnavite culture.

In News: Iran has resumed enriching uranium up to 20% in violation of the 2015 nuclear deal and also seized a South Korean-flagged tanker near the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
Option C is correct: Strait of Hormuz is the waterway separating Iran and Oman, linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south are the UAE and Musandam, an enclave of Oman. The Strait is 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just two miles wide in either direction. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most strategically important choke points. Two-thirds of the oil and half the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Indian imports come through the strait between Iran and Oman.

Statement 1 is not correct: ENSO is a single climate phenomenon, it has three states or phases.
The two opposite phases are El Niño and La Niña. El Niño is the warming of the ocean surface, or aboveaverage sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. And, La Nina is basically the opposite of an El Niño: Ocean temperatures along the eastern half of the tropical Pacific cool down and that part of the world dries out.
Statement 2 is not correct: During an El Niño event, the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean gets warmer than usual, particularly at the equator and along the coasts of South and Central America. Warm oceans lead to low-pressure systems in the atmosphere above, which in turn leads to a lot of rain for the western coasts of South America.

In News: Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has capped the amount of Trans Fatty Acids (TFA) or Trans fats in oils and fats to 3% for 2021 and 2% by 2022 from the current permissible limit of 5%.
Option B is correct: REPLACE trans fat is the initiative by WHO provides a strategic approach to eliminating industrially-produced trans fat from national food supplies, with the goal of global elimination by 2023. The six areas of action include:

• Review dietary sources of industrially-produced trans fat and the landscape for required policy change.
• Promote the replacement of industrially-produced trans fat with healthy fats and oils.
• Legislate or enact regulatory actions to eliminate industrially-produced trans fat.
• Assess and monitor trans-fat content in the food supply and changes in trans fat consumption in the population.
• Create awareness of the negative health impact of trans fat among policy-makers, producers, suppliers, and the public.
• Enforce compliance with policies and regulations.

In News: The Government of India recently launched the 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica.
Option B is correct: The 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica was flagged off on January 05, 2021, from Mormugao Port, Goa. The chartered ice-class vessel MV Vasiliy Golovnin has been chosen for the prestigious 40th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA) mission journey and will reach Antarctica in 30 days. India has two stations in the polar continent of Antarctica – Maitri and Bharati, which are being operated under NCPOR, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India. Dakshin Gangotri in Antarctica was the first permanent settlement of India built in 1983. It was excavated in 1989 and is being used as a supply base and transit camp . Maitri was the second permanent settlement of India in Antarctica. The station is located close to Lake Priyadarshini. The Indian Antarctic program was launched in 1981 after India signed the Antarctic treaty. The Treaty was signed in 1961. Currently there are 54 signatories to the Treaty.

In News: Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt agreed on Sunday to resume negotiations to resolve their decade-long complex dispute over the Grand Renaissance Dam hydropower project in the Horn of Africa.
Option C is correct: The Grand Renaissance Dam is being constructed by Ethiopia on the river Nile. Given the dam’s location on the Blue Nile tributary, it would allow Ethiopia to gain control of the flow of the river’s waters. Egypt lies downstream and is concerned that Ethiopia’s control over the water could result in lower water levels within its own borders. Egypt depends on the Nile for approximately 97% of its drinking water and irrigation supplies.

In News: The government is planning to conduct a nationwide voluntary online examination, Kamdhenu Gau-Vigyan Prachar-Prasar Pareeksha, the exam will be conducted by Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA).
Option B is correct: India is the largest producer of milk, but the average milk yield in India is only 50% of the world average. And, Rastriya Kamdhenu Aayog is an agency under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying) established for the protection of cows. It has been constituted to organize animal husbandry on modern and scientific lines and to take steps for preserving and improving breeds, and prohibiting the slaughter of cows and calves and other milch and draught cattle.The body will function as an integral part of Rashtriya Gokul Mission. Rashtriya Gokul Mission was initiated by Government of India in December 2014 with the aim of development and conservation of indigenous bovine breeds, genetic upgradation of bovine population and enhancing milk production and productivity of bovines thereby making milk production more remunerative to the farmers.

In News: At the recent annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) at Al-Ula (city in Saudi Arabia), Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a “solidarity and stability” agreement with Qatar.
Option A is correct: The GCC was formed in 1981 by an agreement among Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that was concluded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is an economic and political union comprising all the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf except Iraq. The structure of the GCC consists of the Supreme Council (the highest authority), the Ministerial Council and the Secretariat General. The Secretariat is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a political, economic, social, and regional organisation according 

Statement 1 is not correct: Article 312 provides the creation or abolishment of All India Service but the article 311 acts as a safeguard to civil servants like (1) No person who is a member of a civil service of the Union or an all-India service or a civil service of a State or holds a civil post under the Union or a State shall be dismissed or removed by an authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed.
Statement 2 is correct: Under the Article 312, the Council of States can declare by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting that it is necessary or expedient in the national interest so to do, Parliament may by law provide for the creation of one or more all India services (including an all India judicial service) common to the Union and the States.
Statement 3 is not correct: The concept of Civil Service Neutrality was established by the Masterman committee in the UK, not by the Nolan committee, Nolan committee was set up in the UK to advise on the ethical standards in public life in the year 1994.

In News: The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) food price index averaged 107.5 points in December 2020, up 2.3 points from November 2020.
Option B is correct: The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity group price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of the groups over 2014-2016. It measures changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA) is the flagship publication of the FAO. It is published every two years to provide policy-makers, civil society and those whose livelihoods depend on the sector a comprehensive, objective and global view of capture fisheries and aquaculture, including associated policy issue.

Statement 1 is not correct: The concept of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) originated and developed in the USA in the 1960s. In the USA, it was designed to provide legal representation to previously unrepresented groups and interests.
Statement 2 is correct: In India, the PIL is a product of the judicial activism of the Supreme Court. It was introduced in the early 1980s. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati were the pioneers of the concept of PIL.
Statement 3 is correct: Public Interest Litigation is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism. Such cases in which the victim does not have the necessary resources to commence litigation or his freedom to move court has been suppressed or encroached upon. The court can itself take cognisance of the matter and proceed suo motu or cases can commence on the petition of any public-spirited individual.

In News: The US Trade Representative (USTR) recently released the ‘Special 301’ investigation report, slamming India’s digital services tax (DST).
Option C is correct: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade. Section 301 (US Trade Act) gives the USTR broad authority to investigate and respond to a foreign country’s action which may be unfair or discriminatory as well as negatively affect US commerce. It was adopted through the 1974 Trade act, the Section allows the US President to impose tariffs or other curbs on foreign nations.

In News: A statement on Climate of India during 2020 was recently released by India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Option B is correct: A Statement on Climate of India during 2020 has been issued by the Climate Research and Services (CRS) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It is mentioned that the year 2020 was the eighth warmest year on record since 1901. The five warmest years on record in order were: 2016 (+0.710C), 2009 (+0.550C), 2017 (+0.5410C), 2010 (+0.5390C), and 2015 (+0.420C). During the recent fifteen years (2006-2020), it may be mentioned that 12 out of 15 were the warmest years. During the SW monsoon season (June-September), rainfall over the country as a whole was above normal that is 109% of LPA (Long Period Average). During the Northeast monsoon season in 2020 (October-December) rainfall over the country as a whole was normal that is 101% of LPA.

Dutch disease refers to the phenomenon wherein countries that are rich in natural resources witness uneven growth across sectors. According to the thesis, when resource-rich countries export their resources to the rest of the world, it causes the exchange rate of their currency to appreciate significantly; this, in turn, affects other sectors in the country by discouraging their exports while encouraging the import of cheaper alternatives. The term was coined by The Economist in 1977 to describe the decline of the manufacturing industry in the Netherlands. The idea, however, was first proposed by economists Peter Neary and Max Corden in a paper published in 1982.

Warehouse Receipts (WRs) are issued by warehouses on deposit of goods with them. These receipts allow for transferring the title of goods without physically moving them. Warehouse receipts may be negotiable or non-negotiable. Warehouse receipts are made negotiable under the Warehouse (Development and Regulation) Act, 2007. The receipts are used in the futures markets to guarantee the quantity and quality of a particular commodity being stored within an approved facility. They are regulated by the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA).