Test: September 2022 Weekly Current Affair - 2 - UPSC MCQ

A vostro account is an essential part of correspondent banking in which a foreign bank acts as an agent providing financial services on behalf of a domestic bank.
Vostro accounts enable domestic banks to provide international banking services to their clients who have global banking needs.
Vostro account services include executing wire transfers, performing foreign exchange transactions, enabling deposits and withdrawals, and expediting international trade.

• PM SHRI Schools (PM Schools for Rising India). Under the scheme, 14,500 schools across India’s states and Union Territories will be redeveloped to reflect the key features of the NEP, 2020.
• PM SHRI schools will be an upgrade of existing schools run by the Centre, states, UTs, and local bodies. This essentially means that a PM SHRI school can be an upgraded KV, JNV, or even a school that is run by a state government or a municipal corporation.
• The PM SHRI scheme will be application-based, which means states will have to identify schools for upgradation under the scheme.
• According to the selection methodology decided by the central government, states and UTs interested in getting included under the scheme will have to first agree to implement the NEP in its entirety. 
• How PM SHRI schools will be different from existing government-run schools remains to be seen — however, as per the plan, the upgraded schools are expected to be superior in terms of infrastructure. They will be equipped with labs, smart classrooms, libraries, sports equipment, art room, etc., and shall also be developed as green schools with water conservation, waste recycling, energy-efficient infrastructure and integration of organic lifestyle in curriculum. These schools will also “offer mentorship” to other schools in their vicinity.

Subhas Chandra Bose was the first to call Mahatma Gandhi the “father of the nation” during an address from the Azad Hind Radio from Singapore in July 1944.

Set of human development indices that the HDR compiles. These include:

1. HDI
2. Inequality-adjusted HDI
3. Gender Development Index
4. Gender Inequality Index
5. Multidimensional Poverty Index
6. Planetary pressures-adjusted Human Development Index

• A bottlenose dolphin found dead in a Florida canal in the spring tested positive for a highly virulent strain of bird flu. This version of the virus, which has spread widely among North American and European birds, has affected an unusually broad array of species. But these findings represent the first two documented cases in cetaceans, a group of marine mammals that includes dolphins, porpoises and whales.
• Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide, being found everywhere except for the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions. 

• The Health Ministry’s unique “adopt a TB-patient” (Ni-kshay Mitras) initiative — probably the only one-of-its-kind in the world.
• The programme was brought in to fill the critical “community’’ elements into India’s fight towards the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan aimed at eliminating TB by 2025.
• Ni-kshay Mitra (Donor) for this programme includes co-operative societies, corporates, elected representatives, individuals, institutions, non-governmental organisations, political parties and partners who can support by adopting the health facilities (for individual donor), blocks/urban wards/districts/States for accelerating the response against TB to complement the government efforts, as per the district-specific requirements in coordination with the district administration.
• Free diagnostics, free drugs and Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana provided by the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) to all the TB patients notified from both the public and the private sector.

• The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 1994 international agreement that lays down the broad principles of the global effort to fight climate change, explicitly acknowledges this differentiated responsibility of nations. It makes it very clear that rich countries must provide both the finance and the technology to the developing nations to help them tackle climate change. It is this mandate that later evolved into the $100 billion amount that the rich countries agreed to provide every year to the developing world.
• It was after much struggle that the developing countries and NGOs managed to establish a separate channel on loss and damages at international climate change negotiations. The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damages, set up in 2013, was the first formal acknowledgment of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.

• Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) come entirely under the Centre’s Ministry of Education. They are fully funded by the Union government under central sector schemes.
• While KVs largely cater to children of central government employees posted in states and UTs, JNVs were set up to nurture talented students in rural parts of the country.

• India imports nearly 85% of its crude requirement and in the year ended March 2022, the oil import bill doubled to $119 billion on account of rise in prices. The rise in import bill not only leads to inflation and rise in current account deficit and fiscal deficit, but also weakens the rupee against the dollar and hurts stock market sentiment.
• A rise in crude oil price also has an indirect impact on India as it leads to a rise in edible oil prices, coal prices and also that of fertiliser as they use gas as the feedstock. Gas accounts for 80% of all fertiliser production costs.
• So if a rise in crude oil prices could lead to a much enhanced import burden, it also leads to reduction in demand in the economy which hurts growth. It could also lead to higher fiscal deficit if the government chooses to bear the burden by way of subsidies.

• US President Joe Biden first discussed the IPEF in the East Asia Summit on October 2021, saying “United States will explore with partners the development of an Indo-Pacific economic framework that will define our shared objectives around trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply chain resiliency, decarbonization and clean energy, infrastructure, worker standards, and other areas of shared interest”.
• IPEF is not a free trade agreement, and not the “same old, same old” kind of trade agreement, but allows members to negotiate the parts they want to.
• Currently, India and 13 countries located in the Pacific Ocean are its members: Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, and Vietnam.

• By the end of 2022, India will establish the country’s first Dark Sky Reserve in the cold desert regions of Ladakh.
• The Ladakh Union Territory administration is leading the efforts in establishing the country’s first Dark Sky Reserve.
• A Dark Sky Reserve is public or private land with a distinguished nocturnal environment and starry nights that has been developed responsibly to prevent light pollution.
• Individuals or groups can nominate a site for certification to the International Dark Sky Association (IDSA). There are five designated categories, namely International Dark Sky parks, communities, reserves, sanctuaries and Urban Night Sky Places.
• The certification process is similar to that of a site being awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site tag or getting recognised as a Biosphere Reserve. Between 2001 and January 2022, there have been 195 sites recognised as International Dark Sky Places globally, the IDSA said.
• The IDSA considers a piece of land suitable for dark sky place only if it is either publicly or privately owned; is accessible to the public partially or entirely during the year; the land is legally protected for scientific, natural, educational, cultural, heritage and/or public enjoyment purposes; the core area of the land provides an exceptional dark sky resource relative to the communities and cities that surround it and the land offers prescribed night sky brightness either for a reserve, park or sanctuary.
  

• Under the provisions of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), Bangladesh extends preferential tariffs to Indian exports of products outside the ‘sensitive list’ of 993 items. In 2011, India announced duty-free, quota-free access to Bangladesh for all tariff lines except tobacco and alcohol.
• To facilitate trade and transit through inland waterways, a Protocol on Inland Waterways Trade and Transit (PIWTT) has been in place since 1972. 
• MoUs were signed in 2015 on the use of the Chittagong and Mongla Ports for Movement of Goods to and from India.
• The MoU on Border Haats on the India-Bangladesh border was renewed in April 2017 during the visit of Prime Minister Hasina to India. Currently, four Border Haats — two each in Meghalaya (Kalaichar and Balat) and Tripura (Srinagar and Kamalasagar) — are functional. Work on setting up two more haats on the Tripura-Bangladesh border and four on the Meghalaya-Bangladesh border is under way. The two sides have also decided to identify locations for another six Border Haats.

• Along with Harappa, Mohenjo Daro is the best known site of the bronze age urban civilization that flourished in the valley of the Indus between roughly 3,300 BC and 1,300 BC, with its ‘mature’ phase spanning the period 2,600 BC to 1,900 BC.
• The indus valley civilization was first identified in 1921 at Harappa in the Punjab region and then in 1922 at Mohenjo-daro, near the Indus River in the Sindh region.
• Mohenjo Daro is famous for its elaborate town planning with street grids with brick pavements, developed water supply, drainage, and covered sewerage systems, homes with toilets, and monumental buildings such as the Great Granary and the Great Bath. 

The plan to deal with the death of the head of state in Britain was termed Operation London Bridge.

• Overheating of an economy occurs when its productive capacity is unable to keep pace with growing aggregate demand leading to inflation. 
• When there is excess demand and low supply, high consumption and low savings can lead to a situation where there is a shortage of investible capital. The economy is unable to supply demanded goods and prices start increases.
• This can be caused due to additional liquidity pumped in the system by the central bank or government. When people have more money in the short-term, they can demand more goods and services causing the economy to heat up in the short-term, until the demand is satisfied.

• The Gyanvapi Mosque was built in 1669 during the reign of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It is located in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh.
• The mosque is not an ASI-protected site, and the ASI has no role in its maintenance or upkeep.

• In the 10 years since it was developed, the genome-editing technology called CRISPR has begun to deliver on the near unlimited potential that scientists say it has to improve the quality of human life.
• The technology enables a simple but remarkably efficient way to ‘edit’ the genetic codes of living organisms, thus opening up the possibility of ‘correcting’ genetic information to cure diseases, prevent physical deformities, or to even produce cosmetic enhancements.

• Brahmaputra River has its source in southwest Tibet.
• The source of the Sutlej is west of the catchment area of Lake Rakshastal in Tibet, as springs in an ephemeral stream.
• Chenab river rises in the upper Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
• Ravi river rises in the Bara Bhangal, District Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.

“Certificate of Deposit” or “CD” is a negotiable, unsecured money market instrument issued by a bank as a Usance Promissory Note against funds deposited at the bank for a maturity period upto one year;

Certificate of Deposits (CDs) may be issued by:

• Scheduled Commercial Banks;
• Regional Rural Banks; and
• Small Finance Banks.

CDs may be issued to all persons resident in India.
Primary issuance
CDs shall be issued only in dematerialised form and held with a depository registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India.
CDs shall be issued in minimum denomination of ₹5 lakh and in multiples of ₹5 lakh thereafter.
The tenor of a CD at issuance shall not be less than seven days and shall not exceed one year.
Banks are not allowed to grant loans against CDs, unless specifically permitted by the Reserve Bank.

• ‘Taragiri’, the third stealth frigate of project 17A was launched recently by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDL) in Mumbai.
• This ship has been built using an integrated construction methodology which involves hull block construction in different geographical locations and integration/erection on Slipway at MDL.
• The first ship of the Project 17A, ‘Nilgiri’ was launched on September 28, 2019 and expected for sea trials in the first half of 2024.
• The second ship of P17A class ‘Udaygiri’ was launched on May 17 this year and is expected to start sea trials during the second half of 2024.

The data from these satellites are used for several applications covering agriculture, water resources, urban planning, rural development, mineral prospecting, environment, forestry, ocean resources and disaster management.

The anthropogenic factors directly influencing a freshwater system are the engineering of river channels, irrigation and other consumptive use of water, widespread land use/land cover change, change in an aquatic habitat, and point and non-point source pollution affecting water quality.

The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly held that judicial review of executive action is the basic feature of the Constitution. The decisions in Minerva Mills vs Union of India (1980) and L. Chandra Kumar vs Union of India (1997) reiterated this fundamental principle. If the executive wishes to limit rights — in this case, censor or restrict speech — it must show that the test of reasonable restrictions is satisfied. This principle is the bedrock of judicial review.

• The first industrial revolution came with the advent of mechanisation, steam power and water power.
• The second industrial revolution revolved around mass production and assembly lines using electricity.
• The third industrial revolution came with electronic and IT systems and automation.
• The fourth industrial revolution is associated with cyber-physical systems. Industry 4.0 describes the growing trend towards automation and data exchange in technology and processes within the manufacturing industry, including: The Internet of Things (IoT), The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cyber-physical Systems (CPS), Smart Manufacturing, Smart Factories, Cloud Computing, Additive Manufacturing, Big Data, Robotics, Cognitive Computing, Artificial Intelligence & Blockchain etc.

• For those on Earth, Venus is the second-brightest object in the sky after the moon. It appears bright because of its thick cloud cover that reflects and scatters light. But while Venus, which is the second closest planet to the Sun, is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar sizes, the two planets have significant differences between them.
• For one, the planet’s thick atmosphere traps heat and is the reason that it is the hottest planet in the solar system, despite coming after Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Surface temperatures on Venus can go up to 471 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to melt lead, NASA notes.
• Further, Venus moves forward on its orbit around the Sun but spins backwards around its axis slowly. This means on Venus the Sun rises in the west and sets in the East. One day on Venus is equivalent to 243 Earth days because of its backward spinning, opposite to that of the Earth’s and most other planets. Venus also does not have a moon and no rings.