UPPSC GS I Practice Test - 9 (Old Pattern) - UPPSC (UP) MCQ

The Correct Answer is Russia.

Key-Points

• Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned.

• He resigned from the post after president Putin called for constitutional changes in his annual address.

Additional Information

• Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin became the Prime Minister of Russia on 16 January 2020.

Key-Points

• The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is building major infrastructure works in Pakistan, intended to link Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province to Gwadar deep seaport close to Pakistan’s border with Iran.

• It seeks to expand and upgrade infrastructure across Pakistan and widen and deepen economic ties with its “all-weather friend,” China.

LABOR:

• The CPEC is part of China’s larger regional, transnational ‘One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

• OBOR includes the land-based New Silk Road and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

• Beijing aims to create a Silk Road Economic Belt spread over Asia and Eastern Europe.

• Creating a web of transport, energy supply, and telecommunications lines.

Important Points

• Gwadar lies close to the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping lane.

• It could open up an energy and trade corridor from the Gulf across Pakistan to western China that could also be used by the Chinese Navy.

• The CPEC will give China land access to the Indian Ocean in a mere 2,000 km road journey from Kashgar to Gwadar.

• It will cut around 13,000 km of a sea voyage from China to the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Malacca and around India.

• Central Asian countries are enthusiastic to connect their infrastructure networks to the CPEC, which will allow them access to the Indian Ocean while contributing to the OBOR initiative.

• Veerendra Kumar has authored the book Himalayan odyssey. It is a travelogue.
• Famous books: Danube Sakshi, Samanwayathinte Vasantham, Buddhante Chiri, Ramante Dukham

Additional details about other options:

In News -

• The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formal recognition of Yogasana as a competitive sport at a joint press conference.

Key-Points

• The origins of Yogasana competitions can be traced to the Indian Yoga tradition, where such competitions have been held for centuries. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• Yogasana is an integral and important component of Yoga, which is psycho-physical in nature and popular across the globe for its efficacy in fitness and general wellness.

• Competitions that will arise out of the recognition of Yogasana as a sport will enhance interest in Yoga among people around the globe.

• The Government of India is planning to include Yogasana as a Sports discipline in National Games, Khelo India, and international sports events. Hence statement 2 is correct.

In News -

• India will be delivering a Kilo Class submarine INS Sindhuvir to Myanmar Navy as part of defence cooperation.

Important Points

• This will be the first submarine of the Myanmar Navy.

• Cooperation in the maritime domain is an important part of India's enhanced engagement with Myanmar.

• It is in accordance with India's vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and building neighbors self-reliance in all the neighboring countries.

• Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbors and shares a 1,640-kilometer-long border with a number of north-eastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.

• Kilo-class refers to diesel-electric attack submarines that were designed and built in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

• Hence, option 1 is the correct answer.

In News -

• The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world.

• The intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map and to create jobs, and bring economic independence to the tribal population.

Important Points

Adiyar Tribe

• The Ravula (Adiyar in Malayalam, Yerava in Kannada) is a tribal community in Kerala and Karnataka.

• Their common language is known as the Ravula language.

• They live in the districts of Kannur and Wayanad in Kerala and the Kodagu district of Karnataka.

• Most of them are agricultural workers and are in the process of detribalization.

Tharu

• The community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks of the lower Himalayas.

• Most of them are forest dwellers, and some practiced agriculture.

• The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.

• The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian Terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

Bonda

• The Bonda is a Munda ethnic group of approximately 12,000 (2011 census) who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha, near the junction of the three states of Odisha Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Mistake Points

Chakmas

• The Chakmas are ethnic people who lived in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, most of which are located in Bangladesh.

• Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists.

• They are found in northeast India, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

• Chakmas are one of the major tribes of Tripura.

• Chakmas have their script in Burmese alphabets, though not in use, rather Bengali script is being used is easy to learn.

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.

• GHI scores are calculated each year to assess progress and setbacks in combating hunger.

Key-Points

• Four indicators to determine GHI score : (Asked in UPSC Prelims 2016)

• UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);

• CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);

• CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition);

• CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).

• GHI scores on a 100-point GHI Severity Scale,

• 0 - no hunger (Best score)

• 100 - worst.

Important Points

• India's performance in GHI 2020

• India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores.

• With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious.

In News -

• Recent demand of various farmer organizations to provide legal status to Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Important Points

What is MSP?

• Minimum Support Price is a safety net given to the farmers to ensure guaranteed prices and assured markets.

• The MSP-based procurement system is aimed to save the crops from price fluctuations due to various unwarranted factors such as the monsoon, lack of market integration, information asymmetry, and other elements of market imperfection plaguing Indian agriculture.

• However, currently, MSP does not have any legal backing.

• The MSP is fixed twice a year on the Commission’s recommendations for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), a statutory body, and submits separate reports recommending prices for Kharif and rabi seasons.

• The CACP submits its recommendations to the government in the form of Price Policy Reports every year, separately for five commodities, namely Kharif crops, rabi crops, sugarcane, raw jute, and copra.

• After considering the report and views of the state governments and also keeping in view the overall demand and supply situation in the country, the central government takes the final decision.

Key-Points

Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP)

• The Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP) is an attached office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India.

• It came into existence in January 1965.

• It is mandated to recommend minimum support prices (MSPs) to incentivize the cultivators to adopt modern technology and raise productivity and overall grain production in line with the emerging demand patterns in the country. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• As of now, CACP recommends MSPs of 23 commodities, which comprise 7 kinds of cereal (paddy, wheat, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, barley, and ragi), 5 pulses (gram, tur, moong, urad, lentil), 7 oilseeds (groundnut, rapeseed-mustard, soybean, sesamum, sunflower, safflower, niger seed), and 4 commercial crops (copra, sugarcane, cotton, and raw jute).

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of the Union government takes a final decision on the level of MSPs and other recommendations made by the CACP. Once this decision is taken, CACP puts all its reports on the website for various stakeholders to see the rationale behind CACP's price and non-price recommendations. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), a professional association for Indian American physicians, organized a 3-days long 14th Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh(AP) from January 3, 2021, for the 1st time.

Key-Points

• Around 500 doctors from the United States of America (USA), Australia, Britain, and other countries are expected to participate in the summit.

• It covers various communicable and non-communicable diseases, public health hazards, eradication of tuberculosis(TB), preventing maternal mortality, control of Hepatitis B, etc.

• Over the past few years, AAPI has been collaborating with several professional medical associations & has made a key role in addressing diabetes with the launch of the Sevak Programme and CPR-AED (Proper cardiopulmonary resuscitation-automated external defibrillator) training.

Key-Points

• The Gujarat Forest Department announced the population of Asiatic lions in the state increased from 523 to 674.

• The Lion Census is conducted every 5 years. Hence, Statement 2 is not correct.

Poonam Avlokan:

• It is a monthly in-house exercise carried out every full moon.

• Field staff and officers spend 24 hours assessing the number of lions and their locations in their respective jurisdictions.

• It was a mechanism developed by the Forest Department in 2014 as part of preparations for the 2015 Lion Census.

Important Points

• The first Lion Census was conducted by the Nawab of Junagadh in 1936.

• Since 1965, the Forest Department has been regularly conducting the lion census every five years.

• The 6th, 8th and 11th Censuses were each delayed by a year for various reasons.

• The 2015 Census had counted 523 lions, up from 411 in 2010.

• But 12 lions were killed in a flash flood in Amreli just a month after the 2015 census, followed by the deaths of more than two dozen lions in an outbreak of canine distemper virus (CDV) and babesiosis in 2018.

• A babesiosis outbreak was reported in Gir (east) this summer too, and around two dozen lions are reported killed.

• The Madhya Pradesh government had chosen Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary as the site to relocate over 500 Asiatic lions.

Key-Points

• After a gap of 35 years, India assumed the Chairmanship of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

• Labour Secretary Apurva Chandra has been elected as the Chairperson of the Governing Body of the ILO.

• The Governing Body (GB) is the apex executive body of the ILO, which decides policies, programs, agenda, budget, and elects the Director-General.

• For Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Municipal Corporation bonds worth Rs 200 cr were listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai on 2 December 2020.

• The Lucknow Municipal Corporation has become the first civic body in north India to issue bonds, even as issuing municipal bonds by civic bodies started in 1997.

Uttar Pradesh:

• Chief Minister - Yogi Adityanath.

• Governor - Anandiben Patel.

• Number of Districts - 75.

• Lok Sabha seats - 80.

• Rajya Sabha seats - 31.

• State Animal - Barasingha.

• Tezpur Litchi of Assam has been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

• Litchi (Litchi Chinensis) is one of the most important sub-tropical evergreen fruits produced in Tezpur.

• The fruit is known for its excellent quality, pleasant flavor, juicy pulp with attractive red color.

• Litchi consists of 60% juice, 8% rag, 19 % seed, and 13% skin, varying upon variety and climate.

Assam:

• Chief Minister - Sarbananda Sonowal.

• Governor - Jagdish Mukhi.

• The number of districts - 33.

• Lok Sabha seats - 14.

• Rajya Sabha seats - 7.

• Saurabh Lodha is the recipient of Young two-dimensional020 in Nano Science and Technology.

• Saurabh is a professor of Electrical Engineering at IIT Bombay.

• The Department of Science and Technology has bestowed this award upon him for contributing towards the development of two-dimensional Van der Waals material-based logic transistor technologies beyond silicon and nanoelectronic.

• He has worked with Applied Materials Inc., which is one of the world’s largest semiconductor equipment manufacturers.

• His major work interest revolves around semiconductor equipment for advanced transistor technologies.

• Minister of Science and Technology- Dr. Harsh Vardhan

• An ecological pyramid is a pictorial representation of the relationship between different organisms in an ecosystem.

Pyramid of numbers:

• It depicts the numbers of individual organisms at different trophic levels of the food chain.

• It is helpful to calculate the changes observed in the number of organisms in each trophic level.

• We can identify which level is in the endangered zone and need to be saved. But its limitation is we cannot count the number of all organisms accurately.

Pyramid of Biomass:

• Biomass is the dry weight of the organism.

• The pyramid of biomass indicates a decrease of biomass in each trophic level from base to apex.

• Higher trophic level, biomass decreases for ecosystems on land, and it’s inverse for an aquatic ecosystem where biomass increases with a higher trophic level.

Pyramid of Energy:

An energy pyramid shows how much energy is needed as it flows upwards to support the next trophic level. Here the pyramid is always upward.

• Mahinda Rajapaksa took an oath as Prime Minister of the country for the fourth time in August 2020.

Key-Points

• Mahinda Rajapaksa had served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015.

• He also served as the Prime Minister from 2004 to 2005 and then again for a brief period in 2018 and 2019.

• In 2015, he lost the presidential elections and later made a strong political comeback.

In News

• Chinese spacecraft carrying rocks and soil from the moon has begun its journey back to Earth, putting China on course to become the first country to successfully retrieve lunar samples since the 1970s.

• A successful landing in Inner Mongolia would make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Key-Points

• The Change-5 was launched on Nov. 24, and a lander vehicle touched down on the moon on Dec. 1. The mission was expected to take around 23 days in total.

• The mission’s objective was to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.

About Change-5 probe:

• It is an unmanned spacecraft by China. The probe is named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess. Hence, Statement 1 is NOT correct.

• The rocket comprises four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender, and a lander.

• The Change-5 mission is expected to realize four “firsts” in China’s space history:

• The first time for a probe to take off from the surface of the Moon. Hence, Statement 2 is correct.

• The first time to automatically sample the lunar surface.

• The first time to conduct unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit.

• The first time to return to Earth with lunar soil samples in escape velocity.

Key-Points

Kalibangan:

• Kalibangan is an archaeological site at Ganganagar in Rajasthan near the Ghaggar river.

• Plough field, fire altars, bones of camels, burial in the circular and rectangular grave is found here.

Chanhudaro:

• Chahundaro is an archaeological site at Sindh in Pakistan near the Indus river.

• We can find a bead factory and ornaments here, which points towards good craftsmen in this area.

• No fortified structure in this place.

• It is the only Harappan city without a Citadel, and evidence of human sacrifice is available here.

Surkotada:

• Bones of horse and graveyard are found at Surkotada in Gujarat.

Mohenjodaro:

• It is a planned settlement divided into two sections, one smaller but higher (Citadel) and the other much larger but lower (Lower Town).

• The Citadel owes its height to the fact that buildings were constructed on mud-brick platforms.

• It was walled, which meant that it was physically separated from the Lower Town.

• It had structures that were probably used for special public purposes.

• The Lower Town was also walled. Several buildings were built on platforms, which served as foundations.

Additional Information

• The Harappan civilization was the first urban civilization in South Asia

• It forms a part of the proto-history belonging to the bronze age.

It is classified into three phases.

1. The early pre-Harappan in phase (3200 2600 BC)

2. The mature Harappan phase (2600-1900 BC)

3. The late Harappan phase (1900-1300 BC)

• A Tropical cyclone is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, heavy rain, and a continuous warm water supply.

• The eastern coast of India is affected by tropical cyclones more than the western coast of India.

• More cyclones are formed in the Bay of Bengal than the Arabian Sea due to certain factors:

• Bay Of Bengal is relatively warmer than the Arabian sea, and the average Sea Surface Temperature is higher. So the warmer east coast attracts more cyclones.

• The Arabian sea has a higher salinity than the Bay Of Bengal.

Key-Points

Dashavatara Temple:

• It is an early 6th-century Hindu temple located at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh.
• It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. So, statement 1 is correct.
• But, it also includes the images of various gods and goddesses such as Shiva, Parvati, Kartikeya, Brahma, Indra, River goddesses Ganga and Yamuna.
• It has a panel showing the five Pandavas of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Features of a large panel of Sheshashayi Vishnu:

• It represents the Supreme being slumbering wakefully on the serpent Ananta, the symbol of eternity, in the interval between the dissolution of the universe and its new creation.
• The four-armed Vishnu is reclining gracefully on the coils of the Adisesha, whose seven hoods form a canopy over his crowned head. So, statement 2 is NOT correct.
• His consort Lakshmi is massaging his right leg. So, statement 3 is correct.
• Two attendant figures stand behind her.
• Various gods and celestials are hovering above.
• In the lower panel, the two demons Madhu and Kaitabha, in an attacking attitude, are challenged by the four personified weapons of Vishnu. So, statement 4 is correct.

Key-Points

• Democracy is of two types—direct and indirect.

• In a direct democracy, the people exercise their supreme power directly, as is the case in Switzerland.

• There are four devices of direct democracy, namely, Referendum, Initiative, Recall, and Plebiscite.

Important Points

• Referendum:- It is a vote in which all the people in a country or an area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question.

• Recall means to call back, cancel, or Sea revoke.

• Plebiscite:- It is the direct vote of all the electorate members on an important public question such as a change in the constitution.

• The initiative is the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do. ((especially in Switzerland and some US states) the right of citizens outside the legislature to originate legislation.)

Additional Information

• In an indirect democracy, on the other hand, the representatives elected by the people exercise the supreme power and thus carry on the government and make the laws.

• This type of democracy, also known as representative democracy, is of two kinds—parliamentary and presidential.

• The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
• The Panama Canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is a water passage across the isthmus of Panama. It proved a vital component of expanding global trade routes in the 20th century.
• The Panama Canal was opened in 1914 after the startup of its creation by France in 1881and later on handed over to the US in 1904.
• The canal consists of artificial lakes, several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks, as well as an additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), which acts as a reservoir for the canal.
• It decreases the distance to go all around South America, and anyone can go directly through this canal.

Key-Points

• The Indian National Congress outlines a seven-item program of Non-Cooperation:

• Surrender of titles and honorary offices. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• Refusal to attend government durbars and official functions.

• Boycott of government-aided schools and colleges. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• Boycott of foreign goods.

• Refusal of all classes to offer service in Mesopotamia.

• Boycott of British courts. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Boycott of elections to provincial and central assembly elections. Hence, statement 4 is not correct.

• Ibn Battuta was an Arab traveler and adventurer from Morocco.

• His book is a primary source of the history of the region of Muhammad bin Tughluq; it throws light on the socio-political condition of his times.

Key-Points

• Ibn Battuta (1304–1368) was a scholar, theologian, adventurer, and traveler who, like Marco Polo fifty years earlier, wandered the world and wrote about it.

• Battuta sailed, rode camels and horses, and walked his way to 44 different modern countries, traveling an estimated 75,000 miles during 29 years.

• He journeyed from North Africa to the Middle East and Western Asia, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

• The Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and black soil region of the Deccan are essential for the production of Wheat.

CDM compared to Non-Cooperation Movement:

• The stated objective this time was complete independence and not just remedying two specific wrongs and a vaguely-worded Swaraj.

• The methods involved the violation of the law from the very beginning and not just non-cooperation with foreign rule.

• There was a decline in protests involving the intelligentsia, such as lawyers giving up practice, students giving up government schools to join national schools and colleges.

• Muslim participation was nowhere near the Non-Cooperation Movement level.

• No significant labour upsurge coincided with the movement.

• There was the absence of Communal clashes.

• But massive participation of peasants and business groups compensated for the decline of other features.

• The number of those imprisoned was about three times more this time.

• The Congress was organisationally stronger.

Important Points

• The Yamuna river forms the border between Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

• The Yamuna river also defines the borders of Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh and between Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

• The Yamuna river originates from the Yamunotri glacier in Uttarakhand. The river travels for 1,376 kilometers and merges with the Ganga at Triveni Sangam, Prayagraj.

• HathniKund Barrage is where Yamuna water gets divided into two large canals: Eastern Yamuna Canal towards Uttar Pradesh and Western Yamuna Canal towards Haryana.

​Additional Information

• The Markanda river in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana is a tributary of the Ghaggar river. Aruna was the ancient name of the Markanda river.

Key-Points

• Mansabdari was a system of army and civil services started by Akbar in place of the Jagirdari system. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The ‘Mansab’ is an Arabic word meaning rank or position or status of a person. Thus Mansabdari was a system in which the rank of a government official was determined. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• Every civil and military officer was given a ‘mansab.’ Different numbers, which could be divided by ten, were used for ranking officers.

• During the early reign of Akbar, the lowest grade was ten, and the highest was 5000. Towards the end of the reign, it was raised to 7000.

• Higher mansabs were given to princes and Rajput rulers who accepted the suzerainty of Akbar.

In News -

• ​The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations (UN) agency,

• For its efforts to combat hunger, bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas, and preventing the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

Key-Points

World Food Programme -

• It was established in 1961 by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and became a full-fledged UN programme in 1965.

• WFP Headquarter is located in Rome, Italy.

• Currently, it is the world’s largest humanitarian agency combating hunger.

• Eradicating hunger is one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2: Zero Hunger) to be achieved by 2030, and WFP is the UN’s primary agency that works towards this goal.