UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 Practice Test - 21 - UPSC MCQ

It is an economic indicator that is calculated from monthly surveys of purchasing managers and supply executives from specific companies. PMI Manufacturing gives an indication of the economic health of the manufacturing sector. The most followed PMI readings come from Markit and Institute of Supply Management.

It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index too is constructed.

A figure above 50 denotes an expansion while anything below 50 denotes a contraction in activity. The higher the difference from this mid-point of 50, greater the expansion or contraction.

Bio-CNG is a purified form of biogas with over 95% pure methane gas. It is similar to natural gas in its composition (97% methane) and energy potential. While natural gas is a fossil fuel, Bio-CNG is a renewable form of energy produced from agricultural and food-waste. Bio-CNG is being looked at as an environment-friendly alternative to diesel.
This Bio-CNG can be used to power automobiles with the same efficiency as fossil fuel CNG.
Bio-CNG has a high calorific value and can be used in blast furnaces; also it can be converted into electricity.

Various sources of biomass are as follows: wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. 

1. Wood energy is derived both from direct use of harvested wood as a fuel and from Wood waste streams. The largest source of energy from wood is pulping liquor or "black liquor", a waste product from processes of the pulp, paper and paperboard industry. 
2. Waste energy is the second largest source of biomass energy. The main contributors of waste energy are municipal solid waste (MSW), manufacturing waste, and landfill gas. 
3. Biomass alcohol fuel, or ethanol, is derived almost exclusively from corn. Its principal use it as an oxygenate in gasoline. For biomass fuels, the most common feedstocks used today are corn grain (for ethanol) and soybeans (for biodiesel).

Nanomicelles is an emerging platform for drug delivery to the eye. Conventionally nanoparticles are said to be hydrophobic and hence unsuitable for delivering water-soluble drugs. However, this has been overcome by development of nanomicelles which are capable of delivering poorly water-soluble drug.
DNA Origami is a process of making 2-D and 3-D nanostructures out of DNA. Since the DNA has the property of self-assembly, combination of DNA nanostructures can be used to make drug delivery systems. Given the small size of DNA-nanostructures, they can deliver drugs at cell level.
Researchers have developed a technique to trap and move nano-sized particles using light called as ‘nanotweezers technology’. This technique uses a focused laser beam to trap and manoeuvre nanoparticles and would enable non-invasive manipulation of fragile biological specimens such as bacteria, viruses and proteins.

The Indra Sawhney vs Union of India— also known as the Mandal verdict — capped reservations at 50 percent.
The judgment also laid down that the extent of reservation should not cross the 50 percent limit, unless a special case was made out for extraordinary situations and peculiar conditions to relax the rule. 
Article 342A introduced by the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act (2018), requires presidential (Centre’s) assent for states notifying changes to OBC categories. 

To ensure aviation safety is not compromised due to the consumption of alcohol by pilots, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued revised guidelines for conducting pre-flight and postflight breath analyser tests on the crew.
It is a well-known fact that even when the blood alcohol levels are zero in the body, there could be some effect of hangover, which is mainly due to congeners. These congeners may take 15 to 18 hours to get dissipated and may produce ill effects for up to 36 hours depending upon the amount of alcohol consumed.
Alcohol also interfered with the enzymatic cellular process or oxidation, causing hypoxia and reduced an individual’s tolerance with increase in altitude.
Consumption of alcohol results in significant deterioration of psychomotor performance and decreases the amount of mental capacity available to deal with many essential tasks involved in the conduct of safe flight.

Article 356 empowers the President to issue a proclamation, if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Notably, the president can act either on a report of the governor of the state or otherwise too (ie, even without the governor’s report).
A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue. If approved by both the Houses of Parliament, the President’s Rule continues for six months.

India’s GST architecture is built on the firm foundations of a GST Council and the GST Network (GSTN). The first is the key decision-making body, chaired by the Union Finance Minister with a Minister of State in charge of Finance and the Finance Ministers of States as members. 

GSTN generates high frequency data and subjects them to analytics for informed policy making.
Designed on the principle of destination-based consumption taxation, with seamless provision for input tax credit.
GST is applicable to all goods and services except alcohol for human consumption and five specified petroleum products with a common threshold exemption applicable to both CGST and SGST.

CGST levied by the Centre, SGST by the States, UTGST by the Union Territories, and IGST levied on inter-State supply including imports, GST is applicable to all goods and services except alcohol for human consumption and five specified petroleum products with a common threshold exemption applicable to both CGST and SGST. 

The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) had launched operation “Save Kurma” to focus on the poaching, transportation and illegal trade of live turtles and tortoises.
Another operation “Operation Turtshield– I” and ``Operation Turtshield-II” was taken up to tackle the illegal trade of live turtles.
WCCB conducted Operation “Lesknow”, “Lesknow-II” and Operation “Lesknow-III” to gain attention of enforcement agencies towards the illegal wildlife trade in lesser-known species of wildlife. 
WCCB’s “Operation Clean Art” towards illegal wildlife trade in Mongoose hair brushes.

Another “Operation Softgold” to tackle Shahtoosh Shawl (made from Chiru wool) illegal trade and to spread awareness among the weavers and traders engaged in this trade.

About National Board for Wildlife:

• It is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Its roles is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
• It has power to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• No alteration of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.
• The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister.

India is a signatory to the United Nations Brasilia Declaration on road safety, which called for reducing road fatalities by 50% by 2020.

India has seen 26.48% reduction in road accidents and 22% drop in deaths in 2020 against 2019.

Distributed ledger technology (DLT) and BlockChain technology:

• Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is a digital system for recording the transaction of assets in which the transactions and their details are recorded in multiple places at the same time.
• Unlike traditional databases, distributed ledgers have no central data store or administration functionality.
• Whether distributed ledger technologies, such as blockchain, will revolutionize how governments, institutions and industries work is an open question.
• Blockchain technology is a specific kind of DLT that came to prominence after Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency that used it, became popular.
• Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin use codes to encrypt transactions and stack them up in blocks, creating Blockchains. It is the use of codes that differentiates cryptocurrencies from other virtual currencies.

During the framing of the Indian Constitution, it was proposed that any petition alleging a breach of fundamental rights by the state ought to be judicially decided within one month. While the proposal did not, ultimately, find its way into the text of the Constitution.
The responsibility for constituting benches and scheduling cases especially cases that are due to be heard by larger Benches rests solely with the Chief Justice of India (CJI).

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is currently in effect in the entire States of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Court, pointing to its own judgment in K S Puttaswamy, has said that “right to privacy is as sacrosanct as human existence and is inalienable to human dignity and autonomy”. While agreeing that it is not an absolute right, the Court has said any restrictions “must necessarily pass constitutional scrutiny”.
 
Any surveillance or snooping done on an individual by the state or any outside agency is an infringement of that person’s right to privacy. Hence, any violation of that right by the state, even in national interest, has to follow procedures established by the law.

• In a country like India, fiscal policy plays a key role in elevating the rate of capital formation both in the public and private sectors.
• Through taxation, the fiscal policy helps mobilise considerable amounts of resources for financing its numerous projects.
• Fiscal policy also helps in providing stimulus to elevate the savings rate.
• The fiscal policy gives adequate incentives to the private sector to expand its activities.
• Fiscal policy aims to minimise the imbalance in the dispersal of income and wealth.
   

A bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is an agreement establishing the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one state in another state. This type of investment is called foreign direct investment (FDI). BITs are established through trade pacts.

The distinctive feature of many BITs is that they allow for an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, whereby an investor whose rights under the BIT have been violated could have recourse to international arbitration, often under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), rather than suing the host State in its own courts. This process is called investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
The world’s first BIT was signed on November 25, 1959 between Pakistan and Germany. There are currently more than 2500 BITs in force, involving most countries in the world.

NGOs have spoken against the use of BITs, stating that they are essentially designed to protect foreign investors and do not take into account obligations and standards to protect the environment, labour rights, social provisions or natural resources. 

The Constitution does permit the Centre to levy cess and surcharges beyond the basic taxes and duties in extraordinary situations. These additional taxes do not go to a divisible pool.
Divisible pool refers to the taxes of the central government that it should share with the sub-national or state governments in accordance with the recommendations of the Finance Commission.

A year ago, eight countries led by the United States signed the so-called Artemis Accords. The accords are an agreement to abide by a broad set of principles to guide the expanding human activity on the moon – ranging from mining resources to setting up lunar colonies. The eight signatories were from Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. Since then, many others have joined — Brazil, South Korea, New Zealand, and Ukraine.
The US has invited India to join the accords.

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched two customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — the RBI Retail Direct Scheme and the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.

RBI Retail Direct Scheme

The scheme allows retail investors to buy and sell government securities (G-Sec) online, both in the primary and secondary markets. According to details provided by RBI, these small investors can now invest in G-Secs by opening a gilt securities account with the RBI. The account opened will be called Retail Direct Gilt (RDG) Account.

RBI Integrated Ombudsman Scheme
This will help in improving the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against RBI’s regulated entities. According to the PMO, the scheme is based on “One Nation-One Ombudsman” with one portal, one email, and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints.
The redressal will continue to be cost-free for customers of banks and members of the public.

Common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), principle of international environmental law establishing that all states are responsible for addressing global environmental destruction yet not equally responsible. 
 It was the first international legal instrument to address climate change and the most comprehensive international attempt to address negative impacts to the global environment.
 The foundational principle of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).

Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the “PM GatiShakti — National Master Plan” for infrastructure development aimed at boosting multimodal connectivity and driving down logistics costs.
PM Gati Shakti aims to institutionalize holistic planning for major infrastructure projects.

PM GatiShakti is a digital platform that connects 16 ministries — including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation, with a view to ensuring holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects.

The Government kept the interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for the September-December period. Small savings rates are reviewed every quarter and this is the sixth consecutive quarter that the government has maintained the rates.
 
The small savings schemes basket comprises 12 instruments including the National Saving Certificate (NSC), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme. 

To enhance the productivity of cattle, the Rashtriya Gokul Mission was initiated in 2014 with a focus on the genetic upgradation of the bovine population through widespread initiatives on artificial insemination, sex-sorted semen, and in vitro fertilization.
India is the highest livestock owner of the world.
As per the Economic Survey-2021, the contribution of Livestock in total agriculture and allied sector Gross Value Added (at Constant Prices) has increased from 24.32% (2014-15) to 28.63% (2018-19).

The First Carnatic (1744-48) war was fought between Britishers and the French due to Austrian war of succession in Europe. The French forces under Dupleix defeated the English and captured Madras. Then, in 1748 AD, the peace treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed and Madras was restored to the British and the exchange of war prisoners took place.
Battle of Wandiwash: This was the Third Carnatic War fought between the French and the British. Having made substantial gains in Bengal and Hyderabad, the British, after collecting a huge amount of revenue, were fully equipped to face the French in Wandiwash, whom they defeated.

One of Kolkata’s historical monuments, Fort William was built during the time of the Bengal Presidency. Named after William III, the fort sits on the banks of the Hooghly River and was at the centre of the Battle of Plassey fought between the British and the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daulah. It is also the site of an infamous dungeon called the Black Hole of Calcutta (the city of Kolkata was erstwhile known as Calcutta).

The Treaty of Allahabad was signed on August 16, 1765 between Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II of Bengal and Lord Clive of the British East India Company after the Battle of Buxar (1764). Based on the terms of the agreement, Shah Alam II granted Diwani rights to the East India Company.

In 1919 Gandhiji gave a call for a satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act that the British had just passed. The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.

• In April 1919 there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them. The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day were a part of this repression.
• The Khilafat issue was another such cause. In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa. People were furious about this as they had been about the Jallianwala massacre. Also, Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire.
• The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, wished to initiate a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj.

The Non-Cooperation Movement was a significant but short phase of the Indian independence movement from British rule.
September 1920 At a special session in Calcutta, the Congress approved a non-cooperation programme till the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and swaraj was established. The programme was to include—

• boycott of government schools and colleges;
• boycott of law courts and dispensation of justice through panchayats instead;
• boycott of legislative councils;
• boycott of foreign cloth and use of khadi instead; also practice of hand-spinning to be done;
• renunciation of government honours and titles

December 1920 At the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress— The programme of non-cooperation was endorsed.

• During 1919-22, the British were opposed through two mass movements—the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation. Though the two movements emerged from separate issues, they adopted a common programme of action—that of non-violent non-cooperation.
• With the Non-Cooperation Movement, nationalist sentiments reached every nook and corner of the country and politicised every strata of population—the artisans, peasants, students, urban poor, women, traders, etc. The masses lost the hitherto all-pervasive fear of the colonial rule and its mighty repressive organs.
• Hindu-Muslim Unity: The massive participation of Muslims and the maintenance of communal unity, despite the events like Moppila Uprisings, were great achievements.