UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 Practice Test - 25 - UPSC MCQ

In the absence of a special penal law creating vicarious liability, an admin of a WhatsApp group cannot be held liable for the objectionable post by a group member. There is no law by which an admin of any messaging service can be held liable for a post made by a member in the group. A WhatsApp admin cannot be an intermediary under the IT Act.

Vicarious liability in a broader sense, is the responsibility imposed on one person for the wrongful actions of another person. This often occurs in the context of civil law—for example, in employment cases. In a criminal context, vicarious liability assigns guilt, or criminal liability, to a person for wrongful acts committed by someone else.

The International Space Station is the only operational space laboratory as of now, orbiting the earth in a trajectory that is about 400 km above the land surface. It is operated by more than 15 partner countries. Apart from Russia and the United States, Canada, Japan and several members of the European Space Agency are partners in the ISS.

The ISS has been manned continuously since the start of operations in 1998. At any given time, there is a crew of six astronauts on board.

According to NASA, 240 individuals from 19 countries have so far been to the ISS. The facility is used for carrying out a variety of zero-gravity experiments, space exploratory studies, and technology development.

The Reserve Bank cancelled the Certificate of Registration (CoR) issued to P C Financial Services Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, which was primarily engaged in mobile app-based lending operations through an app called ‘Cashbean’.

The RBI said the CoR of the company has been cancelled on account of supervisory concerns such as gross violations of RBI directions on outsourcing and know your customer norms.

• Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection caused by the bacteria of the genus Brucella.
• The bacterial infection can spread from animals to humans, most commonly through the consumption of raw or unpasteurized dairy products.
• Animals that are most commonly infected include sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, and dogs, among others.
• Sometimes, the bacteria that cause brucellosis can spread through the air or through direct contact with infected animals.

Reverse osmosis can remove many types of dissolved and suspended chemical species as well as biological ones (principally bacteria) from water.

Reverse Osmosis Systems will remove common chemical contaminants (metal ions, aqueous salts), including sodium, chloride, copper, chromium, and lead; may reduce arsenic, fluoride, radium, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, nitrate, and phosphorous.

Russia is India’s 25th largest trading partner with exports of $2.5 billion and imports of $6.9 billion in the first nine months of FY2022. India’s key exports to Russia include mobile phones and pharmaceuticals while India’s key imports from Russia are crude oil, coal and diamonds.

More than a quarter of the world’s wheat export comes from Russia and Ukraine.

Russia is the world’s largest exporter of wheat, accounting for more than 18% of international exports.

Egypt is the world’s biggest importer of wheat.

Of the approximate volume of 145 million kg of annual tea imports by Russia, 40 million kg is from India. Close to 45% of these is from South India.

It is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and instructions through a standardized system of codes. Under SWIFT, each financial organization has a unique code which is used to send and receive payments.

• SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer: rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled by correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other.
• The SWIFT is a secure financial message carrier — in other words, it transports messages from one bank to its intended bank recipient. It acts as the Gmail of global banking services.

It was founded in 1973 to end reliance on the telex system, an international system used especially in the past for sending written messages.

It is a member-owned cooperative, based in Brussels.

SWIFT doesn’t hold deposits. It’s overseen by the National Bank of Belgium and representatives from the U.S. Federal Reserve System, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and other major central banks.

SWIFT India is a joint venture of top Indian public and private sector banks and SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). The company was created to deliver high quality domestic financial messaging services to the Indian financial community.

While recommending MSPs, the CACP looks at the following factors:

* the demand and supply of a commodity;

* its cost of production;

* the market price trends (both domestic and international);

* inter-crop price parity;

* the terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture (that is, the ratio of prices of farm inputs and farm outputs);

* a minimum of 50 per cent as the margin over the cost of production; and

* the likely implications of an MSP on consumers of that product.

All natural fats and oils are a combination of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fatty acids. 

Trans fatty acids are formed during industrial partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil, a process widely commercialized to produce solid fats.

Trans fat increases low density lipoproteins (LDL), triglycerides and insulin levels and reduces beneficial high density lipoproteins (HDL).

Diphtheria is caused by a bacterium now known as Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The disease would start out as an infection of the respiratory tract and the bacterium would secrete a toxin that injured and then destroyed cells. A thick grey substance, from the cellular waste secreted from battling the bacterium, would envelop the pharynx and stick to the tissues and obstruct breathing. The effects of this could travel as far the heart and kidneys.

Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) is a vaccination programme launched by the Government of India in 1985. The programme now consists of vaccination for 12 diseases- tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, hepatitis B, diarrhoea, Japanese encephalitis, rubella, pneumonia (haemophilus influenzae type B) and Pneumococcal diseases (pneumococcal pneumonia and meningitis).

APEDA has developed its own Virtual Trade Fair (VTF) application to facilitate interaction among exporters, producer organizations and international buyers.

In March 2021, APEDA organized its first Virtual Trade Fair – India Rice and Agro Commodity Show, which saw the participation of millet exporters also. A series of Virtual Buyer-Seller Meets (BSM) with Embassies, importers, exporters and product associations from India have been organized.

To give impetus to the export of potential products as well as to remove the bottlenecks in the supply chain of nutria-cereals, APEDA has created Nutri Cereals Export Promotion Forum which also included millets exports. It has also organized a sensitization programme for millet start-ups to familiarize them about export opportunities.

APEDA has signed an MOU with Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) for making a strategy for promotion of millets and millet value added products. It has initiated a study on ‘Refinement of Millet Value Chain for Export Markets: Preparation of export strategy in wake of International Year of Millets, 2023’ through IMMR.

Measles is a highly contagious virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person. It can spread to others through coughing and sneezing. If other people breathe the contaminated air or touch the infected surface, then touch their eyes, noses, or mouths, they can become infected.

Cholera is spread mostly by unsafe water and unsafe food that has been contaminated with human feces containing the bacteria.

Poliovirus is usually spread from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the mouth. It may also be spread by food or water containing human feces and less commonly from infected saliva.

TB bacteria are spread through the air from one person to another. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs.

What are earth-observation satellites used for?

• Land and forest mapping and monitoring, mapping of resources like water or minerals or fishes, weather and climate observations, soil assessment, geospatial contour mapping are all done through earth-observation satellites.

They are intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography and others.

Grandmaster is the highest title or ranking that a chess player can achieve. The Grandmaster title — and other chess titles — is awarded by the International Chess Federation, FIDE, the Lausanne-Switzerland-based governing body of the international game.

Besides Grandmaster, the Qualification Commission of FIDE recognises and awards seven other titles. All the titles, including that of Grandmaster, are valid for life, unless a player is stripped of the title for a proven offence such as cheating.

FIDE has so far recognised fewer than 2,000 Grandmasters out of the millions who play the game around the world. A vast majority of Grandmasters have been male. Russia (and the erstwhile USSR) has produced the most Grandmasters in the world, followed by the United States and Germany.

India became a chess powerhouse in the 2000s, and now has more than 70 Grandmasters.

The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and co-ordination between the legislative and executive organs while the presidential system is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the two organs. 

Other major features are: (a) Presence of nominal and real executives; (b) Majority party rule, (c) Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature, (d) Membership of the ministers in the legislature, (e) Leadership of the prime minister or the chief minister, (f) Dissolution of the lower House (Lok Sabha or Assembly).

In simplest terms, it is the country’s President taking stock of the Navy’s capability. It showcases all types of ships and capabilities the Navy has. It takes place once under every President, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces.

The President is taken on one of the Naval ships, which is called the President’s Yacht, to look at all the ships docked on one of the Naval ports.

So far, 11 Presidential Fleet Reviews have been conducted since Independence, of which two have been International Fleet Reviews, in 2001 and 2016. In terms of significance, the Navy’s Presidential review is second only to the Republic Day Parade.

Currently, India is the fifth largest exporter of millets in the world, according to 2020 data, with exports continuously increasing at around 3% CAGR in the last five years ending with 2020.

Major exporter of millets are USA, Russian Federation, Ukraine, India, China, Netherlands, France, Poland and Argentina.

The top three importers of millets from India in 2020-21 were Nepal (USD 6.09 million), UAE (USD 4.84 million) and Saudi Arabia (USD 3.84 million). 

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has been aggressively working towards facilitating shipments of millets by Indian exporters and helping them make inroads into new markets. 

India is the world leader in the production of millets with share of around 41% of total world production in 2020.

CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form. It is similar to a fiat currency issued in paper and is interchangeable with any other fiat currency. The RBI is expected to launch the CBDC from the upcoming financial year. This follows the government’s plans to launch the CBDC that will be backed by blockchain technology.

A study suggests that the “Wolbachia method” could be used to significantly reduce the incidence of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease, in populations where the illness is endemic.

• Scientists have tested this method in a 27-month trial in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
• They found that using the Wolbachia method reduced the occurrence of dengue in the treated population by 77%.

How it works?

• This method involves introducing Wolbachia, a type of bacteria, into populations of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species responsible for spreading dengue.
• When the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes breed with their wild counterparts, the percentage of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium grows.
• It is not fully understood why the Wolbachia bacterium interferes with the transmission of dengue. One theory is that the bacterium prevents dengue viruses from replicating in mosquito cells.

TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, Direct To Home (DTH) services and mobile number portability.

Payments for ecosystem services (PES), also known as payments for environmental services (or benefits), are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of ecological service. So, statement (1) is not correct. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) mainly focuses on Beneficiary Pays Principle (BPP). So, statement (2) is not correct. Himachal Pradesh launched the first payment for ecosystem services in India. So, statement (3) is correct.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927- was enacted to ‘consolidate the law related to forest, the transit of forest produce, and the duty liable on timber and other forest produce’. So, Statement (1) is correct. The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 was enacted to regulate diversion of forest lands for non-forestry purposes. So, Statement (2) is correct. The Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in the year 1986. It was enacted with the main objective to provide the protection and improvement of environment and for matters connected therewith. The Act is one of the most comprehensive legislations with a pretext to protection and improvement of the environment. The first mention of 33% of forest area appears to have been mentioned in the Forest Policy of 1952. So, Statement (3) is not correct. Therefore, the correct answer is a. 

The NGT has the power to hear all civil cases relating to environmental issues and questions that are linked to the implementation of laws listed in Schedule I of the NGT Act. These include the following: The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977; The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; The Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The NGT has not been vested with powers to hear any matter relating to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Indian Forest Act, 1927 and various laws enacted by States relating to forests, tree preservation etc. Therefore, the correct answer is b.

The north-eastern states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram collectively have more than 30 national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, bird sanctuaries and tiger reserves in North East India. So, Statement (1) is correct. Only Punjab does not have any National Park. Hemis National Park (or Hemis High Altitude National Park) is a high-altitude national park in the eastern Ladakh Union Territory of the Republic of India.
Globally famous for its snow leopards, it is believed to have the highest density of them in any protected area in the world. It is the only national park in India that is north of the Himalayas, the largest notified protected area in India (largest National park) and is the second largest contiguous protected area, after the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve and surrounding protected areas. So, Statement (2) is not correct. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand each have one National Park only. They are Dudhwa National Park of Uttar Pradesh, Valmiki National Park of Bihar and Betla National Park of Jharkhand. So, statement (3) is correct. Therefore, the correct answer is b.

Gangetic Dolphin Ganges River Dolphin is a sub-species of river dolphins, found in the Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers. So, statement (1) is not correct. These species are practically blind and rely on bio-sonar waves to move around. So, statement (3) is correct.There are almost 2500 river dolphins in Ganga and their population is diminishing. River dolphins have been classified as “endangered” and not “critically endangered” by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in 1966. So, statement (2) is not correct. Gangetic Dolphins have been recognized as National aquatic animal of India. So, statement (4) is correct. Therefore, the correct answer is d.

Biodiversity Hotspots - Hotspots are the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life of the earth. They have the maximum number of endemic species. They occupy 1.4% of the earth’s surface and 20% of the world’s human population lives in these areas. Currently, 35 biodiversity hotspots have been identified, most of which occur in tropical forests. India hosts 4 biodiversity hotspots: the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas, the Indo-Burma region and the Sundaland. So, statement (1) is correct. To qualify as a hot spot, a region must meet two strict criteria: 

1. Species endemism: the region must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5% of the world’s total) as endemics, and 
2. Degree of threat: the region has to have lost at least 70% of its original habitat. 

The biodiversity hotspots are mostly confined to the tropical regions of the world. One idea is that tropical regions harbour greater biodiversity because they are especially fertile grounds for forming new species i.e., “cradles of diversity.” Another idea is that biodiversity hotspots are less likely to lose the species they already have. So, statement (2) is correct. Biodiversity hotspots do not make allowances for changing land-use patterns. Hotspots represent regions with considerable habitat loss, but this does not mean they are experiencing ongoing habitat loss. So, statement (3) is correct. Therefore, the correct answer is d.

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a unique partner-led initiative to promote investment in coastal ecosystem conservation for sustainable development. It is co-chaired by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the UN Development Program (UNDP). So, statement (1) is correct. It provides a platform for collaboration among different agencies, sectors and countries, addressing challenges to coastal ecosystems and livelihood issues.
The MFF program's primary focus in India is on improving the scientific knowledge base to feed into national policies for enhanced management of coastal and marine ecosystems. It comprised of a range of governmental departments, NGOs, inter-governmental organizations and academic institutions. MFF’s program of work in India is overseen by a National Coordination Body (NCB). The National Strategy and Action Plan (NSAP) guide the work of the NCB. So, Statements (2) and (3) are correct. Therefore, the correct answer is d. 

Tso Kar wetland Complex is in Ladakh. It is a high altitude wetland complex in Changthang Cold Desert Wildlife sanctuary. It is an Important Bird Area (IBA) and lies on Central Asian Highway. So, pair (1) not correctly matched. Asan Conservation Reserve- 1 st Ramsar site for the state of Uttarakhand. It is in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand and lies on Asan River running down to its confluence with Yamuna River. So, pair (2) correctly matched. Keetham lake- is also called as Sur Sarovar Lake. It is in Uttar Pradesh and was originally created to supply water to Agra city.
It is a natural habitat of sarus crane and spotted eagle. It is an important bird haven for resident and migratory birds migrating on Central Asian Highway. It is a bird sanctuary and an IBA. So, pair (3) not correctly matched. Kabartal- It is the first Ramsar site of Bihar. It is a freshwater marsh of North Bihar’s Begusarai district. It lies over Indo-Gangetic plains and acts as a vital flood buffer. It is an important stopover along the Central Asian Flyway. So, pair (4) correctly matched. All the 4 wetlands are recently recognised as Ramsar sites. Therefore, the correct answer is c.

According to the Union environment ministry, there has been an over 60 per cent increase in the population of leopards in India since 2014. There were at least 12,852 leopards in the country in 2018 compared to 7,910 leopards estimated in 2014. Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of leopards – 3,421, followed by Karnataka – 1,783. Maharashtra at 1,690 has the third-largest population of leopards in the country, according to the ‘Status of leopards in India, 2018’ report. Therefore, the correct answer is b.

The term anthropocene was coined by Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000. Anthropogenic Epoch is an informal interval of geologic time, making up the third worldwide division of the Quaternary Period (2.6 million years ago to the present). It is characterized as the time in which the collective activities of human beings (Homo sapiens) began to substantially alter Earth’s surface, atmosphere, oceans, and systems of nutrient cycling. Therefore, the correct answer is b.