Test: March 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 2 - UPSC MCQ

Articles 157 and 158 lay down the qualifications of the Governor and the conditions of his office. The Governor must be a citizen of India and should have completed the age of 35 years. The Governor should not be a member of Parliament or a state legislature, and must not hold any other office of profit.

Importance of Fiscal Policy in India:

• 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 amount 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.

• Extensive fishing off the Coromandel coast could be forcing the great seahorse to migrate laboriously toward Odisha.
• There are 46 species of seahorses reported worldwide. The coastal ecosystems of India house nine out of 12 species found in the Indo-Pacific, one of the hotspots of seahorse populations that are distributed across diverse ecosystems such as seagrass, mangroves, macroalgal beds, and coral reefs. 
• These nine species are distributed along the coasts of eight States and five Union Territories from Gujarat to Odisha, apart from Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The population of the great seahorse, which is among the eight species tagged ‘vulnerable’, is declining due to its overexploitation for traditional Chinese medicines and as ornamental fish, combined with general destructive fishing and fisheries bycatch, the study said.
• Seahorses are poor swimmers but migrate by rafting — clinging to floating substrata such as macroalgae or plastic debris for dispersal by ocean currents – to new habitats for successful maintenance of their population. 
• The species is abundant off the Coromandel coast (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) but is under extensive fishing pressure, with 13 million individuals caught per year, the study said.

As rupee is devalued, it becomes cheaper for other country residents. So, they demand greater Indian goods (exports). Reverse happens for us, we demand lesser imports (as they become costlier in terms of Indian currency).
Statement 3 leads to statement 2, i.e. inflow of foreign exchange. There is another channel for this flow, which is greater FDI or FII. For a foreign investor, Indian securities or land or labour would become cheaper, and there is thus an incentive to invest in India.

• The Ninth Schedule was added to the Constitution by the First Amendment in 1951.
• In IR Coelho versus State of Tamil Nadu, various laws placed in the Ninth Schedule were challenged on the ground that any law violating fundamental rights should be struck down as “unconstitutional” and that the court’s power of judicial review cannot be taken away. A nine-judge constitution bench delivered its verdict on the issue in January 2007.
• The SC upheld the Parliament’s power to place a particular law in the Ninth Schedule. But it said laws placed in the Ninth Schedule are open to judicial scrutiny and that such laws do not enjoy a blanket protection.
• Laws placed in the Ninth Schedule after the Kesavananda Bhartai Judgment on April 24, 1973, when it propounded the “basic structure” doctrine, were open to challenge.
• It laid down dual test to examine the validity of a law placed in the Ninth Schedule. Whether it violates any fundamental right and if yes whether the violation also damages or destroys the basic structure. If the answer to both the questions is in the affirmative, then only a law placed in the Ninth Schedule can be declared unconstitutional.

• The typical “season” for hurricanes is shifting, as climate warming creates conditions conducive to storms in more months of the year. And hurricanes are also making landfall in regions far outside the historic norm.
• As for timing, hurricane activity is common for North America from June through November, peaking in September – after a summertime buildup of warm water conditions.
• Hurricanes need two main ingredients — warm ocean water and moist, humid air. When warm seawater evaporates, its heat energy is transferred to the atmosphere. This fuels the storm’s winds to strengthen. Without it, hurricanes can’t intensify and will fizzle out.
• While technically the same phenomenon, these big storms get different names depending on where and how they were formed.
  • Storms that form over the Atlantic Ocean or central and eastern North Pacific are called “hurricanes” when their wind speeds reach at least 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). Up to that point, they’re known as “tropical storms.”

• The NAAC, an autonomous body under the University Grants Commission (UGC), assesses and certifies Higher-level Educational Institutions (HEIs) with gradings as part of accreditation. The ratings of institutions range from A++ to C. If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.
• Under the rules, only higher education institutions that are at least six years old, or from where at least two batches of students have graduated, can apply. The accreditation is valid for five years. Aspiring institutes need to be recognised by the UGC and have regular students enrolled in their full-time teaching and research programmes.
• The current approach has been described as “input-based”. The first step has an applicant institution submitting a self-study report of information related to quantitative and qualitative metrics. The data is then validated by NAAC expert teams, followed by peer team visits to the institutions.

• Dissolved oxygen (DO) is a measure of how much oxygen is dissolved in the water – the amount of oxygen available to living aquatic organisms. The amount of dissolved oxygen in a stream or lake can tell us a lot about its water quality.
• Oxygen concentrations are much higher in air, which is about 21% oxygen, than in water, which is a tiny fraction of 1 percent oxygen.
• Dissolved oxygen levels decrease with increasing temperature and atmospheric oxygen content is far higher than dissolved oxygen levels.
• Ice and snow reduce the amount of sunlight reaching aquatic plants, thereby reducing photosynthesis and oxygen production.

The Constitution lays down no provisions for the manner in which the Governor and the state must engage publicly when there is a difference of opinion.
There is no provision for impeaching the Governor by the State Legislature.

• Indo-US joint exercise, named TARKASH, has for the first time included “Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) terror response” in its drill.
• Held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, TARKASH is a joint exercise by the National Security Guard (NSG) and US Special Operations Forces (SOF).
• Chemical weapons include mustard gas (which damages the respiratory tract, skin, and eyes) and nerve agents (victims rapidly become unconscious, have breathing difficulties, and may die).
• Biological agents like anthrax (causes fever, malaise, cough, and shock. Death can be within 36 hours), botulinum toxin (leads to paralysis of respiratory muscles) and plague are some examples of biochemical weapons. Radiological weapons include weaponised radioactive waste and dirty bombs as well as nuclear weapons.

“Movements in the FCA occur mainly on account of purchases and sales of foreign exchange by the RBI, income arising out of the deployment of the foreign exchange reserves, external aid receipts of the Central Government and the effects of revaluation of the assets,”

Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883) was one of the most influential figures of 19th-century India. A believer in the supreme authority of the vedas, he established the Arya Samaj in 1875, leading a reform movement within orthodox Hinduism. Among his various beliefs included a rejection of idolatry and the overly ritualistic traditions of Hinduism, support for women’s education, denunciation of child marriage and an opposition to untouchability.
His magnum opus, Satyarth Prakash (1875), emphasised the “return to Vedic principles” that Dayanand Saraswati believed “had been lost” over time.

• Scientists have discovered a new type of quasicrystal, one with 12-fold symmetry, in the Sand Hills of north central Nebraska, USA, according to a recent study.
• Quasicrystal is essentially a crystal-like substance. However, unlike a crystal, in which atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern, a quasicrystal consists of atoms that are arranged in a pattern that doesn’t repeat itself regularly.
• According to the study, it’s also the first time that researchers have found a quasicrystal somewhere other than meteorites or the debris from nuclear blasts. Notably, scientists have been producing them in laboratories for years now, but it’s quite rare to discover naturally occurring quasicrystals.
• “The dodecagonal quasicrystal is an example of a quasicrystal of any kind formed by electrical discharge, suggesting other places to search for quasicrystals on Earth or in space and for synthesising them in the laboratory”, the study said.
• Quasicrystals have been widely created in labs and known to “possess novel electrical, photonic, and mechanical properties that aren’t found in other materials, making them an attractive prospect for materials scientists.

• Any public policy intervention that doesn’t support medium-term to long-term production and productivity may be termed as a freebie.
• Free electricity, free water, free public transportation, waiver of pending utility bills and farm loan waivers are often regarded as freebies
• They potentially undermine credit culture, distort prices through cross-subsidisation eroding incentives for private investment, and disincentive work at the current wage rate leading to a drop in labour force participation

The word quasar stands for quasi-stellar radio source. Quasars got that name because they looked starlike when astronomers first began to notice them in the late 1950s and early 60s. But quasars aren’t stars. They’re now known as young galaxies, located at vast distances from us, with their numbers increasing towards the edge of the visible universe. How can they be so far away and yet still visible? The answer is that quasars are extremely bright, up to 1,000 times brighter than our Milky Way galaxy. We know, therefore, that they’re highly active, emitting staggering amounts of radiation across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India’s global cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their people. It was founded on 9 April 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India.
Statement 2 is incorrect.

Bio-enzymes are organic solutions produced through fermentation of organic waste including various fruits, vegetable peels and flowers, by mixing in sugar, jaggery/molasses and water. It takes 60-100 days to ferment organic waste. To fasten the fermentation, yeast can be used as culture to prepare it in 45-50 days.

• Parliamentary privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, individually and collectively, so that they can “effectively discharge their functions”. When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under law of Parliament.
• A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either House against those being held guilty of breach of privilege. Each House also claims the right to punish as contempt actions which, while not breach of any specific privilege, are offences against its authority and dignity.
• The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion. The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion himself or herself or refer it to the privileges committee of Parliament.

• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) declares geo-heritage sites/ national geological monuments for protection and maintenance. The GSI or the respective state governments take necessary measures to protect these sites.
• Coming under the Ministry of Mines, the GSI was established in 1851 to investigate and assess coal and other mineral resources of the country through regional-level exploration.
• Geoheritage sites are “sites containing geo-relics and phenomena, stratigraphic type sections, geological structures and geomorphic landforms including caves, natural rock-sculptures of national and international interest; and includes such portion of land adjoining the site,” that may be required for their conservation or to access to such sites.
• A Geo-relic is defined as “any relic or material of a geological significance or interest like sediments, rocks, minerals, meteorite or fossils”. The GSI will have the power to acquire geo-relics “for its preservation and maintenance”.

• Introduced on April 1, 2016, MCLR is the minimum interest rate below which banks cannot lend. Banks calculate all operating costs as a percentage of marginal cost of funds for computing MCLR. Under the MCLR regime, banks decide on the interest rate at which they will offer to borrowers on the basis of the marginal cost at which they get funds and borrowing from the RBI.
• Any change in the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — impacts the interest rate for borrowers. Banks review their MCLR of different maturities every month on a pre-announced date with approval from their boards.

• Black Sea Grain Initiative: U.N.-backed initiative that has enabled grains to be exported from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
• Russia said it would be “inappropriate” to extend the Black Sea grain deal unless sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year that have affected its agricultural exports are lifted.
• The deal to free up grain exports from Ukraine’s southern Black Sea ports was extended on Nov. 17 for 120 days.
• Reached in July last year, it created a protected sea transit corridor and was designed to alleviate global food shortages by allowing exports to resume from three ports in Ukraine, a major producer of grains and oilseeds.

• Astronomers have found a ring around a dwarf planet, located in the Kuiper Belt at the solar system’s edge, called Quaoar, according to a new study.
• With an estimated radius of 555 km, Quaoar is roughly half the size of Pluto and orbits beyond Neptune. It also has a moon of its own, which is known as Weywot.
• Kuiper Belt is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending beyond the orbit of Neptune. Similar to the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt is a region of leftovers from the solar system’s early history. 

• Online payment aggregators can onboard digital merchants and accept payments on their behalf after getting a licence from the RBI. The central bank introduced a framework for such entities in March 2020.
• Under the payment aggregator framework, only firms approved by the RBI can acquire and offer payment services to merchants, which brings them under the direct purview of the regulator.
• According to RBI rules, a company applying for aggregator authorisation must have a minimum net worth of Rs 15 crore in the first year of application, and at least Rs 25 crore by the second year. It also must fulfil the “fit and proper” criteria, and be compliant with global payment security standards.

A stellar occultation occurs when, as seen from Earth, a bright star passes behind a planet. This allows astronomers or anybody on Earth to observe the sharp silhouette of the planet for a brief period of time. The phenomenon, which rarely occurs, is used by researchers to analyse a planet’s atmosphere and determine if it has a ring around it — in 1977, scientists discovered the Uranian ring system with the help of stellar occultation.