Test: July 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 1 - UPSC MCQ

• The excessive extraction of groundwater for drinking and irrigation has shifted the Earth’s axis of rotation, according to a new study. Noting that humans pumped out around 2,150 gigatons of groundwater between 1993 and 2010, the study says that the planet’s axis has drifted at the rate of 4.36 cm per year towards the east.
• Although the shift isn’t significant enough to have real-life consequences, the study shows that humans have extracted so much water from the ground that it has impacted the planet’s axis and contributed to global sea level rise.
• Earth spins around an imaginary axis which passes through the north pole, its centre of mass and the south pole — just like a top spins around its spindle. Scientists for years have known that the poles and the axis keep shifting naturally as the mass distribution in and on the planet changes. This phenomenon is known as “polar motion”.
• For instance, rocks slowly circulating inside Earth’s mantle causes the planet’s mass to shift, leading to a change in the position of the rotational axis. 
• There are several other reasons responsible for polar motion like ocean currents and even hurricanes. But this phenomenon is also impacted by human activities.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

The EFF was established to provide assistance to countries experiencing serious payment imbalances because of structural impediments or slow growth and an inherently weak balance-of-payments position. An EFF provides support for comprehensive programs including the policies needed to correct structural imbalances over an extended period.

Extended arrangements are typically approved for periods of three years, but may be approved for periods as long as 4 years to implement deep and sustained structural reforms. Amounts drawn under an EFF are to be repaid over 4½–10 years in 12 equal semiannual installments.

As with other IMF lending, the size of borrowing under an EFF is guided by a country’s financing needs, capacity to repay, and track record with past use of IMF resources.

Only statement 2 is correct.

• Millets were among the first crops to be domesticated. There is evidence for consumption of millets by the Indus valley people (3,000 BC), and several varieties that are now grown around the world were first cultivated in India. West Africa, China, and Japan are home to indigenous varieties of the crop.
• Millets are now grown in more than 130 countries, and are the traditional food for more than half a billion people in Asia and Africa. They require much less water than rice and wheat, and are mainly grown in rainfed areas.
• Globally, sorghum (jowar) is the biggest millet crop. The major producers of jowar are the United States, China, Australia, India, Argentina, Nigeria, and Sudan. Bajra is another major millet crop; India and some African countries are major producers.

In India, millets are mainly a kharif crop. 

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment under law in matters of public employment, prohibits the state from discriminating on grounds of place of birth or residence.

Article 16(2) states that “no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State”. The provision is supplemented by the other clauses in the Constitution that guarantee equality.

However, Article 16(3) of the Constitution provides an exception by saying that Parliament may make a law “prescribing” a requirement of residence for jobs in a particular state. This power vests solely in the Parliament, not state legislatures.

Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes is referred to as vertical reservation. Horizontal reservation refers to opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, domicile and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.

• Article 345 leaves it to the State to choose its language for official purposes. In actual practice, several States and Union Territories continue to use English.
• Article 348 (1) of the Constitution of India provides that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High court shall be in English Language until Parliament by law otherwise provides.
• Educational institutions of “national importance” and those of “scientific and technical education financed by Government of India” are in the Union List.

• Due to greenhouse gas emissions, global warming is already 1°C higher than the pre-industrial levels. There is vast evidence that this has serious consequences for ecosystems and human being. The IPCC’s special report on Oceans and Cryosphere reveals that the ocean is 0.8 degrees warmer than the pre-industrial age. It is more acidic, and less productive because of the carbon emission that was sunk by the oceans.
• The impact of ocean warming would be an increase in the frequency of tropical cyclone winds and rainfall, as well as an increase in extreme waves, all of which would be accompanied by a rise in relative sea level.

Only statement 2 is correct.

A large amount of energy is released in both these processes, but substantially more in fusion than fission. For example, the fusion of two nuclei of a heavier isotope of hydrogen, called tritium, produces at least four times as much energy as the fission of a uranium atom which is the normal process of generating electricity in a nuclear reactor. Besides greater energy yield, fusion is also a carbon-free source of energy, and has negligible radiation risks.

But fusion reactions happen only at very high temperatures, 10 times the temperature that exists at the core of the Sun, and creating such an extreme environment in a laboratory requires huge amounts of energy.

• An exit poll asks voters which political party they are supporting after they have cast their votes in an election. In this, it differs from an opinion poll, which is held before the elections.
• Today, exit polls in India are conducted by a number of organisations, often in tie-ups with media organisations. The surveys can be conducted face to face or online.
• Currently, exit polls can’t be telecast from before voting begins till the last phase concludes.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

NATO membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.”

A “NATO decision” is the expression of the collective will of all member countries since all decisions are taken by consensus.

NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the Washington Treaty – NATO’s founding treaty – or under a UN mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae (massive stars exploding at the end of their lifetimes), and colliding neutron stars.

The South China Sea lies just south of the Chinese mainland and is bordered by the countries of Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

• Article 163(1) of the Constitution says “there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions”.
• Neither Article 163 nor Article 164 (“Other provisions as to Ministers”), sub clause (1) of which says “the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister”, mentions a Deputy Chief Minister.
• The post of Deputy CM is understood as being equivalent in rank to that of Cabinet Minister (in the state). The Deputy CM enjoys the same pay and perks as a Cabinet Minister.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The SFC, which carried out the test, is a key tri-services formation that manages and administers all the strategic assets and falls under the purview of the Nuclear Command Authority of India.

The Nuclear Command Authority is the sole body which can authorize the use of nuclear weapons. It comprises a Political Council and an Executive Council. The Political Council is chaired by the Prime Minister. The Executive Council, chaired by the National Security Advisor, provides inputs for decision-making by the Nuclear Command Authority and executes the directives given to it by the Political Council.

• Iran is the new member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
• Prior to Iran’s joining, the SCO consisted of eight member countries: China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and the four Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
• The grouping came into existence in Shanghai in 2001 with six members, minus India and Pakistan. Its primary objective was to enhance regional cooperation for efforts to curb terrorism, separatism, and extremism in the Central Asian region.
• Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia enjoy Observer status in the SCO, while six other countries — Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka — have Dialogue Partner status.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 does not mention millets. Coarse grains are included in the definition of “foodgrains” under Section 2(5) of the NFSA.
• The government declares a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jowar, bajra, and ragi.
• Jowar is mainly grown in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh. Bajra is mainly grown in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• The Indian Navy was established in 1612 by the East India Company.
• Operation Trident was an offensive operation launched by the Indian Navy on Pakistan’s port city of Karachi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
• The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy.

• In common parlance, a recession implies that the total economic activity in an economy contracts for two consecutive quarters. In other words, if an economy’s GDP in the first three months of the year (first quarter) is lower than what it was in the first quarter of last year and the same thing happens in the second quarter, then the economy is said to have gone into a recession.
• The potential GDP growth rate is that rate of growth at which an economy can grow without spiking inflation.
• The US is in a growth recession today. Growth recession is something above zero but below potential

Only statement 2 is correct.

• The five Indian states that share a land border with Nepal are Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim.
• Surya Kiran: Indo – Nepal Joint Military Training Exercise between Indian Army and Nepali Army.
• The Sharda River demarcates Nepal’s western border with India.

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had renamed the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark -III as Launch Vehicle Mark-III, mainly to identify its task of placing satellites into a variety of orbits.
• The LVM3 will go everywhere —GEO (Geosynchronous Earth Orbit), MEO (Medium Earth Orbit), LEO (Low Earth Orbit), missions to the moon, sun.
• LVM3 is India’s heaviest rocket. The launch vehicle can carry up to 8 tonnes of payload to the lower earth orbits (LEO), which is about 200 km from the Earth’s surface. But when it comes to the geostationary transfer orbits (GTO), which lie much further ahead, up to about 35,000 km from the Earth, it can carry much less, only about four tonnes.
• LVM3 is essentially a three-stage launch vehicle, including two solid boosters (S200), the core liquid fuel-based stage (L110), and the cryogenic upper stage (C25).

• Soils help to regulate the planet’s climate by storing carbon and are the second largest carbon sink after the oceans. They help maintain a landscape that is more resilient to the impacts of droughts and floods. As soil is the basis of food systems, it is no surprise that soil health is critical for healthy food production.
• The reasons behind soil nutrient loss range from soil erosion, runoff, leaching and the burning of crop residues.
• Other pertinent initiatives include the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, to prevent soil erosion, regeneration of natural vegetation, rainwater harvesting and recharging of the groundwater table.

• A British-era bungalow on a hillock that used to be the 17th century military office of the Ahom rulers has been converted into a heritage centre depicting life along the Brahmaputra River.
• Barpukhan was a post equivalent to Governor General created by Ahom king Pratap Simha or Susengpha (1603-1641). The hillock by the Brahmaputra, mentioned in ancient scriptures as Mandrachal, was from where Ahom General Lachit Barpukhan launched the Battle of Saraighat in March 1671 to inflict the most crushing defeat on the Mughals.
• Saraighat is regarded as the “greatest naval battle ever fought in a river”.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• India has been growing poppy at least since the 15th century, as per historical records. The British East India Company assumed monopoly on the cultivation of poppy when the Mughal Empire was on the decline, and the entire trade was brought under government control by 1873.
• After India gained independence, the cultivation and trade of opium passed on to the Indian government, with the activity being controlled by The Opium Act, 1857, The Opium Act, 1878, and The Dangerous Drugs Act, 1930. At present, the cultivation and processing of poppy and opium is controlled by the provisions of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Rules.
• In India, drug consumption or possession is a criminal offence. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act of 1985 is the main legislation dealing with drugs and their trafficking.
• Currently, the NDPS Act only adopts a reformative approach towards addicts.
• Department of Revenue – the NDPS Act’s nodal administrative authority.
• Giving weight to the right to a speedy trial, the Supreme Court recently held that “undue delay” in a trial can be a ground for granting bail to an accused even under stringent special legislation such as the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
• NDPS is an exception to the ordinary rules for granting bail. Under Section 37 of the Act, for a court to grant bail it has to be satisfied that “that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such an offence” and that upon release, “isn’t likely to commit any offence.” This high bar, requiring the accused to prove innocence at the time of seeking bail, ensures getting bail under the law is virtually impossible for certain offences.

• The Union and State governments concurrently levy GST on commodities with 50% as Central GST (CGST) and 50% as State GST (SGST). There is an Integrated GST (IGST) on inter-State trade, so that 50% of it goes to the final destination State. The GST is a harmonised tax on commodities across the country. Individual States have little power to unilaterally change this tax. Though conceptually, the Union government could not do so either, the GST Council gives the Union government a veto to thrust its preferences on the States.
• The Union government has exclusive power to levy excise duty on petroleum products, and the States have exclusive power to levy excise duty and sales tax on liquor. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Asteroids are rocky, irregularly shaped remnants both smaller and larger sizes that are leftovers from when the period of the formation of the solar system. The asteroid belt is a circumstellar ring of asteroids located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles. Comets are well spread over the entire solar system.

Recombinant DNA are DNA sequences which result from bringing genetic material form different sources. The genes can be transferred between any species that is across different species of plants from animals to plants and from microorganisms to higher organisms.