Test: Weekly Current Affairs: January 22 to 31, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Statement 2 is incorrect.

The Maldives has expressed its intention to terminate a bilateral agreement with India that allowed collaboration in the hydrographic survey of Maldivian territorial waters.

What is a Hydrographic Survey?
A hydrographic survey is a scientific process that involves mapping and measuring the physical features of underwater terrain. It includes the study of the depth, topography, and characteristics of the seabed and water bodies.

Statement 3 is incorrect.
Passports have historical roots, with mentions in the Hebrew Bible and established systems in countries like France and the UK. Modern passports emerged due to the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act in 1914, featuring photographs and distinguishing features. The League of Nations’ 1920 conference aimed to standardize passport regulations, influencing the common British system. In the 1920s, the US enacted immigration laws tied to passports, limiting inflows. Despite initial discomfort, passports have endured as a vital aspect of modern citizenship.

Passports in India:
The issuance of Indian passports began during the First World War (1914-1918) under the Defence of India Act, when the British government mandated passports for travel.

• In the 1919 plan for the construction of the Parliament, it was decided to have a council house, comprising a Legislative Assembly Chamber (which later became the Lok Sabha), a Council of States Chamber (which is now the Rajya Sabha) and the Chamber of Princes.
• The Chamber of Princes is the Library Hall in the Old Parliament.
• The Chamber of Princes, also known as Narendra Mandal, was established in 1920 by a Royal Proclamation of King Emperor George V to advocate the common interests of British India and the princely states.
• In 1937, the Federal Court of India began functioning from the Chamber of Princes.
• It was 12 years later that in this building, the Supreme Court of India was inaugurated. “The inaugural proceedings were simple but impressive,” according to the official account of the Supreme Court.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

A recent study published in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Hydrometeorology reveals that peninsular river basins in India, including Narmada, Mahanadi, and Godavari, face a higher likelihood of widespread flooding compared to transboundary rivers like Ganga and Brahmaputra.

Drivers of widespread flooding are associated with atmospheric rivers, large atmospheric circulations carrying moisture from the tropics to extratropic. Events like the 2018 Kerala floods, the 2022 Pakistan floods, and the lower Mississippi River floods in 2008, 2011, and 2015–19 were linked to atmospheric rivers.

What are Atmospheric rivers?

They are long, narrow regions of the atmosphere that transport water vapour from the tropics to the poles. They can be 250–375 miles wide and over 1,000 miles long. When atmospheric rivers make landfall, they can contribute significantly to precipitation.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched Project PRAYAS (Promoting Regular & Assisted Migration for Youth and Skilled Professionals) in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs.

About Project Prayas:

• The project aims to facilitate safe, orderly, and regular migrationfor Indian workers and students.
• It consolidates state-level initiativesand focuses on improving coordination between state and central governments.
• The project involves studying migration trends, understanding migrants’ needs, and launching initiatives to raise awareness about safe migration processes, with the goal of strengthening international migration governance.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

International Organization for Migration (founded 1951; HQ: Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland) is the principal United Nations agency working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Debt refers to an obligation or financial liability that one party owes to another. It is typically in the form of borrowed funds that need to be repaid over time, often with interest.
• Rising interest rates and unfavourable exchange rate movements could make servicing external debt burdensome.
• India’s debt service was 2% of the GNI in 2022.
• Impact: The debt servicing may crowd out spending on other development priorities.

Simlipal Tiger Reserve, situated in the Eastern Ghats, is a UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserve, National Park, and Tiger Reserve. Positioned within the Mahanadian coastal region and the Chhotanagpur biotic province, it spans diverse biogeographical realms. Comprising the Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve, which includes Similipal Tiger Reserve, Hadgarh, and Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary, Simlipal boasts varied vegetation, encompassing moist and dry deciduous forests and grasslands.
 

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• Rare iridescent clouds, known as nacreous clouds, were spotted over parts of Scotland, northern England, and the West Midlands recently.
• The clouds, resembling mother of pearl, are known for their pastel light reflections during sunset and sunrise.
• This phenomenon occurs as sunlight diffracts around tiny ice crystals within the clouds, creating an effect similar to a thin layer of oil on water.
• Nacreous clouds are rare in the UKand are usually seen when cold air from the polar vortex temporarily hovers over the region.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

What is Konsachem?
It is an important harvest festival celebrated in Goa, primarily in August. Both Hindus and Catholics participate in their unique ways. The festival involves blessing the first sheaves of rice when harvested.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Changes in the environment especially due to anthropogenic activities have limited the population of pollinators (such as Bees). In such a situation, plants evolve to self-pollinate itself.

What is Self-pollination?

It is a reproductive process in plants where pollen from a flower’s male reproductive organs (anther) fertilizes the female reproductive organs (stigma) of the same flower or another flower on the same plant.

The mechanism ensures the plant’s ability to reproduce without relying on external pollinators like insects or wind.

Mechanism of the Self-Pollination:

• Anther and Stigma Proximity: In self-pollinating plants, the anther (producing pollen) is close to the stigma (receiving pollen) within the same flower.
• Pollen Transfer: Pollen grains are transferred from the anther to the stigma, either by physical contact or through the plant’s internal mechanisms.
• Fertilization: The pollen tube grows down the style to the ovary, where fertilization takes place, resulting in the formation of seeds.
• Genetic Similarity: Since both the pollen and the ovule come from the same plant, the offspring are genetically identical to the parent, leading to limited genetic diversity.

Self-pollination ensures reproductive success, especially in environments with limited pollinators, but it can also reduce genetic variability in plant populations and risk to the plant-pollinator interaction system.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has expanded the scope of card-on-file tokenisation (CoFT) to include card issuing banks and institutions directly, moving beyond services provided through merchants.
• CoFT is a security measure for users opting for digital payments, replacing the practice of merchants storing card details with specially created tokens.
• Tokenization is the process of replacing sensitive data with a non-sensitive equivalent, called a token. Tokens are random strings of characters that have no meaningful value if breached. They serve as a reference to the original data, but cannot be used to guess those values.

Statement 1 is incorrect.
About the Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is located in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, is a significant protected area known for its diverse flora and fauna.
• Pong Dam Lake (Maharana Pratap Sagar) is a manmade reservoir created in 1975 with construction of Pong Dam on Beas River. It is also known as Pong reservoir or Pong Dam.
• In 1983, reservoir was declared as Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Pong Dam Lake was designated a Ramsar sitein 2002. There is a Vulture café in Pong wherein cattle carcass is dumped for Vultures.

Only statement 1 is correct.

• Writing off a loan essentially means it will no longer be counted as an asset. By writing off loans, a bank can reduce the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) on its books. An additional benefit is that the amount so written off reduces the bank’s tax liability.
• The bank writes off a loan after the borrower has defaulted on the loan repayment and there is a very low chance of recovery. The lender then moves the defaulted loan, or NPA, out of the assets side and reports the amount as a loss.
• After the write-off, banks are supposed to continue their efforts to recover the loan using various options. They have to make provisioning as well. The tax liability will also come down as the written-off amount is reduced from the profit.
• However, the chances of recovery from written-off loans are very low.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Glaciers are the largest source of freshwater outside of the polar regions. Glaciers and snow melt in the Himalayan ecosystem are the source of water for several rivers across the subcontinent, and are responsible for maintaining the perennial supply of water in the river systems like the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra to over a billion people.

Some models predict that an increase in global temperatures by 2°C from 1850 by 2070 would result in 45% of the medium and large glaciers (10 sq km or more) disappearing completely. Nearly 70% smaller glaciers are likely to melt away. Shrinking glaciers have led to the formation of a large number of glacial lakes all across the Himalayas. Many of these high-altitude lakes are potentially dangerous, because of their potential to cause flash floods in the event of a breach.

A glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) is a type of outburst flood caused by the failure of a dam containing a glacial lake.

Only statement 3 is correct.

Diesel was promoted as a green-friendly auto fuel as part of the European Union’s response to the Kyoto Protocol (1997) to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. While diesel as a fuel contains a little more carbon per litre than petrol, diesel engines are more “lean-burn”, which means they use a smaller amount of fuel to produce the same level of performance as a petrol engine.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Indian companies’ fundraising via dollar bonds hit a 14-year low in 2023, as elevated global yields discouraged borrowers who moved to securing foreign currency loans instead.

Throughout 2023 global interest rate environment was not favourable and the cost of raising dollars hedged into rupees was comparatively higher than (accessing) domestic liquidity, so Indian issuers chose to borrow locally.

Multiple rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve and anticipation of prolonged higher rates drove an increase in bond yields worldwide.

Instead, Indian companies leaned on foreign currency loans, which are benchmarked to floating interest rates.

Only statement 1 and 2 is correct.

• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) have conducted decade-long ionospheric observations at Bharati station in Antarctica, revealing significant seasonal variations in ionospheric density.
• The researchers found the peak ionospheric density near local noon during the winter months, attributing it to particle precipitation and the transportation of convectional plasma from high latitudes.
• These long-term studies aim to enhance understanding of ionospheric effects on satellite-based navigation and communication systems.
• The ionosphere is a layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that is made up of charged atoms, molecules, and electrons. It stretches from 50 kilometres (30 miles) to over 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) above the Earth.
  

The number of loan accounts for the microfinance industry increased to 136.3 million in FY23, from 123.9 million in FY22, posting a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 10%. Lender-wise figures showed that NBFCs registered highest y-o-y growth of 23%, followed by NBFC-MFIs at 15%, not-for profits or NFPs at 6%, banks at 6%, and small finance banks at 5%. 

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Statement 3 is incorrect.
About Formaldehyde

• It is a colourless, flammable gas with a strong odour. It is classified as a human carcinogen and is linked to long-term adverse health effects and cancer.
• Formaldehyde is used in many industries, including:
• Glues and resins, Dyes, Textiles, Disinfectants, Building materials, Automobile parts, Embalming, Laboratories.

Only Statement 1 is correct.

 The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has initiated the deployment of ‘UPI Tap and Pay’ across digital payment providers.

Features of UPI tap and pay:

• It utilizes near-field communication (NFC) technology to capture a payee’s UPI ID or Virtual Payment Address (VPA), eliminating the need for a camera.
• The feature can only be accessed on phones or devices with NFC capability.
• Users need to locate the ‘Tap & Pay’ button on their UPI app, and the transaction is completed by tapping the device on the UPI Smart Tag/Smart QR.
• Transactions up to ₹500 are processed through UPI LITE, while those exceeding ₹500 require a UPI PIN.

Near-field communication (NFC) is a short-range wireless technology that allows two devices to communicate when they are within 4 centimetres of each other. NFC uses magnetic field induction to enable communication.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Researchers introduced a ground-breaking study on “electronic soil” (eSoil) in hydroponics, offering the potential for sustainable urban agriculture and food security.
• eSoil is an electrically conductive growth substrate derived from cellulose and a conductive polymer (PEDOT).
• It stimulates plant roots and the growth environment with low power, providing a safer and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods.
• eSoil works by electrically stimulating plant roots.
• This promotes effective and sustainable development, expanding the range of crops that can be grown hydroponically—without soil, using only water, nutrients, and a substrate.
• The benefits of eSoil include low energy consumption, safety, and its compatibility with hydroponics, enabling urban agriculture to meet the challenges of a growing population and climate change.

• Article 298 grants the Centre and the state governments the power to carry on trade or business, acquire, hold, and dispose of property, and make contracts for any purpose, while Article 299 delineates the manner in which these contracts will be concluded. Articles 298 and 299 came after the Constitution came into effect and the government entered into contracts even in the pre-independence era. According to the Crown Proceedings Act of 1947, the Crown could not be sued in court for a contract it entered into.
• Article 299 of the Constitution provides that “all contracts made in the exercise of the executive power of the Union or of a State shall be expressed to be made by the President or by the Governor of the State” and that all such contracts and “assurances of property made in the exercise of that power shall be executed” on behalf of the President or the Governor by persons in a manner as directed and authorised by them.
• The objective behind Article 299(1), as per the 1954 top court ruling in ‘Chatturbhuj Vithaldas Jasani v. Moreshwar Parashram & Ors’, is that there must be a definite procedure according to which contracts must be made by agents acting on the government’s behalf; otherwise, public funds may be depleted by unauthorized or illegitimate contracts. It implies that contracts not adhering to the manner given in Article 299(1) cannot be enforced by any contracting party.
• However, Article 299 (2) says that essentially, neither the President nor the Governor can be personally held liable for such contracts.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• The Forest Rights Act (FRA), officially known as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, is a piece of legislation that enables tribal communities and forest-dwelling citizens to claim legal rights over the forest land they have occupied for generations but in many cases, denied a say or authority in its management or free access to forest produce.
• It gives gram sabhas, or village councils, the right to decide on how best their forest land can be used. Any transfer of forest land for non-forestry use now requires their consent.