Test: Weekly Current Affairs: February 22 to 29, 2024 - UPSC MCQ

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Koraput Kala Jeera Rice

• The black-coloured rice variety, also known as the ‘Prince of Rice’, is famous for its aroma, taste, texture and nutritional value. Tribal farmers of the Koraput region have preserved the rice variety for around 1,000 years. As the rice grains resemble cumin seeds, it is also called Kala Jeera. Consumption of the rice variety helps in increasing haemoglobin levels and improves metabolism in the body.
• The farmers and producers of Koraput Kala Jeera rice have followed the traditional knowledge and practices in cultivation. Ancient tales also speak about the physical, mental and spiritual delights resulting from the consumption of the rice variety.

Only Statement 3 is correct.

• The Square Kilometer Array will not be a single large telescope, but a collection of thousands of dish antennas operating as a single unit. The name, Square Kilometer Array, comes from the original intention to create one square kilometre (one million square metre) of effective area for collecting radio waves. This was meant to be achieved by installing thousands of smaller antennas in a specific array design that would make them function like a single radio telescope.
• The antennas, about 200 of them in South Africa and more than 130,000 in Australia, are being installed in sparsely populated locations, chosen to ensure they are as far away from human activities as possible. This has been done in order to minimise signal interference from undesirable Earth-based sources.
• Though none of the SKA facilities would be located in India, there are immense science and technology gains for the country by participating in the project as a full member.
• The intellectual properties generated by the project, though owned by the SKA Observatory, would be accessible to all the member countries. 

According to the latest report on “The State of the World’s Forests” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forests cover 31% of the Earth’s land surface (4.06 billion hectares) out of which approximately one-third (34%) are primary forests.

India has already decided to build a gravitational wave detector to join the international LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) network, and is a full member of the ITER project, which is working to harness energy from nuclear fusion reactions. India also has a strong participation in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator that is running some of the most exciting experiments in particle physics.

The Committee on Capital Account Convertibility (CAC) or Tarapore Committee was constituted by the Reserve Bank of India for suggesting a roadmap on full convertibility of Rupee on Capital Account. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• The first detection of gravitational waves was announced on February 11, 2016. These had been predicted, almost exactly a century ago by Albert Einstein as a natural consequence of his theory of gravity — the Theory of General Relativity. General Relativity implies that under certain circumstances, space itself would be stretched and compressed resulting in the production of gravitational waves — much like throwing a stone in a placid pool of water.
• Since gravitational waves were first detected by LIGO (Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory), its detectors have observed dozens of short high-frequency gravitational wave bursts. These high-frequency waves are thought to be a result of collisions of black holes — about as massive as our Sun — as well as of neutron stars. Black holes and neutron stars are stellar remnants of stars which have exhausted their nuclear fuel.

Part IV (Articles 36-51) covers a wide range of principles, including (apart from the UCC), the securing of equal justice and free legal aid to citizens (Art 39A), participation of workers in the management of industries (Art 43A), organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry (Art 48), protection and improvement of the environment and safeguarding of forests and wildlife (Art 48A), promotion of international peace and security (Art 51), etc. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

• Changes in a river’s course in the northern part of the country is not unusual. One of the reasons is believed to be the movement of the Indian Tectonic Plate.
• The Plate has been moving northward. That is the reason the Himalayas are rising. One reason for the course of the Yamuna moving eastwards too is believed to be this.
• Also, it is more likely for a river to change course in the alluvial plains of North India.
• “Alluvial terrain is soft and more amenable to changing river courses. If we look at the course of the Ganga between 1786 and now, there are places where it has changed its course by 34 km. In Badaun (UP) the river has moved 10 km from where it used to be.

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is a non-profit organisation that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this region and the world at large. BFA is modelled on the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos. 

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Tarballs are dark-coloured, sticky balls of oil that form when crude oil floats on the ocean surface. Tarballs are formed by weathering of crude oil in marine environments. They are transported from the open sea to the shores by sea currents and waves.

Some of the balls are as big as a basketball while others are smaller globules. Tarballs are usually coin-sized and are found strewn on the beaches. However, over the years, they have become as big as basketballs and can weigh as much as 6-7 kgs.

Wind and waves tear the oil slick into smaller patches that are scattered over a much wider area. Various physical, chemical and biological processes (weathering) change the appearance of the oil.

Why are tarballs found on the beaches during the monsoon?

It is suspected that the oil comes from the large cargo ships in the deep sea and gets pushed to the shore as tarballs during monsoon due to wind speed and direction.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Aichi Biodiversity Targets that expired in 2020. No single country met all 20 Aichi Targets within its own borders, according to a September 2020 UN assessment.

What were the Aichi Targets?

The Aichi Targets, adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya, located in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems.

After parties adopted the Aichi Targets, they were expected to devise their own national biodiversity strategies that would mimic the goals laid out by Aichi. Nearly all parties created these strategies, but most were never fully implemented.

Only Statement 1 is correct.

‘Green hydrogen’, the emerging novel concept, is a zero-carbon fuel made by electrolysis using renewable power from wind and solar to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This ‘Green hydrogen’ can be utilised for the generation of power from natural sources — wind or solar systems — and will be a major step forward in achieving the target of ‘net zero’ emission.

Black hydrogen is produced by use of fossil fuel, whereas pink hydrogen is produced through electrolysis, but using energy from nuclear power sources.

Grey hydrogen is produced from natural gas.

Natural sources (volcanoes, fires, phytoplankton) produce sulphur dioxide, but burning sulphur-rich fossil fuels—primarily coal, oil, and petroleum—is the main source of the gas. Smelter ovens, which are used to concentrate metals found in ore, also produce it. 

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Compressed natural gas, or CNG, is natural gas under pressure which remains clear, odourless, and non-corrosive – and can be used as a cheaper, greener, and more efficient alternative to the traditional petrol and diesel fuels for vehicles.

CNG is comprised mostly of methane gas which, like gasoline, produces engine power when mixed with air and fed into your engine’s combustion chamber.

CNG engines run more quietly due to the higher-octane rating of CNG over gasoline and they produce less exhaust emissions. Harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) can be reduced by as much as 95% when compared to gasoline powered vehicles.

What was the Ulgulan movement?

The Ulgulan movement of 1899 also involved the use of weapons and guerrilla warfare to drive out foreigners. Munda encouraged the tribals to refuse following colonial laws and paying rent. He encouraged changes in the social sphere too, challenging religious practices to fight against superstition, and became known as ‘Bhagwan’ (God) and ‘Dharati Aba’ (Father of the earth) by his followers.

But the British were soon able to halt the movement. On March 3, 1900, Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

• A heat dome occurs when an area of high-pressure traps warm air over a region, just like a lid on a pot, for an extended period of time. The longer that air remains trapped, the more the sun works to heat the air, producing warmer conditions with every passing day. Heat domes generally stay for a few days but sometimes they can extend up to weeks, which might cause deadly heat waves.
• Scientists suggest that any region of high pressure, whether a heat dome or not, forces air to sink and once it reaches the ground, it gets compressed and becomes even warmer. Moreover, when air sinks, it gets drier and further raises the temperature of the area.
• The heat dome’s formation is related to the behaviour of the jet stream — an area of fast-moving air high in the atmosphere. The jet stream is believed to have a wave-like pattern that keeps moving from north to south and then north again. When these waves get bigger and elongated, they move slowly and sometimes can become stationary. This is when a high-pressure system gets stuck and leads to the occurrence of a heat dome.
• Although heat domes are likely to have always existed, researchers say that climate change may be making them more intense and longer. They suggest with the rising temperatures, it is expected that the jet stream will become more wavy and will have larger deviations, causing more frequent extreme heat events.

The Constitution (First Amendment) Bill sought to make several consequential changes — from exempting land reforms from scrutiny to providing protections for backward classes in the Constitution. Notably, it also expanded on the scope of the restrictions on the right to free speech. 

The Healthy Indian Project (THIP), a health information platform in India, has joined the World Health Organization’s Vaccine Safety Net (VSN), a global network of websites providing trustworthy vaccine safety information.

The Vaccine Safety Net (VSN) is a global network of websites that provide reliable information on vaccine safety. The VSN is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The VSN is a diverse group of websites that provide vaccine safety information in various languages.

Only Statement 2 is correct.

The Mekong River is a significant transboundary river in East and Southeast Asia, ranked as the world’s twelfth-longest and Asia’s third-longest. It originates from the Tibetan Plateau. Despite being a crucial trade route between Tibet and Southeast Asia, its extreme seasonal fluctuations and natural obstacles like rapids and waterfalls pose challenges to navigation

Shankar Mahadevan and Zakir Hussain’s fusion band Shakti earned recognition at the 66th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, winning the Global Music Album award for their album “This Moment.”

The Grammy Awards, often referred to simply as the Grammys, is an annual ceremony recognizing outstanding achievements in the music industry. Hosted by the Recording Academy, the awards cover various genres and categories, including pop, rock, rap, country, classical, and more. Winners are selected through a voting process involving music industry professionals.

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is a medium-sized crane that is native to Asia.It is the only alpine crane species in the world and lives at high altitudes in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau.
• The black-necked crane is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, receiving the highest degree of protection.
• It is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species.
  

Originating from the Tibetan Plateau, it flows through Southwest China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and southern Vietnam. 

The two countries signed a Friendship Treaty in 1955, and India’s support to Egypt, including during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956, eventually led to the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, with both as founder members. They were also instrumental in the G-77 grouping and “South-South Cooperation” initiatives. 

Only statement 2 is correct.

• LNG is natural gas reduced to a liquid state (liquefaction) through intense cooling to around -161 degrees Celsius (-259 Fahrenheit). This liquid gas is 600 times smaller than the original volume and is half the weight of water.
• The compressed fossil fuel, which is constituted almost wholly of methane— a potent greenhouse gas —, can be transported around the world by ship. After arriving at its destination, the cargo is regasified in a floating terminal and redistributed through pipelines.
• But despite LNG’s export potential, the high cost of liquefaction and producing LNG has limited its market.
• The cooling, liquefying and transport processes, as well as the post-transport regasification procedures, also require a lot of energy.
• Because of LNG’s much more complex production and transport process, the risks of methane leakages along the production, transport and regasification chain are simply much higher and therefore much more emissions-intensive.

Only Statement 2 is correct.

• Core inflation — that is the inflation rate when prices of food and fuel are taken away. Core inflation typically rises and falls more gradually than inflation in food and fuel.
• Eight core industrial sectors that support infrastructure such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement, and electricity have a total weight of nearly 40% in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).