UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 Practice Test - 9 - UPSC MCQ

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Supreme court has held that both right to reservation and the right to reservation in promotion is not a Fundamental Right.

• Statement 2 is correct: In the famous Mandal Commission aka Indra Sawhney v. Union of India case, The nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court recognized the inequality among different castes and the held that it would be legal for the state to categorise backward classes as ‘backward’ and ‘more backward’for the purpose of providing reservation.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: In the Indra Sawhney vs UOI (1992) case, the Supreme court held that the backwardness of a community cannot be determined exclusively with reference to economic criteria. Backwardness is determined on the basis of ‘social condition’. Educational and economic backwardness can be used as a tool to determine social backwardness.

• Statement 1 is correct: Poverty gap measures how far the people on an average are short from the poverty line.

• Statement 2 is correct: The intensity of poverty makes it possible to see how far the living standard of the poor population is from the poverty line.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: Poverty gap (and not poverty trap) measures the intensity of poverty. Poverty trap is a spiralling mechanism which forces people to remain poor. It is so binding in itself that it doesn't allow the poor people to escape it. It generally happens in developing and under-developing countries and is caused by a lack of capital and credit to people.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: INI are to- a) optimize nitrogen’s beneficial role in sustainable food production, and b) minimize nitrogen’s negative effects on human health and the environment resulting from food and energy production.

• Statement 2 is correct: In 2018 Indian scientist-academician, N Raghuram, has been elected Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI). So, India is a part of this initiative.

• Operation Twist involves the simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities under Open Market Operations (OMOs). Through ‘Operation twist’, RBI aims to bring down long-term bond yields. The idea is that by purchasing longer-term bonds (securities), the RBI can help drive the bond prices up and yields down (since prices and yields move in opposite directions). The yield determines the interest rate in the economy, leading to lower long-term interest rates.

• At the same time, selling shorter-term bonds should cause their yields to go up (since their prices would fall). Operation Twist is the name given to a US Federal Reserve monetary policy operation, which involves the purchase and sale of government securities by the Central Bank of a country to boost the economy by bringing down long-term interest rates. Lower longer-term yields help boost the economy by making loans less expensive for those looking to buy homes, purchase cars, and finance projects, while saving becomes less desirable because it doesn't pay as much interest.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: A cess is an earmarked tax that is collected for a specific purpose and ought to be spent only for that. Cess may initially go to the Consolidated Fund of India but has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected. Cess collections are supposed to be transferred to specified Reserve Funds that Parliament has approved for each of these levies.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Article 270 of the Constitution allows cess to be excluded from the purview of the divisible pool of taxes that the Union government must share with the States.

• UDISE Plus Report is a comprehensive study that provides information on enrollment and dropout rates of school students, number of teachers in schools, and information on other infrastructural facilities like toilets, buildings and electricity. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• It was launched in 2018-2019 to speed up data entry, reduce errors, improve data quality and ease its verification. The Ministry of Education has released this report, as well as the Performance Grading Index (PGI) for 2020-21. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• An Ecotone describes an area that acts as a transition or boundary between two ecosystems. This could be, for example, an area of marshland between a river and the riverbank, a clearing within a forest or a much larger area such as the transition between Arctic Tundra and Forest biomes in Northern Siberia.

• As this area is inevitably Influenced by the two bordering ecosystems, it is, therefore, a consequence of this that a higher density of organisms and variety of species can be found within an Ecotone. This increase in biodiversity is referred to as the “edge effect”.

• An Ecotone can be formed naturally – through abiotic factors such as changes in soil composition – but can also be created through the result of human interaction. Clearing of forest areas or irrigation are examples of this.

• Ecotones are considered areas of great environmental importance. As well as providing an area for a large number of species, they often experience an influx from animals looking to nest or searching for food. They may also be considered a habitat of greater genetic diversity and serve as bridges of “gene flow” from one population to another.

• Additionally, an Ecotone can act as a “buffer zone” protecting the neighbouring ecosystem from possible environmental damage – i.e. a wetland area could absorb pollutants preventing them from seeping into a river or estuary. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

• A satellite navigation system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows small electronic receivers to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high precision (within a few centimeters to metres) using time signals transmitted along a line of sight by radio from satellites.

• A satellite navigation system with global coverage may be termed a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). At present, the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) and the European Union's Galileo are fully operational GNSSs.

• BeiDou is a Satellite Navigation System of China. It has total 22 Operational satellites in orbit and the full constellation is scheduled to comprise 35 satellites. BeiDou has two separate constellations, BeiDou-1 and BeiDou-2. BeiDou-1 also known as first generation was a constellation of three satellites. It became operational in year 2000 and offered limited coverage and navigation services, mainly for users in China and neighboring regions. Beidou-1 was decommissioned at the end of 2012. Hence, pair 1 is not correctly matched.

• GLObal NAvigation Satellite System or GLONASS is global navigation system of Russia. GLONASS became operational in year 1993 with 12 satellites in 2 orbits at the height of 19,130 km. At present, there are total 27 satellites in orbit and all are operational. GLONASS is operated by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces and is the Second alternative navigational system in operation. Hence, pair 2 is correctly matched.

• Galileo is European Union’s GNSS constellation, which is being put together by the European Space Agency, and the European GNSS Agency will operate it. Galileo is global navigation system available for civilian and commercial use. The fully deployed Galileo system will consist of 30 operational satellites and 6 in-orbit spares. As of now 22 out of 30 satellites are in orbit. Galileo started offering Early Operational Capability from 2016 and is expected to reach full operational capability by 2020. Hence, pair 4 is not correctly matched.

• The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System is the regional satellite navigation system from Japan which is still under construction by the Satellite Positioning Research and Application Center, Japan. As per plans, the QZSS constellation will have 7 satellites, out of which 4 are already in orbit. QZSS is expected to be operational by the end of 2018, where it will provide highly precise and stable positioning services in the Asia-Oceania region. QZSS will be compatible with GPS. Hence, pair 3 is not correctly matched.

• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), which was later given the operational name of NavIC or NAVigation with Indian Constellation, is the regional satellite navigation system of India. Launched and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), IRNSS covers India and nearby regions extending up to 1,500 km.

• The concept of Public interest litigation originated and developed in USA in 1960s. However in India, In India, the PIL was introduced in the early 1980s and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer and Justice P.N. Bhagwati are considered as the pioneers of the PIL.

• The Supreme Court has defined the PIL as “a legal action initiated in a court of law for the enforcement of public interest or general interest in which the public or a class of the community have pecuniary interest or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected. It is the power given to the public by courts through judicial activism.

• However, Public interest litigation is not defined in any statute or in any act. It has been interpreted by judges to consider the intent of public at large. Although, the main and only focus of such litigation is only Public Interest there are various areas where a Public interest litigation can be filed. For e.g.

  • Bonded labour matters

  • Neglected children

  • Non-payment of minimum wages to workers and exploitation of casual workers and complaints of violation of Labour Laws (except in individual cases)

  • Petitions against police for refusing to register a case, harassment by police and death in police custody

  • Petitions against atrocities on women, in particular harassment of bride, bride-burning, rape, murder, kidnapping, etc. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• In order to extending the reach of PIL, the principle of locus standi (Only an aggrieved person can file complaint against violation of his rights) is relaxed so that court can look into the grievances complained on behalf of the poor, deprived, illiterate and the disabled who cannot vindicate the legal wrong or legal injury caused to them for violation of any constitutional or legal right. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• Who can file the PIL?

  • The aggrieved person can himself file the PIL.

  • The court can itself take cognisance of the matter and proceed suo motu or cases can commence on the petition of any public-spirited individual.

  • Any person can apply to the court on behalf of those who are economically or physically unable to raise their concern. However, it should be based on public interest not for the individual benefit.

  • Any public spirited person even a foreigner (Foreigners who reside in India or visiting India on visas also have certain constitutional and statutory rights) can file a PIL on behalf of others but this is necessary that only the person who is filing a PIL should not get benefit. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• The topography of Mizoram mostly consists of low, elongated hills of poorly consolidated sedimentary rock that is easily and rapidly eroded, called molasses.

• Molasses basins are formed when a major ramp overthrust is active and the intact continent is flexed down in front of the overriding mountain range, a foreland basin is formed by the flexure.

• Foreland basins usually exist as subsurface features that have been filled with debris eroded from the advancing overthrust slice of crust. These deposits, called molasse, can, in turn, be folded and thrust over one another shortly after they are deposited.

• Fold and thrust belts in such material, as found at the northern edge of the Alps or at the foot of most of the Himalayas, are often narrow, composed of only one or two parallel folds and faults.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

• In the beginning every religion is inspired by the spirit of reform, but eventually it succumb s to rituals and ceremonies it originally denounced.

• Gradually the Buddhist monks were cut off from the mainstream of people's life; they gave up Pali, the language of the people, and took to sanskrit, the language of the intellectuals. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• From the first century A.D. onwards, they practiced idol worship on a large scale and received numerous offerings from devotees. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The rich offerings supplemented by generous royal grants to the Buddhist monasteries made the life of monks easy. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• Some of the monasteries such as Nalanda collected revenue from as many as 200 villages.

• Cash Management Bills (CMBs) are short term bills issued by central government to meet its immediate cash needs. The bills are issued by the RBI on behalf of the government. Hence the CMBs are short- term money market instruments that help the government to meet its temporary cash flow mismatches. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• Following are the features of CMBs:

  • CMBs have a maturity of less than 91 days.

  • The CMBs have the generic character of Treasury Bills as the CMBs are issued at a discount and redeemed at face value at maturity.

  • CMBs are eligible as SLR securities. Investment in CMBs is also recognized as an eligible investment in Government securities by banks for SLR purpose under Section 24 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

  • CMBs were issued for the first time in 2010. The purpose of the mechanism is to enable the government to get short term money. Another similar method for the government to get short term money is Ways and Means Advances (WMA). Under WMA, the RBI gives temporary loan facilities to the centre and state governments as a banker to the government for up to 90 days.

• The principal sensor of Risat-2, considered a ‘spy’ satellite, was an X-band syntheticaperture radar from Israel Aerospace Industries. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• Risat-2 was built more quickly following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks due to delay with the indigenously developed C-band for Risat-1 satellite. The satellite, which was India's first dedicated reconnaissance satellite, possessed day-night as well as all-weather monitoring capability. RISAT-2 is India’s first "eye in the sky" which keep surveillance on the country’s borders as part of anti-infiltration and anti-terrorist operations. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• Option a is correct: Established by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875, the Arya Samaj was revivalist in form and reformist in nature. The organisation was formally set up at Bombay in 1875 and later the headquarter was shifted to Lahore. Its vision of India included a classless and casteless society and an India free from foreign rule. It believed in the supremacy of the Vedas, but also advocated individual interpretation and condemned orthodox elements like idolatry, untouchability, etc. It also promoted women equality and welfare. Swami Dayanand Saraswati published his ideas regarding Arya Samaj’s reform work in the publication called Satyarth Prakash.

• Option b is incorrect: Keshab and his followers founded the Brahmo Samaj of India in 1866. In 1867, Keshab Chandra Sen helped Atmaram Pandurang found the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay. RG Bhandarkar, MG Ranade, and NG Chandavarkar were also associated with it. The emphasis was on monotheism, but on the whole, the samaj was more concerned with social reforms than with religion.

• Option c is incorrect: Radhakant Deb founded Dharma sabha in 1830 at Kolkata. An orthodox society, it stood for the preservation of the status quo in socio-religious matters, opposing even the abolition of sati. However, it favoured the promotion of Western education, even for girls. Brahmo Samaj’s progressive ideas met with strong opposition from the Dharma Sabha.

• Option d is incorrect: Raja Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha in August 1828 at Kolkata; it was later renamed Brahmo Samaj. The long-term agenda of the Brahmo Samaj—to purify Hinduism and to preach monotheism—was based on the twin pillars of reason and the Vedas and Upanishads. It kept its emphasis on human dignity, opposition to idolatry and criticism of social evils such as sati.

• Knowledge Base: Arya Samaj - Along with his emphasis on Vedic authority, he stressed the significance of individual interpretation of the scriptures and said that every person has the right of access to God. He criticised later Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas and the ignorant priests for perverting Hinduism. Dayananda subscribed to the Vedic notion of chaturvarna system in which a person was not born in any caste but was identified as a brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya or shudra according to the occupation the person followed.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Great Depression was a setback to the belief in the self-correcting quality of the market. In the aftermath of the GD, Keynes questioned the very principles of ‘laissez faire’ and the nature of the ‘invisible hand’. He even opined that the invisible hand brings equilibrium to the economy but by ‘strangulating the poor’. He suggested that prices and wages were not flexible enough to provide employment to all. This inflexibility is a basic reason why markets are not always self-correcting.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Market socialism had been suggested in the context of the socialist economy. It was Keynes who had suggested state intervention in the context of the capitalist economy.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: World Bank has not given any such fixed template. World Development Report 1999 mentions that “Governments play a vital role in development, but there is no simple set of rules that tells them what to do”. World Bank went on to suggest that every country should determine the areas and the extent of the market and state intervention, depending on its own stage of economic development, socio-political and other historical factors.

• Statement 4 is correct: The emergence of the mixed economy model was able to settle the long-standing debate as to what was the best way to organize an economy for all times to come. World Bank had rejected both the historically existing economic orders, namely the free-market economy, and the state economy. Rather, it advocates for a ‘mixture’ of both the economic orders, even if the exact nature of the mixture varies from nation to nation.

• Statement 1 is correct: Whenever the prices of food grains rise in the open market, the government can release the supply of food grains stored in the buffer stock. This will enhance the supply of the food grains in open market and help bring down the prices.

• Statement 2 is correct: Imposing a minimum export price will increase the availability of commodities for domestic markets, thereby reducing inflationary pressures.

• Statement 3 is incorrect: Direct taxes should be increased and not reduced to tackle inflation in the short- term. Reducing taxes will only place more money in the hands of consumers thereby adding to the inflationary pressure.

• Statement 1 is correct: The phenotype is the physical appearance of an organism, while the Genotype is the genetic composition of an organism. Phenotype is observable and are the expression of the genes of an individual. We can notice one’s hair colour, eye colour, height, weight, skin colour, etc. but cannot look at genes responsible for these characters, so the observable physical look is the phenotype while the unnoticed genes responsible for such characters present in the DNA of cell of the individual is genotype.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Genotype are partly inherited from an individual to the offspring as one of the two alleles, during the reproduction process. The hereditary characters of the organisms, which may or may not get expressed in the next generation. The same genotype produces the same phenotype in a particular environment. Phenotype is not inherited. It appears outside the body, as physical appearance.

• Relevance: Constitutional Developments important topic. Asked frequently in previous years questions.

• Statement 1 is correct: The Company lost all its trading rights, including those of tea and in trade with China that had been spared by the Charter Act of 1813. Now it remained purely as an administrative body, The sole function of the company was to take care of British territorial possessions in India for the Crown.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: The restrictions on Missionaries to preach Christianity and encourage conversions had already been lifted by the Charter Act of 1813. The Charter Act of 1833 removed all restrictions on immigration and acquisition of property by Europeans in India. This finally cleared the way for widespread and complete colonisation of India.

• Statement 3 is correct: The Governor General’s Council until then had only 3 members. But a new member - a law member was added for professional advice on law making, as British possessions in India had increased substantially.

• Knowledge Base: Following are all the salient features of the Charter Act of 1833: The lease of 20 years to the Company was further extended. Territories of India were to be governed in the name of the Crown.

1) The Company’s monopoly over trade with China and in tea also ended.

2) All restrictions on European immigration.

3) the way was paved for the wholesale European colonisation of India.

4) In India, a financial, legislative and administrative centralisation of the government was envisaged:

a. The governor-general was given the power to superintend, control and direct all civil and military affairs of the Company.

b. Bengal, Madras, Bombay and all other territories were placed under complete control of the governor-general.

c. All revenues were to be raised under the authority of the governor-general who would have complete control over the expenditure too.

d. The Governments of Madras and Bombay were drastically deprived of their legislative powers and left with a right of proposing to the governor-general the projects of law which they thought to be expedient.

5) A law member was added to the governor-general’s council for professional advice on law-making.

6) Indian laws were to be codified and consolidated.

7) No Indian citizen was to be denied employment under the Company on the basis of religion, colour, birth, descent, etc. (Although the reality was different, this declaration formed the sheet-anchor of political agitation in India.)

8) The administration was urged to take steps to ameliorate the conditions of slaves and to ultimately abolish slavery. (Slavery was abolished in 1843.)

• Biotech-KISAN scheme is a farmer-centric scheme for farmers, developed by and with farmers under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

• It is a Pan-India program, following a hub-and-spoke model and stimulates entrepreneurship and innovation in farmers and empowers women. The programme links available science and technology to the farm by first understanding the problem of the local farmer and then providing scientific solutions to those problems.

• Biotech-KISAN aims to link farmers, scientists and science institutions across the country in a network that identifies and helps solve their problems in a cooperative manner. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

• The Biotech- KISAN Hubs are expected to fulfil the technology requirement to generate agriculture and bio-resource related jobs and better livelihood ensuring biotechnological benefits to small and marginal farmers.

• Biotech-KISAN also has a unique feature to identify and promote local farm leadership in both genders. Such leadership helps to develop science-based farming besides facilitating the transfer of knowledge.

• Currently, there are a total of eight Biotech-KISAN Hubs in different Agro-climatic Zones.

• Mulching is referred to as a mixture of wet straw, leaves, and loose earth evenly spread on the ground to protect the newly planted trees, shrubs, and their roots.

• Advantages of Mulching:

  • Reduce soil and water erosion. Soil water conservation and erosion control are the most important agriculture in dry regions. Mulching helps to Improve crop production in dryland areas.

  • Improves soil water through runoff control, increases infiltration decreases evaporation, controls weeds, and intercepts the impact of rain on the soil.

  • Reduce soil salinity by reducing evaporation. Hence statement 1 is correct.

  • Mulching improves the soil structure.

  • Mulching modifies the microclimate of the soil and the air in which the plant grows. Hence statement 2 is correct.

  • Improves the state of soil nutrients by adding organic matter, cationic nitration, and minerals solubility.

  • Temperature moderation through radiation shielding, heat conduction, and trapping.

  • Mulch can facilitate fertilizer placement and reduce plant nutrient loss through leaching.

  • Reduce the incidence of disease by protecting plant parts on the ground from splashes that carry the soil.

  • Reduce winter injuries by minimizing temperature variation.

  • Mulches maintain a warm temperature even at night, allowing seeds to germinate quickly and for young plants to quickly establish a strong root growth system. Improves seed germination.

  • Synthetic mulches play an important role in the soil solarization process.

  • Opaque mulches prevent the germination of annual weeds from light.

  • Reflective mulches will repel certain insects.

• Disadvantages of Mulching:

  • The removal and disposal of polyethene mulches remain important agronomic, economic, and environmental constraints.

  • Plastic fragments have been shown to release potentially carcinogenic phthalate acid esters in the soil, where they can be absorbed by crops and pose a risk to human health when consumed.

  • The plastic fragments left in the fields can also accumulate pesticides and other toxins applied to crops. This is a risk to grazing sheep, goats, and other animals on crop stem due to its potential to ingest plastic material or the chemicals that leak from it.

  • When cotton crops are grown in soils contaminated with plastic, there is a risk of lint being contaminated.

  • Plastic mulching is not easy to retrieve and reuse.

  • They are expensive to use in commercial production compared to organic mulches.

  • Probability of “burning” or “scorching” young plants due to a high temperature of black film

  • Difficulty in the application of top-dressed fertilizers.

  • Reptile movement and rodent activities are experienced in some places as mulching inadvertently facilitates an environment for increased activities of burrowing reptiles and rodents. Hence statement 3 is not correct.

  • Difficulty in movement of machinery.

• Though the term ‘secular’ was not initially mentioned in Indian constitution but later added through 42nd amendment 1976 .However, Indian Constitution has always been secular.

• The Western conception, of secularism means mutual exclusion of state and religion in order to protect values such as individual freedom and citizenship rights of individual. The term ‘mutual exclusion’ means this: both religion and state must stay away from the internal affairs of one another. The state must not intervene in the domain of religion; religion likewise should not dictate state policy or influence the conduct of the state. In other words, mutual exclusion means that religion and state must be strictly separated.

• On the other hand, the Indian concept of secularism departs from the western model in two ways and for two different reasons

  • Rights of Religious Groups: Indian Constitution grants rights to all religious communities such as the right to establish and maintain their educational institutions. Freedom of religion in India means the freedom of religion of both individuals and communities.

  • State’s Power of Intervention: The state has power to interfere in the affairs of religion. Such intervention was not always negative. The state could also help religious communities by giving aid to educational institutions run by them.

• Thus, the state may help or hinder religious communities depending on which mode of action promotes values such as freedom and equality. Hence Statement 1 is not correct.

• Indian secularism deals not only with religious freedom of individuals but also with religious freedom of minority communities. For e.g. an individual has the right to profess the religion of his or her choice. Likewise, religious minorities also have a right to exist and to maintain their own culture and educational institutions. It also restricts any form of intra-religious and inter-religious religious domination. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• In Indian secularism, there is also room for compatibility with the idea of state-supported religious reform. Thus, the Indian constitution bans untouchability. The Indian state has enacted several laws abolishing child marriage and lifting the taboo on inter-caste marriages. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• It is an important folk music from the state of Manipur. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• It is a musical narration of the Battle of Khongjom fought between the Manipuris and the British in April 1891. Hence statement 2 is not correct.

• The Khongjom Parva narrators glorify the Manipuris soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the sake of their motherland.

• Today the theme of singing Khongjom Parva includes the stories of Khamba and Thoibi, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the exploits of the kings of Manipur.

• The singer uses only a Dholok while singing.

• Statement 1 is not correct: Local self-government was always a part of administration from Ancient to Medieval India. The village as a unit of administration was seen in areas under the Rashtrakuta empire also. But Chola empire provided a new impetus to local governance and decentralization of power.

• Statement 2 is not correct: Ur was a general assembly of the village while Sabha was gathering of adult men in the village. Ur was the general assembly of the village where local residents discussed their matters without any formal rule or procedure. The Sabha or Mahasabha was the most popular assembly where only the selected few and elders of the village took part and carried on the business by following a regular procedure. It wielded a great authority in the administration of the rural areas.

• Statement 3 is correct: Sabha enjoyed huge autonomy and managed affairs of the village and also took important decisions. It also coordinated with the committees in the village which looked into basic administration of the village. The Sabha could settle new lands, exercise ownership rights over them. It could also raise loans for the village and levy taxes.

• Amur falcons, the world’s longest travelling raptors start travelling with the onset of winters. These raptors breed in southeastern Siberia and northern China, and migrate in millions across India and then over the Indian Ocean to southern Africa before returning to Mongolia and Siberia. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• They get their name from the Amur River which forms the border between Russia and China. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The birds are the least concern under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• It is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and included under its Schedule IV. Hence, statement 4 is correct.

• The Strait of Hormuz, located between Oman and Iran, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The Strait of Hormuz is the world’s most important oil chokepoint because of the large volumes of oil that flow through the strait. In 2018, its daily oil flow averaged 21 million barrels per day (b/d), or the equivalent of about 21% of global petroleum liquids consumption.

• The Strait of Malacca or Straits of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 580 miles in length, between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. As the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.

• Bering Strait, Russian Proliv Beringia, strait linking the Arctic Ocean with the Bering Sea and separating the continents of Asia and North America at their closest point. Located between Alaska (USA) and Russia, the Bering Strait is the only marine gateway between the icy Arctic and the Pacific Ocean. The strait averages 98 to 164 feet (30 to 50 metres) in-depth and at its narrowest is about 53 miles (85 km) wide.

  • The Bering Strait may be narrow, but it’s teeming with wildlife—beluga whales, bowhead whales, grey whales, walruses, polar bears, ringed, and ribbon seals.

  • Each spring, one of the largest wildlife migrations on Earth passes through this narrow gateway to reach the Arctic’s incredibly nutrient-rich and productive waters.

Hence option (c) is the correct answer.

• The Joint Parliamentary committee (JPC) is an ad-hoc body which is set up for a given period of time and is aimed at addressing a specific issue and dissolved after submission of its report to Parliament.

• It also examines a particular bill presented before the Parliament or for the purpose of investigating cases of financial irregularities in any government activity. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• A JPC is authorised to collect evidence in oral or written form or demand documents in connection with the matter. The proceedings and findings of the committee are confidential, except in matters of public interest. The Speaker has the final word in case of a dispute over calling for evidence. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The committee’s members are decided by Parliament. The number of members can vary. There are twice as many Lok Sabha members as the Rajya Sabha. Hence statement 3 is correct.

• There are 22 official languages in India and they are covered under the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution.

• At present, The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages: - (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri. Hence only option 3 and 4 are correct.

• At the time of commencement of constitution there were 14 language were listed in the schedule VIII.

• Later, Sindhi language was added in 1967. Thereafter three more languages viz., Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali were included in 1992. Subsequently Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added by 92 Amendment act, 2003.

• In 2003, A Committee was set up in under the Chairmanship of Shri Sitakant Mohapatra to evolve a set of objective criteria for inclusion of more languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India, on the basis of that there is more demand for inclusion of 38 more languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Some of them are Angika, Bhojpuri, Bhotia, Pali, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, English, Khasi, Mizo, and Rajasthani. Hence option 1 and 2 are not correct.

• The opening ceremony of the Rising Sun Water Fest-2022 was conducted amidst the pristine surroundings of Umiam Lake (man-made reservoir) at Meghalaya. Members of the Garo tribal community perform Wangala dance on the occasion of ‘The Rising Sun Water Fest-2022’. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• The Wangala is also known as the Festival of Hundred Drums and is celebrated with different forms of dances on the tunes of folk songs played on drums and primitive flute made of buffalo horns. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• The festival is celebrated in honour of the Sun God and marks the end of the long harvest season. Hence, statement 3 is correct. The celebration also signifies the end of a long toil period in the field for the Garo tribe before the start of the winters.

• Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, it is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

• It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the world’s largest volcano and makes up about half of the island’s land mass. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

• Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Governor cannot pardon a death sentence. Even if a state law prescribes for death sentence, the power to grant pardon lies with the President. However, the governor can suspend, remit or commute a death sentence.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. Only President can grant pardon, reprieve, respite, suspension, remission or commutation in respect to punishment or sentence by a court-martial.