Test: Monthly Current Affairs March- 3 - UPSC MCQ

In News: The Supreme Court made the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary “personally responsible” for developing Rule Curve for 123 years old Mullaperiyar Dam. * “Appropriate action” will be taken on failure to give information on the rule curve for Mullaperiyar dam to the Supreme Court-appointed Supervisory Committee.
Option B is correct. The rule curve divides the storage volume of a reservoir in zones where different strategies for demand supply will be applied. Rule curve in a dam decides the fluctuating storage levels in a reservoir. The gate opening schedule of a dam is based on the rule curve. It is part of the “core safety” mechanism in a dam. The limits of each zone may vary seasonally or remain constant during the whole year.Such tools may be used for flood control or water conservation during long dry spells.

Statement 1 is correct: The Constitution provides that the Rajya Sabha shall consist of 250 members, of which 12 members shall be nominated by the President from amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service; and not more than 238 representatives of the States and of the Union Territories.
Statement 2 and 3 are not correct: The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire every second year. Nominated members have the same rights and privileges as elected members, with one notable difference — they cannot vote in the election of the President.

In News: To double farm incomes, the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare must seek more funds, says House panel.
Statement 1 is not correct. The PM Kisan Mandhan Yojana is a voluntary and contributory scheme. Under it, a monthly pension of Rs.3000 is given to Small and Marginal farmers on attaining the age of 60 years.
Statement 2 is correct. When the scheme was launched in 2019, it aimed to cover five crore beneficiaries by 2021-22. The target was later downgraded to three crore.

The SERB Women Excellence Award was instituted by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST). It recognises and rewards outstanding research achievements of young women scientists in frontier areas of Science and Engineering.

In News: In Pilibhit, a tigress carcass was found and her 4 cubs are missing.
Option B is correct. The above description is about Pilibhit TIger Reserve. It lies in western UP, south of the Indo-Nepal Border while River Sharada and Khakra mark the southern boundary. It was declared as the 45th Tiger Reserve in 2008. It was awarded the first Tx2, 2020 award for doubling tiger population before stipulated time.

Dhubri Phulbari bridge -Foundation stone for 19-km-long four-lane Dhubri Phulbari bridge will be laid down  over the Brahmaputra It will be India’s longest bridge over a river that connects Dhubri in Assam and Phulbari in Meghalaya, to be constructed at the cost of Rs 5,000 crore.

Statement 1 is correct. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the global organisation of national parliaments. It began in 1889 as a small group of parliamentarians, dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue.
Statement 2 is not correct. It is financed primarily by its Members out of public funds.
Statement 3 is not correct. It has a total 179 Member Parliaments and 13 Associate Members as of now and India is a member.

Diagnosis of death by drowning is deemed as a difficult task in forensic pathology.  A number of tests have been developed to confirm the cause of such deaths with the diatom test emerging as one of the most important tests. Diatom analysis is considered positive only when the number of diatoms recovered from the body is more than a minimal established limit. Forensic experts also correlate the diatoms extracted from the body and the samples obtained from the water body where the drowning took place to ascertain the place of drowning.

Statement 1 is not correct. Lake Baikal is situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha lake is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It is a freshwater lake and contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.
Statement 2 is correct. In 1996, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Statement 3 is correct. Russian scientists have deployed Baikal-GVD, a giant underwater space telescope in Lake Baikal. It will search for neutrinos, which are nearly massless subatomic particles with no electrical charge.

In News: Recently, Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Option A is correct. The Devendrakula Vellalar community is from Tamil Nadu. In ancient times, people from this community were warriors and agriculturists. They find mention in Tamil Sangam literature. They are also called Pallars in Tamil Nadu and are listed under the Scheduled Caste category.

In News: The US is planning to cut off the export of helium from 2021 and the Indian industry stands to lose out heavily.
Statement 1 is not correct. Helium (He) is a chemical element, inert gas of Group 18 (noble gases) of the periodic table. It is the second lightest element after hydrogen.
Statement 2 is correct. Helium is the only element that cannot be solidified by sufficient cooling at normal atmospheric pressure and it is necessary to apply pressure of 25 atmospheres at a temperature of 1 K (−272 °C, or −458 °F) to convert it to its solid form.

Namghar is an important cultural and religious institution in Assam. These are houses of recitation and prayer. These were initiated by Srimanta Sankardeva, the 15th-century social reformer and religious preacher.

Statement 1 is not correct: The Inter-State Council is a non-permanent constitutional body set up by a presidential order on the basis of provisions in Article 263 of the Constitution of India. The Council is formed to discuss or investigate policies, subjects of common interest, and disputes among states.
Statement 2 is correct: The Inter-State Council was set up in 1990 following the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission. Article 263 empowers the President of India to set up an inter-state council to deal with federal issues.
Statement 3 is not correct: The council is chaired by the Prime Minister and includes six Union ministers and all chief ministers as members.

Statement 1and 2 are not correct: It is the government’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Aim: To reduce stunting and wasting by 2% per year (total 6% until 2022) among children and anaemia by 3% per year (total 9% until 2022) among children, adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Statement 3 is correct: The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the nodal ministry for implementation.

Muria is a Gond tribe from the highlands of the Bastar region in southern Chhattisgarh. They are known for their youth dormitories (ghotul) in which the unmarried of both sexes lead a highly organized social life and receive training in civic duties and in sexual practices. They have the custom of making dead pillars (gudi) in South Bastar, where people are buried with a wide and sharp 6-7 feet high stone placed on the grave. Muria tribal women participate in barter systems to exchange forest products like mahua flower, tamarind and other minor forest products.

In News: The governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh signed a memorandum of agreement with the Union Jal Shakti Ministry to implement the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project.
Option C is correct: The Ken-Betwa river interlinking project has been mired in several hurdles like sharing of waters, deforesting & submergence of  Panna Tiger Reserve. The Panna tiger reserve is situated in the Vindhya mountain range in the northern part of Madhya Pradesh. Ken river (a tributary of the Yamuna River) flows through the reserve.

Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFSs) are India’s first computer-based surveys. These were launched by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2017 and are released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. These aim to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (Worker Population Ratio, Unemployment Rate, etc.) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS) and also in both usual status and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

Option D is correct. Parosmia is a medical term used to describe a condition in which affected individuals experience “distortions of the sense of smell”. A person with parosmia is able to detect certain odours, but they might experience the smell of certain things as different and often unpleasant.
Sinusitis is an inflammation of the lining inside the sinuses which can be acute or chronic. When the sinuses become blocked and fill with fluid, germs can grow and cause symptoms such as headache and nasal yellowish secretions.
Esotropia is a form of strabismus in which one or both eyes turn inward. The condition can be constantly present, or occur intermittently, and can give the affected individual a "cross-eyed" appearance.
Senopia is the improvement of near vision sometimes occurring in the aged because of swelling of the crystalline lens in incipient cataract.

The Shigmo festival, also known as Shigmotsav is a spring festival celebrated in Goa. It is the celebration of a ‘rich, golden harvest of paddy’ by the tribal communities of Goa. Agricultural communities including the Kunbis, Gawdas and Velips celebrate the festival.

The Suez Canal is a human-made waterway and is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes. It connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea through Egypt and extends 193 km between Port Said in the north and Port Suez in the south. Built in 1869, it provides a major shortcut for ships moving between Europe and Asia, who before its construction had to sail around Africa to complete the same journey.