Test: Monthly Current Affairs December- 3 - UPSC MCQ

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 1 is correct: The Reserve Bank of India tabulates the rupee’s Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) in relation to the currencies of 36 trading partner countries. Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) is a weighted index that is, countries with which India trades more are given greater weight in the index.
Statement 2 is correct: The decrease in this index denotes depreciation in rupee’s value; an increase reflects appreciation.
Statement 3 is not correct: Nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) don’t take into account inflation but Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) is the weighted average of nominal exchange rates, adjusted for inflation.

In News: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of North Eastern Region Power System Improvement Project (NERPSIP) at an estimated cost of Rs. 6,700 crore.
Option A is correct: It is a Central Sector Scheme, launched in 2014.
It is being implemented by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) in association with six North Eastern States namely Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura.
The project is being supported financially by the World Bank.

In News- Too many cattle are robbing the one-horned rhinos of Assam’s Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, referred to as ‘Mini Kaziranga’ for similar features, of their nutritious food.
Option A is correct: Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as ‘Mini Kaziranga’ because of similar landscape and a sizeable population of the one-horned rhino. Pobitora WLS is located on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra in Morigaon district in Assam. It was declared in 1987 and covers 38.85 km2 (15.00 sq mi), providing grassland and wetland habitat for the Indian rhinoceros.
It provides a habitat and food resource for the Indian rhinoceros, hosting Assam’s second-largest population.

In News- United Nations Development Program(UNDP) has released the Human Development Index(HDI) 2020.
Option B is correct: India slipped two spots to rank 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 human development index, a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to the 2020 Human Development Report, life expectancy of Indians at birth in 2019 was 69.7 years while Bangladesh has a life expectancy of 72.6 years and Pakistan 67.3 years. Human Development Index(HDI) measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development: A long and healthy life- measured by Life expectancy at birth Access to knowledge: measured by Mean years of schooling and Expected years of schooling A decent standard of living- measured by Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (PPP US$).

In News- The Uttar Pradesh government has recently launched a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world.
Option D is correct: The community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks or lower Himalayas. The tribe lives in both India and Nepal. In the Indian, they are mostly located in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Members of the tribe survive on wheat, corn and vegetables grown close to their homes and a majority of them still live off the forest. The word Tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.

In News- India and Afghanistan soon likely to sign an agreement on building the Shahtoot dam across the Maidan river, a tributary of River Kabul in Afghanistan.
Option C is correct: Shahtoot dam is to be built on the Maidan river, a tributary of River Kabul in Afghanistan which originates from Sanglakh Range of Hindu Kush mountain. The river flows through Kabul, Surobi and Jalalabad in Afghanistan before flowing into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The Shahtoot dam is proposed to be built in on a tributary of Kabul river in Chahar Asiab district near the capital of Afghanistan. Uses- The dam will provide irrigation, drinking water for the Kabul province of the country.

Statement 1 is not correct: Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemicalfree agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices. It was originally promoted by Maharashtrian agriculturist and Padma Shri recipient Subhash Palekar.  The ZBNF promotes the application of jeevamrutha — a mixture of fresh desi cow dung and aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil — on farmland. The rearing of animals and cultivation of crops together are called mixed farming.
Statement 2 is correct: ZBNF principles are in harmony with the principles of Agroecology and it brings down the cost of production to nearly zero and returns to a pre-green revolution style of farming.
Statement 3 is correct: ZBNF promotes the application of jeevamrutha — a mixture of fresh desi cow dung and aged desi cow urine, jaggery, pulse flour, water and soil — on farmland. This is a fermented microbial culture that adds nutrients to the soil, and acts as a catalytic agent to promote the activity of microorganisms and earthworms in the soil. 

In News: In a recent policy document, the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has mentioned that any commercial exploitation of the North Sentinel Island of the Andamans will endanger the survival of the Sentinelese tribes.
Option B is correct: They are the occupants of the Northern Sentinel Island and have a population of about 50 to 100. They are a negrito tribe and have not faced incursions and remain hostile to outsiders. The tribe has been categorised as particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG). PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. They have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward. They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support. The inhabitants are connected to the Jarawa on the basis of physical, as well as linguistic similarities. They speak their own language and the translation of their language cannot be done till the present day.

In News: Recently, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways published a draft notification to seek comments from the public for the adoption of E20 fuel.
Option D is correct: Biofuels are broadly classified into four categories based on their raw materials. They are First-generation biofuels: Made from sugar, starch, vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology. Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols, Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas. Second-generation biofuels: Produced from non-food crops, such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of wheat and corn, and wood). Examples include advanced biofuels like biohydrogen, bioethanol. Third-generation biofuels: Produced from microorganisms like algae.
Fourth-generation biofuels: Made from genetically engineered crops which consume high amounts of carbon. The crops are then converted into fuel using second-generation techniques. National Biofuel Policy 2018: It categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” viz. First Generation (1G), Second Generation (2G) and Third Generation (3G) biofuels.

In News: In a recent policy document, the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has mentioned that any commercial exploitation of the North Sentinel Island of the Andamans will endanger the survival of the Sentinelese tribes.
Option B is correct: The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) are Jarwa, Onges, Great Andamanese and Sentinelese. PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. They have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward. They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.

In News- Recently, Union Minister for Environment released the Status of Leopards report 2018.
Option B is correct: There are 12,852 leopards in India as of 2018 as compared to the previous estimate of 7910 conducted in 2014, an increase of 60% in 4 years.
The highest concentration of the leopard in India is estimated to be in Madhya Pradesh (3,421) followed by Karnataka (1,783) and Maharashtra (1,690). Recent meta-analyses of leopard status and distribution suggest 48–67% range loss for the species in Africa and 83–87% in Asia. In the Indian subcontinent, poaching, habitat loss, depletion of natural prey and conflict are major threats to leopard populations. All these have resulted in changing the species status from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN.

In News- Recently, the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii’s Big Island erupted which was followed by an earthquake of magnitude 4.4.
Option C is correct: Kilauea, also called Mount Kilauea (“Much Spreading” in Hawaiian), is located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii, U.S.A.

In News- Doctors have witnessed increased cases of Covid-19 triggered Mucormycosis.
Option A is correct: Mucormycosis is also known as Black Fungus or Zygomycosis. It is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of moulds called mucormycetes which exist in the environment. It is not a zoonotic disease, which cannot spread between people or between people and animals. People get mucormycosis through contact with fungal spores in the environment. Mucormycosis most commonly affects the sinuses or lungs after inhaling fungal spores from the air, or the skin after the fungus enters through a cut, burn or other types of skin injury. According to the advisory, it can occur in any part of the body. It needs to be treated with prescription antifungal medicine. Often, mucormycosis also requires surgery to cut away the infected tissue. 

In News- Recently, Pakistan and China Began Joint Air Exercise Shaheen (Eagle)-IX.
Option B is correct: The air forces of Pakistan and China commenced a joint exercise named Exercise Shaheen (Eagle)-IX designed to deepen practical cooperation and improve the actualcombat training level of the two sides. Every year, this exercise is held alternatively in China and Pakistan.

Hydroponics is a method of growing plants, usually crops, without soil on the water which is rich in essential nutrients. Chemical nutrients are used for providing essential nutrients to the plants. The yield is low here. The system requires regular flush up and replacement with nutrient-rich water,  due to salt build-up.

In news- To protect the critically endangered great Indian bustard from colliding with live wires, the Wildlife Conservation Society- India (WCSI) is installing 1,848 bird diverters on hightension wires along a 6.5km stretch in Pokhran, Rajasthan.
Option C is correct: The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) along with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) India has come up with a unique initiative — a “firefly bird diverter” for overhead power lines in areas where Great Indian Bustard (GIB) populations are found in the wild. GIB is one of the most critically threatened species in India, with less than 150 birds left in the wild. Firefly bird diverters are flaps installed on power lines. They work as reflectors for bird species like the GIB. Birds can spot them from a distance of about 50 meters and change their path of flight to avoid collision with power lines. Smaller birds can change their direction [swiftly] but for larger bird species, it is difficult because their body weight and other factors

In News- Zomi ethnic group has renewed its demand for the creation of Zoland Territorial Council (ZTC), a self-administered zone on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.
Option A is correct: Manipur's Zomi ethnic group has renewed its demand for the creation of Zoland Territorial Council (ZTC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, a selfadministered zone on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam. The Zou people or Zomi are an indigenous community living along the frontier of India and Burma. They are a subgroup of the Zo people (Mizo-Kuki-Chin). In India, the Zou are officially recognized as one of the thirty-three indigenous peoples within the state of Manipur, and are one of the Scheduled tribes.

In News- Recently, the Union Home Minister inaugurated several development projects in Manipur.
Option D is correct: He inaugurated the e-office and Thoubal Multipurpose Project (Thoubal Dam) in Imphal through virtual mode which will irrigate 35,104 hectares. The Thoubal Multipurpose Project on river Thoubal, a tributary of Manipur river, is located near the village Phayang at 35 km from Imphal town in Manipur.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 100th run of Kisan Rail. The train, starting from Sangola in Maharashtra and culminating in Shalimar in West Bengal, will cover a distance of 2,132 km with more than 400 tonnes of cargo at a speed of 54.6 kmph in around 39 hours. It is carrying pomegranate, custard apples, grapes and oranges.