Test: April 2022 Weekly Current Affair - 3 - UPSC MCQ

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’, a museum dedicated to all the prime ministers of the country since independence.
The Prime Ministers’ museum comprises of a total of 43 galleries. There are displays from the freedom struggle and the framing of the constitution. The ‘Sangrahalaya’ highlights the achievements of the prime ministers.

The 510-crew missile cruiser ‘Moskva’, which was a symbol of Russia’s military power, is said to be hit by Ukrainian missiles.
As per Russian Military sources, the warship which was leading its naval assault on Ukraine, was damaged by an explosion and sank after a fire. The 12,490-tonne vessel is the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since Second World War.

The Maharashtra government has developed a website-based migration tracking system (MTS) application to map the movement of vulnerable seasonal migrant workers.
The state women and child development department launched it as a pilot project in November last year in six districts with high tribal population. It aims for tracing and porting of ICDS facilities to anganwadi beneficiaries during their seasonal migration.

Samia Suluhu Hassan is the first female President of Tanzania. It is the largest country in East-African region and known for the Kilimanjaro National Park. She is currently the only female head of government in Africa.
Recently, the President of the Country met Kamala Harris, the first woman and first woman of color to be Vice President of the United States. This meeting is expected to pull more investors towards Tanzania. Unlike the previous President, Samia Hassan encouraged Covid vaccinations by publicly taking the shot herself.

East Timor, also known as Timor Leste, which has recently held its presidential election, was officially recognised by the United Nations in the year 2002.
East Timor is situated in the eastern half of Timor Island, while the western half of the island is part of Indonesia. The territory was colonised by Portugal in the 18th century and when the Portuguese withdrew in 1975, Indonesia invaded and annexed East Timor as its 27th province till 2002.

The ‘National Conference on Agriculture: Kharif Campaign 2022’ was inaugurated by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
During the event, the government announced a food-grain production target of 328 million tonnes for 2022-23. Kharif food-grain production target has been fixed at 163.15 million tonnes, while Rabi food-grain production target has been kept at 164.85 million tonnes. Total food grain production has increased by 25% in the last 6 years from 251.54 to 316.01 million tonnes.

The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the ‘Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), the ‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ program, under the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
Approved in 2018, it aims to transform selected districts and help 2.78 lakh rural local bodies achieve sustainable development goals. The Union Cabinet approved a financial outlay of Rs 5,911 crore for the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). It approved the continuation of the centrally sponsored scheme from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2026.

Himachal Diwas (Himachal Day) is celebrated on April 15 every year. It was on this day in 1948 that Himachal Pradesh was created as a province of India after the integration of 28 small princely states.
On this day, the state’s Chief Minister announced various new schemes including 50 per cent discount in HRTC buses for women, Zero bill to all power consumers up to 125 units, No water bill for all the families living in rural areas etc. Mukhya Mantri Grihini Suvidha Yojna, Jan Mach, Sahara Yojna, CM Himcare scheme and Mukhya Mantri Shagun Yojna are some other schemes of the state.

The Commerce Ministry has relaxed various procedures under the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme. Under the scheme, imports of capital goods are allowed duty free, subject to an export obligation.
The relaxations were announced in order to reduce compliance requirements and facilitate ease of doing business.

As per the World Bank, Extreme poverty is measured in terms of the number of people living on less than USD 1.90 a day (around Rs 145).
The World Bank recently released a working paper, titled ‘Poverty in India Has Declined over the Last Decade But Not As Much As Previously Thought’.
Extreme poverty in India dropped to 10.2% in the pre-Covid year of 2019 from 22.5% in 2011. The pace of reduction in rural India has been more dramatic than in urban areas.

In a recent violence occurred during the Jewish festival of Passover which coincided with the Muslims observing Ramzan, over 17 Palestinians wounded.
The incident occurred at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Earlier, at least 152 Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli riot police. The clashes follow high tensions over weeks between the Palestinians and Israelis, after attacks in Israel and deaths of Palestinian civilians during raids in the West Bank.

Skill India, in association with the Directorate General of Training (DGT), is organising a day-long ‘Apprenticeship Mela’ across the country in more than over 700 locations.
The initiative aims to support hiring of more than one lakh apprentices. It will assist employers in hiring the right talent and develop it further with training and providing practical skill-sets.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu presented the International Gandhi Award for Leprosy, 2021 to Dr Bhushan Kumar from Chandigarh and Sahyog Kushtha Yagna Trust, Gujarat.
The annual award was instituted by Gandhi Memorial Leprosy Foundation. The National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) has been trying to ensure total eradication of leprosy in India.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its first Long Range Forecast (LRF) for this year that the country is likely to receive a normal monsoon for the fourth consecutive year.
Rainfall in the June-September southwest monsoon season was in the normal range in 2019, 2020, and 2021 as well. The IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are: normal, below normal, above normal Deficient Excess in relation to a benchmark “long period average” (LPA).

In the field of finance related to merger and acquisition, limited-duration shareholder rights plan is also known as a “Poison pill”.
Recently, in response to Elon Musk’s take-over bid, Twitter has adopted “poison pill”, which allows existing shareholders to purchase freshly issued shares in a company at a discount to the trading price. This will in turn make buyout plan extremely expensive and complicated.

The Union Health Ministry is organising Block Level Health Melas at more than one lakh Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres across the country.
This is being organised in collaboration with all states, UTs and related ministries such as Women and Child Development, Information and Broadcasting, Panchayati Raj, AYUSH and Education. The Melas are part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to create awareness about Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres and telemedicine and tele-consultations.

Lieutenant General Manoj Pande appointed the new Chief of Army Staff and he will succeed General M M Naravane.
The Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Pande is the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the COAS. He has commanded the Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala Sector of Jammu and Kashmir, along the Line of Control. He has been conferred with the award of Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, Chief of Army Staff Commendation etc.

Telangana launched its Space Tech Framework to promote domestic production of launch vehicles, satellite systems and subsystems, ground equipment manufacturing and other facilities.
It was also the first ever official government event to be hosted on Meta-verse. A space-themed Meta-verse environment was developed along with avatars of key participants including Industries and IT Minister KT Rama Rao, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, ISRO Chairman Somanath among others.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced in the Legislative Assembly that the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar on April 14 would be celebrated as ‘Equality Day’ from this year.
The Chief Minister said that a pledge would also be taken across the state on the day. The government also plans to translate and publish some of the selected books of Ambedkar in Tamil.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet ‘Moskva’ sank off the coast of Odessa after a missile strike on the ship. Russians claimed that an onboard ammunition fire caused the blasts on the ship, while the Ukrainians stated that it was a planned strike using the Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles.
The Neptune Missile system was inducted into the Ukrainian Forces in 2021, after Russian threat to the coastal areas of Ukraine was growing rapidly since occupation of Crimea in 2014. Neptune is a coastal anti-ship cruise missile which is capable of destruction of naval vessels in a range of 300 km.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the birth anniversary of Siddalinga Swami will be celebrated as ‘Integration Day’.
Siddalinga Swami of Tontadarya Mutt in Gadag was a thinker and philosopher. He led the ‘Save Kappatagudda’ movement, which forced the Government to declare it a wildlife sanctuary.

Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) of India participated virtually in Singapore International Water Week, Water Convention 2022 and gave a presentation on ‘Status of Wastewater Generation, Treatment and Management in India”.
In the second part of the session, panelists from other developing as well as developed countries shared their experiences, challenges and best practices adopted in the sector.

Muggers or marsh crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) are freshwater crocodiles. They are found all over south Asia and South-eastern Iran. In India, they are found more in middle Ganges Basin and Chambal Basins.
Recently, over 350 mugger crocodiles in Rajasthan’s Jawai dam, are struggling to survive due to extreme and early heat in the months of March and April.  The Indian Railways has been delivering water to Western Rajasthan as several water bodies dried up. Jawai River is a tributary of Luni River.

The National Level Pollution Response Exercise NATPOLREX is being conducted by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off Mormugao harbour in Goa.
Union Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar inaugurated the ‘NATPOLREX’, the two-day marine spill preparedness exercise. Over 85 participants from 50 agencies, including observers from 22 friendly foreign countries and International Organisations, and two Coast Guard ships from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh participated in the event.

Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) is a research organisation, functioning under Indian Railways.
Indian Railways has announced that the operation of diesel locomotives with B-5 bio-diesel have been tested by Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO). Bio-diesel may be used for running diesel locomotives in a pilot initially.