Test: February 2023 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

• Since 2015, the BEE has been running the ‘Perform, Achieve, Trade’ scheme under which 1,078 industries spanning 13 sectors have been getting energy security certificates if they exceeded certain targets.
• The EU is required to cut emissions under the provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. India doesn’t have an obligation. However, we have committed to reducing the emissions intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) of our GDP by 45% (of 2005 levels) by 2030.

• The address of the President follows a general structure in which it highlights the government’s accomplishments from the previous year and sets the broad governance agenda for the coming year.
• The President or Governor cannot refuse to perform the constitutional duty of delivering an address to the legislature. But there can be situations when they deviate from the text of the speech prepared by the government. So far, there have been no instances of a President doing so. But there have been occasions when a Governor skipped or changed a portion of the address to the Assembly.
• After the President’s address, the two Houses move a motion to thank the President for her speech. This is an occasion for MPs in the two Houses to have a broad debate on governance in the country. The issues raised by MPs are then addressed by the Prime Minister, who also replies to the motion of thanks. The motion is then put to vote and MPs can express their disagreement by moving amendments to the motion.
• Opposition MPs have been successful in getting amendments passed to the motion of thanks in Rajya Sabha on five occasions, including in 1980, 1989, 2001, 2015 and 2016. However, they have been less successful in the Lok Sabha. 

• PESA empowers gram sabhas to play a key role in approving development plans and controlling all social sectors. This includes the processes and personnel who implement policies, exercising control over minor (non-timber) forest resources, minor water bodies and minor minerals, managing local markets, preventing land alienation and regulating intoxicants among other things.
• The gram sabha would have the powers to monitor and prohibit the manufacturing, transport, sale and consumption of intoxicants within their village limits.

• The EFF was established to provide assistance to countries experiencing serious payment imbalances because of structural impediments or slow growth and an inherently weak balance-of-payments position. An EFF provides support for comprehensive programs including the policies needed to correct structural imbalances over an extended period.
• Extended arrangements are typically approved for periods of three years, but may be approved for periods as long as 4 years to implement deep and sustained structural reforms. Amounts drawn under an EFF are to be repaid over 4½–10 years in 12 equal semiannual installments.
• As with other IMF lending, the size of borrowing under an EFF is guided by a country’s financing needs, capacity to repay, and track record with past use of IMF resources.

• Depreciation is the gradual decrease in the economic value of the capital stock of a firm, nation or other entity. It can happen either by physical depreciation like wear and tear or obsolescence or by changes in the demand for the services of the capital.
• Capital stock is anything that adds to the productive capacity of the economy. Spending on infrastructure actually increase the capital stock of the nation.

• Mangroves are salt-tolerant plant communities found in tropical and subtropical intertidal regions. They are important refuges of coastal biodiversity and also act as bio-shields against extreme climatic events. With the threat of climate change and frequent tropical storms looming large, planting more mangroves is a welcome development for India which has a coastline of about 7,500 km.
• India has about 4,992 sq km (0.49 million hectares) of mangroves, according to the Indian State of Forest Report (IFSR) 2021. Mangroves in India are distributed across nine States and three Union Territories with West Bengal having the highest mangrove cover of 2,114 sq km. The IFSR report also points out that there has been an increase in the mangrove cover from 4,046 sq km in 1987 to 4,992 sq km in 2021. 

Bank rate is the rate charged by the central bank for lending funds to commercial banks. Bank rates influence lending rates of commercial banks. Higher bank rate will translate to higher lending rates by the banks.

• Lab-grown diamonds are diamonds that are produced using specific technology which mimics the geological processes that grow natural diamonds. They are not the same as “diamond simulants” – LGDs are chemically, physically and optically diamond and thus are difficult to identify as “lab-grown.”
• While materials such as Moissanite, Cubic Zirconia (CZ), White Sapphire, YAG, etc. are “diamond simulants” that simply attempt to “look” like a diamond, they lack the sparkle and durability of a diamond and are thus easily identifiable. However, differentiating between an LGD and an Earth Mined Diamond is hard, with advanced equipment required for the purpose.
• There are multiple ways in which LGDs can be produced. The most common (and cheapest) is the “High pressure, high temperature” (HPHT) method. As the name suggests, this method requires extremely heavy presses that can produce up to 730,000 psi of pressure under extremely high temperatures (at least 1500 celsius). Usually graphite is used as the “diamond seed” and when subjected to these extreme conditions, the relatively inexpensive form of carbon turns into one of the most expensive carbon forms.
• Other processes include “Chemical Vapor Deposition” (CVD) and explosive formation that creates what are known as “detonation nanodiamonds”.

The ‘State of World Mangroves 2022’ report by the Global Mangrove Alliance puts the total mangrove cover of the world at 1,47,000 sq km (14.7 million hectares).

• The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established with effect from 20th February 1997 by an Act of Parliament, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.
• TRAI’s mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in the country in a manner and at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in emerging global information society.
• One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.
• The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI. TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.

• The balance of payments divides transactions into two accounts: the current account and the capital account. The current account includes transactions in goods, services, investment income, and current transfers.
• The capital account, broadly defined, includes transactions in financial instruments and central bank reserves.
• The current account is included in calculations of national output, while the capital account is not. 

• While Question Hour is strictly regulated, Zero Hour is an Indian parliamentary innovation. The phrase does not find mention in the rules of procedure. 
• Under Zero Hour, MPs can raise matters without any prior notice.
• Parliament has comprehensive rules for dealing with every aspect of Question Hour. And the presiding officers of the two houses are the final authority with respect to the conduct of Question Hour.

Caspian Sea is bordered by following countries:

• Increasing anthropogenic activities along with natural stresses have led to massive degradation of one of India’s World Heritage Site — the Sunderbans.
• Nutrient depletion especially phosphorus and nitrogen was found to be directly connected with the decline in forest cover. 
• There was a change in the species distribution — salt-sensitive ones such as Heriteira fomes, Xylocarpus species and Phoenix paludosa were not able to cope up with the increase in the salinity and declined while the tolerant varieties thrived.

A Shade house is a structure enclosed by agro nets or any other woven material to allow required sunlight, moisture and air to pass through the gaps. It creates an appropriate micro climate conducive to the plant growth. It is also referred as shade net house or net house.
Uses of shade house:

• Helps in cultivation of flower plants, foliage plants, medicinal plants, vegetables and spices.
• Used for fruit and vegetable nurseries as well as for raising of forest species etc.
• Helps in quality drying of various agro products.
• Used to protect against pest attack.
• Protects from natural weather disturbances such as wind, rain, hail and frost.
• Used in production of graft saplings and reducing its mortality during hot summer days.
• Used for hardening tissue culture plantlets

Organic mulches also improve the condition of the soil. As these mulches slowly decompose, they provide organic matter which helps keep the soil loose.
This improves root growth, increases the infiltration of water, and also improves the water-holding capacity of the soil.
Organic matter is a source of plant nutrients and provides an ideal environment for earthworms and other beneficial soil organisms.

• The G7 countries have officially launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment in the Leaders’ Summit in Germany.
• The G7 countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, and Japan.
• The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) is a joint initiative to fund infrastructure projects in developing countries.
• The PGII was first announced in G7 Summit in the UK in 2021.
• Back then, the US President Joe Biden had called it the Build Back Better World (B3W) framework.
• Collectively, the PGII aims to mobilise nearly $600 billion from the G7 by 2027 to invest in critical infrastructure that improves lives and delivers real gains for all of our people.
• The project is being seen as the G7 bloc’s counter to China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative.

• OMOs are conducted by the RBI by way of sale or purchase of government securities (g-secs) to adjust money supply conditions.
• RBI carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal with the public.
• The central bank sells g-secs to suck out liquidity from the system and buys back g-secs to infuse liquidity into the system.
• These operations are often conducted on a day-to-day basis in a manner that balances inflation while helping banks continue to lend.
• The RBI uses OMO along with other monetary policy tools such as repo rate, cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio to adjust the quantum and price of money in the system.
• When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases the government securities from the market and it sells government securities to suck out liquidity from the system.

• Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. It occurs naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. People can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. Anthrax can cause severe illness in both humans and animals.
• Woolsorter’s disease was also once known as ragpicker’s disease; its most common form in humans is cutaneous infection via the injured skin or mucous membranes of agricultural or industrial workers associated with infected animals or animal products.
• Sorter’s job is risky – anthrax is a fatal blood disease. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; it is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or shoes.

Unlike Flood Method of irrigation (FMI), the drip method (DMI) supplies water directly to the root zone of a crop through a network of pipes and emitters. Since it supplies water directly to the crop, rather than the land around, water losses occurring through evaporation and distribution are significantly reduced. The on-farm efficiency of the drip irrigation system is estimated to be over 90 per cent.
Drip irrigation is most suitable for row crops (vegetables, soft fruit), tree and vine crops where one or more emitters can be provided for each plant.
In addition, drip irrigation:

• Prevents disease by minimizing water contact with the leaves, stems, and fruit of plants.
• Allows the rows between plants to remain dry, improving access and reducing weed growth.
• Saves time, money, and water because the system is so efficient.
• Decreases labor.
• Increases effectiveness on uneven ground.
• Reduces leaching of water and nutrients below the root zone.

• Aftershocks are a sequence of earthquakes that happen after a larger mainshock on a fault. Aftershocks occur near the fault zone where the mainshock rupture occurred and are part of the “readjustment process” after the main slip on the fault.
• While they become less frequent with time, they can continue for days, weeks, months, or even years for a very large mainshock.
• Although aftershocks tend to be weaker than the main seismic event, they can cause significant damage.

• The 141-year-old mountain railway system connecting New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal is under the Guwahati-headquartered Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
• DHR is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• The DHR also introduced special services such as Steam Jungle Tea Safari, Red Panda and Him Kanya. Its special services include charter trains, special film shooting trains, and a heritage dining experience.

• Jointly developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), an Earth-observation satellite, called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).
• NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014. The 2,800 kilograms satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
• Once launched into space, NISAR will observe subtle changes in Earth’s surfaces, helping researchers better understand the causes and consequences of such phenomena. It will spot warning signs of natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides. The satellite will also measure groundwater levels, track flow rates of glaciers and ice sheets, and monitor the planet’s forest and agricultural regions, which can improve our understanding of carbon exchange.
• ISRO will use NISAR for a variety of purposes including agricultural mapping, and monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas, landslide-prone areas and changes in the coastline.
• By using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), NISAR will produce high-resolution images. SAR is capable of penetrating clouds and can collect data day and night regardless of the weather conditions.

• Biogas contains about 55-65 per cent methane, 35-44 per cent of carbon dioxide and traces of other gases such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and nitrogen.
• In its raw form, biogas can be used as a clean cooking fuel like LPG for lighting, motive power and electricity generation.
• Further, biogas can be purified and upgraded up to 98 per cent of purity to make it suitable to be used as a green fuel for transportation or filling of cylinders. The process relies on a high pressure of circa 250 bar and hence is called compressed biogas (CBG).
• The Sustainable Alternatives Towards Affordable Transporation (SATAT) scheme by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) encourages entrepreneurs to set up CBG plants, produce and supply CBG to oil and gas marketing companies (OGC/OMC) for selling it as automotive and industrial fuels.

• The evergreening of loans is a term in which banks try to revive a loan that is on the verge of default by granting further loans to the same borrower.
• Dividend, or surplus transfer, from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has become one of the biggest sources of non-tax revenues for the Centre.