UPSC Weekly Current Affairs Quiz — April 16 to April 22, 2023

Which of the following rivers is described in the above explanation?

(a) Mahananda

(b) Teesta

(c) Hoogly

(d) Damodar

QUESTION 2

With respect to State of World Population (SOWP) report, ‘8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities’, consider the following statements:

1. The largest share of population is of people between the ages of 10-24 years.

2. While numbers will continue to grow for several decades, latest projections suggest that the rate of global population growth has fallen.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 3

Consider the following pairs:

Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5

(b) 2, 4, 5 and 6

(c) 1, 2 ,3 and 4

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

QUESTION 4

With reference to ‘Hakki Pikki’, consider the following statements:

1. It is a tribe traditionally of bird catchers and hunters that lives in several states in north-eastern India.

2. Recently seen in news because many members of this community are stuck in violence-hit Sudan.

Which of the above statements is/are true?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 5

With reference to offset projects, consider the following statements:

1. Removal offset describes actions which actively take carbon out of the air and store it permanently, such as by planting trees or direct air capture — which is not a technology available at scale.

2. Avoidance offsets are from projects that stop the release of greenhouse gases, such as protecting trees from being logged.

Which of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 6

Which of the following statements is not correct with reference to Jagadish Chandra Bose?

(a) He is widely believed to be the first one to generate electromagnetic signals in the microwave range.

(b) He is remembered for his work on the physiology of plants.

(c) He was India’s first scientist to win the Nobel Prize .

(d) He is credited as one of the first contributors to solid state physics.

QUESTION 7

With reference to National Quantum Mission, consider the following statements:

1. India has joined research and development works in quantum technologies which are underway in six nations US, Canada, France, Finland, China and Austria.

2. Indian Institute of Science will lead this national mission focusing on four broad themes — Quantum Computing, Quantum Communication , Quantum Sensing and Metrology and Quantum Material and Devices.

Which of the above statements are not correct?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 8

With reference to civil services in India, consider the following statements:

1. Following the report of Lee Commission, the concept of a merit based modern Civil Service in India was introduced.

2. April 21 was chosen as Civil Services Day because it is on this day in 1947 that the first Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers.

Which of the above statements is/are true?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 9

With reference to environment, Artificial Intelligence can be put to use in which of the following?

1. Saving trees

2. Shrinking the carbon footprint of steel

3. Cutting energy waste in buildings

4. Fighting poaching

5. Smart farming

6. Plotting clouds

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2, 5 and 6

(b) 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

(c) 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

QUESTION 10

Alice holds a digital wallet that securely manages her identity, data, and authorizations for external apps and connections. Alice uses her wallet to sign in to a new decentralized social media app. However, because Alice has connected to the app with her decentralized identity, she does not need to create a profile, and all the connections, relationships, and posts she creates through the app are stored with her, in her decentralized web node.

With which web/s from the options below, can Alice switch apps whenever she wants, taking her social persona with her?

(a) Web 2

(b) Web 2 and Web 3 only

(c) Web 5

(d) Web 2 and 5 only

ANSWERS TO MCQs

1. (b)

FYI:

— India’s Hugli River (sometimes spelled “Hooghly”) is a Ganges River distributary, one of the many branches of the river that are collectively known as the “Mouths of the Ganges.” As the Ganges approaches the coastal plain, the river fans out over the flat terrain of Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, as numerous meandering channels. The Hugli branches off the Ganges about 200 kilometers north of Calcutta, and the river flows past the city before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.

(source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

— By the end of this year, commuters could be taking a Metro train across the Hooghly, which separates Kolkata from Howrah, its smaller twin city on the opposite bank, travelling under the mighty river. The passage, 520 metres from one bank to the other and more than 30 metres (100 feet) below the river surface at its deepest points, is India’s first underwater transport tunnel.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

2. (b)

FYI:

— India is now the most populous country in the world, having overtaken China in population, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in its State of World Population (SOWP) report, ‘8 Billion Lives, Infinite Possibilities’, released on April 19. In November 2022, the UN had announced that the world’s population had crossed the 8 billion mark.

— The UNFPA has said the population of the world is 8,045 million, of which the largest share (65%) is of people between the ages of 15 and 64 years, followed by those in the 10-24 years group (24%). 10 per cent of the population is above 65 years of age. Hence, statement 1 is wrong.

—  The 2023 report has said that while numbers will continue to grow for several decades, latest projections suggest that the rate of global population growth has fallen, and has been at less than 1 per cent since 2020. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

—  This is largely due to declining fertility; around two thirds of people live in a country or area with a total fertility rate at or below 2.1 children per woman (widely considered the “replacement fertility” rate, also called “zero-growth fertility” rate). In 1950 the global fertility rate stood at 5.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

3. (a)

FYI:

— The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of pleas seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriages. On the second day of the hearing, the court heard arguments on the changing legal landscape on LGBTQ rights and the evolution of the right to choose one’s partner. Here are some of the key cases that trace the shift in the law over the years.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

4. (b)

FYI:

— The Hakki Pikki is a tribe that lives in several states in west and south India, especially near forest areas. Hakki Pikkis (Hakki in Kannada means ‘bird’ and Pikki means ‘catchers’) are a semi-nomadic tribe, traditionally of bird catchers and hunters. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— More than 181 members of the Hakki Pikki tribal community from Karnataka are stuck in violence-hit Sudan, even as the government is making efforts to bring them back.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

5. (c)

FYI:

— Offsets have come under fire as a way for companies to compensate for carbon emissions through eco projects elsewhere.

— Buying offsets is a way to “compensate” for environmental damage. Companies make a financial contribution to projects that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and in exchange can keep polluting themselves.

— Offset projects can be broadly split into two categories: removals and avoidances. Removal describes actions which actively take carbon out of the air and store it permanently, such as by planting trees or direct air capture — which is not a technology available at scale. Currently carbon dioxide removal represents just a small percentage of the carbon credits in circulation. Hence, statement 1 is true.

— Avoidance offsets are from projects that stop the release of greenhouse gases, such as protecting trees from being logged. For example, the asset management arm of the US bank JP Morgan Chase has bought 250,000 acres of forest for more than $500 million “for carbon capture and timber.” As such, the bank has paid timberland owners to not cut the trees down, thereby allowing them to absorb carbon from the atmosphere, and in turn, itself profits by generating potential carbon credits for investors. Hence, statement 2 is true.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

6. (c)

FYI:

— Late last month, a group of researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel reported that they had been able to pick up distress noises made by plants. The researchers said these plants had been making very distinct, high-pitched sounds in the ultrasonic range when faced with some kind of stress, like when they were in need of water.

— This was the first time that plants had been caught making any kind of noise, and the breakthrough research findings made global headlines. But many Indians just had a sense of déjà vu. Several previous generations of Indians had grown up hearing that Jagadish Chandra Bose had shown, more than a century ago, that plants experienced sensations and were able to feel pleasure and pain just like animals.

— Children were often advised not to pluck leaves, flowers or twigs because that could cause pain to the plants or trees. The discovery that plants ‘cry’ in distress, therefore, did not come as much of a surprise to them. It seemed just a logical extension of J C Bose’s work.

— Jagadish Chandra Bose is remembered for two things — his work on wireless transmission of signals, and on the physiology of plants. He is also credited as one of the first contributors to solid state physics.  Bose is widely believed to be the first one to generate electromagnetic signals in the microwave range. In 1895, just a year after he began his active research, he demonstrated, before an audience in Kolkata, how microwaves could be used, wirelessly, to ring an electric bell on the other side of a building. Hence, a, b, and d are true.

— A physicist-turned-biologist, Bose, who lived between 1858 and 1937, made pioneering contributions in both the fields and was the first Indian to have made a powerful impact on modern science, much before Srinivasa Ramanujan, C V Raman, or Satyendra Nath Bose, a student of Jagadish, arrived on the scene.

— J C Bose could — many believe he deservedly should — very well have been India’s first Nobel Prize winner, ahead of his life-long friend and confidant Rabindranath Tagore, with whom he used to have a prolific, and often poetic, correspondence. Note that Jagadish Chandra Bose was not awarded the Nobel Prize. Hence, c is not true.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

7. (b)

FYI:

— The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in a bid to aid scientific and industrial research and development in quantum technology.