UPSC Weekly Current Affairs Quiz | July 09 to July 15, 2023

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UPSC Weekly Quiz is a current affairs-based quiz on relevant topics from the past week, curated for the aspirants of competitive examinations. Attempt the weekly quiz every Saturday and find answers to the MCQs with explanations at the end of the article.

QUESTION 1

With reference to the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), consider the following statements:

1. It is the apex decision-making body for acquiring military equipment for India’s armed forces.

2. It comes under the Ministry of Defence.

3. It is chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

4. It has procured Rafale Marine fighter jets from Russia.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

QUESTION 2

With reference to the Chandrayaan 3, consider the following statements:

1. Through Chnadrayaan 3, ISRO wants to explore the south pole of the moon.

2. The Chandrayaan-3 Lander has solar panels on two sides.

3. It has an instrument called Laser Doppler Velocimeter, which will fire laser beams to the lunar surface to calculate the Lander’s speed. 

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 3

With reference to the Peatlands in Europe, consider the following statements:

1. The European Commission introduced the Nature Restoration Law which plans to restore drained peatlands.

2. Sweden recorded the highest amount of degraded peatlands in the Europe.

Which of the following statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 4

“Guillain-Barré Syndrome” was in the news recently. Consider the following statements about Guillain-Barré Syndrome:

1. The disorder affects the body’s respiration system.

2. It can even lead to total paralysis in extreme situations.

3. The symptoms include weakness in the legs that spreads to the upper body and difficulty in facial movements.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 5

With reference to the Anthropocene epoch, consider the following statements:

1. It is a term to denote the present geological time interval, in which the Earth’s ecosystem has gone through radical changes due to human impact.

2. Epoch is the broadest category of geological time.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 6

With reference to Carbon capture and storage, consider the following statements:

1. It is a way to catch carbon and trap it above the earth.

2. It brings down the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 7

Consider the following statements:

1. Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 allows an Executive Magistrate to ask any person who is “likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity.

2. Section 151 CrPC allows a police officer who knows of a design to commit a cognizable offence to “arrest, with orders from a Magistrate and with a warrant.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 8

Consider the following statements:

1. GST Council decided to levy a uniform 18 per cent tax on full face value for online gaming and casinos.

2. Lottery, betting, and gambling were classified as actionable claims and they are defined as goods under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.

Which of the above statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWERS TO MCQs

1. (b)

FYI:

— The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) is the apex decision-making body for acquiring military equipment for India’s armed forces. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— It comes under Ministry of Defence and the council is chaired by Defence Minister. Hence, statement 2 is correct and statement 3 is not correct.

— The DAC has cleared proposals to buy three additional Scorpene submarines and 26 Rafale Marine fighter jets for the Navy from France. Hence, statement 4 is not correct.

— The Rafale Marine fighters are the naval variant of the Rafale fighter jets, 36 of which are operated by the Indian Air Force.

— They are manufactured by France’s Dassault Aviation, the Rafales are advanced twin-engine, multirole fighter jets are equipped with Meteor-beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, Hammer air to surface smart weapon systems, Scalp cruise missiles and are fitted with modern sensors, radar to detect and track and attack targets. The jets can carry exceptionally high payloads.

— The other members of the council are Raksha Rajya Mantris (RRMs), Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) (when appointed), Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Defence Secretary, Secretary Dept. of Defence Production and Supplies, Secretary, Defence Research and Development, Secretary – Defence Finance, Vice Chief of Defence Staff (when appointed)/CISC and Special Secretary (Acquisition).

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: mod.gov.in)

2. (b)

FYI:

— India’s third lunar mission and second attempt to soft-land on the Moon, the Chandrayaan-3, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) in Sriharikota — a spindle-shaped island on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh.

— The SDSC is the country’s only spaceport from where spacecraft and satellites are launched.

— There were two primary reasons for selecting Sriharikota as the launch site:

It is on the east coast which facilitates the launching of the rockets in an easterly direction.

Its proximity to the equator.

— Through Chnadrayaan 3, ISRO wants to explore the south pole of the moon. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— There are two payloads on the rover, designed to study the chemical and mineral composition of the lunar surface and to determine the composition of elements such as magnesium, aluminium and iron in the lunar soil and rocks.

— The Chandrayaan-3 Lander has solar panels on four sides, instead of only two in Chandrayaan-2. This is to ensure that the Lander continues to draw solar power, even if it lands in a wrong direction, or tumbles over. At least one or two of its sides would always be facing the Sun, and remain active. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— It has an instrument called Laser Doppler Velocimeter, which will fire laser beams to the lunar surface to calculate the Lander’s speed. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

3. (a)

FYI:

— After the European Parliament accepted a key nature restoration law with a razor-thin majority which plans to protect vast swaths of threatened nature.

— As agreed in the European Council in June, EU member states will “put in place restoration measures that bring at least 30 per cent of habitats in terrestrial, coastal, freshwater and marine ecosystems that are not in good condition, into good condition by 2030.

— The Nature Restoration Law was first introduced by the European Commission in June 2022 and met political resistance over plans to restore drained peatlands. The bill allows for 30 per cent of all former peatlands currently exploited for agriculture to be restored and partially shifted to other use by the end of the decade, a figure rising to 70 per cent by 2050. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Peatland, which is a type of wetland, forms over thousands of years from the remains of dead plants, storing more carbon than any other ecosystem.

— Across Europe, 7 per cent of the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions are the result of drained peatlands and wetlands. In Germany, the amount of degraded peatlands is estimated to be as high as 90 per cent. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— Former peatlands in Scandinavia and the Baltic states are mainly used for forestry. But large swathes of these drained areas are now farmland in the Netherlands, Poland and Germany.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

4. (b)

FYI:

— The Peruvian government has recently declared a state of national emergency for up to three months, due to a spike in the number of cases of a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

— Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder where the body’s immune system — which normally protects it from infections and other foreign bodies — mistakenly attacks its own peripheral nerve cells. The disorder, which affects the body’s nervous system. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— It is characterized by muscle weakness and breathing difficulties, and can even lead to total paralysis in extreme situations. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— A person with this syndrome will have difficulty speaking, walking, swallowing, excreting or performing other normal functions of the body.

— The first symptoms include a tingling sensation in the body’s extremities, weakness in the legs that spreads to the upper body, difficulty in facial movements, unsteady walking or inability to walk, pain and, in severe cases, paralysis. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

5. (a)

FYI:

— In a major development that could change the Earth’s official geological timeline, geologists have said sediments at Crawford Lake in Canada’s Ontario have provided evidence of the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch — a proposed geological epoch that began when human activity started to have a significant impact on the Earth.

— The Anthropocene epoch as a term was first coined by Nobel Prize-winning chemist Paul Crutzen and biology professor Eugene Stoermer in 2000 to denote the present geological time interval, in which the Earth’s ecosystem has gone through radical changes due to human impact, especially since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Numerous phenomena are associated with this epoch, such as global warming, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, mass-scale soil erosion, the advent of deadly heat waves, deterioration of the biosphere and other detrimental environmental changes.

— The planet’s geological time scale is divided into five broad categories:

Eons

Epochs

Eras

Periods

Ages.

— Eon is the broadest category of geological time and age is the smallest category. Each of these categories is further divided into sub-categories. For instance, Earth’s history is characterised by four eons: Hadeon (oldest), Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic (youngest). Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

6. (d)

FYI:

— Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a way to catch carbon and trap it beneath the earth. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— It is different from carbon dioxide removal (CDR) — where carbon is sucked out of the atmosphere — although some of the technologies overlap.

— The key difference is that CDR brings down the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, cooling the planet, while CCS in fossil fuel plants and factories prevents the gas from getting out in the first place. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

7. (a)

FYI:

— An executive magistrate in Srinagar has sent 11 men to jail after they were detained for allegedly not rising for the National Anthem at an event.

— Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 allows an Executive Magistrate to ask any person who is “likely to commit a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity or to do any wrongful act that may probably occasion a breach of the peace or disturb the public tranquillity. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— Section 151 CrPC allows a police officer who knows of a design to commit a cognizable offence to arrest, without orders from a Magistrate and without a warrant, the person so designing. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

8. (b)

FYI:

— The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its 50th meeting, decided to levy a uniform 28 per cent tax on full face value for online gaming, casinos and horse-racing. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— The government will bring in amendments to the GST-related laws to include online gaming and horse racing in Schedule III as taxable actionable claims.

— In the context of GST, an actionable claim is defined as goods under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. It is a claim to an unsecured debt or a claim to any beneficial interest in movable property that is not in the possession of the claimant. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— So far, lottery, betting, and gambling were classified as actionable claims. Now, horse racing and online gaming will be added.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

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