scorecardresearch
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
Advertisement
Premium

UPSC Weekly Current Affairs Quiz — May 23 to June 03, 2023

Brush up your current affairs knowledge for this week and consolidate your UPSC-CSE preparation. Find answers along with explanations at the end of the quiz.

UPSC Weekly Current Affairs Quiz — May 23 to June 03, 2023Image of the railway accident at Odisha’s Bahanaga Bazar station. Meanwhile, 'kavach' is back in news and is part of our quiz today.(Express photo)
Listen to this article
UPSC Weekly Current Affairs Quiz — May 23 to June 03, 2023
x
00:00
1x 1.5x 1.8x

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 Kavach, consider the following statements:

1. It is an automatic protection system in development since 2012, under the name Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).

2. It is an indigenously developed technology of India.

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

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2 

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 2

With reference to the XPoSat, consider the following statements:

1. It is India’s first polarimetry mission.

Advertisement

2. It will study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.

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

Festive offer

QUESTION 3

The term “FLOPs” is often heard in the news. It corresponds to:

(a) Metric to measure the processing power and efficiency of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

(b) Basic unit of information in quantum computing.

Advertisement

(c) Method of mathematical expression which uses only two symbols.

(d) Fifth-generation computer.

QUESTION 4

With reference to the lightweight payments, consider the following statements:

1. The lightweight payments are dependent on the existing system of payments like UPI and RTGS.

2. It will facilitate the uninterrupted functioning of essential payment services.

Advertisement

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 5

Which of the following countries are involved in the long standing dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River?

(a) Afghanistan and Pakistan

(b) Iran and Afghanistan

(c) Iran and Iraq

(d) Pakistan and China

QUESTION 6

With reference to the Ahilyabai Holkar, consider the following statements:

1. She ruled over the Malwa kingdom.

2. The most notable contribution of Ahilyabai was the renovation and repair of the famous Mahalakshmi Temple in 1780.

Advertisement

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

Telangana has recently completed 9th anniversary of its statehood. Consider the following statements about Telangana:

1. It comprises south and south-east Telugu-speaking regions of the Princely State of Hyderabad.

2. In 1945, a communist-supported rebellion broke out in Telangana against the prevailing jagirdari system.

Advertisement

3. Operation Polo was launched to take control over the Hyderabad administration.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 8

With reference to salt caverns, consider the following statements:

1. They are used to store liquid fuels and natural gas in various parts of the world.

2. They are considered suitable for storing compressed air and hydrogen.

Advertisement

3. Rajasthan, which has the bulk of requisite salt formations in India, is seen as the most conducive for developing salt cavern-based strategic storage facilities. 

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1 and 3 only

ANSWERS TO MCQs

1. (c)

FYI:

It is India’s very own automatic protection system in development since 2012, under the name Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), which got rechristened to Kavach or “armour”.

Simply put, it is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification devices installed in locomotives, in the signalling system as well the tracks, that talk to each other using ultra high radio frequencies to control the brakes of trains and also alert drivers, all based on the logic programmed into them. One of its features is that by continuously refreshing the movement information of a train, it is able to send out triggers when a loco pilot jumps signal, called Signal Passed at Danger (SPAD), a grave offence in railway operations with respect to safety, and the key to accidents like collision. The devices also continuously relay the signals ahead to the locomotive, making it useful for loco pilots in low visibility, especially during dense fog.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

2. (c)

FYI:

— The Indian Space Research Organisation is collaborating with the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru, an autonomous research institute, to build the X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat).

Advertisement

— According to ISRO, “XPoSat will study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions.” Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— It is India’s first, and the world’s second polarimetry mission that is meant to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— IXPE carries three state-of-the-art space telescopes. Each of the three identical telescopes hosts one lightweight X-ray mirror and one detector unit. These will help observe polarized X-rays from neutron stars and supermassive black holes. By measuring the polarisation of these X-rays, we can study where the light came from and understand the geometry and inner workings of the light source.

— According to NASA, X-rays have much higher energy and much shorter wavelengths, between 0.03 and 3 nanometers, so small that some x-rays are no bigger than a single atom of many elements. The physical temperature of an object determines the wavelength of the radiation it emits. The hotter the object, the shorter the wavelength of peak emission.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Advertisement

3. (a)

FYI:

— India will unveil its new 18 petaFLOP supercomputer for weather forecasting. The new supercomputer is expected to improve weather forecasts at the block level, help weather scientists give higher resolution ranges of the forecast, predict cyclones with more accuracy and better lead time (the difference between a phenomenon being forecast and actually occuring), and provide ocean state forecasts, including marine water quality forecasts.

— FLOPs, or Floating-Point Operations per Second, is a commonly used metric to measure the computational performance – processing power and efficiency – especially in the field of high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI).

— Floating-point operations are a certain kind of mathematical calculation using real numbers with fractional parts.

— Modern computing systems, such as CPUs (Central Processing Units) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), are designed to perform multiple operations simultaneously, using parallel processing techniques.

— Due to the immense computing power of today’s computers, the FLOPs metric is most often represented in terms of billions (giga), trillions (tera), or even quadrillions (peta) of operations per second (GFLOPs, TFLOPs, PFLOPs, respectively). A petaflop is thus equal to a thousand TFLOPs or 1015 FLOPs.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

4. (b)

FYI:

— The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has conceptualised a lightweight payment and settlements system, which it is calling a “bunker” equivalent of digital payments, which can be operated from anywhere by a bare minimum staff in exigencies such as natural calamities or war.

— The infrastructure for this system will be independent of the technologies that underlie the existing systems of payments such as UPI, NEFT, and RTGS. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— The lightweight and portable payment system could ensure near zero downtime of the payment and settlement system in the country and keep the liquidity pipeline of the economy alive and intact by facilitating uninterrupted functioning of essential payment services like bulk payments, interbank payments and provision of cash to participant institutions. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— The system is expected to process transactions that are critical to ensure the stability of the economy, including government and market related transactions.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

5. (b)

FYI:

— Iran and Afghanistan are locked in a long-standing dispute over the sharing of water from the Helmand River. Clashes broke out recently along the border.

— Iran and the Taliban exchanged heavy gunfire last week on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply intensifying rising tensions between the countries.

— The clash came amid an escalating dispute between Kabul and Tehran over the Helmand River, which is a vital source of water for both sides, supporting agriculture, livelihoods and ecosystems in the region.

Helmand River

— It is Afghanistan’s longest river.

— It originates near Kabul in the western Hindu Kush mountain range and flows in a southwesterly direction through desert areas for a total of about 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) before emptying into Lake Hamun, which straddles the Afghanistan-Iran border

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

6. (a)

FYI:

— The Maharashtra Government announced that its government would rename Ahmednagar as Ahilyanagar on the 298th birth anniversary of Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar.

— Ahilyabai Holkar was the Holkar Queen of the Malwa kingdom. She is regarded as one of the most visionary female rulers of India. In the 18th century, as the Maharani of Malwa, she was instrumental in spreading the message of dharma and propagating industrialization.

— Ahilyabai also established a textile industry in Maheshwar, which today is very famous for its Maheshwari sarees. She held daily public audiences to help redress the problems of the common man.

— She also turned her attention towards various philanthropic activities, which ranged from the construction of temples, ghats, wells, tanks, and rest-houses in the north to pilgrimage centres in the south.

— The most notable contribution was the renovation and repair of the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple in 1780. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Other Source: (indianculture.gov.in)

7. (c)

FYI:

— Telangana celebrated the 9th anniversary of its statehood on June 2, 2023.

Telangana, the newest state of India, has a complex history. Pre-Independence, it was a part of the princely state of Hyderabad. While there were talks of statehood in the 1950s, the region was eventually merged with the adjoining Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. Finally, in 2014, after decades of struggle, Telangana was carved out of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.

— Telangana comprised the south and south-east Telugu-speaking regions of the Princely State of Hyderabad. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— In 1945, a communist-supported rebellion broke out in Telangana against the prevailing jagirdari (land-revenue) system. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— As the state started falling into anarchy, India intervened militarily, launching “Operation Polo” to take control of Hyderabad’s administration. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

 

8. (a)

FYI:

— Government-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India (EIL) is studying the prospects and feasibility of developing salt cavern-based strategic oil reserves in Rajasthan, in line with the government’s objective of increasing the country’s strategic oil storage capacity.

— If the idea comes to fruition, India could get its first salt cavern-based oil storage facility. The country’s three existing strategic oil storage facilities — at Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka, and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh — are made up of excavated rock caverns.

— Countries build strategic crude oil reserves to mitigate major supply disruptions in the global supply chain. India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude, depends on imports for more than 85 per cent of its requirement — and strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) could help ensure energy security and availability during global supply shocks and other emergencies.

— India currently has an SPR capacity of 5.33 million tonnes, or around 39 million barrels of crude, that can meet around 9.5 days of demand. The country is in the process of expanding its SPR capacity by a cumulative 6.5 million tonnes at two locations — Chandikhol in Odisha (4 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes).

— India’s strategic oil reserves come under the Petroleum Ministry’s special purpose vehicle Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (ISPRL). EIL was instrumental in setting up the country’s existing SPR as the project management consultant.

— Salt cavern-based storage, which is considered cheaper and less labour- and cost-intensive than rock caverns, could add a new, much needed chapter to India’s SPR story.

Salt cavern-based reserves v. rock cavern-based reserves

— Unlike underground rock caverns, which are developed through excavation, salt caverns are developed by the process of solution mining, which involves pumping water into geological formations with large salt deposits to dissolve the salt. After the brine (water with dissolved salt) is pumped out of the formation, the space can be used to store crude oil. The process is simpler, faster, and less cost-intensive than developing excavated rock caverns.

— Salt cavern-based oil storage facilities are also naturally well-sealed, and engineered for rapid injection and extraction of oil. This makes them a more attractive option than storing oil in other geological formations, according to a report by the Environmental Solutions Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

— The salt that lines the inside of these caverns has extremely low oil absorbency, which creates a natural impermeable barrier against liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, making the caverns apt for storage. Also, unlike rock caverns, salt cavern-based storages can be created and operated almost entirely from the surface.

— The entire SPR programme of the United States has so far been based on salt cavern-based storage facilities. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the world’s largest emergency oil storage, consists of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Texas and Louisiana. The US strategic oil reserves have a cumulative capacity of around 727 million barrels.

Salt caverns are also used to store liquid fuels and natural gas in various parts of the world. They are also considered suitable for storing compressed air and hydrogen.

— Rajasthan, which has the bulk of requisite salt formations in India, is seen as the most conducive for developing salt cavern-based strategic storage facilities. 

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

The UPSC Essentials Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our YouTube channel and stay updated with the latest updates.

Subscribe to The Indian Express UPSC Key and prepare for the Civil Services and other competitive examinations with cues on how to read and understand content from the most authoritative news source in India.

Note: Catch the UPSC Weekly Quiz every Saturday evening and brush up on your current affairs knowledge.

First uploaded on: 03-06-2023 at 20:12 IST
Latest Comment
Post Comment
Read Comments
Advertisement
shorts
Maguntas
Political PulseUpdated: March 28, 2024 20:11 IST

Away from the national capital’s courtroom where the case against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is playing out, two key figures embroiled in the excise policy case – four-time MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and his son Raghava Magunta Reddy – are busy campaigning for BJP ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP)

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
close