DAILY

 CURRENT AFFAIRS

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Current Affairs MCQs for Practice – 24 Jan 2022

Question-1

What does Beating Retreat signify?

a)     The unfurling of the national flag

b)     The end of Republic Day celebrations

c)      The beginning of Republic Day parade

d)     The beginning of Republic Day celebrations

Ans- b

Explanation-

Beating Retreat is performed every year on the evening of January 29 at Vijay Chowk in the national capital, and marks the end of the Republic Day celebrations.

Question-2

What does the Gati Shakti national master plan envisage?

a)     Digital platform for data on wildlife

b)     Digital platform for data on educational institutions

c)      Digital platform for data regarding the health of the citizens

d)     Digital platform for infrastructure projects in the country

Ans- d

Explanation-

The Gati Shakti programme announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year envisages a digital platform for a national master plan of infrastructure projects in the country.

Question-3

In which country the rollout of the 5G C-band spectrum has created issues with airlines?

a)     India

b)     The US

c)      France

d)     Japan

Ans- b

Explanation-

The rollout of the 5G C-band spectrum (3.7 GHz-3.98 GHz) in the U.S., on January 19, 2022 — after a pushback since December 2021 — led to several major airlines, including Air India, temporarily cancelling their flights to the U.S. over fears of spectrum interference with crucial aircraft navigation systems.

 Question-4

Who founded the World Economic Forum in 1971?

a)     Milton Friedman

b)     Andrei Shleifer

c)      Klaus Schwab

d)     Gabriel Zucman

Ans- c

Explanation-

The WEF, which was founded in 1971 by German economist Klaus Schwab, claims to work to “improve the state of the world”. The first meeting of the WEF was held as a management forum that brought together European businessmen to discuss how to compete against U.S. businesses.

Question-5

Antrix is the marketing and commercial arm of which organisation?

a)     NAL

b)     IAF

c)      HAL

d)     ISRO

Ans- d

Explanation-

International courts have given verdicts favouring the private consortium seeking compensation from Antrix for cancelling a 2005 deal to lease satellite spectrum to the company to offer multimedia services. The deal was cancelled in 2011 by Antrix, a public company and marketing arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation, on grounds of national security.

Question-6

 With reference to the deputation of All India Services, consider the following statements;
1. Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is the cadre controlling authority of all the All India Services.
2. The concurrence of the concerned officer is not required during deputation.
3. In case of any disagreement in deputation, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government concerned.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a)     1 and 3 only

b)     2 and 3 only

c)      2 only

d)     3 only

Ans- d

Explanation-

Statement 1 is incorrect: Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is the cadre controlling authority of IAS officers. The Police Division in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for Cadre management of IPS officers. Similarly, the Environment Ministry is the cadre controlling authority for Indian Forest Service Officers (IFoS).  Statement 2 is incorrect: Before any officer of the AIS is called for deputation to the Centre, the concerned officer’s concurrence is required.  Statement 3 is correct: In case of “any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government or State Governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government.” 

Question-7

Which of the following state releases the first bird atlas in India?

a)     Sikkim

b)     Kerala

c)      Tamil Nadu

d)     Arunachal Pradesh

Ans- b

Explanation-

News: Kerala gets its first ever scientific bird atlas.

Bird Atlas

·      The Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA), the first-of-its-kind state-level bird atlas in India, has created solid baseline data about the distribution and abundance of various bird species across all major habitats giving an impetus for futuristic studies.

·      KBA was prepared based on systematic surveys held twice over 60 days a year during the wet (July to September) and dry (January to March) seasons between 2015 and 2020.

·      It is arguably Asia’s largest bird atlas in terms of geographical extent, sampling effort and species coverage derived from the aggregation of 25,000 checklists.

·      It was found that the species count was higher during the dry season than in the wet season while species richness and evenness were higher in the northern and central districts than in the southern districts.

·      Most of the endemics were concentrated in the Western Ghats while the threatened species were mostly along the coasts.

·      The KBA is considered to be a valuable resource for testing various ecological hypotheses and suggesting science-backed conservation measures.

Question-8

Consider the following statements:

1.   Lothal is the world’s oldest tidal dockyard, which could berth and service ships.

2.   People of the Indus valley civilization farmed with animal-drawn ploughs and they used weights and measures.

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

Ans- c

Explanation-

Indian astronomy has a long history and was a Vedanga, an auxiliary discipline associated with the study of the Vedas, dating back to 1,500 BCE or earlier.

Science in Ancient India

• Indian science and technology began at Mehrgarh (now in Pakistan) and continued throughout the country’s history.
• People developed different systems of agriculture, irrigation, canals and water storage systems, including artificial lakes, by 3,000 BCE.
• Cotton was cultivated by 5,000–4,000 BCE.

• They farmed with animal-drawn ploughs in the Indus Civilisation in 2,500 BCE.
• The people of the Indus-Sarasvati region used weights and measures.
• The earliest-known dock in the world, which could berth and service ships, was situated at Lothal in Gujarat.
• Indian metallurgy was very advanced.
• Steel was made in India from 500 BCE. King Porus gifted Alexander a steel sword in 326 BCE.
• The iron pillar located in Delhi is seven metres high and has never rusted. Over 5,000 years ago, there were dentists in the Indus-Sarasvati region.

Question-9

 Consider the following statements regarding Indian National Army (INA):

1.    Indian National Army (INA) was formed by Mohan Singh in 1942, with the aid of Japan.

2.    The Azad Hind Fauj under Rash Behari Bose participated in the operation of Japanese campaign towards British 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

Ans- a

Explanation-

This year marks the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Indian National Army (INA)

Background

• Following the outbreak of World War II, Japan invaded South East Asia.
• At the time 70,000 troops were stationed in the region, most of them along the Malayan coast.
• Japan conducted a lightning campaign which culminated in the fall of the Malayan peninsula and Singapore in 1942.
• In the Singapore campaign alone, 45,000 Indian prisoners of war were captured.
• It was from these prisoners of war that the Japanese decided to create an auxiliary army which would fight against the British.

First INA

• The first INA was formed under Mohan Singh, a former officer of the British Indian Army captured during the Malay campaign.
• Conditions in the prisoner of war camps, as well as resentment against the British in general, saw many prisoners of war volunteer join the Indian National Army.
• The initiative received considerable support from the Imperial Japanese Army and from the ethnic Indian population of South-East Asia.
• However, disagreements between Mohan Singh and Japanese Army Command regarding the autonomy of the Indian National Army led to the disbandment of the first INA in December 1942.

Second INA

• Mohan Singh himself recommended that Subash Chandra Bose for the leadership role.
• His reputation as a committed nationalist was known to both the Indian diaspora of South East Asia and the Imperial Japanese Army.
• The activities of Subash Chandra Bose in India had forced the British authorities to imprison him, but he escaped and reached Berlin in 1941.
• The Japanese were ready to support him and upon their personal invitation, Subash Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore in July 1943 to take command of what would be known as the second Indian National Army, now known by its alternative name as the Azad Hind Fauj.
• The Azad Hind Fauj participated in operation U-Go, the 1944 Japanese campaign towards British India.
• It was commanded by Renya Mutaguchi, Masakazu Kawabe, and Subhas Chandra Bose.
• Although the INA saw initial success during the early phases of the operation, they were forced to withdraw during the battle of Imphal and battle of Kohima (Fought on April 4th, 1944) which saw the disastrous defeat for the Japanese Army at the hands of the British.
• Following the Japanese defeat in World War 2, most of the members of the INA were captured by the British.
• Subash Chandra Bose himself eluded capture and was reported to have died in a plane crash near Taiwan in September 1945.

Question-10

Consider the following statements regarding Mid Latitude Deserts:

1.    Mid Latitude Deserts are those present in the rain shadow regions or due to continentality.

2.    The Ladakh desert, Gobi Desert of Central Asia and Patagonian Desert of South America are deserts found on a plateau.

3.    The Gobi Desert is formed due to rain-shadow effect and the Patagonian Desert due to continenality.

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

a)     1 & 2 only

b)     2 only

c)      1 and 3 only

d)     1, 2 & 3

Ans- a

Explanation-

News: Less snow, high temperatures have upturned lives in Himalayan cold desert.

Mid Latitude Desert Climate

• The temperate deserts are rainless because of either continentality or rain-shadow effect.
• Gobi Desert is formed due to continentality and Patagonian Desert due to rain-shadow effect.
• The Patagonian Desert is more due to its rain-shadow position on the leeward side of the lofty Andes than to continentality.
• Continentality: a measure of the difference between continental and marine climates characterized by the increased range of temperatures that occurs over land compared with water.
• Amongst the mid-latitude deserts, many are found on plateau and are at a considerable distance from the sea.
• These are Ladakh, The Kyzyl Kum, Turkestan, Taklimakan and Gobi deserts of Central Asia, drier portions of the Great Basin Desert of the western United States and Patagonian Deserts of Argentina etc.

·      Statement 1 is incorrect: A decline in open forest in conjunction with an increase in natural forest area indicates improvement in the forests in the country. Open forest is less dense than natural forests.  

·      Statement 2 is correct: As per experts, survey results could be misleading as it includes plantations – such as coffee, coconuts or mango and other orchards – under forest cover. 

Source: The Hindu / The Indian Express/ TOI/ HT/PIB/The Business Standard