Prelims Objective Practices Questions

(I.) Consider the following statements –
1. Sea floor spreading is caused by the constant volcanic eruptions at the ocean floor.
2. The ocean crust rocks are older than the continental rocks.
3. The deep trenches have deep-seated earthquake occurrences while in the mid-oceanic ridge areas, the quake foci have shallow depths.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1, 2
b) 1 only
c) 1, 3
d) 2, 3

(II.) Consider the following statements regarding Archean rock system in India –
1. Archean rock system is the youngest of all the rock systems.
2. It is found in Aravalli Mountains, Deccan peninsula and some parts of north east India.
3. These rocks have abundant metallic and non-metallic minerals such as iron, copper and manganese.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
a) 1, 2
b) 2, 3
c) 1, 3
d) 1, 2, 3

(III.) Which of the following factors leads to the winter rainfall in Northern India in Punjab and Haryana?
a) Anti cyclonic circulation patterns in Northern India in winter
b) Northeast monsoon crossing over the Bay of Bengal
c) Arrival of weak temperate cyclones from the Mediterranean Sea
d) All of the above

Prelims Specific Facts

NEWS-1

• Apple recently announced that consumers will have the right to purchase spare components of their products. This has been done after an order of the Federal Trade Commission of the United States. The order directs manufacturers to remedy unfair anti-competitive practices and asks them to make sure that consumers can make repairs, either themselves or by a third-party agency. The move is a positive step to strengthen the right to repair which would allow individuals to optimally utilize the purchased goods. It would enable countries like India to enact concrete provisions on the right to repair by taking inspiration from their western counterparts including the U.S and U.K.
  
• What is the Right to Repair and its background?
  • It is a right to give users and third-party companies the required tools, parts and manuals related to a product. This would enable them to repair a product on their own instead of depending on the manufacturers. The right to repair movement traces its roots back to the very dawn of the computer era in the 1950s.
  • The rationale behind the movement is that the individual who purchases a product must own it completely. This implies that apart from being able to use the product, consumers must be able to repair and modify the product the way they want to.
  • However in spite of the movement, repairing is becoming unreasonably expensive or pretty much impossible because of the technology becoming obsolete. Further, companies avoid the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily, manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts and most firms refuse to make their products compatible with those of other firms.
    
• What lies ahead?
  • First, India should enact a dedicated repair law in order to augment consumer welfare. In Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars India Ltd (2017), the Competition Commission of India (CCI) ruled that restricting the access of spare parts to independent automobile repair units by way of an end-user license agreement was anti-competitive. The CCI observed that the practice was detrimental to consumer welfare.
  • Second, countries must learn from good legislations and practices from other countries like the prevalence of Repair cafes in Australia.
  • Third, countries must realize that a well-drafted legislation will not only uphold the right to repair but may aid in striking a much-needed balance between intellectual property and competitive laws in the country. Further, it will strengthen the circular economy by improving the life span, maintenance, re-use, upgrade, recyclability and waste handling of appliances.

NEWS-2

• Ahead of the Parliament session, the Lok Sabha secretariat has issued a list of words that will be viewed as unparliamentary in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• What do the Constitution and rules say on the use of words by MPs inside the house?
  • Article 105(2) of the Constitution lays down that no Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof.
  • However, MPs do not enjoy the freedom to say whatever they want inside the House. Whatever an MP says is subject to the discipline of the Rules of Parliament.
• Rule 380 (“Expunction”) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha says: “If the Speaker is of opinion that words have been used in the debate which are defamatory or indecent or unparliamentary or undignified, the Speaker may, while exercising discretion order that such words be expunged from the proceedings of the House”.
• Rule 381 says: “The portion of the proceedings of the House so expunged shall be marked by asterisks and an explanatory footnote shall be inserted in the proceedings as follows: ‘Expunged as ordered by the Chair”.
• What are Unparliamentary Words?
  • There are phrases and words, literally in thousands, both in English and in Indian languages, that are considered “unparliamentary”.
  • The Presiding Officers — Speaker of Lok Sabha and Chairperson of Rajya Sabha — have the job of keeping such words out of Parliament’s records.
  • For their reference, the Lok Sabha Secretariat has brought out a bulky tome titled ‘Unparliamentary Expressions’. The last such book was published in 2009.
  • The state legislatures to are guided mainly by the same book, first compiled in 1999.

NEWS-3 IIT-M ranked country’s top higher education institute

• JNU, Jamia Millia find place in NIRF’s list of best varsities-
  • The National Institutional Ranking Framework is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The Framework was approved by the MHRD and launched by Minister of Human Resource Development on 29 September 2015.
• The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), is yet again the top higher educational institute in the country followed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and IIT Bombay, according to the Ministry of Education’s National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2022.
• Among the universities, IISC, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jadavpur University and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham were among the top five. And among the top five colleges in the country are Mi randa House, Hindu College, Presidency College, Loyola College and Lady Shri Ram College for Women.
• The top five medical institutes are All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Post Grad uate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, Christian Medical College, Vellore, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences, Bengaluru, and Banaras Hindu University. The top five management institutes are Indian Insti tute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, IIM Bengaluru, IIM Kolkata, IIT Delhi and IIM Kozhikode.
• This is the seventh con secutive edition of NIRF.
• It ranks colleges, universities and research institutions and also provides an overall ranking of all of them co bined. Institutes are also ranked across seven subject domains, namely engineering, management, pharmacy, law, medical, architecture and dental.
• A total of 4,786 institutions were evaluated on five parameters teaching, learning and resources (TLR); research and professional practice; graduation out come; outreach; and inclusivity and perception.

NEWS-4 Monkeypox

• Monkeypox is a sylvatic zoonosis that may cause infections in humans and the disease usually occurs in forested parts of Central and West Africa. It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus family, according to the World Health Organization.
• Monkeypox was discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research. Despite being named “monkeypox,” the source of the disease remains unknown. However, African rodents and non-human primates (like monkeys) might harbor the virus and infect people.

NEWS-5

• A fresh bulletin from the Parliament secretariat ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament prohibiting the members from using the premises for “demonstration, dharna, strike, fast or for the purpose of performing any religious ceremony,” has raised a furore with the Opposition members calling it yet another attempt to bulldoze dissent.

NEWS-6 Gandhi museum bring out magazine on Savarkar

• The national memorial and museum dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi has brought out a special edition of its monthly magazine dedicated to Hindutva leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar – a choice that has sparked criticism from Gandhians and Opposition leaders.
• Antim Jan, features Savarkar on the cover and articles re-printed from the works of Gandhi on religious tolerance, Savarkar on Hindutva and late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Savarkar.
• Prison Journey: Veer Savarkar was prisoned by the Britishers for about 50 years. He was shifted to Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• When he was young, he organised a youth group named ‘Mitra Mela’. He was inspired by radical political leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal and engages the group in revolutionary activities.
• On the lines of the ‘Revolt of 1857’, Veer Savarkar thought of the guerrilla war for attaining Independence. He wrote a book titled “The History of the War of Indian Independence” which inspired a lot of Indians to fight against the British for freedom
• He also provided legal defence to his friend Madan Lal Dhingra, who was accused in a murder case of a British Indian army officer named Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie.
• Veer Savarkar in 1937, became the president of ‘Hindu Mahasabha’.
• Established in 1915, the Mahasabha (known previously as the Sarvadeshak Hindu Sabha) has been struggling to stay politically and socially relevant. Local forerunners to the Mahasabha.

NEWS-7

• Lauding the socio-economic development ushered in by Bangladesh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said Pakistan should introspect and learn a lot of things from India’s eastern neighbour.
• when Bangladesh is celebrating 50 years of its Independence.
• ‘Du nagiri’, a Project 17A frigate at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited.

NEWS-8

• Students sitting for the second-year examinations of M.A. History at Periyar University on Thursday were shocked to come across a question: which caste, among the four, is lower in Tamil Nadu: Maharas, Nadars, Ezhavas, and Harijans.

NEWS-9 Iran, Belarus to be newest SCO members

• Iran and Belarus are likely to be the two newest additions to the China and Russia backed Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) grouping, officials said.
• Expanding the group is among the issues that leaders of the grouping, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to discuss at the SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in September.
• China, Russia and four Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – were the founding members of the SCO, while India and Pakistan joined the grouping in 2017 in its first round of expansion. Last year’s summit in Dushanbe agreed for Iran to join, while Belarus has al so begun the membership process.
• China and Russia are looking to frame the grouping as a counter to the West – particularly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Mr. Zhang sought to draw a sharp contrast between the SCO and NATO.
• “There has been discussion in the international are na that the trend of non alignment is back,” he said. “The expansion of NATO is totally different as the SCO is a cooperative organisation based on non-alignment and not targeting a third party. NATO is based on Cold War thinking. The logic of NATO is creating new enemies to sustain its own existence.”
• India will host the SCO summit next year, and Vara nasi has been selected as the SCO region’s first “Tourism and Cultural Capital”,

NEWS-10

• Jim Thorpe has been rein stated as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic pentathlon and decathlon in Stockholm – nearly 110 years after being stripped of those gold medals for violations of strict amateurism rules of the time.
• The International Olympic Committee planned the announcement for Friday – the 110th anniversary of Thorpe winning the decathlon and being proclaimed by King Gustav V of Sweden as “the greatest athlete in the world”.
• Thorpe, a Native American, returned to a ticker tape parade in New York, but months later it was dis covered he had been paid to play minor league baseball over two summers, an in fringement of the Olympic amateurism rules. He was stripped of his gold medals in what was described as the first major international sports scandal.
• In 1982 – 29 years after Thorpe’s death – the IOC gave duplicate gold medals to his family but his Olympic records were not reinstated, nor was his status as the sole gold medalist of the two events.
• Two years ago, a Bright Path Strong petition advocated declaring Thorpe the outright winner of the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912.