April 09 2024 Prelims Practice Questions (PPQs)

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• Generative AI is not designed primarily to mimic human decision-making processes.
• Instead, it focuses on learning the underlying patterns and structure of data to generate new, original content that resembles the input data.
• These models can generate images, text, audio, and other forms of data, making them useful for various applications, including art, music, writing, and even scientific research.

Statement 2 is correct

• The term “Generative” in Generative AI refers to the ability of these models to learn how to create new data, rather than simply recognizing or classifying existing data.
• They learn the patterns and structures within a dataset and use that knowledge to generate new, similar data points.
• This could be text, images, code, and more. For example, a generative model may learn how to generate images that resemble human faces given a set of parameters (such as the eyes, hair, or skin colour etc.).

Answer: (b) 2 only; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• It is a 2,428 km long river that flows through Russia and Kazakhstan along the continental boundary between Europe and Asia.

  

• It is also referred to as the Zhayyq River in the native Kazakh language.
• It is Europe’s third-longest river, after the Volga and the Danube rivers, and Asia’s 19th longest river.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The river flows through Russia and Kazakhstan.
• Magnitogorsk, Orsk, Novotroitsk, Orenburg, Oral, Atyrau, are located on the banks of River Ural.
• It has a total of 58 tributaries, with the most prominent ones being Kushum, Derkul, Chagan, Irtek, Utva, Elek, Bolshaya Chobda, Kindel, Sakmara, Tanalyk, Salmys and Suunduk.
• Tributaries from the right side are typical mountain rivers, while the left side tributaries have flatland characteristics.

Statement 3 is correct

• The river originates in the Ural Mountains, close to Mount Kruglaya in Russia.
• It empties into the Caspian Sea; the world’s largest inland sea that lies between Europe and Asia.
• Melting snow constitutes about 60% to 70% of the river’s water source, while precipitation is a minor source.
• A prominent feature of the Ural River is its digitate delta, or tree-like structure, that can be seen as the river enters the Caspian Sea.

Answer: (b) Only two; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

• Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, honored INS Sharda at Southern Naval Command, Kochi, with an ‘On the Spot Unit Citation’ for its successful anti-piracy efforts.
• INS Sharda is a Sukanya class patrol vessel of the Indian Navy.
• The Sukanya-class patrol vessels are large, offshore patrol craft in active service with the Indian Navy.
• The Sukanya class have large hulls, although they are lightly armed since they are utilised primarily for offshore patrol of India’s exclusive economic zone.
• The ship played a crucial role in rescuing 19 crew members of the Iranian fishing vessel Omari from Somali pirates.
• Utilizing surveillance data, INS Sharda covertly tracked the vessel, launching a helo and Prahar team at dawn, compelling the pirates to release the crew.
• This operation exemplifies Indian Navy’s commitment to maritime security.

Answer: (c) INS Sharda; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• Introduced to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for game hunting in the early 1900s by the British, a herbivore that multiplied unchecked for years in the absence of large predators has become an expensive and an “invasive” problem for the Union Territory’s authorities.
• For years, the chital (spotted deer) — the staple food for large predators in forests of mainland India — sustained themselves on local ground vegetation on Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island, which lies east of Port Blair and does not have any major residential enclaves.

  

• But now, with the nearly 500 chital having depleted much of the low-ground vegetation, the Andaman and Nicobar Forest Department has been spending Rs 15-20 lakh per month since the past few months to feed them on the island.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• Chital typically mate during the monsoon season, with a gestation period of around 220 days.
• Female Chital give birth to a single fawn, which they nurture and protect in the dense vegetation.
• Fawns become independent at around 6 months of age.

  

Statement 3 is correct

• Conservation Status: IUCN: Least Concern
• Threats: Illegal hunting, habitat loss and degradation due to human encroachment and spread of invasive alien species.

Answer: (a) Only one; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• The first launch of the Angara A5 space rocket from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome will take place.
• This three-stage rocket is capable of delivering up to 24.5 tonnes of payload into the low orbit.
• It is being developed to replace Russia’s Proton M as Russia’s heavy-lift rocket, which has been in operation since the mid-1960s.
• At liftoff, the Angara A5 weighs an astounding 773 tonnes.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The Angara A5, named after a Siberian river, represents a significant milestone in Russia’s space endeavors, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
• The heavy booster rocket, the first to be designed in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is intended to send satellites for the Russian navigation system, GLONASS, and modules for Russia’s planned space station into orbit.
• Its robust design and impressive payload capacity make it a crucial asset for future space missions.

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has proposed new rules for childbirth registration, requiring parents to specify the religion of both mother and father separately. Previously, only the family’s religion was noted.
• The updated “Form No.1-Birth Report” will include separate sections for the child’s religion and that of both parents.
• This update also applies to adopted children.
• The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act of 2023 mandates maintaining this information in the national database.

Answer: (c) Ministry of Home Affairs; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international agreement that establishes a framework for cross-border cooperation in the energy industry.
• It was founded in 1991 and covers all aspects of commercial energy activities, including trade, transit, investments, and energy efficiency.
• The ECT’s purpose is to promote long-term cooperation in the energy field, based on complementarities and mutual benefits.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The 1998 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) protects investments in both green energy and fossil fuels, allowing companies to sue governments over policies affecting their investments.
• It is designed to promote energy security through the operation of more open and competitive energy markets, while respecting the principles of sustainable development and sovereignty over energy resources.

Answer: (b) 2 0nly; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• A solar eclipse takes place when the Moon moves in the middle of Earth and the Sun.
• The Moon blocks the light of the Sun, either fully or partially, which casts a huge shadow on some parts of the world.
• A solar eclipse happens on a new moon day.
• There are four different types of solar eclipses, including total solar eclipse, annual solar eclipse, partial solar eclipse, and hybrid solar eclipse.

  

Statement 2 is incorrect

• Lunar eclipses occur at the full moon phase.
• When Earth is positioned precisely between the Moon and Sun, Earth’s shadow falls upon the surface of the Moon, dimming it and sometimes turning the lunar surface a striking red over the course of a few hours.

  

Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2; Difficulty Level: Easy

Correct

Explanation

• The National Sample Survey (NSS) Office released the key results of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 in late February.
  • National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) has merged with the Central Statistical Office to become the National Statistical Office (NSO).
• These primarily include all-India estimates of the average household monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) for rural and urban areas, its distribution by broad item groups for food and non-food categories, the variation in the average MPCE of households with different standards of living (by appropriately grouping them into 12 ‘fractile classes’ of MPCE), and the trend in the composition of MPCE since the 1999-2000 survey (55th round of the NSS).
• So far as the State-level estimates are concerned, the factsheet gives only estimates of average MPCE — total of food and non-food items — for each State and Union Territory (UT) for rural and urban areas.
• As the earlier available results pertain to 2011-12, the latest results have bridged the data vacuum of more than a decade on an important subject that also goes into the compilation of poverty estimates.
• While the methodology for the HCES is more refined now, there are still challenges that need to be addressed.
• This will ensure that apart from producing much firmer estimates of the average MPCE, the new series has an in-built mechanism to maintain comparability of the current estimates with those of the earlier ‘quinquennial series’ available from 1972-73 to 2011-12.

Answer: (d) National Statistical Office; Difficulty Level: Medium