August 18-19-20-2024 Prelims Practice Questions (PPQs)

Correct

Explanation

Statements 1 is correct

• It is a rare zoonotic viral disease belonging to the Poxviridae family and the Orthopoxvirus genus, which includes other poxviruses such as smallpox and cowpox virus.
• The Symptoms of monkey pox include Rash, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, back pain, and swollen lymph nodes.
• The transmission of disease can occur from animal to humans through eating products made of infected animals, direct contact with body fluids or Person to person due to direct contact with rashes or body fluids, infectious skin or lesions, kissing, touching, oral and penetrative vaginal or anal sex.
• Even though, there is no specific treatment or vaccine available for this infection and is treated with supportive care, three smallpox vaccines (MVA-BN, LC16 and OrthopoxVac) have been approved for prevention of the disease.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• Children under 15 years are the most affected, constituting 80% of all the deaths with the largest case fatality rate in children aged less than one year.
• Recently widespread becoming a global pandemic, it has become the 8th Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) declared since 2006, which includes Zika, COVID, Ebola and Swine flu, by the World Health Organization.

Answer: (a) 1 only; Difficulty Level: Medium

Correct

Explanation

Statements 1 and 3 are not correct

1. In order to prosecute a public servant for corruption, Prosecution Sanction must be given by an authority competent to remove the accused from the office. It is enough that the authority giving sanction is of the same or higher rank or grade as the Authority who appointed the public servant.
2. According to the Prevention of corruption act of 1988, the Sanction is not necessary if the public servant can be removed from the office by an authority lower than the government or if he/she is no longer in service, when the court takes cognizance of the offence. If he/she is to be removed by government only, then the sanction of the competent authority will be required.
3. Supreme Court of India has established that Governors must exercise their discretion for sanction based on facts and circumstances, as failure to do so could undermine the rule of law and even though constitution asks governors to abide by the advice of council of ministers, he/she can use his/her discretion under Article 200 to discharge his duties to the best of his judgment and to pursue such courses which are not detrimental to the State.

Statement 2 is correct

• Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, Requires Governor’s sanction before prosecuting public servants including Chief Minister in order to ensure legal proceedings are appropriately approved.

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

Correct

Explanation

Option (d) is correct

• Bab-El-Mandeb is a strait between Arabia (northeast) and Africa (southwest) that connects the Red Sea (northwest) with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean (southeast). The Bab-El-Mandeb, the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears, is surrounded by Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.
• The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea.
• The Lombok Strait is a strait of the Bali Sea connecting to the Indian Ocean and is located between the islands of Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.
• Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf (west) with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea (southeast). Separating Iran (north) from the Arabian Peninsula (south), it is bordered by Pakistan and Iran in the north, by the United Arab Emirates in the west and by Oman in the south.

Credits: Straits of the world

Answer: (d) 4-1-2-3; Difficulty Level: Hard

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• The Banni Grasslands are the largest in Asia, once covering 3,800 sq. km, but have now shrunk to about 2,600 sq. km.
• Conservation areas include the Desert Wildlife Sanctuary and Chhari Dhand Conservation Reserve.
• It is a salt-tolerant grassland, which means that it can survive and thrive in saline and arid conditions.
• It is formed from sediment deposits by the Indus and other rivers over millennia.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The grassland was given protected status in 1955 under the Indian Forest Act, of 1927, and non-forest activities were restricted in 2019 by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Statement 3 is correct

• The Banni Grasslands support a rich variety of fauna, including Nilgai, Chinkara, Blackbuck, and serve as a breeding ground for Banni buffalo and Kankrej cows.
• It Supports more than 350 bird species; and migratory birds during good rainfall years.

Statement 4 is incorrect

• The Banni Grasslands are located near the Great Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, not in the Uttarakhand foothills, and are characterized by wetlands and grasslands.

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

Correct

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• EOS-08 was launched by the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)-D3, not the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
• The launch took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Shriharikota, as part of ISRO’s efforts to deploy a microsatellite for Earth observation.

Statement 2 is correct

• EOS-08 is equipped with three payloads, including the Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR).
• This payload plays a crucial role in satellite-based surveillance, disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, fire detection, and observation of volcanic activity.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• EOS-08 is designed to operate in a Circular Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 475 km; however, its mission life is only 1 year, not 50 years.
• The satellite is built on the Microsat/IMS-1 bus and incorporates new technologies required for future operational satellites.

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

Correct

Explanation

Option (b) is correct

• Operation Parakram was the code name for India’s military mobilization in response to the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.
• The attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
• Following the Cabinet Committee on Security’s decision, the operation saw a large-scale deployment of Indian forces along the India-Pakistan border, marking the first full-scale mobilization since the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
• The former Army Chief General S. Padmanabhan who led the Army during Operation Parakram, the first full-scale mobilization since the 1971 Indo-Pak war, passed away recently.

Option (a) is incorrect

• The Kargil conflict took place in 1999 and was a specific military engagement in the Kargil district.

Option (c) is incorrect

• The 1971 war led to the creation of Bangladesh and was a significant historical conflict, but Operation Parakram occurred much later, in response to the 2001 terrorist attack on the Parliament.

Option (d) is incorrect

• The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also known as the 26/11 attacks, were a series of terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Answer: (b) The 2001 terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament; Difficulty Level: Medium