[T25] Mock MCQ Round#3: FRDI Bill, Mission SAMPARK, Kapu Reservation, Wassenaar Arrangement, One planet summit PLUS RC Passages for CSAT

1. Economy
2. Polity
3. Diplomacy
4. Science Tech & Healthcare
5. Geography and Environment
6. Sports, Events & Misc. GK
7. Passage for CSAT Paper-II
   • Set#1: British PMs=St.Stephen-walla M. Aiyyer?

Instructions

• Following Test contains 25 questions based on Current Affairs news in 2017, December.
• Total Time limit: 30 minutes; Total marks: 25 MCQ x 2m = 50m.
• Wrong answer Penalty: -0.67 Marks.

Economy

Q. What is/are the objective(s) of Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017?

1. To provide ‘bail-in’ to NPAs and corporates by using the money from ordinary savings account holders of the banks.
2. To setup a Resolution Corporation to deal with bankruptcy situation in banks and NBFCs.
3. To inculcate discipline among Banks and NBFCs by limiting the use of public money to bail out distressed entities.

Answer Codes:

1. Only 1 and 2
2. Only 2 and 3
3. Only 1
4. Only 2

Hint: PIB was forced to issue a clarification on 2017-Dec, regarding the fake-news being spread in media about FRDI bill. This bill aims to replace the DICGC with a better body and ensure discipline among the financial intermediaries. So, pick accordingly.

Q. Which of the following commercial airline is conducting trials to launch “Sea plane services” in India?

1. Indigo
2. Spicejet
3. AirIndia
4. It’s a fake news, Indian airlines don’t have such daring. Only in Baloo’s Talespin cartoon, Indians can hope to watch a sea plane. (in other words ‘none of the above’.)

Hint: Seaplane can be landed even in large rivers and lakes, so such service can connect remotest parts of India without the high cost of building airports and runways. and it’ll be quite fruitful to the airline as well under the UDAAN scheme. One trial was conducted in 2017-December in presence of Aviation Minister. Name of the airline is associated with the commodity for which Vasco Da Gama came from Lisbon Portugal (1497) to Calicut, India (1498).

Q. Which of the following state(s) got geographical indicator tag for Rosogolla in 2017, November?

1. Odisha
2. West Bengal
3. Both 1 and 2 given jointly.
4. Neither 1 nor 2 has yet obtained it.

Hint: Mamta Benerjee is planning to organize Rosogolla mohotsva in March 2018 to ‘celebrate’ their GI-victory. So eliminate accordingly.

Polity

17. In 2017-Dec, JDU MP Sharad Yadav was disqualified from the Rajya Sabha for…

1. Violating EC guidelines on election expenditure.
2. Filling wrong details in his election affidavit.
3. Violating tenth schedule of the Constitution.
4. It’s a fake news, he’s not disqualified.

Hint: he is disqualified by the Vice president of India. so now connect the dots, from where could VP have obtained such power?

Q. Under the tenth schedule of our Constitution, a Member of Parliament can be disqualified on which of the following grounds?

1. If he voluntarily gives up his membership of the political party from whose ticket he was elected in RS/LS.
2. If he doesn’t follow the directions issued by his political party during voting in the house on any motion or bill.
3. If an ‘independently’ elected MP joins any political party after election.

Answer Codes:

1. Only 1 and 2
2. Only 2 and 3
3. Only 1 and 3
4. All of the given grounds.

Hint: It’s in news because of the disqualification of JDU MP Sharad Yadav, which is not a fake news by the way. Read Indian Polity by M.Laxmikanth, Chapter 72 to learn the whole topic.

Q. Which of the following states passed bill to provide 5% reservation to Kapu community in 2017, December?

1. Himachal Pradesh
2. Tamilnadu
3. Andhra Pradesh
4. Telengana

Hint: In Indra-the Tiger, the famed villain Prakash Raj is governor of which state? BTW, I was thinking of framing more MCQs on Kapu reservation bill which provides for reservation only in 1) education 2) employment but not 3) political reservation. But then again, UPSC may not go in such depth for a state-specific bill atleast in prelims.

Diplomacy

Q. In 2017-December, SriLanka has formally handed over _ _ _ Port to Chinese company for a lease of 99 years.

1. Trincomalee
2. Hambantota
3. Colombo
4. It’s a fake news. No such event took place. (I could simply write option ‘4’ as ‘none of the above’, but this expression is more fitting in today’s times, so I like to use it.)

Hint: If Srilanka was a wallclock then port1 is situated at 1 pm, port2 is at 5pm and port-3 is at 8pm. When deal was signed, the Chinese greeted “Wǎnshàng hǎo” which means good evening.

Q. In 2017-Dec, India was admitted to Wassenaar arrangement as 42nd member. What is this arrangement?

1. It’s a financial mechanism to continue the validity of carbon credit projects made during Kyoto Protocol.
2. It’s an group of likeminded countries who want to promote generic drugs and to discourage evergreening of patents.
3. It’s a missile technology control regime.
4. It’s a multilateral export control group for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.

Hint: Wassenaar is a suburb of The Hague, Netherlands where the agreement to start option 4 was made in 1995. Present HQ is Vienna, India will be 42nd member, but not for the first three options.

Q. For which of the following groups, “India is a member but China is not a member”?

1. Missile technology control regime (MTCR)
2. Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
3. Wassenaar arrangement

Answer Codes:

1. Only 1 and 2
2. Only 2 and 3
3. Only 1 and 3
4. All of them

Hint: China had prevented India’s entry in NSG in 2017. Eliminate accordingly.

Science Tech & Healthcare

Q. What are the key targets of Health Ministry’s “National Strategic Plan 2017-24 against HIV”, which launched in 2017, December?

1. End HIV epidemic by 2030
2. Ensuring that 90% of all Indian HIV patients know their HIV status by 2020
3. Ensuring that 90% of all Indian HIV patients receive antiretroviral therapy by 2020
4. Ensuring that 90% of all Indian HIV patients receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression by 2020

Answer Choices:

1. Only 2 and 3
2. Only 2, 3 and 4
3. Only 1
4. All four statements

Hint: UNAIDS 90:90:90 target requires statement 2, 3 and 4. India’s plan provides roadmap for it, so pick accordingly.

Q. What is the objective of “Mission SAMPARK” launched by Union health ministry in 2017, December?

1. Create awareness about family planning in the districts with high total fertility rate (TFR).
2. Trace the patients of Tuberculosis who’re not taking regular DOTS therapy.
3. Trace HIV patients and bring them under antiretroviral therapy (ART).
4. No such mission has been launched by Health Ministry. Maane ke it’s a fake news.

Hint: First December is associated with which disease!? OR ‘Two and half men’ sitcom-famed actor Charlie Sheen is suffering from which disease?

Geography and Environment

17. In 2017-Dec, “One planet summit” is being held at _ _ _ to mark _ _ _ years of _ _ _ .

1. Rio, 25 years, Earth Summit
2. New-York, 25 years, First UN Human development Index report.
3. Paris, 2 years, Climate change summit
4. None of the above, it’s a fake news, no such summit is being held.

Hint: First HDI report was launched in 1990. and President Emmanuel Macron had announced the plans to organize this summit in his country during the G20 summit at Hamburg, Germany. Eliminate accordingly.

Q. Find correct statement(s) about Cyclone Ockhi which affected certain regions of India in 2017, December:

1. Ockhi is a Bengali term, meaning ‘eye’
2. It originated near Andaman Nicobar Islands
3. It wreaked havoc at Odisha and W.Bengal
4. All of the above

Hint: It originated near Lakshdweep and wreaked havoc at Kerala and Tamilnadu. Eliminate accordingly.

Q. Find correct statement(s) about Cyclones:

1. Cyclone is preceded by a rise in the barometric reading in the area where it’s going to attack.
2. In Northern hemisphere, cyclone winds circulate in clockwise direction.
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Hint: Correct facts are ‘inverse’ in both statements. Watch Rajtanil’s Geography Lecture on Climatology for more.

Q. Correct statement(s) about ‘Petcoke’ or ‘Petroleum coke’?

1. It is cheaper than ordinary coal
2. It burns hotter than coal.
3. It causes more sulfur pollution than ordinary coal.
4. All of the above

Hint: Topic in news, because SC had ordered ban on its usage to cleanup Delhi air (2017, Oct) and then Government also thinking to ban its import (2017, Dec). Petroleum coke, also called pet coke or petcoke, is a solid carbon material that resembles coal; it is a bottom of the barrel product of oil refining. All three statements are correct.

Q. Naphthalene balls which are used to repel moth and other insects, are made up from?

1. Coal
2. Petroleum coke
3. Coke
4. Coal tar

Hint: Well, it’s not Petroleum coke. I can’t give dolly catches on every serial question! The correct answer is given in NCERT class 8 science page 58. Better read the whole chapter 5 on coal and petroleum. For those who don’t have the patience- the hint- it’s not solid.

Sports, Events & Misc. GK

These are more important for Non-IAS exams

Q. Who among the following footballers has won the Ballon d’Or award for the fifth time in 2017, December?

1. Lionel Messi, Argentina
2. Ronaldinho, Brazil
3. Ronaldo, Brazil
4. Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal

Hint: Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by France Football. Event was hosted in Paris. The two Brazilians have retired. Messi won five times, but not in 2017. so eliminate accordingly.

Q. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned _ _ _ country from participating in Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018, due to allegations of state-sponsored doping?

1. South Korea
2. North Korea
3. China
4. Russia

Hint: Controversy occured in 2017-December. Pyeongchang is in South Korea, so how can the host be banned without removing the venue!? Correct answer is country whose “October revolution” completed 100 years in 2017.

Q. FIFA football world cup is organized every four years. In, 2018 it will be held at _ _ _ with _ _ _ Mascot.

1. Brazil, Fuleco the Armadillo
2. Russia, Zabivaka the Wolf
3. New Delhi, Indra the tiger
4. Qatar, Muffasaa the Arabian oryx

Hint: Brazil hosted in 2014, Qatar will host in 2022, and If mascot was Indra-the-tiger, then venue would have been Hyderabad and not New Delhi. Btw, Zabivaka means “the one who score”. Topic in news because team match-selection was done in 2017-December.

Q. Who was Srimad Rajchandra, whose 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated in 2017?

1. Spiritual mentor of Mahatma Gandhi
2. Jain Philosopher
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Hint: 2017 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Srimad. Rs. 10 coin and postal stamp already released in June-july. But again in news because of Gujarat election campaign speeches of the PM. Gandhi himself acknowledged this Srimad from Jain community as spiritual mentor in his autobiography. So pick accordingly.

Q. Find correct statement(s) about Vyas Samman award?

1. It is given to a Hindi literary work published in the past 10 years.
2. It’s given by KK Birla foundation
3. For 2017, this award has been given to Mamta Kalia
4. All of the above

Hint: all statements are right. I’ve deliberately set MCQ like this – to provide a revision rather than to test your GK knowledge on such trivial topic.

Q. Find correct pair(s)

1. World AIDS day: 1 December
2. India’s Navy day: 4th December
3. UN International day of disabled: 3rd December
4. All correct

Hint: Yes all correct. This is also set to give you revision of facts rather than to test it.

Comprehension Passage for CSAT Paper-II

So far we’ve done 22 questions. So to fill the quota of remaining three questions, I’ll just frame an Reading Comprehension set for UPSC Prelims Paper-2 aka CSAT.

Set#1: British PMs are just like St.Stephen-walla Manishankar Aiyyer? (3 MCQs)

British public schools and the great universities – Eton and Oxford in particular – are shown to have bred politicians who had arrogance enough to fill a stadium. David Cameron, Boris Johnson and George Osborne come from that collection of stables. They were arrogant, unprepared for anyone thwarting them and confident they will always win because they are born to privilege. They risked a Referendum and are now paying for their hubris. From the same stable came another alumnus-Theresa May, who has proved to be a much weaker Prime Minister than anyone thought possible. She has rapidly crippled herself politically by calling an unnecessary election and then winning it but losing her majority. Brexit-negotiation is becoming an unmanageable migraine with every passing day.

Q1: Author wrote this passage mainly to highlight ___.

1. Britain should not exit from the European Union.
2. Referendum is an ill-suited device for making important policy decisions.
3. The lack of tact and foresight among British prime ministers in present decade.
4. All of above.

Hint: prima facie all three statements appear to be correct. But we’ve to find main message / centre theme. Author has not written sufficient statements to make his personal opinion clear about ‘referendum’ or ‘Brexit’. on the other hand, observe the adjectives he has used to describe Cameroon and May- “unprepared”, “weakest PM” etc. So, pick accordingly.

Q2. What can be inferred conclusively from the passage:

1. Theresa May is an alumnus of Oxford university.
2. Theresa May belongs to the same political party as David Cameroon.
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2.

Hint: Even if from GK knowledge you know that she’s from Oxford, here you’re asked whether her alma-mater can be inferred conclusively from passage. the answer is no, because she could be from Eton University as well. Same reason for rejecting #2. So, pick accordingly.

Q3. In context of this passage, what is meant by the word “hubris”?

1. Overweening presumption that leads a person to disregard the divinely fixed limits on human action in an ordered cosmos.
2. Overbearing pride evidenced by condescending behavior in presence of others.
3. An excess of pride ultimately causing the transgressor’s ruin.

Answer Choices:

1. Only 1 and 2
2. Only 2 and 3
3. Only 1 and 3
4. 1, 2 and 3.

Hint: While a person committing hubris might also behave in the manner described in statement #2, but in context of passage, only 1 and 3 correctly describe ‘hubris’.