UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 04 January 2024

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The U.S. central bank usually increases the supply of dollars through various means to tackle economic downturns and also to fund the U.S. government’s expenditures. But it should be noted that the U.S. Federal Reserve is not the only central bank in the world that has been debasing its currency by engaging in expansionary monetary policy over several decades. Other countries have also been expanding their respective money supplies to address their domestic economic problems. As long as the U.S. does not debase its currency at a faster pace than other countries, the dollar may manage to hold its value against other currencies and hence its reserve currency status may not come under serious threat.

The global acceptability of the U.S. dollar has primarily been attributed to the popularity of U.S. assets among investors. It should be noted that the U.S. has been running a persistent trade deficit for decades now (in fact the last time the U.S. ran a trade surplus was way back in 1975). That is, the value of its imports has for a long time exceeded the value of its exports to the rest of the world. The excess dollars that the rest of the world accumulates due to the U.S.’s trade deficit has been invested in U.S. assets such as in debt securities issued by the US government.

Solution: a)

Only Statement 2 is correct.

Permafrost is essentially any ground that stays frozen — 0 degree Celsius or lower — for at least two years straight. These permanently frozen grounds are often found in Arctic regions such as Greenland, Alaska (the United States), Canada, Russia and Eastern Europe.

Permafrost is composed of “a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.” However, although the ground remains perennially frozen, permafrost regions aren’t always covered with snow.

As the Arctic is getting warmer nearly four times as fast as the rest of the planet due to climate change, permafrost is thawing rapidly. Thawing permafrost can severely impact the planet. One of its most dangerous consequences is the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Solution: c)

El Niño is characterised by an unusual warming of waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific, which has a high correlation with warmer summers and weaker monsoon rains in India. La Nina is the meteorological opposite.

A map WMO issued on expected rainfall patterns globally during El Niño years showed most parts of north, northeast, northwest, and central India experiencing dry periods during the June to September monsoon season. It shows largely wet months during the October to December northeast monsoon season in the peninsular region.

Normally, El Nino is good for the northeast monsoon but bad for the southwest monsoon but there is no one-to-one relationship.

Solution: c)

Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), as mandated by law under the 2013 Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act.

The ICC was designed to be the first port of call for any grievance under the PoSH Act, a key element needed to create a safe workplace environment for women.

As per the law, it needs to have a minimum of four members – at least half of them women – of whom one shall be an external member, preferably from an NGO or an association that works for women’s empowerment or a person familiar with issues related to sexual harassment, like a lawyer. In fact, a functional ICC is one of the key conditions set up by the Ministry of Sports to grant annual recognition to the federations.

Solution: c)

The history of smallpox holds a special place in the field of epidemiology. One of the deadliest diseases known to mankind, it is also the only one to have been eradicated by vaccination. However, the origins of smallpox have always been unclear. Until now, the earliest confirmed case of the disease was found in the mummified remains of a 17th-century Lithuanian child, even though written records suggest that it is much older. A new study carried out by an international team of researchers provides fresh insight into the origins of the disease caused by the Variola virus (VARV), suggesting that the smallpox was in existence as early as during the Viking age in the 8th century CE.