Current Affairs MCQ for UPSC Exams - 22 March 2020

Q1 With respect to land degradation and desertification, which of the following statements stands true ?

1) As per the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, prepared by the Space Applications Centre for the period 2011-2013, 96.4 million hectares i.e. 29.32% of the Total Geographical Area of the country is undergoing the process of desertification/land degradation.
2) India has also committed to achieve land degradation neutrality status by 2030. In addition, at the recently concluded 14th session of the Conference of Parties of UNCCD held in India in 2019, India has raised its ambition to restore degraded land from 21 mha to 26 mha by 2030.
3) Various schemes like Green India Mission, fund accumulated under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), Nagar Van Yojana etc. also help in checking degradation and restoration of forest landscape.
Options :
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q2 Which of the following components include the objectives of National Food Security Mission ( NFSM ) ?

1) Increasing foodgrain production through area expansion
2) Productivity enhancement.
3) Restoring soil fertility
4) Enhancing farm level economy.
Options :

a) 1 & 3 only
b) 2 & 4 only
c) All the above
d) 1 & 4 only

Q3 The Cellular Mechanism of Huntington Disease was discovered recently by scientists. Which of the following statements regarding the same stands true ?

1) Huntington disease is a progressive kidney disorder that causes uncontrolled movements, emotional problems, and loss of thinking ability (cognition).
2) Juvenile Huntington disease tends to progress more quickly than the adult-onset form; affected individuals usually live 10 to 15 years after signs and symptoms appear.
3) Mutations in the HTT gene (also called Huntington or HD gene) cause Huntington Disease (HD).
Options :
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above

Q4 Consider the following statements :

1) The Government of India has been working steadily to improve India’s ranking in Global Innovation Index (GII) and this is evident from the fact that India has been consistently moving up on global ranking in past few years.
2) India’s ranking has improved from 81 in 2015 to 52 in 2019 in GII.
3) GII is released by World Trade Organisation.
Which of the above statements stands true ?

Options :
a) 1 & 2 only
b) 2 & 3 only
c) 1 & 3 only
d) all the above