UPSC QUIZ 06.05.2024

Explanation:

• In 2023, world food prices dropped significantly from their 2022 highs. However, India's food inflation remained high at 9.5% in December 2023, contrasting with global deflation of -10.1%.
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) food price index averaged 143.7 points in 2022, but fell to 124 points in 2023, a decline of 13.7%.

What Factors are Contributing to the Drop in Global Food Prices

• Abundant Supply of Key Crops: Bumper harvests of major crops like wheat in 2023 led to a surplus in the global market.
• This abundance contrasts with concerns in 2022, when worries about supply disruptions due to the war in Ukraine, a major grain exporter, caused prices to spike.
• Improved Supply from Russia and Ukraine: Despite the disruption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2023, both Russia and Ukraine have managed to maintain wheat exports.

Explanation:

• In compliance with the Supreme Court order, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has uploaded the reports of various State Expert Committees (SEC) on its website.
• This interim order was in response to a PIL in which the Forest ( The constitutionality of the Forest Conservation (Conservation) Act Amendment (FCAA), 2023 was challenged.
• The petition filed was based on questions relating to non-awareness of the status of unclassified forests or confirmation of their identity, which were to be identified by State SEC reports .

Facts known by SEC report

Key points

• No State provided verifiable data on the identity, status and location of unclassified forests.
• Seven states and union territories (Goa, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) did not even constitute SEC.
• Only 17 out of 23 states submitted reports as per the directions of the High Court.
• Most states rely on existing data from forest and revenue departments without conducting field level or physical surveys and most have not demarcated unclassified forest land.

Explanation:

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) achieves a significant milestone as it attains 'Navratna' status from the Department of Public Enterprises.
• IREDA was set up in 1987 as a non-banking financial institution, it operates under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and promotes and develops projects related to renewable energy sources.
• Navratna Privileges: Firms with Navratna status can undertake investments up to Rs 1,000 crore without central authority approval, allocate 30% of net worth annually, and engage in joint ventures and overseas subsidiaries.
• Qualification Criteria: Companies must attain Miniratna Category-I designation and be listed in Schedule A of CPSEs to qualify for Navratna status.

Explanation:

• Scientific research has discovered Plato's burial site and revealed two chapters of historical interest shedding light on the historical significance of the Avars, a Caucasian ethnic group northeast of Athens.
• Plato (427–348 BC) was a prominent Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates (470–399 BC) and teacher of Aristotle (384–322 BC).
• In North India and Pakistan, they are known as 'Socrates', 'Aflatoon' and 'Aristotle' respectively.
• Ancient papyrus scrolls (a writing material used in ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean) discovered in Herculaneum in the 18th century revealed the site of Plato's burial in the gardens of the Accademia in Athens/Greece.
• The Avars were a major power in East Central Europe from the late 6th to the early 9th century.
• The Avars originated in East Central Asia and settled in the Carpathian Basin. The researchers collected DNA from the burial sites of the Avars and used a method called ancIBD to investigate their social practices.
• ancIBD detects lineage-based identification in ancient human DNA (aDNA). IBD segments are long DNA sequences shared between two individuals and serve as an indicator of current genealogical relationship.
• The findings show that Avars do not intermarry with cousins and intermarry less commonly with non-Avars.
• They followed levirate union (a widow marrying a man from her deceased husband's family), which is not common in Europe but is an established feature of the steppe peoples of Asia and they follow a traditional patriarchal system.

Explanation:

• China has launched the first of the eight Hangar class submarines being built for Pakistan. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine.
• It is larger than the Kalvari-class submarines of the Indian Navy, with a displacement of 2,800 tonnes compared to 1,775 tonnes of the Kalvari-class.
• The Hangor class has Air Independent Propulsion (AIP).
• AIP allows submarines to remain submerged for long periods of time.
• The AIP is planned to be installed on the first Scorpene class submarine INS Kalvari in the year 2024.
• In terms of armament both carry torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the Kalvari class probably has the more modern and battle-tested armament.
• The larger size of the Hangar class compared to the smaller Kalvari class may hinder its maneuverability in coastal waters.