UPSC EXAM QUIZ 22.10.2024

Explanation:

• Climate change is affecting the Roopkund Lake in Uttarakhand, causing it to shrink every year. Roopkund Lake, also known as the “Lake of Skeletons”, is located at the base of the Trishool mountain of the Garhwal Himalayas in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
• It is about 16,500 feet above sea level and is famous for more than five hundred human skeletons found on its shores.

Roopkund Lake

• The skeletons found in Roopkund are believed to date back to the 9th century.
• Genetic studies show that these individuals came from diverse groups, including those of Mediterranean descent.
• Opinions suggest that they were either pilgrims or traders who were killed by a sudden hailstorm and that heavy hailstorms were probably the cause of their death.

Explanation:

• United States’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will soon implement a “click-to-cancel” rule, which will make it significantly easier for consumers to cancel their subscriptions and memberships, and make companies liable to face civil penalties for complicating the cancellation process.

Highlights of the new rules

• Easy cancellation: Consumers must be given the option to cancel their subscription in the same way they subscribed. If you subscribed online, the cancellation must be done online.
• No need to talk to representatives: Companies cannot force consumers to talk to virtual representatives or over the phone to cancel their subscription if they did not need to do so when they signed up.
• No additional fees: Companies cannot charge additional fees for cancellations and must answer the phone during normal business hours.
• Option required: If you subscribed in person, companies must provide an option to cancel over the phone or online.

Explanation:

• Central Government announced the setting up of three Centres of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare, Agriculture and Sustainable Cities.
• The setting up of AI-CoE was proposed in the Union Budget 2023-24 with a financial outlay of ₹990 crore over the period 2023-24 to 2027-28.
• The CoE in healthcare will be led by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).
• The CoE in Agriculture will be headed by IIT, Ropar, Punjab.The CoE on Sustainable Cities will be led by IIT Kanpur.

Explanation:

• The creation of largest protected marine area in the North Atlantic was approved by the regional assembly of Portugal's Azores Islands.
• As a result, the archipelago is now at the forefront of the worldwide ocean conservation movement, which seeks to fulfil the UN's 2030 target of safeguarding 30% of the planet's land and water.
• Nearly 300,000 square kilometres (115,830 square miles) will be covered by the network.
• Underwater mountain ranges and delicate marine ecosystems, such as deep-sea corals, hydrothermal vents, and marine creatures, will be protected.
• Fishing and sea tourism would be prohibited in half of the network, which would be declared a totally protected area.
• Only extremely selective fishing will be permitted in the other half, which has been declared a highly protected region.
• An independent territory, the nine-island archipelago is located around 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) west of the Portuguese peninsula.

Explanation:

• Jharkhand government approved a proposal to enhance the financial assistance under the Maiyan Samman Yojna.
• The financial assistance under the Jharkhand Maiyan Samman Yojna has been increased from ₹1,000 per month to ₹2,500 per month.
• This will be provided from December 2024 to 50 lakh beneficiaries of the scheme.
• The scheme will put an additional ₹9,000 crore burden on the state budget.
• The government aims to help women from economically weaker sections through this initiative.
• Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren launched the “Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana” in August 2024.