QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz – 02 & 03 October, 2016

Solution: b.

India has around 500 wildlife sanctuaries. There’s no way anyone can or should spend time to remember them. We’ll frame questions as and when some of them appear in the news and if the associated issue is relevant for our purpose.

“By 2010, the Rs 300-crore Project Cheetah was racing ahead full steam, backed by the ministry, under Jairam Ramesh. Madhya Pradesh’s Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, which had been waiting (and still continues to) for lions from Gir for almost two decades, was chosen as the reintroduction site… The apex court put the project on hold in 2012, and in 2013, it scrapped the proposal altogether. The government tried reviving it in 2014 by filing a fresh plea — along with a new proposed site in Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh — but the court hasn’t been impressed.”

“The then field director of Similipal Tiger Reserve reported sighting a cheetah on a routine patrol, and, around two weeks later, the deputy-director of the tiger reserve claimed to have seen the same animal on another patrol. The story caused some flurry in the conservation quarters before the matter was cleared up…”

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/where-the-wild-things-were-hunting-cheetah-santhal-pargana-jharkhand-3060119/

Ans: b.

The Toda tribe (Tamil Nadu) was depicted in the Republic day Tableau this year.

“The Karvi/Kurinji plant and the flowering phenomena is intertwined with the lives of indigenous communities. The Muthuvas of Munnar and the Todas of Nilgiris consider the flowering of Kurinji auspicious. In the Nilgiris, since the time of the British, Nilakurinji has been replaced by tea, pine, wattle and eucalyptus plantations, dams, construction and other markers of “development”. The restricted distribution of the Karvi/Kurinji makes them more vulnerable.”

Primary Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/look-the-karvi-is-flowering/

Solution: b.

Not a question that would be asked. But this issue – “global movement for self-respect” – is relevant for us, plus, is useful for essay-writing. And hence the question.

“His biographer and grandson, Rajmohan Gandhi, said that his grandfather had first travelled to Africa at the age of 24 to practice law. He was undoubtedly “at times ignorant and prejudiced about South Africa’s blacks,” says Rajmohan Gandhi.

He adds that, while “Gandhi too was an imperfect human being… the imperfect Gandhi was more radical and progressive than most contemporary compatriots.”….”

“In the long term, however, we would like to be part of the global movement towards self-respect and pride that we see in the removal of the Rhodes statue in Umzantsi (South Africa), Colin Kaepernick’s protest against the National Anthem in the US, and the Black Lives Matter protests.”

Primary Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/mahatma-was-read-out-of-context-says-granddaughter/article9174489.ece

—

Further Reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-37430324

Solution: d.

“The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes. In every State, State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State.  The State Legal Services Authority is headed by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief of the State Legal Services Authority.”

Primary Source: http://nalsa.gov.in/index.html

—

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/relieve-judiciary-of-avoidable-burden-cji/article9174546.ece

Solution: d.

“China has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra as part of a major hydro-electric project, whose construction began in 2014.”

“The Brahmaputra’s source is the Chemayungdung Glacier, which covers the slopes of the Himalayas about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Lake Mapam in southwestern Tibet. The three headstreams that arise there are the Kubi, the Angsi, and the Chemayungdung.”

The NCERT (11^th Class) too refers to Chemayungdung Glacier as the source for the River Brahmaputra, and not Angsi glacier (although it too is an important primary source of the river, as can be gleaned from the Britannica description quoted above).

Primary Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/china-blocks-tributary-of-brahmaputra-in-tibet-to-build-dam/article9171963.ece

—

Secondary Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Brahmaputra-River#ref495769

Solution: a.

Such a conclave was last organised in 2014. “With a view to showcasing and projecting the Buddhist heritage and pilgrim sites of India, the Ministry of Tourism is organizing the “5th International Buddhist Conclave (from 2nd to 6th October 2016)” in Varanasi-Sarnath in collaboration with the State Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Conclave will be inaugurated by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister for Tourism & Culture on 2nd October, 2016 in New Delhi.”

“The International Buddhist Conclave is also one of the initiatives being taken by India as its commitment as the land of origin of Buddhism and to improve the experience of pilgrims as well as tourists wishing to savor the essence of Buddhist heritage, at the Buddhist sites of the country.The Conclave will include presentations, panel discussion, business to business meetings between the international and domestic tour operators, an exhibition highlighting the Buddhist attractions in India, as well as visits to important Buddhist sites in and around Varanasi and Sarnath.”

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=151333

—

Solution: b.

India hosted COP 8.

http://unfccc.int/bodies/body/6383.php

Solution: c.

From the given statements, the most appropriate is ‘c’.

• Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan (BMMA) is an autonomous, secular, rights-based mass organization led by Muslim women which fights for the citizenship rights of the Muslims in India. BMMA was formed in January, 2007.
• Vision: To create conditions within the Indian society where the Muslim community and especially the Muslim women are able to eradicate their own poverty and marginalization and live a life of equality, justice and with respect for human rights.
• Their view on the UCC: The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, opposes move to introduce the Uniform Civil Code without taking into account the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. Under Article 25 the Constitution of India gives the right to all including minorities to have personal laws based on respective tenets of different religious communities. Under this provision we demand a gender just reform in the Muslim personal law based on the Quranic values of equality and justice.

Primary Source: https://bmmaindia.com/about/

—

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/vaishna-roy-speaks-to-the-feisty-zakia-soman-of-bharatiya-muslim-mahila-andolan/article9172467.ece

Solution: d.

Take into account either the eastern-most or western-most geographical points of these nations on a map and they will be arranged in a 3-2-1 form.

“… it was unclear if there could be a meaningful consensus on production cuts among disparate member-countries — which included the small-yet-prosperous West African country of Gabon, crisis-hit Venezuela, and fractious West Asian nations such as Iran and Saudi Arabia.”

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/opecs-roll-of-the-dice/article9176506.ece

—

Solution: a.

• Following President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent to amendments to the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, the Centre on Saturday made public the gazette notification on the transfer of management of Haj Pilgrimage, including administration of the Haj Committee Act, 1959, to the Minorities Affairs Ministry.
• The Ministry of External Affairs has dealt with the Haj pilgrimage and other aspects of the Act so far.
• Under the amended business rules in the Second Schedule, the Ministry would however, continue to oversee other pilgrimages to places outside India under the Indian Pilgrimships Rules, 1933, and pilgrim parties from India to shrines in Pakistan and vice versa.
• MEA continues to be in charge of coordinating pilgrimages to shrines in Pakistan, Nepal and China and vice versa, travel for traders and pilgrims from India to the Tibet region of China.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/minority-affairs-ministry-takes-charge-of-haj-pilgrimage/article9176608.ece

—