QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz,14 May 2018

Solution: b.

The Pancheshwar Dam is proposed on Mahakali river, at about 2.5 km downstream of confluence of Saryu with Mahakali along the India(Uttarakhand)-Nepal border.

Improvisation: TH;

SANDRP

Solution: b.

The river does not flow through Bangalore.

Source/Improvisation: TH;

Cauvery;

Solution: c.

The Silappadikaram tells of the young merchant Kovalan’s marriage to the virtuous Kannagi, his love for the courtesan Madhavi, and his consequent ruin and exile in Madurai, where he is unjustly executed after trying to sell his wife’s anklet to a wicked goldsmith who had stolen the queen’s anklet and charged Kovalan with the theft. The widow Kannagi comes to Madurai, proves Kovalan’s innocence, then tears off one breast and throws it at the kingdom of Madurai, which goes up in flames.

The five great Tamil epics: Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Valayapathi, Kundalakesi and Cīvaka Cintāmaṇi.

Improvisation: TH;

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Solution: a.

Manufactured sand (M-Sand) is a substitute of river sand for concrete construction . Since manufactured sand is produced from hard granite stone by crushing, it can be made readily where there is demand, reducing the cost of transportation otherwise for sand procured from far-off river beds.

The other advantage of using M-Sand is, it can be dust free, and the size of m-sand grains can be controlled easily so that it meets the required grading for the given construction.

Improvisation: TH;

Solution: b.

SAWEN, a Regional network is comprised of eight countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims at working as a strong regional inter¬governmental body for combating wildlife crime by attempting common goals and approaches for combating illegal trade in the region. It was launched in Bhutan in 2011 and in 2016 the Union Cabinet gave permission to adopt the statute of SAWEN.

In the news (TH): The South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN), an inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement agency, in its first ever meeting in India, adopted many resolutions to curb wildlife crime in the region. The members agreed on having an operational framework for strengthening the regional body to combat wildlife crime.

Solution: c.

The ‘Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan’ scheme is an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.

• Under it, the government invites entities, including public sector companies, private sector firms as well as individuals, to develop selected monuments and heritage and tourist sites across India. Development of these tourist sites calls for providing and maintaining basic amenities
• The sites/monument are selected on the basis of tourist footfall and visibility and can be adopted by private and public sector companies and individuals — known as Monument Mitras — for an initial period of five years.
• Monument Mitras are selected by the ‘oversight and vision committee,’ co-chaired by the Tourism Secretary and the Culture Secretary, on the basis of the bidder’s ‘vision’ for development of all amenities at the heritage site. There is no financial bid involved. The oversight committee also has the power to terminate a memorandum of understanding in case of non-compliance or non-performance.
• The corporate sector is expected to use corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the upkeep of the site. Monument Mitras, in turn, will get limited visibility on the site premises and on the Incredible India website.

PIB; TH;

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Solution: d.

“It was a seven-hour trek to sight a rare bird in the wild that led nature enthusiast David Raju to an even more uncommon encounter: spotting a Scarce Siren butterfly in the Daranghati Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh in 2012. The species was being photographed for the first time in history, and being sighted for the first time in India since 1917..”

TH;

Solution: a.

Surangas are related to an ancient method of water harvesting in North Kerala. These are tunnels that go into the very depths of the hard laterite rocks to groundwater, through which water flows perennially in a small stream, without the use of a pump. The water is collected in mud reservoirs, called Madhaka.

TH;

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Solution: b.

The Indian Himalayas, which constitute about 12% of the country’s landmass, is home to about 30.16% of its fauna, says a new publication from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).

The publication lists critically endangered species like the Pygmy Hog, the Namdapha flying squirrel, the White-bellied heron and the Siberian crane.

Improvisation: TH;

CE animal species of India;

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Solution: c.

“PM Modi and his Nepalese counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli on Friday jointly inaugurated a direct bus service between Janakpur and Ayodhya, the two sacred cities for Hindus, as part of a “Ramayan Circuit” to promote religious tourism in Nepal and India.. ‘Janakpur and Ayodhya are being connected. This is a historic moment,’ Prime Minister Modi said, inaugurating the bus service, connecting Lord Rama’s birthplace Ayodhya with goddess Sita’s birthplace Janakpur..”

TH; TH;

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