Insights Revision Through MCQs – 09 November 2019

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• In a bid to ensure quality scrap for the steel industry, the government on Friday came out with a Steel Scrap Recycling Policy that aims to reduce imports, conserve resources and save energy. The country’s steel scrap imports were valued at Rs 24,500 crore in 2017-18, while the deficit was to the tune of 7 MT.
• The policy is based on “6Rs principles of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign and Remanufacture through scientific handling, processing and disposal of all types of recyclable scraps including non-ferrous scraps, through authorized centers / facility”.
• The policy said that Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and the Department of Heavy Industries are working towards ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ by requiring the vehicle manufacturers to incentivise scrapping of unfit vehicles in exchange for price discounts for purchase of new vehicles.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/steel-scrap-recycling-policy/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Kalapani is a territory disputed between India and Nepal, but under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state.
• It is marked by the Kalapani River, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the Himalayas at an altitude of 3600 meters. The valley of the Kalapani forms the Indian route to Kailash–Manasarovar, an ancient pilgrimage site.
• It is said that the Great Sage Vyasa meditated at this place, giving the region its name – Vyas Valley.
• A pool by the temple of the Goddess Kali is considered to by some to be the source of the Kali River.
• Although claimed by Nepal as part of Darchula District, Kalapani is controlled by India’s Indo-Tibetan Border Police since the 1962 border war with China.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/kalapani-territory/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The quadrilateral formation includes Japan, India, United States and Australia.
• All four nations find a common ground of being the democratic nations and common interests of unhindered maritime trade and security.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/quad-countries-2/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited all four gas giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — and discovered 16 moons, as well as phenomena like Neptune’s mysteriously transient Great Dark Spot, the cracks in Europa’s ice shell, and ring features at every planet.
• The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before. Continuing on their more-than-40-year journey since their 1977 launches, they each are much farther away from Earth and the sun than Pluto. In August 2012, Voyager 1 made the historic entry into interstellar space, the region between stars, filled with material ejected by the death of nearby stars millions of years ago. Voyager 2 entered interstellar space on November 5, 2018 and scientists hope to learn more about this region. Both spacecraft are still sending scientific information about their surroundings through the Deep Space Network, or DSN.
• The primary mission was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn. After making a string of discoveries there — such as active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io and intricacies of Saturn’s rings — the mission was extended. Voyager 2 went on to explore Uranus and Neptune, and is still the only spacecraft to have visited those outer planets. The adventurers’ current mission, the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM), will explore the outermost edge of the Sun’s domain. And beyond.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/nasas-voyager-2-spacecraft-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Optical fiber is used by many telecommunications companies to transmit telephone signals, Internet communication and cable television signals. It is also used in a multitude of other industries, including medical, defense/government, for data storage, and industrial/commercial. In addition to serving the purposes of telecommunications, it is used as light guides, for imaging tools, lasers, hydrophones for seismic waves, SONAR, and as sensors to measure pressure and temperature.
• Due to much lower attenuation and interference, optical fiber has large advantages over existing copper wire in long-distance, high-demand applications. However, infrastructure development within cities was relatively difficult and time-consuming, and fiber-optic systems were complex and expensive to install and operate. Due to these difficulties, fiber-optic communication systems have primarily been installed in long-distance applications, where they can be used to their full transmission capacity, offsetting the increased cost. The prices of fiber-optic communications have dropped considerably since 2000.
• Fiber optics transmit data in the form of light particles — or photons — that pulse through a fiber optic cable. The glass fiber core and the cladding each have a different refractive index that bends incoming light at a certain angle. When light signals are sent through the fiber optic cable, they reflect off the core and cladding in a series of zig-zag bounces, adhering to a process called total internal reflection. The light signals do not travel at the speed of light because of the denser glass layers, instead traveling about 30% slower than the speed of light. To renew, or boost, the signal throughout its journey, fiber optics transmission sometimes requires repeaters at distant intervals to regenerate the optical signal by converting it to an electrical signal, processing that electrical signal and retransmitting the optical signal.
• Fiber is preferred over electrical cabling when high bandwidth, long distance, or immunity to electromagnetic interference are required. This type of communication can transmit voice, video, and telemetry through local area networks, computer networks, or across long distances

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/kerala-fibre-optic-network-project/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• India will host the next edition of the “No Money For Terror” conference to be held in 2020. The announcement was made at the “No Money For Terror” conference in Melbourne, Australia.
• The “No Money For Terror” conference is organised by Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of over 100 countries, jointly called The Egmont Group.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/no-money-for-terror-conference/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Tiger TRIUMP:
  • It is a first tri- services amphibious exercise between India and the US.
  • Conducted in Visakhapatnam and Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
  • The exercise will help both the countries to exchange knowledge and to establish professional and personal relationship.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-09-november-2019/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The season has seen Cyclone Pabuk (South China Sea-Andaman Sea), Cyclone Fani (Bay of Bengal), Cyclone Vayu (Arabian Sea), Cyclone Hikka (Arabian Sea), Cyclone Kyarr (Arabian Sea), Cyclone Bul Bul (Bay of Bengal) and Cyclone Maha (Arabian Sea)

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/09/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-09-november-2019/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has reconstituted eight key cabinet committees, including appointments committee, the cabinet committee on economic affairs, and security, among others.
• The eight committees which have been reconstituted include – Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security, Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development.
• In the newly-constituted eight cabinet committees, Modi is part of six committees, barring Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, while Home Minister Amit Shah is part of all cabinet committees
• The Cabinet Committee are organizations which are instrumental in reducing the workload of the Cabinet. These committees are extra-constitutional in nature and are nowhere mentioned in the Constitution.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/06/06/cabinet-committees/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• It is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation with the formal name of Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
• It was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague, and, after ratification entered into force on 5 February 2011.
• New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was due to expire in December 2012. Its name is a follow-up to the START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, the proposed START II treaty, which never entered into force, and the START III treaty, for which negotiations were never concluded.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/06/07/new-start-strategic-arms-reduction-treaty/