QUIZ – 2019: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 28 December 2019

Solution: c)

Supreme Court recently lifted its earlier interim order imposing a complete ban on construction, industrial activities and cutting of trees in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde said non polluting industries with proper clearances and those complying with the rules can be allowed. It said ban on heavy industry will continue.

Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) is a defined area of 10,400 sq km around the Taj Mahal to protect the monument from pollution. The Supreme Court of India delivered a ruling on December 30, 1996 regarding industries covered under the TTZ, in response to a PIL seeking to protect the Taj Mahal from environmental pollution. It banned the use of coal/ coke in industries located in the TTZ with a mandate for switching over from coal/ coke to natural gas, and relocating them outside the TTZ or shutting down. The TTZ comprises monuments including three World Heritage Sites the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. TTZ is so named since it is located around the Taj Mahal and is shaped like a trapezoid.

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Solution: b)

Global Carbon Project:

Formed in 2001 to help the international science community to establish a common, mutually agreed knowledge base that supports policy debate and action to slow the rate of increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

It is a Global Research Project of Future Earth and a research partner of the World Climate Research Programme.

It works collaboratively with the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the World Climate Programme, the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change and Diversitas, under the Earth System Science Partnership.

 Its projects include global budgets for three dominant greenhouse gases — CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide — and complementary efforts in urban, regional, cumulative, and negative emissions.

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Solution: d)

Parliamentary Committees are an instrument of Parliament for its own effective functioning. 

Committee meetings are ‘closed door’ and members are not bound by party whips.

 Most committees are ‘standing’ as their existence is uninterrupted and usually reconstituted on an annual basis.

 Some are ‘select’ committees formed for a specific purpose, for instance, to deliberate on a particular bill. Once the Bill is disposed of, that select committee ceases to exist. Some standing committees are departmentally related.

 The three financial committees are the Public Accounts Committee, the Estimates Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.

Solution: c)

5G is the next generation cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency. Latency is the amount of time data takes to travel between its source and destination.

With 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gigabit per second (Gbps). This is in contrast to 4G link speeds in averaging 6-7 Megabit per second (Mbps) in India as compared to 25 Mbps in advanced countries

With 5G technology, consumers will be able to download data heavy content such as 8K movies and games with better graphics in just a few seconds. But once 5G becomes commercial, users will be required to change their current devices in favour of 5G-enabled ones.

5G is expected to form the backbone of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine communications, thereby supporting a much larger range of applications and services, including driverless vehicles, tele-surgery and real time data analytics. The ultra low latency offered by 5G makes the technology desirable for such use cases.

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Solution: d)

In a virtual autopsy, doctors use radiation to examine the innards to reach a conclusion about the cause of death. A CT or an MRI machine could be used, in the same way that they are used to scan a living human’s body.

“The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are working together on a technique for postmortem without incising/dissecting the body. This technique is likely to become functional in the next six months.”

A virtual autopsy is also faster than a traditional one — 30 minutes against 2½ hours, — and more cost-effective.

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