INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS (28 February 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Only constitutional courts — the Supreme Court and High Courts — have the power to take suo motu cognisance and a tribunal cannot exercise this power.
• SC examining on the legal question whether the NGT has power to take cognisance of issues on its own or not.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/central-consumer-protection-authority/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• All of the given above options are key provisions of Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana (RVY.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/assistance-to-disabled-persons-for-purchasing-fitting-of-aids-appliances-adip-scheme/

1. Explanation:
   • Stephen Hawking studied time from the perspective of Einstein’s theory of gravitation, the general theory of relativity. One of his early achievements was proving that time had a beginning — that the laws of physics as we now understand them must have broken down very early in the history of the universe, at the Big Bang.
   • Stephen’s greatest scientific achievement was a discovery about black holes in 1974 that shook the world of physics. According to Einstein’s theory, nothing — including light — can escape from inside a black hole. That’s why it’s black. But Stephen found that black holes are not really completely black. Instead, due to the subtle consequences of quantum physics, they emit what we now call Hawking radiation.
   • Chandrasekhar won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983 for discovering a formula that helps us analyse the structure and evolution of celestial objects, stars in particular. He is considered as one of the pioneers in applied mathematics in astrophysics.
   • Chandrasekhar’s theory on future evolutionary stages of massive stars and black holes. He found a way to say how big a black hole would be at a time when the world did not accept the existence of black holes. This theory is called the Chandrasekhar Limit and is still used to measure the mass and structure of a star.

   Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/national-science-day/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The 1000 Springs Initiative is an attempt to address multiple development deprivations in tribal areas by harnessing springs in a sustainable manner.
• Aims at improving access to safe and adequate water for the tribal communities living in a difficult and inaccessible part of rural areas in the country.
• It is an integrated solution around natural springs. It includes the provision of infrastructure for piped water supply for drinking; provision of water for irrigation; community-led total sanitation initiatives; and provision for water for backyard nutrition gardens, generating sustainable livelihood opportunities for the tribal people.
• The online portal on GIS-based Spring Atlas has been developed to make these data easily accessible from an online platform. Presently, data of more than 170 springs have been uploaded on the Spring Atlas.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/1000-springs-initiative/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: Objectives of Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium

• To catalyze agro-industrial growth in the country based on the principles of:
  • Ecological sustainability
  • Economic efficiency
  • Social equity
• To undertake or assist in undertaking programs for employment generation, growth and diversification of agriculture & agro-based industries to increase food production and export of agriculture products, in both primary and processed forms.
• To identify and promote post-harvest processing/manufactures units in the public, private and cooperative sector.
• To promote organization of marketing chain both for domestic and export marketing.
• To influence Government policies for agriculture, thereby increasing the flow of resources and augmenting the rate of capital formation in agriculture sector.
• To pave the way for establishment of integrated producers’ organizations with forward and backward linkages.
• To prepare, print and publish papers, periodicals, monographs in furtherance of the objectives of the society.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/farmers-producer-organisations/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• According to the simulations, temporary satellites are typically caught and released when they pass one of two gravitational equilibrium points of the Sun and the planet along the line connecting the two, the L1 and L2 Lagrangian points.
• The captured asteroids typically have orbits very similar to the planet’s (co-orbital configuration) and are captured most often when the planet is closest to the Sun (in the case of the Earth, in January) or furthest from the Sun (Earth: in July).
• In strict sense, only bodies that complete a full orbit around a planet are considered temporary satellites, also called temporarily captured orbiters (TCO).

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-28-february-2020/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• It is a non-oxygen breathing animal discovered recently.
• It is a fewer-than-10-celled microscopic parasite that lives in salmon muscle.
• It relies on anaerobic respiration (through which cells extract energy without using oxygen).
• It does not have a mitochondrial genome. Mitochondria is the “powerhouse” of the cell, which captures oxygen to make energy.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/28/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-28-february-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The first bank in India to be nationalized was the Reserve Bank of India which happened in January 1949.
• Indian Space Research Organisation, formed in 1969, superseded the erstwhile INCOSPAR.
• Accession of Manipur to India-15 October 1949

The Life insurance Corporation of India was founded on September 1, 1956

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• “Called the green gold, the bamboo has been in focus for the wrong reasons in the northeast. A rat famine triggered by flowering of this grass in 1959 led to the creation of the Mizo National Front that metamorphosed into a political party. The flowering of bamboo every 50-55 years leads to dramatic increase in the population of rats that destroy crops triggering famine, also called Mautam.”

Refer: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/the-grass-is-greener-for-bamboo/article22626870.ece

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Several plants on this FTW help clean the lake by absorbing nutrients such as excess nitrates and oxygen present in the water. They thus reduce the content of these chemicals. The FTW is based on the soilless hydroponics technique. The project is a joint effort of an NGO Dhruvansh, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, the district administration and other organisations.
• Phytoremediation(‘phyto’ means plant) is a generic term for the group of technologies that use plants for remediating soils, sludges, sediments and water contaminated with organic and inorganic contaminants.
• Hydroponics: A technique of growing plants in a nutrient solution in the complete absence of soil.

Refer: http://www.unep.or.jp/Ietc/Publications/Freshwater/FMS2/1.asp