INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 7 April 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Article 142 “provide(s) a unique power to the Supreme Court, to do “complete justice” between the parties, i.e., where at times law or statute may not provide a remedy, the Court can extend itself to put a quietus to a dispute in a manner which would befit the facts of the case.
• Article 142(1) states that “The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe”.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/07/what-is-article-142-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Stat1 & 2: The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The annual MPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is 5 crore.
• Stat3: MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADS entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 5 per cent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/07/mplads-suspended/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1: MPLAD’s Funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities not MPs Bank Account. i.e MoSPI disburses funds to district authorities, not directly to MPs.
• Stat2 and 3: The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable and the liability of funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to the subsequent years, subject to eligibility.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/07/mplads-suspended/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Stat1: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has announced a new scheme “One MP – One Idea” under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). Based on the innovative ideas received from the local people regarding developmental projects, an ‘One MP – One Idea’ Competition may be held in each Lok Sabha constituency annually to select the three best innovations for cash awards on the specific request of an MP to promote such a scheme in his/her constituency.
• Stat2: Funds for MPLADS can be converged with Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for creating more durable assets and with National Program for Development of Sports (Khelo India)
• Stat3: The MPs have a recommendatory role under the scheme. They recommend their choice of works to the concerned district authorities who implement these works by following the established procedures of the concerned state government. The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction funds and select the implementing agencies, prioritise works, supervise overall execution, and monitor the scheme at the ground level.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/07/mplads-suspended/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1: European Union (EU), international organization comprising 27 European countries and governing common economic, social, and security policies. Originally confined to western Europe, the EU undertook a robust expansion into central and eastern Europe in the early 21st century.
• The EU was created by the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force on November 1, 1993. The treaty was designed to enhance European political and economic integration by creating a single currency (the euro), a unified foreign and security policy, and common citizenship rights and by advancing cooperation in the areas of immigration, asylum, and judicial affairs.
• Stat2: The EU was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2012, in recognition of the organization’s efforts to promote peace and democracy in Europe.

Refer: https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Two patterns are broadly observed. One, rainfall reduces from coastal to interior areas. Second, as mentioned in the question.
• Any moisture-laden winds from ocean will first hit the coastal areas and then interior areas. Moisture would go on reducing as the wind advance further in.
• Poles receive lesser solar insolation, have lesser evaporation and rainfall.
• Reverse is true for equator. So, A is correct.
• Jet Streams do not play a significant role here and so Option D can be neglected.

Refer: https://www.earthonlinemedia.com/ebooks/tpe_3e/atmospheric_moisture/geographic_patterns_equator_subtropics.html

Ans: (a)

Explanation: Polychlorinated biphenyls were once widely deployed as dielectric and coolant fluids in electrical apparatus, carbonless copy paper and in heat transfer fluids. Because of their longevity, PCBs are still widely in use, even though their manufacture has declined drastically since the 1960s, when a host of problems were identified

• Stat 1: PCB production was banned by the United States Congress in 1979 and by the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001.
  • Generally, PCBs are not very soluble in water, but readily soluble in fats. This solubility in fat explains why PCBs can build up in animal fat and along the food chain.
  • But, typically, PCBs are either broken down in the environment by sunlight or by microorganisms. Sunlight plays an important role in the breakdown of PCBs when they are in the air, shallow water, or surface soils. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, algae, or fungi, biodegrade PCBs when found in soil or sediments. So, 2 is partly incorrect.
• Stat2: According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PCBs cause cancer in animals and are probable human carcinogens.
  • Typically, PCBs are either broken down in the environment by sunlight or by microorganisms. Sunlight plays an important role in the breakdown of PCBs when they are in the air, shallow water, or surface soils. Microorganisms, such as bacteria, algae, or fungi, biodegrade PCBs when found in soil or sediments.
• Stat3: Many rivers and buildings including schools, parks, and other sites are contaminated with PCBs, and there have been contaminations of food supplies with the toxins. So, they have a much wider area of influence.
• The bromine analogues of PCBs are polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), which have analogous applications and environmental concerns.

Refer: https://www.livemint.com/Politics/3pMzau0pTJg4DMURooEFII/Govt-bans-manufacture-import-of-toxic-pollutant-PCBs.html

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• In Osmosis, water will move from its region of lower checmical potential (or concentration) to its region of lower chemical potential until equilibrium is reached.
• At equilibrium the two chambers should have the same water potential. For e.g. If you put a carrot in salty water, the salt water will “draw” the water from inside the carrot thus drying it.
• Cholera would not be possible without osmosis. The choleric bacteria populate in our intestines and begin to reverse the intestinal cells’ ionic orientation. In other words, it changes the way ions and, subsequently, water is transported in our intestines.
• When our ions’ orientations are switched, the intestinal cells are no longer able to absorb water into the body. It actually flows out.
• Now osmosis happens in the other direction and water moves from our intestinal cells into our intestines. This is what causes cholera’s deadly watery diarrhoea.
• This is why cholera can kill you so quickly, because it does not rely on how much water you consume.

Refer: https://www.intechopen.com/books/bacterial-pathogenesis-and-antibacterial-control/pathogenesis-of-cholera-recent-prospectives-in-rapid-detection-and-prevention-of-cholera

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Ethylene is a simple gaseous Plant growth regulator (PGR).
• It is synthesised in large amounts by tissues undergoing senescence and ripening fruits.
• Influences of ethylene on plants include horizontal growth of seedlings, swelling of the axis etc. Ethylene promotes abscission of plant organs especially of leaves and flowers.
• Ethylene is highly effective in fruit ripening. It enhances the respiration rate during ripening of the fruits. This rise in rate of respiration is called respiratory climactic.

Refer: https://www.britannica.com/science/ethylene

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Photoperiodism is the physiological reaction of organisms to the length of day or night. It occurs in plants and animals.
• It has been observed that some plants require a periodic exposure to light to induce flowering. It is also seen that such plants are able to measure the duration of exposure to light.
• For example, some plants require the exposure to light for a period exceeding a well defined critical duration, while others must be exposed to light for a period less than this critical duration before the flowering is initiated in them.
• Together with temperature changes, photoperiod provokes changes in the colour of fur and feathers, migration, entry into hibernation, sexual behaviour etc. For e.g. the singing frequency of birds such as the canary depends on the photoperiod

Refer: https://www.britannica.com/science/photoperiodism