INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 9 April 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Stat1: It is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Stat2: The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister. It has 47 members including the Prime Minister. Among these, 19 members are ex-officio members. Other members include three Members of Parliament (two from Lok Sabha and one from Rajya Sabha), five NGOs and 10 eminent ecologists, conservationists and environmentalists.
• Stat3: Its role is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/national-wildlife-board/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat2: The Department of Personnel and Training launches online training platform- iGOT in the fight against COVID-19. The platform is called iGOT — Integrated Government Online Training.
• Stat1 & 3: DIKSHA Portal is an initiative of HRD ministry for providing a digital platform to teacher to make their lifestyle more digital. Diksha portal launched with a tagline “National Digital Infrastructures for Our Teacher Our Heroes”.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/online-training-platform-igot/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• UN peacekeepers (often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets) can include soldiers, police officers, and civilian personnel. Peacekeeping forces are contributed by member states on a voluntary basis. Civilian staff of peace operations are international civil servants, recruited and deployed by the UN Secretariat.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/un-peacekeeping-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• United Nations Peacekeeping is a joint effort between the Department of Peace Operations and the Department of Operational Support. Every peacekeeping mission is authorized by the Security Council.
• The financial resources of UN Peacekeeping operations are the collective responsibility of UN Member States.
• According to UN Charter every Member State is legally obligated to pay their respective share for peacekeeping.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/un-peacekeeping-2/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Option1: Madhuban Gajar, a biofortified carrot variety, is benefitting more than 150 local farmers in Junagadh, Gujarat.
• Option2: West Bengal government’s rice research centre has come up with a new variety of rice called Muktoshri that can be grown in arsenic prone areas. It was developed jointly by the Rice Research Station at Chinsurah, coming under West Bengal’s Agriculture Department and the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow.
• Option3: Recently, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has released a new variety of wheat named Pusa Yashasvi also known as HD-3226. The best feature of this variety of wheat is that it is highly resistant against all major rust fungi viz. yellow/stripe, brown/leaf, and black/stem.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/bio-fortified-crops-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• ICCR was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Independent India’s first Education Minister.
• It is an autonomous organisation.
• ICCR has been assigned the responsibility of facilitating the celebration of the International Day of Yoga by Indian Missions/Posts abroad since 2015.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/04/09/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-9-april-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Stat1: The latitudinal extent of India begins from nearly 8 degrees north. An Indian island cannot begin from zero degree latitude. So, 1 is incorrect. The islands of the Arabian sea include Lakshadweep and Minicoy. These are scattered between 8°N-12°N and 71°E -74°E longitude.
• Stat2: These islands are located at a distance of 280 km-480 km off the Kerala coast. The entire island group is built of coral deposits. Minicoy is the largest island. The entire group of islands is broadly divided by the Eleventh degree channel, north of which is the Amini Island and to the south of the Canannore Island.

Refer: https://www.britannica.com/place/Arabian-Sea

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• These projects will irrigate nearly 2 lakh acres of land.
• This decision was taken after India had decided to exploit to the maximum the water of Pakistan-controlled rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab as per Indus Water Treaty (IWT).
• Three projects Prakachik Khows Canal in Kargil, Tral Irrigation Project in Pulwama and restoration and modernisation of main Ravi Canal in Jammu’s Sambha and Kathua are expected to be completed by this fiscal.
• The fourth project of Rajpora Lift Irrigation is planned will be completed by December 2019.
• The funds for these projects will be raised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

Refer: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indus-river-irrigation-projects-in-jk-miss-deadline-4615378/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Siddis are mostly confined to small pockets of villages in the Indian states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and the city of Hyderabad (there’s also a sizable population in Pakistan).
• They were brought as slaves to India by Arabs as early as the 7^th Century, followed by the Portuguese and the British later on.
• Others were free people who came to India as merchants, sailors and mercenaries before the Portuguese slave trade went into overdrive.
• When slavery was abolished in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Siddis fled into the country’s thick jungles, fearing recapture and torture.
• These African slaves were originally known as Habshis, which is Persian for Abyssinian (the former name of Ethiopia was Abyssinia). But those who rose through the ranks of royal retinue were honoured with the title Siddi.

Refer: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160801-indias-forgotten-jungle-dwellers38

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Stat1: It is a major cultural area in Southeast Europe with different and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the eastern border of Serbia to the Black Sea at the east of Bulgaria. The Balkan region was the first area in Europe to experience the arrival of farming cultures in the Neolithic era.
• Stat2: It begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the south eastern Swiss Alps. into the North Sea in the Netherlands. It is crucial for commercial activities in Europe, especially Germany.
• Stat3: It flows through central Russia and into the Caspian Sea, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Eleven of the twenty largest cities of Russia, including the capital, Moscow, are in the Volga’s watershed.
• Stat4: It ranges approximately 1,200 kilometres across eight Alpine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided.
• The altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe