QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 8 June 2020

Solution: b)

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Telangan. Currently the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, its farthest upstream influence is at the confluence of the Pranhita and Godavari rivers. The Pranahita River is itself a confluence of various smaller tributaries including the Wardha, Painganga, and Wainganga rivers.

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Solution: c)

The Arctic Council is a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses issues faced by the Arctic governments and the indigenous people of the Arctic.

The Council is not a treaty-based international legal entity like the UN bodies or trade, military or regional groupings like WTO, NATO or ASEAN. It is only an intergovernmental ‘forum’ to promote cooperation in regulating the activities in the Arctic region. It is much more informal grouping.

The 1996 Ottawa Declaration established the Arctic Council as a forum for promoting cooperation, coordination, and interaction among the Arctic states.

The Council is made up of member and observer states, Indigenous “permanent participants”, and observer organizations.

Only states with territory in the Arctic can be members of the Council: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.

Besides them, six organisations representing the indigenous people of the Arctic region have been granted the status of permanent participants. All decision-making happens through consensus between the eight members, and in consultation with the permanent participants.

Observer status is open to non-Arctic states approved by the Council at the Ministerial Meetings that occur once every two years. Observers have no voting rights in the Council. As of May 2019, thirteen non-Arctic states have Observer status.

The Observers are not part of the decision-making processes, but they are invited to attend the meetings of the Council.

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Solution: a)

India is one of the very few countries to set up a permanent station in the Arctic for the purposes of scientific research. The station has been used to carry out a variety of biological, glaciological and atmospheric and climate sciences research projects in the last one decade.

The Himadri research station, located in Ny Alesund, Svalbard in Norway, about 1200 km south of the North Pole, was started in July 2008. The Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCOAR) is the nodal organisation coordinating the research activities at this station.

Himadri came on the back of India’s three-decade experience of carrying out scientific research in the polar regions of Antarctica which began in 1981. India’s first permanent station in Antarctica was set up way back in 1983. In 2010, Indian scientists undertook a scientific expedition to the South Pole as well. India is now among the very few countries which have multiple research stations in the Antarctic.

India, along with 12 other countries, is Observers to the Arctic Council. So are 13 intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary organisations like the UN Environment Programme, and the UN Development Programme, and 12 other non-governmental organisations.

The Observer status is granted to entities that support the objectives of the Arctic Council, and have demonstrated capabilities in this regard, including the ability to make financial contributions. The renewal of Observer status is a formality. The status, once granted, continues till there is a consensus among the members that the Observer was engaging in activities that run counter to the objectives of the Arctic Council.

India had been given the Observer status in 2013, along with five other countries — China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore.

The Arctic region is very rich in some minerals, and oil and gas. With some parts of the Arctic melting due to global warming, the region also opens up the possibility of new shipping routes that can reduce existing distances.

The Arctic Council does not prohibit the commercial exploitation of resources in the Arctic. It only seeks to ensure that it is done in a sustainable manner without harming the interests of local populations and in conformity with the local environment.

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Solution: d)

Researchers have developed stretchable, pocket-sized robots which could crawl up walls and across ceiling to clean them, for environmental monitoring and deployment in hazardous environments.

“ElectroSkin” is a new fundamental building block for a range of soft next-generation robots.
‘ElectroSkin’ is an important step toward soft robots that can be easily transported, deployed and even worn. The combination of electrical artificial muscles and electrical gripping replicated the movements of animals like slugs and snails
The thin and light robots have been developed using a new way of embedding artificial muscles and electrical adhesion into soft materials.

Traditional robots are rigid and incompliant whereas soft robots are compliant and can stretch and twist to adapt to their environments.
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Solution: b)

The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) is a European special-purpose vehicle (SPV) established in January 2019. Its mission is to facilitate non-USD and non-SWIFT transactions with Iran to avoid breaking U.S. sanctions.

Five EU nations declared in a joint statement on November 29 2019 will join the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, these countries are Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.

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