QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 4 August 2020

Solution: a)

The Consumer Affairs Ministry recently announced key appointments and operationalisation of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).

CCPA has been mandated to enforce and protect consumer rights and has been set up under the newly notified Consumer Protection Act, 2019

The CCPA will begin functioning in the premises of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.

The CCPA have the powers to inquire or investigate into matters relating to violations of consumer rights or unfair trade practices suo motu, or on a complaint received, or on a direction from the central government.

It can also order recall of unsafe goods and services, order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements, impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of misleading advertisements.

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Solution: d)

Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM2.5, the class of pollutants closely linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illness, says the first-ever quantitative assessment of nitrogen pollution in India.

While the burning of crop residue is said to be a key contributor to winter smog in many parts of North India, it contributes over 240 million kg of nitrogen oxides (NOx: a generic term for the nitrogen oxides that are most relevant for air pollution, namely nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide) and about 7 million kg of nitrous oxide (N2O) per year.

Though agriculture remains the largest contributor to nitrogen emissions, the non-agricultural emissions of nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide are growing rapidly, with sewage and fossil-fuel burning — for power, transport and industry — leading the trend.

Indian NOx emissions grew at 52% from 1991 to 2001 and 69% from 2001 to 2011.

As fertilizer, nitrogen is one of the main inputs for agriculture, but inefficiencies along the food chain mean about 80% of nitrogen is wasted, contributing to air and water pollution plus greenhouse gas emissions, thereby causing threats for human health, ecosystems and livelihoods.

Agricultural soils contributed to over 70% of N2O emissions from India in 2010, followed by waste water (12%) and residential and commercial activities (6%). Since 2002, N2O has replaced methane as the second largest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) from Indian agriculture.

Chemical fertilizers (over 82% of it is urea) account for over 77% of all agricultural N2O emissions in India, while manure, compost and so on make up the rest. Most of the fertilizers consumed (over 70%) go into the production of cereals, especially rice and wheat, which accounts for the bulk of N2O emissions from India.

The poultry industry recorded an excretion of reactive nitrogen compounds of 0.415 tonnes in 2016.

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Solution: d)

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.

Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.

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Solution: b)

Nameri Tiger Reserve is in Assam.

Solution: c)

India is home to the largest tiger habitat in the world. Today, the country has 70% of the world’s tiger population and the tally stands at 2,967. 

We have only 2.5% of the world’s land mass and 4% of fresh rain water resources, while 16% of the world’s human and cattle population resides in our country. Still, India has 8% of the world’s biodiversity.

Recently, India’s latest Tiger Census was included in the Guinness World Records for having laid over 25,000 camera traps and having more than 35 million pictures. All were scanned with the aid of AI. This was the largest counting exercise ever taken up by any country across the globe. India had taken a vow in the 2010 St Petersburg Declaration to double the tiger population, but it achieved the target four years in advance.

An ambitious Digital India programme for Smart Patrolling Protocol of Tigers, Monitoring System for Tiger’s Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (MSTrIPES) has also been initiated by the government. This has been scaled up to an Android platform and has been extended to all the 50 tiger reserves.

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