QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 5 August 2020

Solution: a)

Plague is a zoonotic disease affecting rodents and transmitted by fleas from rodents to other animals and to humans. Direct person-to-person transmission does not occur except in the case of pneumonic plague, when respiratory droplets may transfer the infection from the patient to others in close contact.

Plague is caused by the bacteria yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria usually found in small mammals and their fleas.

Plague occurs in three main clinical forms:

Bubonic plague, Septicaemic plague and Pneumonic plague.

Without prompt and effective treatment, 50–60% of cases of bubonic plague are fatal, while untreated septicaemic and pneumonic plague are invariably fatal.

The 1994 plague in India was an outbreak of bubonic and pneumonic plague in south-central and western India from 26 August to 18 October 1994.

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Solution: b)

Recently the Union environment ministry has notified a buffer zone of 9.068sqkm around the boundary of Ousteri lake bird sanctuary in Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu as an eco-sensitive zone, banning both new and expansion of polluting industries like mining, stone quarrying and crushing units.

Located 12km from Puducherry, the inter-state lake was notified as a bird sanctuary in 2008 and 2014 by the Puducherry and Tamil Nadu governments respectively.

The Bombay Natural History Society, a member of Birdlife International, has designated Ousteri as an Important Bird Area (IBA) of India.

“The lake has also been identified as a heritage site by International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, ranking it among the most important wetlands of Asia.

The Asian Wetland Bureau has declared Ousteri as one of the 115 significant wetlands in Asia. Migratory birds moving from North Asia, Africa and Europe to Point Calimere fly along Ousteri corridor during winter.

Raiganj Wildlife Sanctuary (also known as Kulik Bird Sanctuary) is situated near Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district in West Bengal.

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is located in Tamil Nadu.

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Solution: c)

National Board for Wildlife:

• It is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Its roles is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• Primary function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.
• It has power to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.
• Composition: The NBWL is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Solution: d)

Wetlands are the favourite habitats of the fishing cat. In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.

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Solution: d)

Trans fat, also called trans-unsaturated fatty acids or trans fatty acids, is a type of unsaturated fat that occurs in small amounts in nature, but became widely produced industrially from vegetable fats starting in the 1950s for use in margarine, snack food, packaged baked goods, and for frying fast food.

Naturally-occurring trans fats are produced in the gut of some animals and foods made from these animals (e.g., milk and meat products) may contain small quantities of these fats. Artificial trans fats (or trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.

Trans fats are easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture.

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