INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 20 August 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Lingaraja Temple is a temple dedicated to Shiva and is one of the oldest and largest temples in Odisha.
• Built by king Jajati Keshari of Soma Vansh.
• It is built in red stone and is a classic example of Kalinga style of architecture.
• Located to the north of the temple is Bindusagar Lake.
• The temple is believed to be built by the kings from the Somavamsi dynasty, with later additions from the Ganga rulers.
• The temple has images of Vishnu, possibly because of the rising prominence of Jagannath sect emanating from the Ganga rulers who built the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/20/odisha-to-give-facelift-to-11th-century-lingaraj-temple/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Stat1: The concept was first evolved by the Supreme Court of India in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and another case (2002) on the question whether an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement/order of the Supreme Court, even after the dismissal of a review petition.
• Stat2: The concept of the curative petition is supported by Article 137of the Indian Constitution. It provides that in the matter of laws and rules made under Article 145, the Supreme Court has the power to review any judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/20/what-is-curative-petition-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Stat2: NRA will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India. It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.
• Stat1: National Recruitment Agency will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act,1860. It will conduct a common preliminary examination for various recruitments in the central government.
• Based on the common eligibility test (CET) score a candidate can apply for a vacancy with the respective agency.
• Refer: National Testing Agency: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/05/16/national-testing-agency/

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/20/national-recruitment-agency-nra-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Stat1: The Airports Authority of India or AAI is a statutory body (created through the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994) working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure in India
• Stat2: It provides Communication Navigation Surveillance / Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) services over Indian airspace and adjoining oceanic areas. With the mission to be the foundation of an enduring Indian aviation network, providing high quality, safe and customer oriented airport & air navigation services.
• Stat3: AAI is implementing the GAGAN project in technological collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The navigation signals thus received from the GPS will be augmented to achieve the navigational requirement of aircraft. The first phase of the technology demonstration system was completed in February 2008.
• What is NAVIC?
  • Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland.
• Services provided:
  • IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely Standard Positioning Services available to all users and Restricted Services provided to authorised users.
• Its applications include:
  • Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation.
  • Disaster Management.
  • Vehicle tracking and fleet management.
  • Integration with mobile phones.
  • Precise Timing.
  • Mapping and Geodetic data capture.
  • Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers.
  • Visual and voice navigation for drivers.
• How many satellites does NAVIC consist of?
  • It is a regional system and so its constellation will consist of seven satellites. Three of these will be geostationary over the Indian Ocean, i.e., they will appear to be stationary in the sky over the region, and four will be geosynchronous – appearing at the same point in the sky at the same time every day. This configuration ensures each satellite is being tracked by at least one of fourteen ground stations at any given point of time, with a high chance of most of them being visible from any point in India.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/20/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-20-august-2020/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist political organization and militant group that has waged war on Israel since the group’s 1987 founding, most notably through suicide bombings and rocket attacks. It seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state. It also governs Gaza independently of the Palestinian Authority.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/08/20/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-20-august-2020/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• “Biodiversity Heritage Sites” (BHS) are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems – terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine having rich biodiversity comprising of any one or more of the following components: richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra-specific categories, high endemism, presence of rare and threatened species, keystone species, species of evolutionary significance, wild ancestors of domestic/cultivated species or their varieties, past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance of cultural diversity, with or without a long history of human association with them.
• Stat1: “Under Section 37 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 (BDA) the State Government in consultation with local bodies may notify in the official gazette, areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS).”
• Once the BHS is notified by the State Government, the NBA may support the initial establishment of BHS financially by allocating adequate funding support as seed money through State Biodiversity Boards (SBB). Simultaneously, the financial requirement of BHS may be included in the annual budget of the local body(ies). The State Government may also allocate adequate seed money to each BHS on its notification through SBB.
• Stat2: Ameenpur lake on the outskirts of Hyderabad became the first BHS in the country for a water body.
  • It is a man-made lake was constructed during the reign of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (1550–1580 AD).

Refer: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/Ameenpur-lake-declared-Biodiversity-Heritage-Site/article16438256.ece

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Khangchendzonga National Park also Kanchenjunga Biosphere Reserve is a National Park and a Biosphere reserve located in Sikkim, India.
• It was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in July 2016, becoming the first “Mixed Heritage” site of India.
• It was recently included in the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme.
• The park gets its name from the mountain Kangchenjunga which is 8,586 metres tall, the third-highest peak in the world.
• The Biosphere Reserve is one of the highest ecosystems in the world, reaching elevations of 1, 220 metres above sea-level. It includes a range of ecolines, varying from sub-tropic to Arctic, as well as natural forests in different biomes, which support an immensely rich diversity of forest types and habitats.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2018/08/09/insights-daily-current-affairs-09-august-2018/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative
• Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has launched MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative, towards improving knowledge on human physiology.
• What is MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative?
  • It is a project funded by DBT.
  • Aims at creating a database network of all tissues in the human body from the available scientific literature.
  • It is a project that involves scientific skill development for annotation, science outreach along with handling big data.
  • The programme will involve gaining better biological insights through physiological and molecular mapping, develop disease models through predictive computing and have a wholistic analysis and finally drug discovery.
• Who can participate in this project?
  • The project can be signed up by students who are in their final year graduation and above. Students from the fields of biochemistry, biotechnology, microbiology, botany, zoology, bioinformatics, health sciences, systems biologists, pharmacologists and data sciences can associate with this project.
  • Even participants having a science background but not necessarily involved in active scientific research can be part of this network.
• What are the applications of information generated through MANAV?
  • The aim of the project remains to understand and capture the human physiology in two stages – in a normal stage and while in a disease stage. Such a database on individual tissues, once ready, can come handy in tracing the causes of a disease, understanding specific pathways and ultimately decode the body’s disease stage linked to tissues and cells. The teams will also study any potent elements or molecules that have never been used in the form of drugs, to target the specific cells or tissues.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/05/13/manav-human-atlas-initiative/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Ekuverin – It is a joint military exercise between Indian and Maldives.
• Nomadic Elephant – It is Indo – Mongolian joint military training.
• Maitree – 2019 – It is the joint military exercise between India and Thailand.
• Dharma Guardian – 2019 – It is a joint military exercise between India and Japan.
• Shakti-2019 – Exercise Shakti is a series of joint military exercise between India and France.
• Dustlik-2019 – It is the first ever India-Uzbekistan joint military exercise.
• Kazind – It is an annual military exercise between India and Kazakhstan.

Refer: Facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/10/12/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-12-october-2019/

Ans: (a)

Explanation: About Seva Bhoj Yojana:

• Union Ministry of Culture has launched- ‘Seva Bhoj Yojna’– a scheme to reimburse central share of CGST and IGST on food, prasad, langar or bhandara offered by religious and charitable institutions.
• The scheme seeks to reimburse the central government’s share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) on purchase of raw items such as ghee, edible oil, atta, maida, rava, flour, rice pulses, sugar and jaggery, which go into preparation of food/prasad/langar/bhandara offered free of cost by religious institutions.
• The main objective of the scheme is to lessen the financial burden of such charitable religious institutions, which provide free of cost without any discrimination to the general public and devotees.
• Eligibility:
  • The charitable religious institutions including temples, gurudwara, mosque, church, dharmik ashram, dargah, monasteries, which fulfill the following criteria are eligible for the grant:
  • The institutions that have been in existence for at least five years before applying for financial assistance/grant.
  • The institutions that serve free food to at least 5000 people in a month.
  • The institutions covered under Section 10(23BBA) of the Income Tax Act or those registered as Society under Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860) or as a Public Trust under any law for the time being in force of statuary religious bodies constituted under any Act or institutions registered under Section 12AA of Income Tax Act.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/07/16/in-news-seva-bhoj-yojna/