INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 29 December 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Adopt a Heritage Project:
  • The Scheme was launched on World Tourism Day i.e. 27th September, 2017.
  • This project is a key initiative of Ministry of Tourism in close collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archeological Survey of India (ASI), to develop the heritage sites / monuments and making them tourist-friendly to enhance the tourism potential and their cultural importance in a planned and phased manner.
• This project is envisioned to fulfill the objective of the Government of India to provide an enhanced tourism experience to all travelers.
• It aims at ensuring quality & inclusive provision of amenities and facilities across heritage, natural, & tourist sites through active participation of private and public sector organizations and individuals. These organizations would be known as “Monument Mitras” for their collaboration initiative.
• The project plans to entrust development, upgradation and maintenance of amenities and facilities at the heritage, natural & tourist sites to the Monument Mitras, coupled with innovation and technology interventions to increase awareness of these incredible treasures.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/adopt-a-heritage-project-2/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Bangladesh has started moving Rohingya refugees to a controversial flood-prone Bhashan Char island in the Bay of Bengal despite opposition from rights activists.
• Who are Rohingyas?
  • They are an Ethnic group, mostly Muslims. They were not granted full citizenship by Myanmar.
  • They were classified as “resident foreigners or associate citizens”.
  • Ethnically they are much closer to Indo-Aryan people of India and Bangladesh than to the Sino-Tibetans of the Country.
• Described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as “one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world”.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/dhaka-moves-refugees-to-bhashan-char-island/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC):

• The CPEC is the flagship project of the multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, aimed at enhancing Beijing’s influence around the world through China-funded infrastructure projects.
• The 3,000 km-long China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) consists of highways, railways, and pipelines.
• CPEC eventually aims at linking the city of Gwadar in South Western Pakistan to China’s North Western region Xinjiang through a vast network of highways and railways.
• The proposed project will be financed by heavily-subsidised loans that will be disbursed to the Government of Pakistan by Chinese banks.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/china-pakistan-economic-corridor-cpec-4/

Ans: (a)

Explanation: Here’s all you need to know about NCMC:

• The idea of NCMC was floated by the Nandan Nilekani committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The five-member committee under Nilekani, the former chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) has also proposed a host of measures, including all payments by the government to citizens through the digital mode, to reduce the number of cash transactions in the country.
• NCMC will allow passengers with RuPay debit card, issued in the last 18 months by 23 banks, including SBI, UCO Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank etc, to be swiped for Metro travel. “This facility will become available on the entire Delhi Metro network by 2022,” a DMRC spokesperson said.
• NCMC is an automatic fare collection system. It will turn smartphones into an inter-operable transport card that commuters can use eventually to pay for Metro, bus and suburban railways services.
• NCMC service is slated to cover the entire 400km stretch of Delhi Metro.
• It will allow entry and exit from Metro stations with the help of a smartphone, known as the automatic fare collection (AFC) system. In the upcoming Delhi Metro Phase-IV project, the AFC system will fully accept NCMC, which can also be used in any city across the country.
• To make AFC compliant indigenous gates for metro stations the government has engaged Bharat Electronics Limited. Eventually, all Metro stations will be fitted with AFC gates.
• The Nilekani committee had suggested that NCMC should contain two instruments – a regular debit card which can be used at an ATM and a local wallet, which can be used for contactless payments, without the need to go back to the server or additional authentication.
• Banks mandated by the department of financial services have been asked to make their debit cards NCMC compliant, to ensure availability of service.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/national-common-mobility-card-ncmc-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• What is a Blue Flag beach?
  • It is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
• Criteria:
  • There are nearly 33 criteria that must be met to qualify for a Blue Flag certification, such as the water meeting certain quality standards, having waste disposal facilities, being disabled- friendly, have first aid equipment, and no access to pets in the main areas of the beach. Some criteria are voluntary and some compulsory.
• Relevant facts for Prelims:
  • Spain tops the list with more than 560 such beaches; Greece and France follow.
  • India is now in the league of 50 “BLUE FLAG” countries.
• Is Blue Flag certification available only for beaches?
  • It can be given to a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator.
  • Basically, the Blue Flag is a trademark.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/international-blue-flag-hoisted-at-8-beaches-across-the-country/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: Paray Samadhan:

• It is a new grievance redressal mechanism launched recently by West Bengal.
• Paray Samadhan means redressal in the neighbourhood.
• This will not address major infrastructural gaps but will address municipal, local or service gaps through specific mission mode to reach out to the neighbourhood.
• This will be supplementary of ‘Duare Sarkar’.
• Duare Sarkar is an initiative of the state government, spread over 60 days, for delivery of specific schemes of the state government at the doorsteps of the people through outreach camps organized at the level of gram panchayat and municipal ward level.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/12/29/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-29-december-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019

• The report is published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) which has been mandated to assess the forest and tree resources of the country including wall-to-wall forest cover mapping in a biennial cycle. Starting 1987, 16 assessment have been completed so far. ISFR 2019 is the 16th report in the series.
• The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.73 million hectare which is 56 percent of the geographical area of the country.
• Compared to the assessment of 2017, there is an increase of 5,188 sq. km in the total forest and tree cover of the country.
• Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Karnataka (1,025 sq. km) followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq km).”
• Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%) and Nagaland (75.31%).
• Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq km. An increase of 54 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2017. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).
• The extent of bamboo bearing area of the country has been estimated 16.00 million hectare. There is an increase of 0.32 million hectare in bamboo bearing area as compared to the last assessment of ISFR 2017. The total estimated green weight of bamboo culms is 278 million tonnes, slowly an increase of 88 million tonnes as compared to ISFR 2017.
• Under the current assessment the total carbon stock in country’s forest is estimated 7,124.6 million tonnes and there an increase of 42.6 million tonnes in the carbon stock of country as compared to the last assessment of 2017.
• FSI’s assessment is largely based on digital data whether it is satellite data, vector boundaries of districts or data processing of field measurements.

Refer: https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1597987

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Parties agreed that Parties listed in Annex VII (members of OECD, EU, Liechtenstein) prohibit immediately all transboundary movements of hazardous wastes which are destined for final disposal operations from OECD to non-OECD States.
• About the 1995 Basel Ban Amendment:
  • Adopted by the parties to the Basel Convention in 1995.
  • To protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes.
  • The amendment prohibits all export of hazardous wastes, including electronic wastes and obsolete ships from 29 wealthiest countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries.
  • Basel Ban Amendment
    • The 1995 Basel Ban Amendment, a global waste dumping prohibition, has become an international law after Croatia (97th country to ratify) ratified it on September 6,
  • What next?
    • It will become a new Article in the Convention and will enter into force in the 97 countries after 90 days — on December 5.
  • Basel Convention — Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal:
    • Opened for signature on 22 March 1989
    • entered into force on 5 May 1992
    • Parties — 187.
    • It is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs).
    • It does not address the movement of radioactive waste.

Refer: https://ipen.org/documents/basel-ban-amendment-guide

Ans: (a)

Explanation: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

• It is an International agreement to regulate worldwide commercial trade in wild animal and plant species.
• It restricts trade in items made from such plants and animals, such as food, clothing, medicine, and souvenirs.
• It was signed on March 3, 1973 (Hence world wildlife day is celebrated on March 3).
• It is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Secretariat — Geneva (Switzerland).
• CITES is legally binding on state parties to the convention, which are obliged to adopt their own domestic legislation to implement its goals.
• Classifications: It classifies plants and animals according to three categories, or appendices, based on how threatened. They are.
  • Appendix I: It lists species that are in danger of extinction. It prohibits commercial trade of these plants and animals except in extraordinary situations for scientific or educational reasons.
  • Appendix II species: They are those that are not threatened with extinction but that might suffer a serious decline in number if trade is not restricted. Their trade is regulated by permit.
  • Appendix III species: They are protected in at least one country that is a CITES member states and that has petitioned others for help in controlling international trade in that species.

Refer: https://cites.org/eng/disc/what.php

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
  • The 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) was held in New Delhi.
  • India took over the Presidency of the COP from China.
  • Framework for the Assessment of Benefits of Action/Cost of Inaction for Drought Preparedness report was released at the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• About UNCCD:
  • Established in 1994.
  • It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
  • It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
  • To help publicize the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
• Focus areas: The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
• Aim: Its 197 Parties aim, through partnerships, to implement the Convention and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The end goal is to protect land from over-use and drought, so it can continue to provide food, water and energy.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry for this Convention.
  • The 14^th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) ended on 13^th September 2019.
  • Held in Greater Noida, this was the first time that India hosted an edition of the UNCCD COP.
  • The theme of the Conference was ‘Restore land, Sustain future’.
  • India being the global host for COP 14 has taken over the COP Presidency from China for the next two years till 2021.
  • India is among the select few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on climate change, biodiversity and land.

Refer: http://unccdcop14india.gov.in/