QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 2 February 2021

Solution: b)

On January 31, Stardust 1.0 was launched from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US, becoming the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel, which is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.

Biofuels are obtained from biomass, which can be converted directly into liquid fuels that can be used as transportation fuels. The two most common kinds of biofuels in use today are ethanol and biodiesel and they both represent the first generation of biofuel technology.

Ethanol, for instance, is renewable and made from different kinds of plant materials. Biodiesel on the other hand is produced by combining alcohol with new and used vegetable oils, animal fats or recycled cooking grease.

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Solution: a)

The Constitution gives the President the power to address either House or a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.

Article 87 provides two special occasions on which the President addresses a joint sitting.

• The first is to address the opening session of a new legislature after a general election.
• The second is to address the first sitting of Parliament each year.

When the Constitution came into force, the President was required to address each session of Parliament. So, during the provisional Parliament in 1950, President Prasad gave an address before every session. The First Amendment to the Constitution in 1951 changed this position and made the President’s address once a year.

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Solution: c)

The Indian wild ass population has risen by 37%, reveals data released by the Gujarat forest department. The population has reached 6,082, according to the census conducted in March 2020.

Gujarat, the world’s only abode of Asiatic lions, is also the sole home of Indian wild asses.

The Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch was added to the tentative list of Unesco’s Natural World Heritage Sites in 2006.
Indian wild asses have been pulled back from the brink of extinction with years of effort.

Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary is one of the last places on earth where the Indian Wild Ass can be spotted.

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Solution: d)

The National Tiger Conservation Authority is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

It was constituted under enabling provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as amended in 2006, for strengthening tiger conservation.

Set up under the Chairmanship of the Minister for Environment and Forests. The Authority will have eight experts or professionals having qualifications and experience in wildlife conservation and welfare of people including tribals, apart from three Members of Parliament of whom two will be elected by the House of the People and one by the Council of States.

Functions of NTCA are as follows:

• Ensuring normative standards in tiger reserve management.
• Preparation of reserve specific tiger conservation plan.
• Laying down annual/ audit report before Parliament.
• Instituting State level Steering Committees under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister and establishment of Tiger Conservation Foundation.
• According approval for declaring new Tiger Reserves.

Solution: c)

The Central Government notified the following as factors that constitute failure to achieve the inflation target:(a) the average inflation is more than the upper tolerance level of the inflation target for any three consecutive quarters; or (b) the average inflation is less than the lower tolerance level for any three consecutive quarters.

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