INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS ( 19 April 2021) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• About Sri Ramanujacharya:
  • Born in 1017 CE in Tamil Nadu.
  • He is the most respected Acharya in the philosophy of Sri Vaishnavism.
  • He was also referred to as Ilaya Perumal which means the radiant one.
  • His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
  • He is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta.
  • He wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.
• S2: Ramanuja’s guru was Yādava Prakāśa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition. Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.
• S3: Chokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste, one of the untouchable castes in India. He wrote many Abhangas. He was one of the first low-cast poets in India.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/sri-ramanujacharya/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• S1: A Uniform Civil Code is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption etc.
• S2: Article 44 is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy. These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.
• S3: Article 43 mentions “state shall endeavour by suitable legislation”, while the phrase “by suitable legislation” is absent in Article 44. All this implies that the duty of the state is greater in other directive principles than in Article 44.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/goas-civil-code/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• What is a World Heritage site?
  • A World Heritage site is classified as a natural or man-made area or a structure that is of international importance, and a space which requires special protection.
  • S1: These sites are officially recognised by the UN and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation, also known as UNESCO.
  • UNESCO believes that the sites classified as World Heritage are important for humanity, and they hold cultural and physical significance.
• Key facts:
  • The list is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 UNESCO member states which are elected by the General Assembly.
  • S2: Each World Heritage Site remains part of the legal territory of the state wherein the site is located and UNESCO considers it in the interest of the international community to preserve each site.
  • To be selected, a World Heritage Site must be an already classified landmark, unique in some respect as a geographically and historically identifiable place having special cultural or physical significance.
• S3: At present, India has 38 World Heritage Properties. Besides, India has 42 sites listed under Tentative List which is a pre-requisite condition for inscription as World Heritage Site.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/international-day-for-monuments-and-sites/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The Department of Science and Technology has released a report titled ‘The Report Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning in India Using a Common Framework’.
• Key findings of the report:
  • It has identified Jharkhand, Mizoram, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal as states highly vulnerable to climate change.
  • These states, mostly in the eastern part of the country, require prioritization of adaptation interventions.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/national-climate-vulnerability-assessment/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• S1: India is the largest emitter of anthropogenic sulphur dioxide in the world, as per the data released by environmental NGO Greenpeace on August 19, 2019.
• S2: What is flue gas desulphurisation?
  • Removal of Sulfur Dioxide is called as Flue-gas Desulphurization (FGD).
  • It seeks to remove gaseous pollutants viz. SO2 from exhaust flue gases generated in furnaces,boilers, and other industrial processes due to thermal processing, treatment, and combustion.
• S3: The largest source of SO2 in the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/sulphur-dioxide-from-caribbean-volcano-reaches-india-wmo-confirms/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Meghalaya has yielded India’s first bamboo-dwelling bat with sticky discs.
• The disc-footed bat (Eudiscopus denticulus) was recorded in Meghalaya’s Lailad area near the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, about 1,000 km west of its nearest known habitat in Myanmar.
• The disc-footed bat has raised Meghalaya’s bat count to 66, the most for any State in India. It has also helped add a genus and species to the bat fauna of India.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-19-april-2021/

Ans: (c)

Explanation: Cholistan desert:

• Located in Pakistan.
• The place was in news because of recent shooting of two Great Indian Bustards (GIBs) here.
• The GIB, which is the State bird of Rajasthan, is considered India’s most critically endangered bird.
• The GIB’s population of less than 100 in Rajasthan accounts for 95% of its total world population.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), which categorised the GIBs as “endangered” in 1994, was forced to upgrade the species to the status of “critically endangered” in 2011 because of continued threats faced in the survival of these large birds.
• The wildlife authorities in Rajasthan had permitted captive breeding of GIB, protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, in Rajasthan’s Desert National Park (DNP) through a project executed by the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India in 2019 after a prolonged debate.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-19-april-2021/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S1: The great Indian bustard is omnivorous. Also it is large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of the flying birds.
• IUCN status: critically endangered.
• Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and in the CMS Convention and in Appendix I of CITES.
• Identified as one of the species for the recovery programme under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• Project Great Indian Bustard — state of Rajasthan — identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas as well as provide secure breeding enclosures in areas outside protected areas.
• Protected areas: Desert National Park Sanctuary — Rajasthan, Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary – Andhra Pradesh and Karera Wildlife Sanctuary– Madhya Pradesh.
• Habitats in India:
  • Only two districts in Rajasthan — Jaisalmer and Barmer — have a breeding GIB population in the wild. The bird can also be found in very small numbers in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/19/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-19-april-2021/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S1: Situated in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts of Indian state Rajasthan.
• S2: This is clearly incorrect. A national park can have human habitation.
• S3: This is common knowledge.

Refer: UPSC CSE 2020

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India.
• The area is also known for extensive Dipterocarp forests, comprising the north-western parts of the ecoregion of Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests.
• The habitat changes with increasing altitude from tropical moist forests to Montane forests, temperate forests and at the higher elevations, to Alpine meadows and perennial snow.
• The park has extensive bamboo forests and secondary forests in addition to the primary forests.

refer: UPSC CSE 2015