QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 22 April 2021

Solution: a)

The 69th Constitutional Amendment passed in 1991 through which Article 239 AA was added to the Constitution. The amendment envisioned a representative form of government for the NCT of Delhi which until then was just known as Delhi administration, with officers reporting directly to the lieutenant governor (LG).

It was only after the 1991 constitutional amendment was passed that Parliament enacted the NCT of Delhi Act 1991 based on the constitutional mandate.

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Solution: c)

Access to justice for the poor is a constitutional mandate to ensure fair treatment under our legal system. Hence, Lok Adalats (literally, ‘People’s Court’) were established to make justice accessible and affordable to all. It was a forum to address the problems of crowded case dockets outside the formal adjudicatory system.

The Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act, 1976, inserted Article 39A to ensure “equal justice and free legal aid”. To this end, the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, was enacted by Parliament and it came into force in 1995 “to provide free and competent legal services to weaker sections of the society” and to “organise Lok Adalats to secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity”.

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Solution: d)

India is the top importer of crude oil and products via the Suez Canal, higher than China, South Korea or Singapore, according to data from Vortexa, an oil and gas analytics platform. And more than two-thirds of India’s crude comes from the Gulf region.

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Solution: c)

NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR, which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.

The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into a near-polar orbit and will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.

The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth. Essentially, SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.

During the course of three years, the images will allow scientists to track changes in croplands, hazard sites and will help them to monitor crises such as volcanic eruptions. The images will be detailed enough to show local changes and broad enough to measure regional trends.

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Solution: b)

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Headquartered in Singapore, the APEC is recognized as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific region, and exerts a significant global influence.

India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea.