DAY – 14 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 14)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2021

Solution: A

The Sixth Schedule currently includes 10 autonomous district councils in four northeastern States — Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/arunachal-groups-push-for-6th-schedule-status/article32348593.ece

Solution: D

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members.

Stretching from The Bahamas in the north to Suriname  and Guyana in South America, CARICOM comprises states that are considered developing countries, and except for Belize, in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in South America, all  Members and Associate Members are island  states.

Members: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago.

http://www.businessworld.in/article/India-extends-USD-1-million-assistance-to-Antigua-Barbuda-to-combat-COVID-19/13-08-2020-308062

Solution: B

Article 148 of the Constitution provides for an independent office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The CAG is appointed by the President of India by a warrant under his hand and seal. He holds office for a period of six years or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

The Constitution enables the independent and unbiased nature of audit by the CAG by providing for:

• His appointment by the President of India
• Special procedure for removal (like a Supreme Court Judge)
• Salary and expenses Charged (not Voted) to the Consolidated Fund of India
• Disallowing his holding any other Government office after his term expires

https://cag.gov.in/en/faqs

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gc-murmu-appointed-comptroller-and-auditor-general-of-india/article32289014.ece

Solution: B

NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.

The first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states, EPI intends to identify challenges and opportunities; enhance the effectiveness of government policies; and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework.

The structure of the EPI includes 4 pillars –Policy; Business Ecosystem; Export Ecosystem; Export Performance – and 11 sub-pillars –Export Promotion Policy; Institutional Framework; Business Environment; Infrastructure; Transport Connectivity; Access to Finance; Export Infrastructure; Trade Support; R&D Infrastructure; Export Diversification; and Growth Orientation.

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1648679

Solution: C

The Dublin Regulation is a European Union law that determines which EU Member State is responsible for the examination of an application for asylum, submitted by persons seeking international protection under the Geneva Convention and the EU Qualification Directive, within the European Union.

https://www.unhcr.org/protection/operations/4a9d13d59/dublin-regulation.html

Solution: A

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC) is the United Nations body responsible for supporting global ocean science and services.

The IOC enables its 150 Member States to work together to protect the health of our shared ocean by coordinating programmes in areas such as ocean observations, tsunami warnings and marine spatial planning.

Since it was established in 1960, the IOC has provided a focus for all other United Nations bodies that are working to understand and improve the management of our oceans, coasts and marine ecosystems.

https://en.unesco.org/news/communities-odisha-state-india-receive-tsunami-ready-recognition

https://ioc.unesco.org/

Solution: C

The protein (FnCas9) is derived from a bacterium — Francisella novicida.

FnCas9 is a new Cas9 protein, which binds and cuts the DNA and can be used to correct sickle cell anaemia mutation in patient-derived stem cells.

Solution: B

The Teesta River originates from the Pahunri (or Teesta Kangse) glacier above 7,068 m, and flows southward through gorges and rapids in the Sikkim Himalaya.

The river then flows past the town of Rangpo where the Rangpo River joins, and where it forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal up to Teesta Bazaar.

Just before the Teesta Bridge, where the roads from Kalimpong and Darjeeling join, the river is met by its main tributary, the Rangeet River. At this point, it changes course southwards flowing into West Bengal.

The river then goes merging up with the Brahmaputra River after it bifurcates the city of Jalpaiguri and flows just touching Cooch Behar district at Mekhliganj and moves to Fulchori in Bangladesh.

Teesta river ultimately drains into Brahmaputra at Teestamukh Ghat in Kamarjani- Bahadurabad in Rangpur district of Bangladesh. Teesta and most of its tributaries are flashy mountain rivers and carry boulders and considerable quantity of sediment. The flow is turbulent and characterised by high velocities.

River Yamuna originates from the Bandarpunch glacier.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/china-twist-in-teesta-river-project-challenge-6563398/

http://www.cwc.gov.in/tbo/about-basins

Solution: B

The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project reports aggregate and individual governance indicators for over 200 countries and territories over the period 1996–, for six dimensions of governance:

• Voice and Accountability
• Political Stability and Absence of Violence
• Government Effectiveness
• Regulatory Quality
• Rule of Law
• Control of Corruption

These aggregate indicators combine the views of a large number of enterprise, citizen and expert survey respondents in industrial and developing countries.

Solution: D

The ‘Green Revolution – Krishonnati Yojana’ was approved coterminous with the period of the Fourteenth Finance Commission from 2017-18 to 2019-20. ‘Green Revolution– Krishonnati Yojana’ is an Umbrella Scheme comprising both Central Sector as well as Centrally Sponsored Schemes/Missions. This Umbrella Scheme has the following twelve Schemes/Missions:

(1) Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH);
(2) National Mission on Oil Seeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP);
(3) National Food Security Mission (NFSM)
(4) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA);
(5) Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE);
(6) Sub-Mission on Seeds & Planting Material (SMSP);
(7) Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation (SMAM);
(8) Sub-Mission on Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine (SMPPQ);
(9) Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Census, Economics and Statistics;
(10) Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperation;
(11) Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM);
(12) National e-Governance Plan in Agriculture (NeGP-A).

Solution: C

English Channel:

• French inventor crosses the English Channel on his hover board.
• The English Channel is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.
• It separates the island of Britain (part of the UK) from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
• It’s approximately 350 miles long, and at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover.

Solution: B

About Green Climate Fund:

The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt to disruptions arising from a changing climate.

How it helps?

o The Green Climate Fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows.

o It is intended to be the centerpiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion a year by 2020.

o The Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

o The Fund will strive to maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach.

Solution: C

EI-Nino is a complex weather system that appears once every three to seven years, bringing drought, floods and other weather extremes to different parts of the world.

The system involves oceanic and atmospheric phenomena with the appearance of warm currents off the coast of Peru in the Eastern Pacific and affects weather in many places including India.

EI-Nino is merely an extension of the warm equatorial current which gets replaced temporarily by cold Peruvian current or Humbolt current (locate these currents in your atlas). This current increases the temperature of water on the Peruvian coast by 10°C.

This results in:

(i) the distortion of equatorial atmospheric circulation;

(ii) irregularities in the evaporation of sea water;

(iii) reduction in the amount of planktons which further reduces the number of fish in the sea.

Solution: C

Siachen Glacier:

Key facts:

• Lies in the Karakoram Range system which is a part of western Himalayas.
• Lies to the south of the zone that separates Eurasion Plate with the Indian Plate, which is the result of convergence boundary interaction in geographical terms.
• It is the highest battle field in the world and lies on LoC (Line of Control) between India and Pakistan. It has been continuously contested by Pakistan as its own part which has led to militarisation of the glacier.
• After the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971, an agreement was signed between the two countries in 1972, which came to be known as the Shimla Agreement, but it failed to clearly mention who controls the glacier.
• However, in 1984, the Pakistan army tried to enter the glacier, forcing India to launch a military operation known as “Operation Meghdoot” and since then we have control over the glacier. A ceasefire agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in 2003
• The glacier is the source of many rivers including Nubra River, a tributary of Shyok, which is a part of the Indus River System.
• Siachen Glacier also boasts of the world’s highest helipad built by India at Point Sonam, to supply its troops. India also installed the world’s highest telephone booth on the glacier.
• The region is also a home to rare species of snow leopard, brown bear etc which may be affected by military presence. This has led to talks in international forums about creating a “Peace Park” in the area and demilitarise it.
• It is the Second-Longest glacier in the World’s Non-Polar areas.

Solution: B