[Mission 2023] QUIZ : Insights Current Affairs Quiz , 21 June 2022

Solution: a)

Under clause 3 of Article 171 of the Constitution, as close as possible to one-twelfth of MLCs are to be elected by an electorate consisting solely of graduates and another one-twelfth by an electorate consisting of teachers.

Who can vote?

Any university graduate can register as a voter in these elections conducted after the six-year term of a member ends. The Election Commission prepares a separate voting list from the voters list.

According to Section 27 of the Representation of the People Act 1950, only those who have been graduates for at least three years or possess a certificate that the state government and the Election Commission recognise as equivalent to a degree are qualified to be enrolled in the voter rolls.

Similarly, everyone who is ordinarily a resident in a teachers’ constituency and has at least three years of teaching experience in any educational institution recognised by the state government is entitled to vote in the election.

What are these MLCs’ roles and responsibilities?

They are expected to help the state government make laws and regulations based on their knowledge and experience. They can ask questions of ministers and initiate debates. They can introduce ordinary bills, but not bills related to taxation, spending etc since only the Assembly can take up money bills.

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Solution: c)

A black swan is a rare, unpredictable event that comes as a surprise and has a significant impact on society or the world. These events are said to have three distinguishing characteristics – they are extremely rare and outside the realm of regular expectations; they have a severe impact after they hit; and they seem probable in hindsight when plausible explanations appear.

Is the Covid-19 pandemic a black swan event?

Taleb does not agree with those who believe it to be one. In an interview, he called it a “white swan”, arguing that it was predictable, and there was no excuse for companies and governments not to be prepared for something like this.

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Solution: b)

Single-use plastics (SUPs) are those that are discarded after one-time use. Besides the ubiquitous plastic bags, SUPs include takeaway food containers, disposable cutlery, straws, and stirrers, processed food packets and wrappers, cotton bud sticks, etc. Of these, foamed products such as cutlery, plates, and cups are considered the most lethal to the environment.

The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 notified by the Centre called for a ban on “non-recyclable and multi-layered” packaging by March 2018, and a ban on carry bags of thickness less than 50 microns (which is about the thickness of a strand of human hair). The Rules were amended in 2018, with changes that activists say favoured the plastic industry and allowed manufacturers an escape route. The 2016 Rules did not mention SUPs.

On World Environment Day in 2018, India pledged to phase out SUPs by 2022.

A notification by the Environment Ministry on Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, said: “The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of… single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022.”

There is no comprehensive data on the volume of the total plastic waste in the country. According to the Plastic Waste Management Rules, all states and UTs are required to send annual data to the CPCB; however, many states and UTs have failed to comply.

About 94% of plastics are recyclable. India recycles about 60%; the rest goes to landfills, the sea, and waste-to-energy plants. Most experts view recycling as an interim measure until plastic is completely phased out from daily use.

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Solution: b)

Lightning is a very rapid — and massive — discharge of electricity in the atmosphere, some of which is directed towards the Earth’s surface. These discharges are generated in giant moisture-bearing clouds that are 10-12 km tall. The base of these clouds typically lies within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while their top is 12-13 km away. Temperatures towards the top of these clouds are in the range of minus 35 to minus 45 degrees Celsius.

As water vapour moves upward in the cloud, the falling temperature causes it to condense. Heat is generated in the process, which pushes the molecules of water further up.

As they move to temperatures below zero degrees Celsius, the water droplets change into small ice crystals. They continue to move up, gathering mass — until they are so heavy that they start to fall to Earth.

This leads to a system in which, simultaneously, smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down.

Collisions follow, and trigger the release of electrons — a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity. As the moving free electrons cause more collisions and more electrons, a chain reaction ensues.

This process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged. The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge — of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts. In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers.

An enormous amount of heat is produced, and this leads to the heating of the air column between the two layers of the cloud. This heat gives the air column a reddish appearance during lightning. As the heated air column expands, it produces shock waves that result in thunder.

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Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

Solution: a)

Banihal pass is a popular pass in Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in the Pir- Panjal Range. It connects Banihal with Qazigund.

Shipki La is located through Sutlej Gorge. It connects Himachal Pradesh with Tibet. It is India’s third border post for trade with China after Lipu Lekh and Nathula Pass.

Lipu Lekh is located in Uttarakhand. It connects Uttarakhand with Tibet. This pass is an important border post for trade with China.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/06/18/wto-strikes-global-trade-deals/