[Mission 2023] Current Affairs Quiz , 1 April 2023

Solution: a)

Judicial custody means that the person detained by a judicial magistrate is lodged in central or state prison. In some cases, investigation agencies may not seek police custody immediately and one of the reasons can be the judicious use of the maximum of 15 days at their disposal. In some cases, courts may directly remand a person to judicial custody, if the court concludes that there is no need for police custody or extension of police custody.

The judicial custody can extend up to 60 or 90 days as a whole, depending upon the maximum punishment prescribed for the offense. According to Section 436A of CrPC, a person in judicial custody, who has served half the maximum punishment that can be given for an offense, can apply for default bail, if their trial is pending.

How is judicial custody different from police custody?

Police custody refers to when a person is detained in a police station or lock-up when he is believed to have committed a crime. However, unlike judicial custody, police custody requires the accused to be furnished before the magistrate in 24 hours.

In police custody, the investigating authority can interrogate a person while in judicial custody, officials need the permission of the court for questioning. In police custody, the person has the right to legal counsel, and the right to be informed of the grounds which the police have to ensure. In judicial custody, the person is under the responsibility of the magistrate, while the Prison Manual comes into the picture for the routine conduct of the person.

Source

Solution: b)

Soaring global temperatures could lead to more “hot lightning” strikes in many parts of the world, a new study has found. It added that this type of lightning is more likely to ignite wildfires than typical lightning.

According to the researchers, lightning is a major cause of triggering wildfires and is responsible for producing the largest wildfires in some regions, including the Western United States. Lightning-caused wildfires are dangerous as they spread rapidly before a strong response can be implemented and release substantial amounts of carbon, nitrogen oxides and other trace gases into the atmosphere.

Lightning is a rapid and massive electrical discharge that takes place between storm clouds and the ground, or within the clouds themselves. Scientists believe that for lightning to occur, positive and negative charges must separate within a cloud. This happens, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), when the water droplets in the bottom part of the cloud are moved upwards, where the much colder atmosphere freezes them into small ice crystals.

As these small ice crystals continue to go up, they gain more mass and eventually become so heavy that they start to fall down to Earth. This causes a system in which ice crystals going down collides with the water vapours coming up, leading to the accumulation of positive charges on the top of the cloud and negative changes gathering at the base, while the atmosphere between them in the cloud acts as an insulator.

When the positive and negative charges grow large enough, their strength overpowers the insulating properties of the properties. As a result, the two kinds of charges meet with each other and produce lightning.

Although most of the lightning takes place within the clouds, sometimes it is directed towards Earth also. With the base of the cloud becoming negatively charged, positive charges start accumulating on tall objects, like trees, poles and buildings.

Source

Solution: d)

Hasdeo movement (launched by activists against coal mining in the Hasdeo forests of Chhattisgarh).

Hasdeo Aranya is a biodiversity-rich forest which also happens to be a rich source of coal. For months in 2022, tribals and activists had protested against the operation of three coal mines in the region. The Hasdeo river, a tributary of Mahanadi, flows through it.

Source

Solution: c)

The NAAC, set up in 1994, is entrusted with assessing the quality of India’s higher educational institutions. Following a multi-layered assessment process, it awards grades to colleges and universities. Its parameters include curriculum, faculty, infrastructure, research and financial well-being. The grades issued by NAAC range from A++ to C. If an institution is graded D, it means it is not accredited.

While the UGC has over the years issued many circulars directing institutes to mandatorily undergo NAAC’s assessment, the process still remains largely voluntary.

Source

Solution: b)

A High Ambition Coalition, which now has more than 100 countries including India, the US, and the UK, came about and put the focus on ‘30×30’ goals – protecting 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030.

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Source