[Mission 2023] Current Affairs Quiz , 6 May 2023

Solution: a)

Any member of the Parliament can oppose the introduction of a bill by stating that it initiates legislation outside the legislative competence of the Parliament.

The real opportunity for probing a bill’s constitutionality arises when a parliamentary committee is examining it.

Government bills do not automatically go to committees for examination. Ministers get an option to refer their bill to a select committee.

Solution: d)

IDA borrowers have significant needs for concessional funds. IDA must therefore make decisions about how to allocate scarce resources among eligible countries.

Allocation decisions are based on several criteria, including each country’s income level and performance record in managing their economies and ongoing IDA projects.

To be eligible for funds, countries must first meet the following criteria:

» Relative poverty defined as GNI per capita must be below an established threshold (updated annually). In fiscal year 2023, this was $1,255.

» Lack creditworthiness to borrow on market terms and therefore have a need for concessional resources to finance the country’s development program.

In addition, countries are then assessed to determine how well they implement policies that promote economic growth and poverty reduction.

Solution: d)

The great Indian hornbill is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is naturally found in Western Ghats.

Solution: c)

The gas in the magma of Hawaii’s volcanoes tends to escape, and so lava flows down the side of their mountains when they erupt. Hawaii’s volcanoes are called shield volcanoes because successive lava flows over hundreds of thousands of years build broad mountains that resemble the shape of a warrior’s shield.

Shield volcanos are also found in California and Idaho as well as Iceland and the Galapagos Islands. Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park has eight shield volcanoes including Mount Wrangell. Volcanoes like Mount St. Helens are called composite or stratovolcanoes. Their steep, conical slopes are built by the eruption of viscous lava flows and rock, ash and gas. Japan’s Mount Fuji is another example of a composite volcano.

How do scientists monitor Mauna Loa?

Scientists use tiltmeters to track long-term changes in the tilting of the ground, helping them identify when the ground is swelling or deflating.

A rapid change in tilt can indicate when an eruption will occur. There’s also a thermal webcam at Mauna Loa’s summit that will identify the presence of heat. And satellite radar can keep track of ground swelling and deflation.

Solution: d)

Tejaswini Rural Women Empowerment Programme implemented by the UN-affiliated International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Madhya Pradesh.

Tejaswini programme showed that growing millets meant a nearly 10 times increase in income from ₹1,800 per month in 2013-14 to ₹16,277 in 2020-21, with better food security. Women were key to villages adopting millets, as they were able to demonstrate that millets were easier to grow and led to better outcomes.