[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 30 August 2023

Solution: c)

Bank balance sheets have become healthier over the past few years thanks to the central bank’s asset quality reviews, mandates for stressed assets recognition and write-offs by commercial banks, as well as loan recoveries under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

What is the Miyawaki plantation method?

Named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, this method involves planting two to four different types of indigenous trees within every square metre. In this method, the trees become self-sustaining and they grow to their full length within three years.

The methodology was developed in the 1970s, with the basic objective to densify green cover within a small parcel of land.

The plants used in the Miyawaki method are self-sustaining and don’t require regular maintenance like manuring and watering.

How is Miyawaki useful?

The dense green cover of indigenous trees plays a key role in absorbing the dust particles of the area where the garden has been set up. The plants also help in regulating surface temperature. Some of the common indigenous plants that are used for these forests include Anjan, Amala, Bel, Arjun and Gunj.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

IOD, sometimes referred to as the Indian Nino, is a similar phenomenon, playing out in the relatively smaller area of the Indian Ocean between the Indonesian and Malaysian coastline in the east and the African coastline near Somalia in the west. One side of the ocean, along the equator, gets warmer than the other. IOD is said to be positive when the western side of the Indian Ocean, near the Somalia coast, becomes warmer than the eastern Indian Ocean. It is negative when the western Indian Ocean is cooler.

A positive IOD event is often seen developing at times of an El Nino, while a negative IOD is sometimes associated with La Nina. During El Nino, the Pacific side of Indonesia is cooler than normal because of which the Indian Ocean side also gets cooler. That helps the development of a positive IOD.

A positive IOD helps rainfall along the African coastline and also over the Indian sub-continent while suppressing rainfall over Indonesia, southeast Asia and Australia. The impacts are opposite during a negative IOD event.

Solution: c)

“PM GatiShakti — National Master Plan” for infrastructure development aimed at boosting multimodal connectivity and driving down logistics costs.

PM Gati Shakti aims to institutionalize holistic planning for major infrastructure projects.

PM GatiShakti is a digital platform that connects different ministries — including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation, with a view to ensuring holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects.

So far, access to portal’s data, which include detailed maps with existing economic and social infrastructure as well as upcoming projects, is restricted to Central and State government agencies and departments. 

Solution: b)

In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking an enucleated oocyte (egg cell) and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic (body) cell. It is used in both therapeutic and reproductive cloning.