UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 22 February 2024

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Koraput Kala Jeera Rice

The black-coloured rice variety, also known as the ‘Prince of Rice’, is famous for its aroma, taste, texture and nutritional value. Tribal farmers of the Koraput region have preserved the rice variety for around 1,000 years. As the rice grains resemble cumin seeds, it is also called Kala Jeera. Consumption of the rice variety helps in increasing haemoglobin levels and improves metabolism in the body.

The farmers and producers of Koraput Kala Jeera rice have followed the traditional knowledge and practices in cultivation. Ancient tales also speak about the physical, mental and spiritual delights resulting from the consumption of the rice variety.

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Solution: c)

India has already decided to build a gravitational wave detector to join the international LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) network, and is a full member of the ITER project, which is working to harness energy from nuclear fusion reactions. India also has a strong participation in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator that is running some of the most exciting experiments in particle physics.

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Solution: a)

Only Statement 3 is correct.

The Square Kilometer Array will not be a single large telescope, but a collection of thousands of dish antennas operating as a single unit. The name, Square Kilometer Array, comes from the original intention to create one square kilometre (one million square metre) of effective area for collecting radio waves. This was meant to be achieved by installing thousands of smaller antennas in a specific array design that would make them function like a single radio telescope.

The antennas, about 200 of them in South Africa and more than 130,000 in Australia, are being installed in sparsely populated locations, chosen to ensure they are as far away from human activities as possible. This has been done in order to minimise signal interference from undesirable Earth-based sources.

Though none of the SKA facilities would be located in India, there are immense science and technology gains for the country by participating in the project as a full member.

The intellectual properties generated by the project, though owned by the SKA Observatory, would be accessible to all the member countries. 

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Solution: c)

The Committee on Capital Account Convertibility (CAC) or Tarapore Committee was constituted by the Reserve Bank of India for suggesting a roadmap on full convertibility of Rupee on Capital Account.

Solution: d)

According to the latest report on “The State of the World’s Forests” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forests cover 31% of the Earth’s land surface (4.06 billion hectares) out of which approximately one-third (34%) are primary forests.