QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 1 and 2 December 2016

Solution: a.

• The 50^th anniversary of the release of the rice variety ‘IR8’ was recently celebrated.
• “A 29-year-old Indian farmer called Nekkanti Subba Rao was one of the first to discover the IR8 variety’s extraordinary properties. He is over 80 now and chuckles with delight as he recalls sowing his first field of IR8 on his small farm in the south-east Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in 1967.”
• “Back then you could only expect a maximum of one and a half tonnes per hectare, he tells me, looking perfectly at home perched on a gilt chair in the hotel’s Mughal-styled entertaining rooms. “Yield was 10 tonnes per hectare”, he told the BBC World Service Business Daily programme, recalling that first monster harvest.”
• “The seed from the 1,000 hectares of IR8 planted in his village the following year was sent across India, ensuring the entire country experienced its first harvest of what became known as the “miracle” rice.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-38156350

Solution: a.

Class 8 NCERT (Part 2 of Our Pasts III) provides information regarding William Jones and HT Colebrooke.

The second ‘Distinguished Indologist Award 2016’ was recently conferred by President Pranab Mukherjee on eminent Prof. Yu Longyu of the People’s Republic of China. Thus, he is no pioneer (a person who is among the first to explore something – an area, a subject, etc.) in Indology.

“It is important to recognize that Indology is a relatively modern and developing academic discipline. We owe its progress and popularity to 18th century pioneers like William Jones, Henry Thomas Colebrooke and August Wilhelm Schlegel. In the 19th century, organisations like the Asiatic Society, American Oriental Society, German Oriental Society, Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies, to name a few, played an important role in its evolution.”

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154710

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Solution: d.

The “ICCR has not only instituted this award, but also co-ordinated with counterparts in other countries to take this initiative further”. The first Indologists’ Conference was hosted by the President at his residence. The 2nd Indologists’ Conference is being hosted in the People’s Republic of China (this year).”

Improvisation: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154710

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Solution: a.

All of these are ‘Indian elements’, but only 1, 2, 3 and 4 are on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

• Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices has now been inscribed as an element in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
• Yoga has become the 13th intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far with UNESCO. Previous ones includes the Chhau dance, the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh, Sankirtana –the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur, the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab and Ramlila- the traditional performance of the Ramayana.

Improvisation: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154726

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Solution: b.

A similar question was posted here when Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti. “In the wake of a warning issued by the Meteorological Department about cyclone ‘Nada’ heading towards the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu with an expected landfall in the early hours of December 2, government agencies have put in place various mechanisms to deal with its impact in northern Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.”

A cyclone either rotates in a CW or an ACW direction, therefore options ‘c’ and ‘d’ automatically get eliminated. First, you must know about Cyclone Nada – which hemisphere it is in – north or south of the equator? It’s North. Next, you must know how the Coriolis force works. The Coriolis force causes deflection of winds to the right in the Northern Hemisphere whereas it causes deflection of winds to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefor, the cyclone was (is) rotating in an anticlockwise direction.

Watch this video to understand how the Coriolis force works;

Question Source: The Hindu;

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Solution: d.

• Where does waste-to-energy fit in Solid Waste Management? Ideally, it fits in the chain after segregation (between wet waste and the rest), collection, recycling, and before getting to the landfill, although this is not always the case. The energy from waste is a crucial element of waste management because it reduces the volume of waste for disposal and also helps in converting the waste into renewable energy and organic manure. It is not necessarily the most efficient or most economical means of generating energy.
• “Biomethanation is a process in which biological or organic compounds are degraded to generate biogas and manure. Biogas is a mixture containing carbon dioxide and methane in varying proportions and a small quantity of hydrogen sulfide gas. Methane is a harmful gas if released in the environment as it is one of the four major gases responsible for global warming. But it is an excellent fuel”. Biomethanation is an example of a first step in the waste-to-energy generation process.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/waste-recycling-organic-enerygy-garbage-management-disposal-pollution-metro-cities-4402086/

Solution: c.

This question has been framed from a mains-perspective. ‘Decentralised biomethanation plants’ may be present in Bangalore, Kolkata and/or Visakhapatnam. We have not checked this, the reason being that this question was intended to make you aware of the initiative of decentralised biomethanation-cum-power generation plants in Pune, which the author of and in this article, has mentioned.

• “Some years ago in my column, ‘Postcards of change,’ I had written about a major initiative of decentralised biomethanation cum power generation plants in Pune. The city has taken new initiatives to try biomethanation on a medium-scale.”
• “Notwithstanding their limited share in the total waste that needs processing, the decentralised plants have made a significant contribution in solid waste management of the city in so far as they use methane as a source of renewable energy to produce electricity which is used to power street lights in surrounding areas.”
• “Not only do these plants provide a major energy saving from reduced transportation, but they also generate additional annual revenue of close to Rs 3 crore from electricity generation besides meeting their own demand for electricity.”

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Solution: b.

A map-question, nothing to do with us having to remember which all nations are involved in border disputes.

Explained Page, Indian Express, December 1^st, 2016;

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/world/europe/belgium-netherlands-land-dispute.html;

Solution: d.

• An international team led by geologists at University of Leicester in the UK has made the first estimate of the sheer size of the physical structure of the planet’s technosphere. It is a major new phenomenon of this planet – and one that is evolving extraordinarily rapidly.
• It is comprised of all of the structures that humans have constructed to keep them alive on the planet – from houses, factories and farms to computer systems, smartphones and CDs, to the waste in landfills and spoil heaps.
• Researchers suggest that the bulk of the planet’s technosphere is staggering in scale, with some 30 trillion tonnes representing a mass of more than 50 kilogrammes for every square metre of the Earth’s surface.

http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/earths-technosphere-weighs-30-trillion-tonnes-study-earth-4406331/

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Solution: b.

The question could also be framed in the following manner: “Prajwala is a non-governmental organization that ….. ?”, and the answer would remain the same.

• Sunitha Krishnan is an Indian social activist and chief functionary and co-founder of Prajwala, a non-governmental organization that rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society.
• Sunitha Krishnan from India is fighting forced prostitution and human trafficking in her country, where many young women — and even girls — are still caught up in systemic prostitution.
• “To pay tribute to the inspiring engagement of these brave women and men, the two countries have decided to establish the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law. This week, we will award the prize for the first time. We will honour women and men who are showing great dedication in standing up for the rights of their fellow human beings. They often do so at significant personal risk and under difficult conditions. They deserve our thanks and support.”
• “On the basis of joint proposals from German and French missions abroad, this year’s Prize will be awarded to”, among others, Sunitha Krishnan.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-rights-brotherhood-4405875/

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