QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 23 March 2017

Solution: c.

“Turkey is also a member of the Uniting for Consensus group of countries that oppose U.N. Security Council Memberships to be increased, another source of friction between the two countries, where India would like to see some flexibility.” … (The UfC is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the Security Council.)

TH: Delhi gets ready to welcome Erdogan

Solution: b.

• India’s human development index (HDI) value of 0.624 puts it in the “medium human development” category, alongside countries such as Congo, Namibia and Pakistan.
• It is ranked third among the SAARC countries, behind Sri Lanka (73) and the Maldives (105), both of which figure in the “high human development” category.
• India still has the lowest rank among the BRICS nations.

UNDP – HDI 2015;

TH: India slips in HDI;

Solution: d.

A question on Kishenganga has been asked here earlier. If you had noticed the headline of the  article (whose link has been provided below) in yesterday’s newspaper, you would have been able to guess the right answer.

TH: India, Pakistan to review Miyar project;

Solution: b.

“According to Section 23 of the RTE Act, teachers at elementary level who, at the commencement of this Act, did not possess the minimum qualifications as laid down under the RTE Act, need to acquire these within a period of five years i.e., 31st March, 2015. However, several State governments have reported that about a fifth of the teachers are yet to attain the minimum qualifications. In order to ensure that all teachers, in position as on 31st March, 2015, acquire the minimum qualifications prescribed by the academic authority, it is necessary to carry out appropriate amendment in the RTE Act, 2009 to extend the period for such training for four years up to 31st March, 2019.”

PIB;

Solution: a.

IE: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ outfits hand embroidered in Bhuj;

Wikipedia: Aari;

Solution: a.

Copra is a coconut product. Coconut oil is extracted from it, and it is also consumed as a dry fruit.

“In India, coconut is cultivated mainly in the coastal tracts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (these four account for about 90 per cent of the total production in India) Orissa, West Bengal, Pondicherry, and Maharashtra and in the islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar. Of late, coconut cultivation has been introduced to suitable locations in non-traditional states including Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Tripura, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh and in the hinterland regions of the coconut growing states.”

Coconuts in India;

Improvisation: PIB;

Solution: c.

Whereas Arsenic contamination is concentrated in states drained by the Rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and their tributaries, the same is not the case with Fluoride contamination of water. Rajasthan, Telangana, West Bengal, Karnataka and Bihar are some states affected badly by fluoride contamination.

Additional Information: Bureau of Indian Standards has set standards for drinking water. However, this standard is only voluntary in nature and not legally supported for enforcement. This standard has two limits:

• Desirable limits
• Maximum permissible or cause for rejection limits

If any parameter exceeds the cause for rejection limit, that water is considered as contaminated. Broadly speaking, water is defined as contaminated if it is biologically contaminated (presence of microscopic organisms such as E. coli, zoo-plankton etc) or chemical contamination exceeds permissible limits (e.g. excess fluoride, salinity, etc).

Table on Page 1 and 2: MDWS: National Sub-Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride Guidelines;

Improvisation: PIB;

Solution: a.

The Goal of the National Sub-Mission is option ‘b’. Option ‘c’ is a short-term measure that is already being implemented.

MDWS: National Sub-Mission on Arsenic and Fluoride Guidelines;

Improvisation: PIB;

Solution: b.

UPSC is quite unpredictable. There are several such ‘days’ that are celebrated annually, each with its own worldwide theme. However, we asked this question only because there was an article on wastewater in The Hindu yesterday, and thus you could have guessed the answer.

• Regarding World Water Day: World Water Day is held annually on March 22, as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also known as The Earth Summit or Rio Summit. The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating March 22 1993 as the first World Water Day.

PIB;