QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz,30 August 2018

Solution: b.

Promisingly, we have a historic opportunity to stop the African elephant poaching crisis: China has taken the remarkable step of closing its legal domestic ivory market at the end of 2017; Hong Kong has also agreed to a market closure by 2021.

China’s ivory ban is a historic milestone in the ongoing effort to save an iconic species. But as China’s markets close, markets elsewhere remain open and continue to attract consumers. And as more and more Chinese travel internationally—nearly 200 million Chinese tourists travel abroad each year—incidents of ivory smuggling are on the rise. This access to ivory outside China could seriously undermine the effectiveness of China’s 2017 ivory ban unless we address it. Closing the most troublesome legal and illegal markets that largely exist to serve Chinese nationals—those in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos, for example—will help dry up demand.

WWF: Stopping ivory demand;

Improvisation: BBC;

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Solution: b.

The result comes from an instrument on India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which explored the Moon between 2008 and 2009. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument aboard Chandrayaan identified three specific signatures of water-ice at the lunar surface. M3 not only picked up the reflective properties one would expect from ice, but was able to directly measure the distinctive way its molecules absorb infrared light. This meant that it could differentiate between liquid water and vapour and solid ice.

BBC;

TH;

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Solution: c.

For years, Shani Shingnapur had no police station, as there was no need for one. It was only in 2015 that the police station of a nearby village was shifted to Shani Shingnapur to control the surge in the number of pilgrims during peak season. Until 2010, there were no known instances of theft or burglary, but recently, a few complaints – such as small amounts of stolen cash, jewellery and other items – have been registered. A police official stated that small incidents sometimes go unreported as the economy of the village is centred on the temple, and such reports can tarnish its reputation and traditions. He added that some pilgrims who come to pray in the temple commit petty crimes like pickpocketing or vehicle thefts in the surrounding areas. Still, villagers refuse to keep their valuables under lock and key as their faith in Lord Shani remains absolute.

Although no-one wants to openly address the issue, it is evident that a few residents have started using wooden sliding doors, plywood planks or even latches to safeguard their homes. Adjacent villages have had several instances of robbery, and it seems that some residents prefer to be safe than sorry.

BBC;

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Solution: a.

Postmaster Rinchen Chhering has been running the operations since its inception in 1983. It’s difficult work: few motorable roads means the mail must be carried on foot, and the post office is often forced to shut during winter months due to heavy snowfall.

Two postmen make the arduous 46km round-trip journey on foot each day across high mountain passes and rolling pastures to deliver mail to Kaza, the capital of the Spiti Valley, which is connected by road to other larger towns in the state of Himachal Pradesh. From Kaza, the outbound mail is dispatched via buses along often treacherous mountain roads, while inbound letters are carried back on foot to Hikkim.

BBC;

Solution: d.

Image source: TH;

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