INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS (27 January 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Inscriptions found on an ancient temple at Huligemmana Kolla near Pattadakalu in Karnataka indicate that the place may have once been the royal burial site of the Chalukya dynasty.
• Excavation by Archaeological Survey of India in Gottiprolu, Andhra Pradesh indicate it as a Trade Centre of Early Historic Period.
• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered the earliest Sanskrit inscription in South India. This is also an earliest epigraphic evidence (Epigraphy is the study of ancient inscriptions) for the Saptamatrika cult. The discovery was made in Chebrolu village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
• Archaeological excavations at Nagardhan, near Nagpur, have provided concrete evidence on the life, religious affiliations and trade practices of the Vakataka dynasty and also about the Vakataka rule under Queen Prabhavatigupta.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/nagardhan-excavations-findings-on-vakataka-dynasty/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Tableaux refers to a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or from history.
• In the Republic Day, states and different departments and ministries showcase their achievements in forms of cutting-edge technology and instruments, or their history and culture in their respective tableaux.
• Here are some tableaux shortlisted for Republic Day Parade 2020:
  • Gujarat tableau: Rani Ki Vav of Patan, and it will be fronted by a statue of a village woman wearing Patola saree of the region.
  • Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT): The theme of DPIIT, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for Republic Day 2020 parade is Startup India.
  • Ministry of Shipping: The tableau of Ministry of Shipping will showcase Kolkata Port Trust that has completed 150 years. The port has been renamed After Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
  • Meghalaya: Tableau of Meghalaya will showcase the Double Decker Living Root Bridge during Republic Day 2020 parade.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/71st-republic-day/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• NOTA was first used in India in 2009. Chhattisgarh was the first State in India to give the option of NOTA to the voters in the local government elections.
• Before the introduction of EVMs, when voting was done through ballot papers, voters had the choice to put the ballot paper without marking against any candidate thus rejecting all candidates. This vote was counted as NOTA.
• On September 27, 2013, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to make the necessary provisions in ballot papers and EVMs to provide a ‘None of the Above’ option for voters who come to the polling booth and decide not to vote for any of the candidates in the fray. This was to enable voters to exercise their right not to choose a candidate while maintaining their right to secrecy.
• In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court in the Lily Thomas v. Union of India case, ruled that all the convicted MPs and MLAs in a criminal case will be disqualified from holding their offices from the day of the conviction itself, even if the conviction ruling is from a trial court.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/criminalization-of-politics-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Under the Oslo Accords of the 1993, both Israel and the Palestinians agreed that the status of settlements would be decided by negotiations. But the negotiations process has been all but dead for several years now.
• The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisages an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/oslo-accords/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Astronomers have recently found that the funnelling of matter into a forming star happens at different rates over time, as per the rotating disc of gas and dust theory.
• Sometimes the forming star swallows up a huge amount of matter, resulting in a burst of activities in the massive star. This is called an accretion burst event.
• It is incredibly rare: only three such events have been observed, out of all the billions of massive stars in the Milky Way.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/accretion-burst-event/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Bio-rocks: It is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea bed and are connected to a power source, in this case solar panels that float on the surface.
• Gas hydrates are ice-like crystalline minerals that form when low molecular weight gas (such as methane, ethane, or carbon dioxide) combines with water and freezes into a solid under low temperature and moderate pressure conditions.
• Igneous rock, any of various crystalline or glassy rocks formed by the cooling and solidification of molten earth material.
• Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of small particles and subsequent cementation of mineral or organic particles on the floor of oceans or other bodies of water at the Earth’s surface.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/01/27/biorock-or-mineral-accretion-technology/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• A transcriptome is the full range of messenger RNA, or mRNA, molecules expressed by an organism.
• The term “transcriptome” can also be used to describe the array of mRNA transcripts produced in a particular cell or tissue type.
• In contrast with the genome, which is characterized by its stability, the transcriptome actively changes.
• In fact, an organism’s transcriptome varies depending on many factors, including stage of development and environmental conditions.

Refer: Transcriptome https://www.insightsonindia.com/2017/12/18/insights-learning-learning-test-17-10-17-december-2017/

Ans: (c)

Explanation: About Green India Mission:

• GIM is one of the eight missions launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
• GIM’s launch was supposed to coincide with the starting of the 12th five-year plan in 2012. But, owing to financial delays the mission was finally launched in 2015.
• The objective of the mission is to increase green cover to the extent of 5 million hectares (mha) and improve quality of existing green cover on another 5 mha, improve eco-system services like carbon sequestration, hydrological services and biodiversity and provisioning services like fuel, fodder, and timber and non-timber forest produces (NTFPs).
• It also has to increase forest-based livelihood income for about 3 million households.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/02/22/green-india-mission/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) are one of the important instruments of National Manufacturing Policy, 2011.
• NIMZs are envisaged as large areas of developed land with the requisite eco-system for promoting world class manufacturing activity.
• So far, three NIMZs namely Prakasam (Andhra Pradesh), Sangareddy (Telangana) and Kalinganagar (Odisha) have been accorded final approval and 13 NIMZs have been accorded in-principle approval.
• Besides these, eight Investment Regions along the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project have also been declared as NIMZs.
• The main objective of Special Economic Zones is promotion of exports, while NIMZs are based on the principle of industrial growth in partnership with States and focuses on manufacturing growth and employment generation.
• NIMZs are different from SEZs in terms of size, level of infrastructure planning, governance structures related to regulatory procedures, and exit policies.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2018/12/28/establishment-of-nimzs/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions.
• It is a decade-long partnership between the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

It is working with businesses, governments, and environmental groups around the world to build a new generation of credible and effective programs for tackling climate change.