INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS (05 February 2020) REVISION THROUGH MCQS

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Odisha’s directorate of agriculture and food production asked all district agricultural officers in a letter to create awareness among farmers about the restriction on the use of glyphosate and Paraquat dichloride.
• Glyphosate, one of the most widely used herbicides to kill grasses, was classified by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015 as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
• Paraquat dichloride is another herbicide primarily being used by paddy farmers for weed control, but doctors have raised concern over its paraquat poisoning.
• Paraquat is yet to be listed in the prior informed consent (PIC) of Rotterdam Convention, is an international treaty on import/export of hazardous chemicals signed in 1998.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/purified-terephthalic-acid-pta/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The East Asia Summit, a grouping of 18 countries including India as full time member.
• EAS is an initiative of ASEAN and is based on the premise of the centrality of ASEAN.
• It is a forum held annually by leaders of 18 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian regions.
• The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.
• There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/east-asia-summit-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Thumba was picked as the launch site for sounding rockets for meteorological and upper atmospheric research due to its location on the geomagnetic equator.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/vikram-sarabhai-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: What are the problems with RO plants?

• Because RO plants convert seawater to fresh water, the major environmental challenge they pose is the deposition of brine (highly concentrated salt water) along the shores.
• Ever since the Chennai plants have started to function, fishermen have complained that the brine being deposited along the seashore is triggering changes along the coastline and reducing the availability of prawn, sardine and mackerel. Environmentalists second this saying that hyper salinity along the shore affects plankton, which is the main food for several of these fish species.
• Moreover, the high pressure motors needed to draw in the seawater end up sucking in small fish and life forms, thereby crushing and killing them — again a loss of marine resource.
• Another unexpected problem, an environmentalist group has alleged, was that the construction of the RO plants required troves of groundwater. This was freshwater that was sucked out and has since been replaced by salt water, rendering it unfit for the residents around the desalination plants.
• In the early days of RO technology, there were concerns that desalinated water was shorn of vital minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, sodium, potassium and carbonates. They are collectively referred to as TDS. Higher quantities of these salts in desalination plants tend to corrode the membranes and filtration system in these plants. So ideally, a treatment plant would try to keep the TDS as low as possible.
• A study conducted by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD-PR) on setting up of RO plants in rural India has cautioned those tends to extract essential minerals and that they were being set up in several places despite absence of water quality issues.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/reverse-osmosis-ro-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The United States along with Japan and Australia, unveiled what they have termed the “Blue Dot” network, and have officially described it as “promoting global, multi-stakeholder sustainable infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world.”

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/blue-dot-network/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• 
• Feni River: The Feni River originates in South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town and then enters Bangladesh.
• Teesta river that rises in the eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.

Refer: Facts for Prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/02/05/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-05-february-2020/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The ReCAAP is the first regional Government-to-Government agreement to deal with piracy and armed robbery at sea in Asia.
• Presently 20 countries are members of ReCAAP. India played an active role in the setting up and functioning of ReCAAPISC along with Japan and Singapore.
• Union Government has designated ICG as the focal point within India for ReCAAP.
• Information sharing, capacity building and mutual legal assistance are the three pillars of co-operation under the ReCAAP agreement.
• An ISC has been established at Singapore to collate and disseminate the information among the contracting parties and the maritime community.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/06/19/regional-cooperation-agreement-on-combating-piracy-and-armed-robbery-against-ships-in-asia-recaap/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• Keoladeo Ghana NP :         Gambhir and Banganga rivers
• Kolleru Lake :                      Godavari and Krishna
• Bhitarkanika NP:                 Baitarini and Dhamara
• Vembanad lake:                   Pamba and Periyar

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Amaravati River and Arkavati River are tributaries of Cauvery.
• The principal tributaries joining Krishna are the Ghataprabha River, Malaprabha River, Bhima River, Tungabhadra River and Musi River.
• 

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Silent Valley NP: River Kunthi
• Bandipur NP: Three rivers flow through the main area of the Bandipur Tiger Resrve, Karnataka. Of these, the Nugu River flows through the middle, while the Moyar River forms the southern boundary between Bandipur and Mudumalai. The third river – Kabini, forms the boundary of Bandipur and Nagarhole Sanctuary.