DAY – 46 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 46)INSTA REVISION PLAN 2.0, 2021 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: C

Lake Baikal:

It is situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world.

It contains 20% of the world’s total unfrozen freshwater reserve. It is known as the ‘Galapagos of Russia’, its age and isolation have produced one of the world’s richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2021/04/02/baikal-gvd-gigaton-volume-detector/

Solution: A

The Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) launched PWAS (Population Assessment of the World’s Snow Leopards) in 2018 to bring together snow leopard range countries in an effort to accurately estimate their population size and monitor them. At present, the number of snow leopards around the world is not known and the existing estimates may not be accurate. PAWS’s goal is to have a “robust estimate” of the snow leopard population by 2022. SPAI is a part of India’s PAWS effort. In partnership with 11 other snow leopard range countries under GSLEP, India will take part in the jointly initiated efforts. The other snow-leopard range countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Russia and Uzbekistan.

Solution: D

Breathe Life Campaign is a joint campaign led by WHO, UNEP and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). It aims to mobilise cities and individuals to protect our health and our planet from the effects of air pollution

Solution: C

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.

The prime objection of ASI is to maintain the archaeological sites, ancient monuments and remains of national importance. It also regulates Antiquities and Art Treasure Act, 1972

Solution: A

What Baisakhi is to Punjabis, Nuakhai or Nuankhai is for the people of western Odisha. The name translates to ‘new food’, reinforcing its importance as a harvest festival.

The Pawl Kut harvest festival is celebrated by the Kuki, Chin and Mizo tribes of Mizoram in December. The word ‘pawl’ means straw and ‘kut’ means festival, signifying its association with harvest.

The Mopin festival is a harvest festival celebrated by the Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in the Galo months of Lumi and Luki (March and April, according to the Gregorian calendar). The presiding deity of the festival is Mopin Ane—the goddess of fertility and prosperity of the animist religion of Donyi-Polo.

Solution: D

The PGS is an internationally applicable organic quality assurance system [like ISO 9000] implemented and controlled by the committed organic farmer-producers through active participation, along with the consumers, in the process based on verifiable trust.

Hence, option (a) is correct.

Solution: B

The National Human Rights Commission is a statutory body. It was established in 1993 under a legislation enacted by the Parliament, namely, the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993

The protection of human rights (amendment) act 2019 has made the following changes in the composition of NHRC.

The chairperson of the NHRC shall be a person who has beenChief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a Judge of the Supreme Court.

The Act provides for three persons having knowledge of human rights to be appointed as members of the NHRC of which at least one will be a woman.

Under the Act, chairpersons of various commissions such as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and National Commission for Women, National Commission for Backward Classes, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as ex-officio members of the NHRC.

Solution: D

Zemu Glacier is the largest glacier in the Eastern Himalaya. It is about 26 kilometres in length and is located at the base of Kangchenjunga in the Himalayan region of Sikkim, India. The Zemu Glacier drains the east side of Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain.

Satopanth Glacier is situated in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. River Alaknanda took its origin in this glacier.

The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends. The Siachen Glacier is the highest battleground on earth. The Nubra River is a river in the Nubra Valley of Ladakh in India. It is a tributary of the Shyok River and originates from the Siachen Glacier.

Solution: C

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in July 1989 by a Group of Seven (G-7) Summit in Paris, initially to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering.

In October 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing, in addition to money laundering.  In April 2012, it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. Starting with its own members, the FATF monitors countries’ progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations; reviews money laundering and terrorist financing techniques and counter-measures; and, promotes the adoption and implementation of the FATF Recommendations globally.

The FATF currently comprises 37 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organizations (European Commission and Gulf Co-operation Organization (GCC) ), representing most major financial centres in all parts of the globe.

GCC is not observer organization but a member.

Solution: B

D-SIB stands for Domestic Systemically Important Bank. It means that the bank is too big to fail.

According to the RBI, some banks become systemically important due to their size, cross-jurisdictional activities, complexity and lack of substitute and interconnection.The RBI stated that should such a bank fail, there would be significant disruption to the essential services they provide to the banking system and the overall economy.

Banks whose assets exceed 2% of GDP are considered part of this group. The too-big-to-fail tag also indicates that in case of distress, the government is expected to support these banks.

Due to this perception, these banks enjoy certain advantages in funding. It also means that these banks have a different set of policy measures regarding systemic risks and moral hazard issues.

SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are the systematically important banks of India.

Solution: C

Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) on April 2017. The objective of PLFS is primarily twofold:

1. To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS)
2. To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

The first Annual Report (July 2017- June 2018) covering both rural and urban areas giving estimates of all important parameters of employment and unemployment in both usual status (ps+ss) and current weekly status (CWS) was released in May 2019.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/gender-gap-in-employment-jobs-report/article27852266.ece

Solution: D

Japanese encephalitis virus JEV is the most important cause of viral encephalitis in Asia. It is a mosquito-borne flavivirus, and belongs to the same genus as dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses.

JEV is transmitted to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes of the Culex species (mainly Culex tritaeniorhynchus). Humans, once infected, do not develop sufficient viraemia to infect feeding mosquitoes. The virus exists in a transmission cycle between mosquitoes, pigs and/or water birds (enzootic cycle). The disease is predominantly found in rural and periurban settings, where humans live in closer proximity to these vertebrate hosts.

In most temperate areas of Asia, JEV is transmitted mainly during the warm season, when large epidemics can occur. In the tropics and subtropics, transmission can occur year-round but often intensifies during the rainy season and pre-harvest period in rice-cultivating regions

WHO recommends testing for JEV-specific IgM antibody in a single sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or serum, using an IgM-capture ELISA.

There is no antiviral treatment for patients with JE. Treatment is supportive to relieve symptoms and stabilize the patient.

https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/japanese-encephalitis

Solution: A

In the Lok Sabha, the lower House of the Indian Parliament, both Presiding Officers, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker- are elected from among its members by a simple majority of members present and voting in the House. As such, no specific qualifications are prescribed for being elected the Speaker. The Constitution only requires that Speaker should be a member of the House.