Plutus IAS ‘Weekly Current Affairs: Quizzes, 09 to 14 January, 2023

EXPLANATION:

• The Extinction Rebellion identifies itself as a global movement for "non-violent civil disobedience." It claims that there will be a mass extinction of life on Earth. Governments are urged to declare a "climate and ecological emergency" and act immediately. The organisation's emblem, an hourglass enclosed in a circle, symbolises how many species' time is running out.
• The Extinction Rebellion in the UK has three primary demands:
  1. A citizens' assembly must be established to "oversee the reforms";
  2. The government must declare a "climate emergency";
  3. The UK must legally commit to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2025. Thus, option (d) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Genetic diversity is all the different genes contained in all individual plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. It occurs within a species as well as between species. Thus, point 1 is correctly matched with B.
• Species diversity is all the differences within and between populations of species and different species. Thus, point 2 correctly matched with C.
• Ecosystem diversity is all the different habitats, biological communities, ecological processes, and variations within individual ecosystems. Thus, point 3 is correctly matched with A.

EXPLANATION:

• It is an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Kyoto Protocol applies to 6 greenhouse gases; carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride. It is an extension to the 1992 UNFCCC. Only members of UNFCCC can become parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Canada, Andorra, United States of America, and South Sudan are not parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There were 192 parties (Canada withdrew from the protocol, effective December 2012) to the Protocol in 2020. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• India was exempted from legally binding commitments on greenhouse gas emissions. India emphasised the differentiation between developed and developing nations concerning the burden of responsibility for climate action. Hence, statement 3 is also correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Lentic ecosystem (also called the lacustrine ecosystem or the still water ecosystem) and lotic ecosystem (also called the riverine ecosystem) are two types of water ecosystems, the first dealing with still water ecosystems and the second dealing with flowing water ecosystems. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• A lentic ecosystem entails a body of standing water, ranging from ditches, seeps, ponds, seasonal pools, basin marshes and lakes. Deeper waters, such as lakes, may have layers of ecosystems influenced by light. Ponds due to their having more light penetration can support a diverse range of water plants. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.
• A lotic ecosystem can be any moving water, such as a run, creek, brook, river, spring, channel or stream. The water in a lotic ecosystem, from source to mouth must have atmospheric gases, turbidity, longitudinal temperature gradation and material dissolved in it. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

EXPLANATION:

• Amensalism is the relationship between two organisms, where one is hurt. Amensalism is a biological interaction among two species. In this contact between two organisms, one is destroyed or inhibited, and the other remains unaffected. However, in some instances, both organisms might get hurt.
• Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while other species neither get benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit from each other; amensalism, where one is harmed while the other is unaffected; parasitism, where one is harmed and the other benefits.
• Thus, option (a) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• The leopard is one of the five extant species in the genus Panthera, a member of the Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in small parts of Western and Central Asia, a small part of European Russia, and on the Indian subcontinent to Southeast and East Asia.
• “Leopard population has increased in all states of central India in comparison to previous estimates of 2014. The state of Madhya Pradesh had the largest leopard population in India.”- as per status of leopard report 2018.
• India now has 12,852 leopards as compared to the previous estimate of 7,910 conducted in 2014. More than 60% increase in population has been recorded. The States of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra recorded the highest leopard estimates at 3,421, 1,783 and 1,690 respectively. Thus option (d) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Bioaccumulation refers to how pollutants enter a food chain. In bioaccumulation there is an increase in concentration of pollutants from the environment to the first organism in a food chain. Thus, statement 1 is incorrect.
• Biomagnification refers to the tendency of pollutants to concentrate as they move from one trophic level to the next. The process occurs when a chemical or metal becomes increasingly concentrated as it moves up through a food chain, i.e., the dietary linkages between single-celled plants and increasingly larger animal species. Thus, statement 2 is incorrect.

EXPLANATION:

• Succession that begins in a predominantly inorganic environment and is characterized by early and continued dominance by autotrophic organisms is called the autotrophic succession. The primary and secondary successions both come under the autotrophic succession and are widespread in nature.
• The term secondary succession refers to a community development on sites previously occupied by well developed communities, or it is the succession on sites where nutrients and conditions of existence are already favorable, such as abandoned croplands, plowed grasslands, and cut-over forests.
• If succession proceeds from an area devoid of organisms, or from an area which has not been changed physically by organisms, it is called primary succession
• Thus, option (a) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer and coastal grasslands of the Abdasa and Mandvi Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat support some populations. Great Indian bustard, (Ardeotis Nigriceps), large bird of the bustard family (Otididae), one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. The great Indian bustard inhabits dry grasslands and scrublands on the Indian subcontinent; Its largest populations are found in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
• The endangered great Indian bustards are found in fair numbers in Desert National Park along with Blackbuck and Chinkara. Desert National Park of Rajasthan and outside protected areas in Ajmer and Jaisalmer districts are the best places to spot the Great Indian Bustard in Rajasthan. Hence statement 1 is correct, and statement 2 is incorrect.

EXPLANATION:

• Parasitism, is an interaction in which one species is harmed and the other benefits.Interaction of leech and cattle is something like this where leech benefits and cattle is harmed. Hence pair 1 is correct.
• Amensalism is the relationship between two organisms, where one is hurt. Amensalism is a biological interaction among two species. In this contact between two organisms, one is destroyed or inhibited, and the other remains unaffected. However, in some instances, both organisms might get hurt.Rhizobium and Leguminous plants benefits each other. Hence pair 2 is incorrect.
• Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while other species neither get benefit nor are harmed, but in the interaction of Coral Polyps and Zooxanthellae both benefits each other. Hence pair 3 is incorrect.
• In mutualism, both organisms benefit from each other.

EXPLANATION:

• Researchers at tuft university have developed Xenobots, they get their name Xenobots as they are smaller than a millimeter (0.04 inches) diameter and are created from the stem cells of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis).Two species of Xenopus regularly used by biologists Xenopous Laevis and Xenopous Tropicalis. In 2020, the microscopic blobs were first made public after tests revealed their ability to move, collaborate in groups, and self-heal. Thus, statement 1 is not correct.
• They have the ability to self-heal after injury, store memories, and cooperate in groups. They can also record information from their environment and move utilizing cilia, which are tiny hairlike particles that are found on the surface. Thus, statement 2 is correct
• These robots may be used for a variety of beneficial tasks, including finding toxic and radioactive chemicals and collecting microplastics from seas that are harmful to people and other marine life. Thus, statement 3 is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Sunshine Policy is North Korea’s policy towards the south by encouraging interaction and economic assistance.
• Main aim of the policy: Softening North Korea's attitudes towards the South through mutual interaction and economic assistance.
• Three basic principles of Sunshine Policy: No armed provocation by the North will be tolerated. The South will not attempt to absorb the North in any way.
• Kim implemented a so-called “sunshine” policy toward the North, which led in 2000 to a historic summit between Kim and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and to Kim Dae-Jung’s selection as the recipient of that year’s Nobel Prize for Peace.
• Thus, option (d) is correct.