Weekly Current Affairs: Quizzes, 03 to 08 April, 2023

EXPLANATION:

• Anji Khad bridge is the 2nd important bridge after Chenab bridge on the prestigious Udhampur- Srinagar- Baramulla Rail Project. 
• Anji bridge is situated over the Anji river and it will connect the Katra-Reasi section of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla route.
• The Reasi yard station is built on high, rectangular, tapered hollow piers 105m in height, with the bridge spanning about 490m — a structure made with 7,000 reinforcement steel and 6,700 million tonnes of structural steel.
• This is a milestone achievement on the USBRL project in Jammu and Kashmir. Anji Bridge is yet another engineering marvel and one feels amazed to see this engineering marvel.
• The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line in Jammu and Kashmir will be a game-changer for the Union Territory over 80 per cent of the work on the project has been completed and the entire project is slated to be completed by the year’s end. The day now does not seem far off when Rail will chug between Jammu and Srinagar and the dream of the people will come true.

EXPLANATION:

• The Aravalli Green Wall Project is part of the Union Environment Ministry's vision to create green corridors across the country to combat land degradation and desertification. 
• The project covers states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi - where the Aravalli hills landscape span over 6 million hectares of land. Hence option (d) is correct. 
• The project will involve planting native species of trees and shrubs on scrublands, wastelands and degraded forest lands, along with rejuvenating and restoring surface water bodies such as ponds, lakes and streams. 
• The project will also focus on agroforestry and pasture development to enhance the livelihoods of local communities.
• The Aravalli Green Wall Project has the following objectives:
  • Improving the ecological health of the Aravalli range
  • To prevent eastward expansion of the Thar Desert and to reduce land degradation by creating Green barriers that will prevent soil erosion, desertification and dust storms.
  • This green wall by planting native tree species will help in carbon sequestration, mitigating climate change and enhancing the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Aravalli range. This will also provide habitat for wildlife, improve water quality and quantity.
  • Promote sustainable development and livelihood opportunities by involving local communities in afforestation, agro-forestry and water conservation activities that will generate income, employment, food security and social benefits.
  • The project will be executed by various stakeholders such as central and state governments, forest departments, research institutes, civil society organizations, private sector entities and local communities. Adequate funding, technical skills, policy coordination and public awareness will be called upon to ensure the success of the project.
  • Contribute to India's commitments under various International conventions such as UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification), CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) and UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
  • Enhancing India's image as a global leader in environmental protection and green development.

EXPLANATION:

• The ‘Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)’ are unique ecosystems having rich biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. Under Section-37 of Biological Diversity Act, 2002 the State Governments in consultation with local bodies may notify areas of biodiversity importance as Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS).
• An area is notified as BHS if it comprises any one or more of the following components:
  1. Richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra-specific categories.
  2. High endemism.
  3. Presence of rare and threatened species, keystone species, and species of evolutionary significance.
  4. Wild ancestors of domesticated/cultivated species or their varieties.
  5. Past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and having significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance of cultural diversity, with or without a long history of human association with them.
• “Nallur Tamarind Grove'' is located in Devanahalli taluka of Bangalore district of Karnataka. It is known for about 300 tamarind trees (a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit ). It is believed to have been planted during the reign of King Rajendra Chola in the 12th century. Hence option (1) is correct.
• Ameenpur is a small lake located in Sangareddy District, Telangana. It is the first body of water in India to be recognized as a Biodiversity Heritage Site and is the first biodiversity site to be approved in an urban area. Ameenpur lake is a man-made lake that was reportedly constructed more than 300 years ago during the reign of Ibrahim Qutb Shah (1550–1580 AD) by a courtier, Abdul Qadir Amin Khan of Patancheru, to irrigate his gardens. The garden no longer exists, but the lake has survived. Various resident and migratory birds, such as flamingos, egrets, herons, cormorants, kingfishers, and river terns, visit the lake. Hence option (2) is incorrect.
• Gandhamardan hills spread between Balangir and Bargarh district of Odisha.These hills are well known for medicinal plants. The Botanical Survey of India has reported the existence of 220 plant species of medicinal value. There is a Bauxite reserve which is planned for exploration by the state government through a private venture. Recently, The Odisha government has declared the Gandhamardan Hill Range in Bargarh and Balangir district as a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS). Hence option (3) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Oumuamua is the first known interstellar object to visit our Solar System. Oumuamua was discovered in 2017 by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) Program, which finds and tracks asteroids and comets in Earth’s neighborhood.
• While originally classified as a comet, observations revealed no signs of cometary activity after it. It was briefly classified as an asteroid until new measurements were found. It was accelerating slightly, a sign it behaves more like a comet. 
• It was also a peculiar elongated shape, never before observed in comets or asteroids. Its diameter was roughly 100 meters -- about the size of a football pitch -- but by some estimates it was 10 times as long as it was wide, shaped either like a pancake or a cigar. It was discovered in 2017. Hence, option 1 is incorrect.
• In addition, it lacked both a tail and a fuzzy halo, known as a coma, which are formed by dust and gas warming in the Sun's heat. Hence, option 2 is incorrect.

• The word “Oumuamua” is derived from hawaiian language, In Hawaiian Oumuamua means "a messenger from afar arriving first" that quite appropriately reflects the nature of the object and its discovery. Hence,  option 3 is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from standard time during the summer months, and back again with the advent of winter, in order to make better use of natural daylight. Hence option (1) is correct.
• US inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin first proposed the concept of DST in 1784.
• Germany became the first country in the world to use DST on a national level when it set the clocks forward on April 30, 1916. However, the town of Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada implemented DST as far back as 1908. 
• In the Northern Hemisphere many countries use DST in the summertime, but not all. Daylight Saving Time usually starts in March-April and ends in September-November when the countries return to standard time, or winter time as it is also known.
• In the Southern Hemisphere the participating countries usually start the DST period in September-November and end DST in March-April. 
• Less than 40% of the countries in the world use DST. Most of the countries use it to make better use of the natural daylight especially in the evenings. India is among the countries that does not follow daylight saving as it creates functional hindrance and confusion. Again, as India is located close to the equator no such  a greater difference is witnessed during summer and winter.  Hence option (2) is correct.
• The small Mediterranean country Lebanon was recently engulfed into a paradoxical condition regarding daylight saving time.  The Lebanese government’s last-minute decision to delay the start of daylight savings time by a month until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan resulted in mass confusion Sunday.
• Normally, Lebanon  sets its clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in March, which aligns with most European countries. However, on Thursday Lebanon’s government announced a decision by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to push the start of daylight savings to April 21. Hence option (3) is also correct.

EXPLANATION:

• A wildlife sanctuary is an in-situ conservation method declared to protect flora and fauna in their natural habitat. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for the establishment of a Wildlife Sanctuary in India and are classified as IUCN Category IV protected areas. As of January 2023, 567 wildlife sanctuaries were established in India, covering 122,564.86 km2 .
• The Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary is a one of the renowned wildlife sanctuaries located in Guwahati, Assam, India.
  • The sanctuary is known for hosting rare and endangered birds and animals.
  • Tropical moist deciduous forest with semi-evergreen forest are predominant here. 
  • It is known for its elephants which often enter parts of Guwahati City. 
  • The sanctuary has other mammals such as Chinese pangolin, slow loris, Assamese macaque, rhesus monkey, hoolock gibbon, leopard, leopard cat, jungle cat, sambar, barking deer, red serow, Malayan giant squirrel, crestless Himalayan porcupine.
• The Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary is located near Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
  • It was named after the local hillock Kambalakonda.
  • It is covered with dry evergreen forest mixed with scrub and meadows. The indicator species is the Indian leopard. 
• The Cauvery South Wildlife Sanctuary has recently been declared by the Tamil Nadu government. 
  • It is the state’s 17th wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary, covering reserve forest areas in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts. 
  • It is is home to 35 species of mammals, 238 species of birds, Leith’s softshell turtles, smooth coated otters, marsh crocodile and four horned antelopes, and is a wildlife paradise.The  sanctuary was notified under Section 26-A of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
  • The Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu is located in continuity with the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary spreading in Karnataka and tamilnadu. Thereby it forms a large, contiguous network of protected areas for wildlife.

EXPLANATION:

• “Meteoroids” are solid objects moving in interplanetary space but as far as the size of meteoroids is concerned it is considerably smaller than an asteroid but larger than atoms. Meteors are chunks of rocks and ice that are ejected from comets as they orbit the Sun. Hence, option 1 is incorrect. 
• The Project Sky Canvas is associated with showers of meteors. The Tokyo-based space company ALE is set to launch the satellite in 2025 and it hopes to give people all over the world “the opportunity to view the world’s first live human-made meteor shower.
  • It is designed to collect atmospheric data in the mesosphere, which is the third layer of the atmosphere. 
  • ALE plans to do this by using a pressure-driven system of gas tanks that will shoot pellets at a speed of 8 kilometers per second. The satellite was initially scheduled to launch in 2020 but a malfunction in one of the satellites meant that the launch had to be delayed. Hence, option 2 is correct. 
  • Notably, a natural meteor shower happens when our planet passes through the trail of debris left by a comet or an asteroid, according to NASA. Around 30 meteor showers that are visible to observers on Earth occur every year and some of them have been observed for centuries. For example, the Perseids meteor shower, which usually happens every year in August, was first observed about 2,000 years ago and was recorded in Chinese annals. (can remove this para)
• Lonar crater lake located in Buldhana district of Maharashtra first appeared due to tectonic activity. Later on it transformed into a large lake when a meteoroid collision occurred. Hence, option 3 is also correct. 

EXPLANATION:

• Recently, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in a report tabled in Gujarat Assembly raised a grim issue pertaining with the loss of mangroves and the resultant jeopardy on the ‘Kharai’ breed of camels – popularly known as ‘swimming camels’.
• The Kharai breed is a unique breed of camel and possesses the special ability to survive on both the dry land and in the sea. Thus they are regarded as Ecotone species. 
  • Equipped with padded hooves they can swim in seawater up to three kilometers (1.8 miles). Therefore, They are also called as dariyataru - meaning sea-swimmer. Hence, option 1 is correct.
  • They feed on saline plants and mangroves. Hence, option 2 is correct.
• The Kharai breed is mainly found in the Kutch region of Gujarat and not in Rajasthan. The area is a coastal region with large desert land. Hence option 3 is incorrect.

EXPLANATION:

• • National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal has recently produced the country's first cloned female calf of the desi (indigenous) breed which can produce more than 15 liters of milk per day.
  • As per the source, India's first cloned Gir female calf named 'Ganga' weighing 32 kg was born and is growing well.Thus, option (1) is correct.
  • NDRI started work on cloning high-yield desi (indigenous) breeds like Gir, Red Sindhi and Sahiwal breeds in 2021.The programme was started by NDRI, Karnal in collaboration with Uttarakhand Livestock Development Board (ULDB), Dehradun.
  • To produce clones, Oocytes (a cell in an ovary) were isolated from live animals using ultrasound-guided needles, and then matured for 24 hours under control conditions.
    • The somatic cells (any cell of a living organism) of elite cows are used as donor genomes, which are fused with OPU-derived enucleated oocytes. Following chemical activation and in-vitro culture, the developed blastocysts are transferred into recipient mothers to deliver the Gir calf.
  • Cloning describes the processes used to create an exact genetic replica of another cell, tissue or organism.There are three different types of cloning:
    • Gene cloning, which creates copies of genes or segments of DNA
    • Reproductive cloning, which creates copies of whole animals
    • Therapeutic cloning, which creates embryonic stem cells. 

Hence, option (2) is incorrect.

• Gour was the first vulnerable animal to be cloned on January 8, 2001at Trans Ova Genetics in Sioux Center, Iowa,US. Hence, option (3) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• On March 30, 2023 the first-ever “International Day Zero Waste Day” was celebrated across the world. 
• The objective of the day was- promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, supporting the societal shift towards circularity and raising awareness about zero-waste initiatives.
• It must be noted that the waste sector contributes significantly to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, and pollution. Thus, option (1) is incorrect.
• According to the UN data, an estimated 2.24 billion tons of municipal solid waste is generated annually, of which only 55% is managed in controlled facilities. Further, every year, around 931 million tons of food are lost or wasted and up to 14 million tons of plastic waste enters aquatic ecosystems.
• On December 14, 2022,The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution at its 77th session to proclaim March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste, to be observed annually. Türkiye, with 105 other countries, put forward the resolution. 
• The theme for International Day of Zero Waste 2023 - ‘Achieving sustainable and environmentally sound practices of minimizing and managing waste’ Thus, option (2) is correct.
• This international day can help advance all the goals and targets in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including Sustainable Development Goal 11 and Sustainable Development Goal 12.  Thus, option (3) is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Earth takes about 24 hours to complete one rotation around its axis. As a result, the part of the earth that faces the sun receives sunlight, resulting in the daytime. Similarly, the part of the Earth facing away from the sun experiences darkness, resulting in the nighttime. In a situation, if the rotation of the Earth stopped, the occurrence of day and night would cease. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• The rotation of the earth generates coriolis force. It is a kind of deflective force that determines the path of ocean currents and planetary wind. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Due to the effect of the Coriolis force, the pattern of planetary winds and ocean currents undergoes a deflection. The deflection is towards the right in the northern hemisphere and towards the left in the southern hemisphere. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The earth’s orbital period will not get affected by any change in rotation at large. Hence, statement 4 is not correct.
• Planetary winds blow in  a definite direction throughout the year. It comprises- trade winds, westerlies, and polar winds. The different direction of these winds is the result of Coriolis force. If the rotation of the earth were stopped, temperature and pressure conditions would also change leading to changes in the overall global climate. Hence statement 5 is correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Earth revolves around the sun in a parabolic or elliptical path. This path is called earth’s orbit. Earth takes about 365 days and 6 hours for one revolution. Earth is tilted on its axis about 23.5 degrees and on its orbit about 66.5 degrees.
• Due to the revolution of the earth seasonal variation in temperature and pressure occurs. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Monsoon is a kind of seasonal wind that is the result of insolation received by the Indian subcontinent during summers. The periodic arrival of monsoons would break if the earth stopped revolving. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• Deciduous savanna forest is characterized by alternate dry and wet seasons. Such seasonal variation is the consequence of the revolution. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• “A uniform climate with changing seasons” is the principal feature of the subtropical region impacting the lives of the people living in these areas. Agriculture and other economic activities are regulated by seasons. For example, rabi crops are cultivated in winter. If the seasonal variation is disturbed it might threaten the livelihood of residents forcing them to migrate. Hence, statement 4 is correct.
• Due to the earth’s axial tilt and revolution there are changes in the length of days and nights. Hence, statement 5 is correct.