February 03-04-05 2024 Current Affairs MCQs

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• A moonquake is any sort of seismic tremor that occurs on the moon.
• The moonquakes are concentrated at great depth, between 600 km and 1000 km, which is deeper than earthquakes.
• Moonquakes are caused by impacts from meteoroids striking the moon’s surface.
• They’re also triggered by the structure and temperature of the moon, as well as the gravitational pull of the Earth.

Statement 2 is correct

• Shallow moonquakes – They are caused by structural weaknesses in the interior of the moon, which is shrinking slowly over time thanks to the cooling of its central core.
• These moonquakes are closest in character to earthquakes and occur at depths of up to 125 miles.
• Deep moonquakes – They are caused by tidal stressors from the Earth and tend to originate between 500 miles and 750 miles below the lunar surface.
• Because the moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit, it’s closer to the Earth at certain points in its orbit and farther from the Earth at others.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• These tremors are typically weaker than the tremors that occur on the Earth, though they do tend to last longer.
• There are no active plate tectonics on the moon, so moonquakes occur as a result of different processes.

Answer: (a) Only one; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• GHAR (GO Home and Re-Unite) Portal for Restoration and Repatriation of Child is launched by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).
• It works under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The following are the salient features of the portal:
  • Digital tracking and monitoring of children who are in the Juvenile Justice system and have to be repatriated to another Country/State/District.
  • Digital transfer of cases of children to the concerned Juvenile Justice Board/Child Welfare Committee of the State, which will help in the speedy repatriation of children.
  • Child Welfare Committees and District Child Protection Officers can ensure proper restoration and rehabilitation of children by digitally monitoring the progress of the case.
  • A checklist format will be provided in the forms so that the children who are being hard to repatriate or children who are not getting their entitled compensation or other monetary benefits can be identified.
  • List of Government implemented schemes will be provided, so that at the time of restoration, the Child Welfare Committees can link the child with the schemes to strengthen the family and ensure that the child remains with his/her family.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• GHAR Portal works based on the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
• The Track Child portal is also implemented with support and involvement of various stakeholders namely,
  • Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Railways, State Governments/ UT Administrations, Child Welfare Committees, Juvenile Justice Boards, National Legal Services Authority, etc.

Answer: (d) None; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

• World Wetlands Day (WWD) was celebrated at Sirpur Lake, Indore.
• Sirpur Wetland, also known as Pakshi Vihar, is a human-made wetland designated as a Ramsar site under the Ramsar Convention in 2022.
• The Holkars of Indore created the lake in the early 20th century.
• The wetland is characterized by its shallow, alkaline, and nutrient-rich waters, which, during the monsoon season, can reach depths of up to two meters.
• The wetland acts as a natural buffer against flooding and plays a role in regulating the local microclimate.
• BirdLife International recognized it as one of the 19 important bird areas (IBAs) in MP in 2015.
• It is home to approximately 175 terrestrial plant species and six macrophytes.
• The following bird species are also found:
  • Pochard (Aythya ferina),
  • Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus),
  • Indian river tern (Sterna aurantia)
  • Ruddy shelduck

Answer: (a) Madhya Pradesh; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Dusted Apollo (Parnassius Stenosemus) is a rare high-altitude butterfly.

• Dusted Apollo is extremely rare and has never been photographed before in Himachal Pradesh.
• It closely resembles Ladakh Banded Apollo (Parnnasius stoliczkanus).

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The distribution range of Dusted Apollo extends from Ladakh to West Nepal and it flies between 3,500 to 4,800 meters in the inner Himalayas.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• Not all the Apollo species are protected under the Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• There are 11 Apollo species recorded from Himachal Pradesh and 5 of them are declared as Scheduled species.
• Most of the Apollo butterflies are now endangered and need immediate attention for their conservation and protection.
  

  Regal Apollo (Parnnasius charltonius) – A rare species that is protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Answer: (a) Only one; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

• The researchers re-excavated the Ilsenhohle cave site in Ranis, Germany, aiming to locate remaining deposits from man excavation in 1930 while also clarifying the chronology of the site.
• The site provides evidence for the first dispersal of Homo sapiens across the higher latitudes of Europe.
• The stone artefacts that were thought to be produced by Neanderthals were in fact part of the early Homo Sapiens tool kit.
• During the re-excavation a 1.7-metre-thick rock and human fossils was found.
• The site now has the oldest Homo Sapiens fossils.
• Bones and stone artefacts from the cave showed that these people hunted large mammals including reindeer, horses, bison and woolly rhinoceroses.
• The results from the Ilsenhohle in Ranis fundamentally change our ideas about the chronology and settlement history of Europe north of the Alps.
• The new study’s revelations mean that Homo-sapiens reached Northern Europe before Neanderthals went extinct.

Answer: (c) Germany; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• The Kamakhya temple is located on the Nilachal hills, at a distance of 7 km from Guwahati, Assam.
• It is one of the biggest Shakti shrines in the country and an important pilgrimage centre for tantric worshippers and Hindus.
• It is also considered important as it is the temple where the beliefs and practices of the Aryan communities coincide with non-Aryan communities.
• It was reconstructed in 1565 by King Chilarai, who was the reigning king of the Koch dynasty.

Statement 2 is correct

• According to Devi Purana, Sati’s Mahamudra (female reproductive organ) fell in a cave which is worshipped here in the form of a stone.
• It is believed that from mid-June the deity Kamakhya starts menstruating which continues for three long days and during this period no homage is offered to the deity.
• The temple complex comprises several other temples dedicated to Shiva and different incarnations of Durga.
  

  It is also dedicated to different forms of Lord Shiva, there are 5 temples within the complex of Kamakhya temple. In addition, the temple complex also houses three temples of Lord Vishnu, present in the form of Kedara, Gadadhara and Pandunath.

Statement 3 is correct

• One of the most famous Shakti Peetha Temples in India, the seat of Maha Shakti (supreme energy) this temple is associated with several mysticism and attract thousands of domestic as well as international devotees during the festival of Ambubachi Mela.
• The festival is held every year to commemorate the yearly menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya.

Answer: (c) All; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• A BIT is an agreement between two countries that establishes the terms and conditions for private investment by nationals and companies of one country in the other country.
• BITs are designed to promote and protect foreign direct investment (FDI).

Statement 2 is incorrect

• India signed its first BIT in 1994 with the United Kingdom.
• Since 1994, India has signed BITs with 75 countries out of which 66 are already in force and 9 are yet to be entered into force.
• Negotiations with another 25 Countries are underway.
  

  The Union Cabinet approved an investment treaty with the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) recently.

Answer: (a) 1 Only; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Tax buoyancy explains the relationship between the changes in the government’s tax revenue growth and the changes in Gross domestic product (GDP).
• There is a strong connection between the government’s tax revenue earnings and economic growth.
• As the economy achieves faster growth, the tax revenue of the government also goes up. Tax buoyancy explains this relationship.

Statement 2 is correct

• When a tax is buoyant, its revenue increases without increasing the tax rate.
• It depends upon:
  • the size of the tax base,
  • the friendliness of the tax administration,
  • the rationality and simplicity of tax rates.
• Tax buoyancy will be highest for direct taxes.
• Generally, direct taxes are more sensitive to the GDP growth rate.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• Laffer Curve suggests that tax rates above a certain threshold reduce tax revenue since they incentivize people not to work. 
• It suggests there is an optimum tax rate which maximises total tax revenue. 

Answer: (b) 1 and 2 Only; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

• Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are astronomical phenomena that occur when a star passes close enough to a supermassive black hole and is pulled apart by the black hole’s tidal forces, causing the process of disruption.
• Such tidally disrupted stellar debris starts raining down on the black hole and radiation emerges from the innermost region of accreting debris, which is an indicator of the presence of a TDE.

Answer: (d) It is a destruction of a star by a black hole; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Dharani is an integrated land records management system introduced by the Revenue Department of Telangana.
• This online portal combines land registration and administration services, acting as a single source for land parcels and discharge land-related functions in an effective and efficient manner.
• The portal will do away with any loopholes in the registration process as well as store all land and property-related information online.

Statement 2 is correct

• It will simplify the registration, succession and even partition of agricultural lands to ensure that the entire process is completed timely and the e-pattadar passbook is provided to the landowners immediately.
• Dharani comprises of two parts for agricultural lands and non-agricultural lands separately.
• It offers Real time update of textual data and spatial data through the use of Geographic Information System tools.

Statement 3 is correct

• Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao launched ‘Dharani’ Portal for land and property registrations on 29 October 2020.
• Telangana is the first state to use Information Technology services for land registrations.
• The property details which are not uploaded on the portal will be treated as illegal and will not be allowed for further registrations.

Answer: (c) All; Difficulty Level: Medium