January 04 2024 Current Affairs MCQs

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP) is an alliance of 12 snow leopard range countries, multi-lateral institutions, NGOs, scientists and local communities.
• It seeks to address high-mountain development issues using the conservation of the charismatic and endangered snow leopard as a flagship.
• The Bishkek Declaration is a 2013 pledge by 12 countries to ensure the well-being of snow leopards and the people who live among them.

Statement 2 is correct

• “Secure 20 by 2020” is an initiative of Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme that identified and aims to secure at least 20 snow leopard landscapes across the cat’s range by 2020.

Statement 3 is correct

• The 12 snow leopard range countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic), Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Answer: (c) All; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Polar bears are the largest carnivorous land mammals on Earth.
• They are the only bear species to be considered marine mammals as they spend most of their lives on the sea ice of the Arctic Ocean for their food and habitat.

Statement 2 is correct

• The bear’s outer layer of fur is hollow and reflects light, giving the fur a white colour that helps the bear remain camouflaged.
• The skin under the polar bear’s fur is black; this is evident only on the nose.
• Polar bears also have a thick layer of fat below the surface of the skin, which acts as insulation on the body to trap heat.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• Most polar bears occur north of the Arctic Circle to the North Pole. There are some populations south of the Arctic Circle in the Hudson Bay of Manitoba, Canada.
• Polar bears live in Alaska, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and some northern islands owned by Norway, such as Svalbard.
• They are not found in the Antarctica region.

Statement 4 is incorrect

• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable (VU)
• CITES: Appendix II

Answer: (c) 1 and 2; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 aims to prevent ‘the commercialisation of vices’ and the ‘trafficking of females’.
• The term “prostitution” is defined as “the sexual exploitation or abuse of persons, for commercial purposes.
• Section 5 penalizes anyone who “procures or attempts to procure a person, with or without their consent, for prostitution purposes.”
• The term “procure” is not defined in the Act.
• It also punishes those “inducing persons to go from any place, for prostitution purposes, to become inmates of or frequent a brothel.”

Statement 2 is correct

• Section 2 of the act defines a “brothel” to include “any house, room, or place, or any portion of any house, room or place, which is used for purposes of sexual exploitation or abuse.

Statement 3 is correct

• In its recent judgment, the Kerala High Court ruling has expanded the meaning of the term “procure” in Section 5 of the ITP Act.
• It has expanded by adding that a customer will be held liable in addition to pimps/brothel-keepers who “hire” persons for prostitution.

Answer: (b) 2 and 3; Difficulty: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• Department of Science and Technology is the main funding agency of the event.
• The principal organizer of the event is the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), a registered society in Kolkata.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• The Prime Minister always inaugurates the ISC.

Statement 3 is correct

• Indian Science Congress is the largest gathering of scientists and students of science in the country and a permanent annual fixture in the calendar of the participant group for more than a century.
• It sees participation from institutions funded by the DST, Department of Space, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
• Except for the two years following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021 and 2022), the Indian Science Congress has been held every year since 1914.
• The 108th edition of the Congress was held in Nagpur from January 3-7, 2023.

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

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct

• Satellite based internet connectivity refers to the use of artificial satellites positioned in space to facilitate communication over long distances.
• Working Mechanism
  • Satellite communication works by using satellites to relay signals between two points on Earth.
  • The satellites are placed in orbit around the Earth, and they act as a mediator between the two points.
  • When a signal is sent from one point to the satellite, the satellite amplifies the signal and retransmits it to the other point.

Statement 2 is correct

• Satellites can provide coverage to remote and under served areas where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or non-existent.
• Independence from terrestrial infrastructure enables seamless communication in challenging terrains making them more resilient to disasters or physical communication.

Statement 3 is incorrect

• They can only transmit a limited amount of data at a time posing problem for applications that require high bandwidth, e.g. streaming video or online gaming.

Answer: (b) Only two; Difficulty Level: Medium

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• The Green Cover Index has been launched for a comprehensive pan-India estimation of green cover over the national highway network.
• It will be estimated by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC-ISRO) and NHAI.
• The index findings will facilitate the comparison and ranking of various National Highways for timely and periodic intervention.
• The green cover would be estimated for every 1 km length of the National Highways.

Statement 2 is correct

• It will be an annual assessment.

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

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect

• When a vote is cast, a slip is printed on the VVPAT printer containing the serial number, name, and symbol of the candidate who voted.
• This remains visible to the voter through a transparent window for seven seconds. After that, this printed slip automatically gets cut and falls into a sealed drop box.

Statement 2 is incorrect

• VVPATs were first used in Nagaland’s bye-election for the Noksen Assembly seat in 2013.
• The 2019 Lok Sabha elections became the first general election to have 100% of EVMs attached to VVPATs.

Statement 3 is correct

• VVPAT machines can be accessed by polling officers only.
• VVPATs add another layer of transparency and reliability to convince voters about the sanctity of EVMs.

Statement 4 is incorrect

• A Major challenge is the verification of the paper trails generated by the VVPAT machines.
• While the machines are meant to provide a physical record of the vote cast, it is not always clear how this record can be verified, especially in cases where there is a discrepancy between the electronic and paper records.

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