Daily Current Affair Quiz: 14th July 2020

1. Which of the following statements are true?

1. Cirrus cloud manipulation is a climate engineering mechanism.

2. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) could potentially slow global warming

 (a) 1 only

 (b) 2 only

 (c) Both 1 and 2

 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: c

Justification:

• Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI), a climate engineering method could potentially slow global warming.

• Cirrus cloud manipulation: Here the cirrus clouds are removed or thinned so that their long-wave trapping capacity is reduced and thus cools the surface.

• Marine cloud brightening: The low warm clouds which are highly reflective to sunlight are modified to increase their reflectivity.

2. Which of the following is not an invasive species wrt India?

(a) Orange Cup-Coral

(b) Primrose Willow

(c) Cotton Mealy Bug

(d) Vanda wightii Orchid

Ans: d

Justification:

• Vanda Wighiti is one more orchid from the vanda species. This is rare than the other vanda species. It is endemic to the Western Ghats

• National Conference on the Status of Invasive Species in India was organised by Zoological Survey of India and the Botanical Survey of India in which ZSI announced a list of alien invasive animal species.

• Other choices are part of the list.

3. Which of the following statement/s is/are true?

1. REDD+ aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation.

2. REDD+ aims to conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

(a) 1 only

(b)  2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: c

Justification:

• REDD+ means “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.

• REDD+ aims to achieve climate change mitigation by incentivizing forest conservation

4. Which of the following statement/s is/are true?

1. India’s seed vault is situated at Chang La, Ladakh

2. This permafrost seed bank is the second largest in the world.

 (a) 1 only

 (b) 2 only

 (c) Both 1 and 2

 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: c

Justification:

• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway completed 10 years of its official opening. It now contains about 1.05 million seeds and referred to as the earth’s ‘doomsday vault’.

• India’s seed vault is situated at Chang La, Ladakh. Built jointly by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), this permafrost seed bank is the second largest in the world.

• Presently, the only other facility in India for long-term storage of seeds is the one set up by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) New Delhi.

5. Jeevamrutham, one of the four major pillars of Zero Budget Natural farming relates to

(a) Coating of Seeds

(b) Covering the top soil with cover crops

(c) Soil aeration

(d) Fermented microbial culture

Ans: d

Justification:

• The ZBNF technique is built on four pillars:

• Jeevamrutham, a fermented microbial culture derived primarily from cow dung and urine, jaggery, pulse flour and uncontaminated soil;

• Beejamrutham, microbial coating of seed, seedlings by using cow dung, urine and lime;

• Acchadana, or mulching, the process of covering the top soil with cover crops and crop residues; and

• Whaphasa, or soil aeration thus reducing irrigation requirement.