Daily Current Affair Quiz: 27th Feb 2020
1. Which of the following statements are true?
1. The Chief Secretary in a State is appointed by the Governor of that State.
2. The Chief Secretary in a State has a fixed tenure.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: d
Justification:
- The chief secretary is appointed by the Government and not the Governor. The chief secretary doesn’t have a fixed tenure.The post of Chief Secretary (Mukhya Sachiv) is the senior-most position held in the civil services of the states and union territories of India.
2. Why does the Government of India promote the use of Neem-coated Urea’ in agriculture?
(a) Release of Neem oil in the soil increases nitrogen fixation by the soil microorganisms
(b) Neem coating slows down the rate of dissolution of urea in the soil
(c) Nitrous oxide, which is a greenhouse gas, is not at all released into atmosphere by crop fields
(d) It is a combination of a weedicide and a fertilizer for particular crops
Ans: b
Justification:
- Only about 30 to 40% of N2 in the urea is utilized by the plants. Coating of neem oil helps in gradual release of nitrates into soil. This may work as a bio pesticide.Neem coating slows down the rate of dissolution of urea in the soil
- Primary motive of the Indian government is to stop the illegal diverting of highly subsidized urea for the industrial purpose. Neem coated urea is unfit for the industrial purpose.
3. Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
1. Kurd : Bangladesh
2. Madhesi : Nepal
3. Rohingya : Myanmar
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 3 only
Ans: c
Justification:
- Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East.
- The term Madhesi people is ambiguous. Anthropologists use the term for people of Indian ancestry residing in the Terai of Nepal and comprising various cultural groups such as Hindu caste groups, muslims, merchants and indigenous people of the Terai. Many of these groups share cultural traditions and marital ties with people living south of the international border in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
- The Rohingya people ( historically also termed Arakanese Indians) are a stateless Indo-Aryan people from Rakhine State, Myanmar.
4. Which of the following statement/s is/are true.
1. Siddhas (Sittars) of Tamil region were monotheistic and condemned idolatry.
2. Lingayats of Kannada region questioned the theory of rebirth and rejected the caste hierarchy.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Ans: c
Justification:
- The Tamil Siddhas are a religious order of mystics found in the southern part of India, who’s origins can be traced back to the eighth century. They form a distinctive part of a larger movement which spread throughout South Asia, from Sri Lanka in the South to Tibet in the north, between the seventh and eleventh centuries.
- Siddhas believe in oneness of the transcendental being in the world as well as charity towards men. This clearly shows they believed there is only one God, i.e. monotheism.
- Basavanna (founder of Lingayatism) rebelled against the rigid practices of the caste system then prevalent in orthodox Hindu society and eventually began expounding his own philosophy with a casteless society at its core.
- Lingayats believed that there is no rebirth and on death the devotee reunites with Shiva never coming back to the World.
5. In the context of which of the following do you sometimes find the terms `amber box, blue box and green box’ in the news?
(a) WTO affairs
(b) SAARC affairs
(c) UNFCCC affairs
(d) India-EU negotiations on FTA
Ans: a
Justification:
- In WTO terminology, subsidies in general are identified by “Boxes” which are given the colours of traffic lights
- Green (permitted), amber (slow down — i.e. be reduced), red (forbidden). In agriculture, things are, as usual, more complicated. The Agriculture Agreement has no Red Box, although domestic support exceeding the reduction commitment levels in the Amber Box is prohibited; and there is a Blue Box for subsidies that are tied to programmes that limit production. There are also exemptions for developing countries.
