Daily Current Affairs (MCQ) | Date 14.01.22

Q1. Aditya L-1 is ISRO mission for study of

a. Sun
b. Venus
c. Saturn
d. Mars

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?

Space for dreams
This year, the harvest festival brings a change at the helm for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), with S. Somanath as its chairperson.

Q2. Lion Conservation Area (LCA) of Gir is situated in state of

a. Madhya Pradesh
b. Gujarat
c. Karnataka
d. Rajasthan

Answer : b

Why is the Question ?

Forest Survey Report 2021: Overall decadal decline in forest cover in India’s 52 tiger reserves, Gir
1. There has been an overall decadal decline in forest cover across India’s 52 tiger reserves as well as its sole Lion Conservation Area (LCA) of Gir in Gujarat, the latest report of the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
2. Some 20 of the 52 tiger reserves have shown an increasing trend. These range from 1.28 sq km in Pakke (Arunachal Pradesh) to 238.80 sq km in Buxa (West Bengal).
3. Buxa, in fact, has recorded the highest decadal growth in forest cover in the country. It is followed by Annamalai in Tamil Nadu (120.78 sq km) and Indravati in Chhattisgarh (64.48 sq km).
4. But the 32 remaining reserves have shown a declining trend, ranging from 0.06 sq km in Orang in Assam to 118.97 sq km in Kawal in Telangana. Bhadra (53.09 sq km) in Karnataka and Sundarbans in West Bengal (49.95 sq km) have also witnessed sharp declines in forest cover.
Tiger Corridors:
1. The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve has the largest area under wetlands at 2,549.44 sq km. This means 96.76 per cent of its area is a wetland. The Kanha Tiger Reserve has the highest number of wetlands at 461, most of which are less than 2.25 hectares (ha) in size.
2. The Kanha to Navegaon-Nagzira-Tadoba-Indravati tiger corridor that passes through Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have the largest forest cover at 2,012.86 sq km.
3. It is followed by the Pench-Satpura-Melghat corridor in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh (1,195.79 sq km) and the Similipal-Satkosia corridor in Odisha (810.23 sq km)

Q3. Consider the following statements about State of India’s Forest Report 2021 when compared to previous report in 2019

1. Forest cover has increased in India’s mountainous states
2. Forest cover has increased in Northeast India
3. All northeast states have witnessed decline in forest cover

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

a. 1 and 2 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 3 only
d. 1, 2 and 3

Answer : d

Why is the Question ?

Every northeastern state reports loss in forest cover: State of India’s Forest Report 2021
1. The northeastern states of India — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Sikkim — have lost 1,020 square kilometres of forest during 2019-2021, according to the biennial India’s State of Forest Report 2021 published by the Forest Survey of India.
2. The eight states account for 23.75 per cent of the country’s total forest cover.
3. Among the eight states, Manipur recorded the largest loss in forest cover (249 sq kms), followed by Nagaland (235 sq kms) and Mizoram (186 sq kms). The report attributes this loss in forest cover to shifting cultivation, which is practised in many northeastern states.
4. The northeastern states have been losing forest cover consistently, as the last report published in 2019 also indicated. Between 2011 and 2019, the forest cover of six states, excluding Assam, had decreased by nearly 18 per cent between 2011-2019. The region lost nearly 25,012 sq km of forest cover in the preceding decade.
Forest Survey Report 2021: India’s mountainous states, already facing climate change, lose forest cover
The report has attributed the loss of forest cover in the Himalayas and North East to an increase in developmental activities as well as

Highlights:
1. There has been an increase in forest loss in India’s mountainous states along its Himalayan frontier, which are already in the throes of climate change, according to the latest report by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
2. The Union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, which had very dense forests of 4,270 square kilometres (sq km) area in 2019, had 4,155 sq km of the same forest category in 2021. This is the highest loss of very dense forests anywhere in India.
3. Jammu and Kashmir have lost very dense forests but gained open forests, according to the report. This has led to an increase in UT’s total forest area to 21,387 sq km in 2021, from 21,358 in 2019. The increase in open forests is led by commercial plantations.
4. The total forest area of Himachal Pradesh, another mountainous state, has increased by 9 sq km. But there has been a loss of open and Moderately Dense Forest (tree canopy density of 40 per cent or above but less than 70 per cent). Moderately dense forests are usually close to human habitations.
Climate change hotspots in Indian forests
1. The report has also mapped climate change hotspots in Indian forests, based on projections for 2030, 2050 and 2080.
2. It predicted that Himalayan states and UTs like Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand will record the maximum increase in temperature and also possibly experience a decrease in rainfall.
3. Extreme rainfall may also increase in the states of the North East.agriculture.

Q4. Which of the following are correctly matched?

Select the correct answer from the codes given below
a. 1 and 2 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 3 only
d. 1, 2 and 3

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?

Army safeguards LoC, AGPL, LoAC.
Not possible to demilitarise Siachen
1. We are “not averse” to demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier but the pre-condition is Pakistan has to accept the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), Army chief General Manoj Naravane said, raising a fresh debate over the world’s highest battlefield, with experts saying it may not be ideal in the backdrop of the stand-off in eastern Ladakh and the Chinese build-up.
2. In contrast to the present comments, the Army chief had two years ago termed Siachen as a point of “collusive threat” between Pakistan and China and so “we should keep control”.
3. However, with the stand-off in eastern Ladakh and massive buildup and expansion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in subsector north which is very close to the Karakoram range and Soltoro ridge, several serving officials and experts noted that it would not be possible for India to vacate the crucial positions on the glacier.
4. The Line of Control (LoC) had been delineated to a point called NJ 9842, and thereafter, the understanding was that it will remain unoccupied. But Pakistan had made an attempt to occupy territory and we were forced to take our countermeasures.

Low hanging fruits:
1. Siachen and Sir Creek have long been termed “low hanging fruits” in the past for resolution between India and Pakistan and the two countries have held 13 rounds of Defence Secretary-level talks on Siachen, the last one in June 2012.
2. The Indian Army has not been averse to disengagement at Siachen but it has not happened due to a reluctance by the Pakistan Army to accept the positions that are occupied by the Indian Army.

Q5. Sir creek is boundary dispute between

a. India and Pakistan
b. India and Srilanka
c. India and Bangladesh
d. India and Myanmar

Answer : a

Why is the Question ?