Daily Current Affairs (MCQ's) | 30-11-2022

Q1. Consider the following statements

1. The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission
2. The Reserve Bank continued to act as the Central Bank for Burma till Japanese Occupation of Burma and later upto April, 1947

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer (c)

Explanation:

The Reserve Bank of India was set up on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young Commission. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (II of 1934) provides the statutory basis of the functioning of the Bank, which commenced operations on April 1, 1935.

The Reserve Bank of India was conceptualised from the Hilton Young Commission’s recommendation, which considered Ambedkar’s guidelines laid out in The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution.

The Bank was constituted to:

• Regulate the issue of banknotes
• Maintain reserves with a view to securing monetary stability and
• To operate the credit and currency system of the country to its advantage.

The Bank began its operations by taking over from the Government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of Government accounts and public debt. The existing currency offices at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras,

Rangoon, Karachi, Lahore and Cawnpore (Kanpur) became branches of the Issue Department. Offices of the Banking Department were established in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi and Rangoon.

Burma (Myanmar) seceded from the Indian Union in 1937 but the Reserve Bank continued to act as the Central Bank for Burma till Japanese Occupation of Burma and later upto April, 1947. After the partition of India, the Reserve Bank served as the central bank of Pakistan upto June 1948 when the State Bank of Pakistan commenced operations. The Bank, which was originally set up as a shareholder's bank, was nationalised in 1949.

An interesting feature of the Reserve Bank of India was that at its very inception, the Bank was seen as playing a special role in the context of development, especially Agriculture. When India commenced its plan endeavours, the development role of the Bank came into focus, especially in the sixties when the Reserve Bank, in many ways, pioneered the concept and practise of using finance to catalyse development. The Bank was also instrumental in institutional development and helped set up institutions like the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India, the Unit Trust of India, the Industrial Development Bank of India, the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Discount and Finance House of India etc. to build the financial infrastructure of the country.

With liberalisation, the Bank's focus has shifted back to core central banking functions like Monetary Policy, Bank Supervision and Regulation, and Overseeing the Payments System and onto developing the financial markets.

Q2. Consider the following statements about the Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)

1. It is an Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO)
2. The GSLEP Program’s secretariat is based New Delhi

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1. 1 only
   2. 2 only
   3. Both 1 and 2
   4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer (d)

Explanation:

The Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP) is a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental alliance for the conservation of the snow leopard and its unique ecosystem.

It is led by the environment ministers of 12 countries in Asia that form the home range of the snow leopard. These are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The total range spans two million square kilometres.

The GSLEP Program’s secretariat is based in Bishkek, and is hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Q3. Consider the following statements

1. The Indian giant squirrel is endemic to India
2. It can be found across the Western Ghats, parts of the Eastern Ghats and the Satpura ranges

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer (c)

Explanation:

The Indian giant squirrel :

• Among the four global giant squirrels, the Indian giant squirrel is endemic to India.
• It plays an essential role in balancing the forest’s ecological systems by aiding in seed dispersal. It is also an indicator species, and its presence is indicative of a healthy forest.
• Its numbers are on the decline though, which is why the conservation of IGS needs a holistic approach where the focus is on habitat conservation, identification and protection of specific trees which are preferred by IGS, prevention of habitat fragmentation and reduction of human interference.

• Its call is hard to miss. A series of high-pitched and staccato chirrups reverberate through the dense forests where it is found. Follow the sound and you might spot the Indian giant squirrel (IGS) on the tall branches of trees in the deciduous, mixed deciduous or moist evergreen forests of Its wide distribution within its range explains why the IGS is listed in the Least Concern category of the IUCN Red List.
• But things are not going so well for this giant among Hunting and loss of habitat due to deforestation and degradation have forced the species to the brink of local extinction in some areas.

Size matters:

Among the four global giant squirrels, three are found in India – the Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica), the black giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) and the grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura). Of these, only the IGS (or the Malabar giant squirrel) is endemic to India. It can be found across the Western Ghats, parts of the Eastern Ghats and the Satpura ranges. It is also the state animal of Maharashtra, where it is called shekru in Marathi.

Q4. Consider the following statements about the Tarballs

1. Tarballs are weathered oil blobs.
2. They are often remnants of oil spills but can also be produced from natural seeps, places where oil slowly escapes from the earth’s surface above some petroleum reservoirs.
3. Tarballs affect marine life and flag concerns about oil spills from an offshore oil rig along the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Answer (d)

Explanation:

Tarballs dot India’s west coast annually, indicating continued oil spills, ship fuel discharge:

• Tarballs are weathered oil blobs. They are often remnants of oil spills but can also be produced from natural seeps, places where oil slowly escapes from the earth’s surface above some petroleum reservoirs.
• Researchers contend that these tarballs result from crude oil spills or fuel discharge from cargo ships along the western coast.
• Right after the monsoon spell, the coastlines of India’s western states, from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa to Karnataka, are lined with dark, sticky These are tarballs, a “seasonal phenomena” surfacing on the west coast of India every year between April and September and cause worry to conservationists and researchers.
• Tarballs affect marine life and flag concerns about oil spills from an offshore oil rig along the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea.

Q5. Water hyacinth, Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata are

,

1. Invasive species
2. Indicator species
3. Flagship species
4. Keystone species

Answer (a)

Explanation:

Invasive plants such as Lantana camara and Chromolaena odorata are emerging as a serious threat, especially to natural and agricultural landscapes.

Control and eradication measures will further drive up economic losses already being incurred as invasives overtake habitats.

Experts suggest green bonds be leveraged to control invasive species. Climate change will worsen the spread of invasive species that tend to show a robust resilience to warming and spread across landscapes, scientists report.

A team from the Institute of Forest Productivity, Ranchi, analysed the dispersion dynamics of two invasive plant species, Chromolaena odorata and Lantana camara. The researchers used computer modelling to examine the present and future (2050) distribution of the two plants in central and eastern India. The study area included Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Their results, that the two plants showed robust resilience to climate change, provide valuable information on sensitive sites prone to future invasion. Such prior information helps develop prevention and control measures to contain the infestation.

When do plants get invasive?

• Plants that do not occur naturally in a region but proliferate in the area they have been introduced into, and cause several negative impacts (such as affecting native biodiversity, causing economic losses and harming human health) in these new habitats, are called invasive plants.
• However, not all introduced plants are invasive: many alien plants cannot establish in new environments, and some that do establish are not harmful, unlike invasives.

Where do invasive plants come from?

In many cases, aliens or exotics that were deliberately introduced for ornamental, floricultural or agricultural uses have turned invasive. The tropical American shrub lantana (Lantana camara) for instance was introduced in India in the early 19th century as an ornamental plant; it now invades diverse terrestrial habitats including scrublands and forests.

International travel and trade have helped numerous invasives hitchhike into new territories. Seeds or plant fragments can attach themselves to peoples’ clothes or accidentally come along with imports of goods. Parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus, native to central and south America) is thought to have made its way into India through wheat imports from the United States in 1956.

Invasive plants now occur on every continent on earth, including the remote and hostile ecosystems of Antarctica.

Though there is confusion regarding the exact number, more than 200 invasive species are thought to occur in India (a 2017 study lists India as one of the regions with the highest number of invasive flora in the world). Some of India’s most notorious invasives include lantana, parthenium, Siam weed, Mexican devil (Ageratina adenophora) and mesquite (Prosopis juliflora). The water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has invaded many inland water bodies, while alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) invades both aquatic and terrestrial habitats in India.