Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 05, 2023

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: C

• The Earth Overshoot Day for year 2023 fell on August 2^nd.
• The day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources (fish and forests, for instance) and services in a given year exceeds what the Earth can regenerate in that year.
• The concept of Earth Overshoot Day was first conceived by Andrew Simms of the UK think tank New Economics Foundation.
• It is measured by Global Footprint Network (international research organization) each year since 1971.
• World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the world’s largest conservation organization, has participated in Earth Overshoot Day since 2007.
• It is calculated by Global Footprint Network by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity’s Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for that year), and multiplying by 365, the number of days in a year:
  • Earth Overshoot Day = (Planet’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 365

ANSWER: B

• To protect the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) and its wildlife in view of the killing of two forest frontline workers by alleged poachers, the Odisha government has set up a joint task force (JTF) comprising around 200 armed police and forest personnel.
• The task force has been assigned the key responsibilities of collecting intelligence, identifying people holding illegal arms and ammunition and de-weaponing fringe/buffer villages of the tiger reserve and to prepare a database.

About Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR)

• It is located in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.
• Simlipal derives its name from ‘Simul’ (silk cotton) tree.
• It was declared as biosphere reserve in 1994 and added to UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program in 2009.
• Vegetation-includes tropical semi-evergreen forests, tropical moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous hill forests, high level sal forests and sprawling meadows.
• Fauna: langur, giant squirrel, chausingha (four horned antelope), wild boar, jungle cat, gaur, barking deer, sambar, Asian elephant, leopard and tiger.
• Numerous waterfalls and perennial streams flow into major rivers, such as the Budhabalang, Baitarani and Subarnarekha.
• The highest peak in the Similipal hill range is Khairiburu (1,168 metres).

ANSWER: B

• A rare yellow belly snake was seen on the coast of Digha Bay of Bengal amid huge tides recently.

About Yellow-bellied Sea snake

• Scientific name– Pelamis Platurus
• The snake is originally from the Arabian Sea and found very rarely in the Bay of Bengal.
• Characteristics– The side of the tail is like the paddle of a boat and the lower abdomen is yellow making it different from other reptile species.
• It can swim by lateral undulation of the body, and can move both forwards and backwards.
• It is a diurnal sea snake and primarily aquatic, living its entire life cycle at sea.
• This snake can spend up to 3 hours underwater without surfacing.
• It can uptake up to 33% of its oxygen requirements through the skin while diving and swimming at the surface of the water.
• They are carnivores (piscivores) and eat only fish.
• It is a highly venomous species of snake.
• IUCN Red List status- Least Concern

ANSWER: C

• Astronomers have discovered a stunning, rare example of an “Einstein cross” splitting and magnifying light from the far depths of the universe.
  • The pattern was first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1915.
• It occurs when the curvature of space-time around a massive foreground object (like a galaxy) splits the light behind it into four, like the points of a cross.
• In this case the background light likely comes from a quasar (more than 11.179 billion light-years away), a young galaxy whose supermassive black hole at its core gobbles up enormous amounts of matter and blasts out enough radiation to shine more than a trillion times more brightly than the brightest stars.
  • Gravitational Lensing occurs when a massive celestial body, such as a galaxy cluster, causes a sufficient curvature of space-time for the path of light around it to be visibly bent, as if by a lens.
  • An important consequence of this lensing distortion is magnification, allowing us to observe objects that would otherwise be too far away and too faint to be seen.
• Earth, the lensing galaxy (about 5.998 billion light-years away) and the quasar have aligned to perfectly duplicate the quasar’s light, arranging them along a so-called Einstein ring.
  • This gravitational lens was first discovered in 2021.

ANSWER: D

• National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has developed an application ‘MASI’ – Monitoring App for Seamless Inspection for real time monitoring of the Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and their inspection mechanism across the country.
• ‘MASI’ enables unified inspections by Child Welfare Committees (CWCs), State Inspection Committees, District Inspection Committees, Members of Juvenile Justice Boards (JJBs) and State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) as laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 (as amended in 2021).
• It serves as a single platform for inspections of all CCIs across the country, enabling any of the above-stated authorities to conduct unified inspections.
• The application is linked to a monitoring portal, where automatic reports are generated, ensuring real-time updates on the status of CCIs.
• Regular follow-ups are conducted to ensure compliance with the Juvenile Justice Act and its rules, both before and after the completion of inspection.

ANSWER: A

• The Central government has granted a one-year extension to Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, making him the longest-serving cabinet secretary in India’s history.
  • The decision was made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
• Initially appointed for a two-year tenure in 2019, he has now received extensions twice, first in 2021 and now, beyond August 2023.
• With this latest extension, his tenure will surpass that of BD Pande, who held the position from November 2, 1972, to March 31, 1977, making Rajiv Gauba the longest-serving cabinet secretary in India’s bureaucratic history.

ANSWER: D

• Deputy Commissioner of Hamirpur recently said that the district will be hosting the four-day Asian Rafting Championship from September 24.
• Over 18 teams from various countries are set to participate in the event.
• The teams would cover a distance of over 10 kilometres in the running waters of the Beas.