Daily Current Affairs Quiz: June 22, 2023

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

• Gangotri national park (GNP) authorities would soon be transferring around 50 hectares of land to Army and ITBP to develop new bunkers and border outposts near the LAC.

ABOUT GANGOTRI NATIONAL PARK

• It was established in 1989 and is situated in Uttarkashi, Uttrakhand in the upper catchment of Bhagirathi River.
• Gaumukh at Gangotri glacier, the origin of river Ganga, is located inside the park.
• The park area forms a viable continuity between Govind National Park and Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.
• The northeastern section of the park forms the international boundary of India and Tibet (China).
• Area- 2,390 sq km across a highly mountainous part of the country.
• Major peaks within the park include Chaukhamba I, Satopanth, Chaukhamba II, Chaukhamba III, and Kedarnath Main.
• Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests dominate at lower elevation.
  • These forests are filled with fir trees intermixed with deodar, oak, spruce, and rhododendrons trees.
• Higher elevations in the park are home to Western Himalayan alpine shrubs.
  • Alpine meadows are also common beneath the massive glaciers.
• Various rare and endangered species like bharal or blue sheep, black bear, brown bear, himalayan monal, himalayan snowcock, himalayan tahr, musk deer and snow leopard are found in the park.

ANSWER: D

• A number of European institutions have formed the Einstein Telescope Collaboration to build a next generation gravitational wave observatory deep beneath the surface of the Earth.
• CERN has entered into an agreement with the collaboration in 2022, and held a workshop earlier this year.
• CERN is bringing its expertise with underground vacuum chambers to the table.

ABOUT EINSTEIN TELESCOPE

• It is an advanced gravitational-wave observatory, currently in the planning stage.
• It builds on the success of current, second-generation laser-interferometric detectors Advanced Virgo and Advanced LIGO, whose breakthrough discoveries of merging black holes (BHs) and neutron stars over the past 5 years have ushered scientists into the new era of gravitational-wave astronomy.
• The Einstein Telescope will achieve a greatly improved sensitivity by increasing the size of the interferometer from the 3km arm length of the Virgo detector to 10km, and by implementing a series of new technologies.
• The expected sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope will be at least a factor of ten times that of Ligo.

ABOUT CERN

• CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research where scientists probe the fundamental structure of the universe.
• Established in 1954.
• It has 23 member states– 22 members are European countries while Israel is the only non-European nation that has full membership in CERN.
• India is the associate member of CERN.
• CERN is located in Geneva and it is an official Observer to the United Nations (UN).

ABOUT GRAVITATIONAL WAVES

• They are ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe.
• Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.
• These cosmic ripples travel at the speed of light, carrying with them information about their origins, as well as clues to the nature of gravity itself.
• The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae, and colliding neutron stars.

ANSWER: C

• The Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Authority (SOUADTGA) has recently issued a tender to resume the suspended helicopter joyride services at the Statue of Unity.

ABOUT STATUE OF UNITY

• It was created as a tribute to the ‘Iron Man of India’, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• It is located in Gujarat, by the banks of River Narmada on the River Island of Sadhu Bet overlooking the Narmada Dam.
• The statue, 182-metre tall, is described as the world’s tallest as it exceeds the height of China’s Spring Temple Buddha by 177 feet.
• The statue was built by Indian construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and designed by Padma Bhushan-winning sculptor Ram V Sutar.

ANSWER: A

• The child helpline number 1098 will be merged with the emergency response support system 112.
• It is a 24-hour a day, 365 days a year, free, emergency phone service for children in need of aid and assistance.
• CHILDLINE India Foundation (CIF) is the nodal agency for the monitoring and maintenance of the helpline. It functions under union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

ANSWER: D

• The term “Blue Ocean Event” refers to a hypothetical event in which the Arctic Ocean becomes ice-free during the summer months.
• It describes a scenario where the extent of sea ice in the Arctic has melted to such a degree that only small, scattered patches or a completely ice-free ocean surface remains.
• BOE represents a critical tipping point in the Arctic system, as more sea ice melts, it reduces the amount of sunlight reflected into space, leading to further warming and ice loss.

ANSWER: B

• A. Bhavani Devi, an Olympian from Chennai, made history by securing India’s first-ever medal at the Asian fencing championships held in Wuxi, China.
• Bhavani’s outstanding performance and determination earned her a well-deserved bronze medal in this prestigious event.

ANSWER: A

• Petteri Orpo, the leader of the conservative party in Finland, has been elected as the country’s prime minister by the parliament.
• He will lead a coalition government comprising four parties.

ANSWER: B

• China inked an agreement with Pakistan to set up a 1,200-megawatt nuclear power plant Chashma-V at Chashma in the Mianwali district of Punjab.

ANSWER: C

• A four-day district-level Ashadh Nag Mela began at the ancient Nag temple at Banikhet in Chamba district recently with a shobha yatra.