10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: August 13, 2020

Both statements are correct.

Cryogenic engines use Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Hydrogen as propellants which liquefy at -183 deg C and -253 deg C respectively.

A Cryogenic rocket stage is more efficient and provides more thrust for every kilogram of propellant it burns compared to solid and earth-storable liquid propellant rocket stages.

Specific impulse (a measure of the efficiency) achievable with cryogenic propellants (liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen) is much higher compared to earth storable liquid and solid propellants, giving it a substantial payload advantage.

However, cryogenic stage is technically a very complex system compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to its use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural problems.

Lisboa+21 Declaration on Youth Policies and Programmes 2019 was adopted in World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth 2019.

In 1998, several commitments on youth policy fields were stated in the Lisbon Declaration on Youth Policies and Programmes, as part of the outcomes of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, organized by the Portuguese Government in collaboration with UN-System partners.

Twenty-one years later, in 2019, it reaffirmed the World Programme of Action for Youth adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1995 and 2007, which provides a policy framework and practical guidelines for national action and international support to improve the situation of young people around the world, within fifteen youth priority areas.

International Youth Day was designated by the United Nations (UN) in the year 1999 to be observed on 12 August. The theme for 2020 is ‘Youth Engagement for Global Action’.

Statement 1 is correct. The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 provides a mechanism for resolution of pending tax disputes related to income tax and corporation tax.

It proposed a resolution mechanism under which an appellant can file a declaration to the designated authority to initiate resolution of pending direct tax disputes. Based on the declaration, the designated authority will determine the amount payable by the appellant against the dispute and grant a certificate.

Once the designated authority issues the certificate, appeals pending before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals and the Commissioner (Appeals) will be deemed to be withdrawn.  In case of appeals or petitions pending before the Supreme Court and High Courts, the appellant is required to withdraw the appeal or petition.

Statement 2 is correct. The proposed mechanism does not cover certain disputes: (i) where prosecution has been initiated before the declaration is filed, (ii) which involve persons who have been convicted or are being prosecuted for offences under certain laws (such as the Indian Penal Code), or for enforcement of civil liabilities, and (iii) involving undisclosed foreign income or assets.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis) also known as the great Indian hornbill or great pied hornbill, is one of the larger members of the hornbill family. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

In India, its habitat spreads over Eastern Himalaya and Western Ghats.

Statement 2 is correct. Due to habitat loss and hunting in some areas, the great hornbill is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (changed from near threatened in 2018) and in the Appendix I of CITES.

Operation Gibraltar was the codename given to the strategy of Pakistan to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, and instigate the locals in starting a rebellion against India.

-In August 1965, Pakistan Army’s Azad Kashmir Regular Force troops, disguised as locals, entered Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan. The operation sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

Indo–Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation was a treaty signed between the Republic of India and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic on August 09, 1971 that specified mutual strategic cooperation.

-The treaty was a seen as a deviation from India’s sustained position of non-alignment in the Cold War and in the prelude to the Bangladesh liberation war with Pakistan.

The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Sariska Tiger Reserve is in the Alwar district, Rajasthan. It mainly comprises scrub-thorn arid forests, dry deciduous forests, grasslands, and rocky hills. This area was a hunting preserve of the Alwar state and was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955.

In 2004, it was reported that no tigers were sighted in the reserve. In July 2008, two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park were relocated to Sariska Tiger Reserve. Another female tiger was relocated in February 2009. By 2020, the tiger population in the reserve has risen to 20.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, in the Pakke Kessang district of Arunachal Pradesh. The habitat types are lowland semi-evergreen, evergreen forest and Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests.

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Nameri National Park is in the eastern Himalayas in the Sonitpur District of Assam, Nameri shares its northern boundary with the Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh.

The vegetation type of Nameri is of semi-evergreen, moist deciduous forests with cane and bamboo brakes and narrow strips of open grassland along rivers Jia- Bhoroli and Bor Dikorai.

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 recognizes and vest forest rights in forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs), where they are scheduled, with respect to forest land and their habitat. Some of the rights are:

-living in the forest for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood;

-right of ownership, access to collect, use, and dispose of minor forest produce,

-rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages, old habitation, un-surveyed villages and other villages in forests, whether recorded, notified or not into revenue villages;

-conversion of pattas or leases issued by any local authority or any state government on forest land to titles, and other traditional customary rights.

-customary rights exclude hunting, trapping or extracting body parts of any wild animal.

Statement 1 is correct. Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace recently declared that it has successfully tested an upper-stage rocket engine becoming the first Indian private company to build a homegrown rocket engine.

The engine Raman, named after Nobel laureate CV Raman has fewer parts and weighs lesser than a conventional rocket engine.

Statement 2 is incorrect. ISRO has not used the said engine. The Skyroot Aerospace aims to launch satellite by its vehicle Vikram-I into a lower earth orbit by end-2021.

The third edition of the report, ‘Elephants. Not commodities’, was released on World Elephant Day (12 Aug) by World Animal Protection, an international non-profit animal welfare organization. It compares research spanning a decade into elephant tourism, assessing venues across Thailand, India, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

According to the report, India is home to the second highest number, after Thailand, of elephants used in tourism in Asia, and of the 21 venues housing 509 elephants, the report found 45% (225) of the elephants were kept in severely inadequate conditions.

Statement 1 is correct. Article 130 provides for the Seat of Supreme Court: The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Article 131A was inserted by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 which provided for exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in regard to questions as to constitutional validity of Central laws. This provision was later omitted by the Constitution (Forty-third Amendment) Act, 1977.