10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : October 4

Drosophila melanogaster is a fruit fly recently in the news related to the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Rosbash, Hall and Michael W Young were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm (the internal clock that keeps organisms in sync with day/night cycles). They used the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) in their work.

Statement 1 is correct. The project was jointly launched by the Union Environment Ministry and the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP)

Statement 2 is correct. Protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitat is one of the key components of the project.

Manipur and Sikkim do not share a border with Bangladesh.  

The names of Indian states that share a border with Bangladesh are Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam and West Bengal.

Statement 1 is correct. UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. Mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1978 to address the issues of urban growth, it is a knowledgeable institution on urban development processes and understands the aspirations of cities and their residents. For forty years, UN-Habitat has been working in human settlements throughout the world, focusing on building a brighter future for villages, towns, and cities of all sizes. [G7]

Statement 2 is correct. The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day.The theme for World Habitat Day 2 October 2017 is Housing Policies: Affordable Homes. The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

Statement 1:The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are driven by an internal biological clock that anticipates day/night cycles to optimize the physiology and behavior of organisms. Observations that organisms adapt their physiology and behavior to the time of the day in a circadian fashion have been documented for a long time, but the existence of an endogenous circadian clock would only finally become established well into the 20th century

Statement 2: Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in the fabric of 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. Einstein’s mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that ‘waves’ of distorted space would radiate from the source (like the movement of waves away from a stone thrown into a pond). Furthermore, these ripples would travel at the speed of light through the Universe, carrying with them information about their cataclysmic origins, as well as invaluable clues to the nature of gravity itself.The strongest gravitational waves are produced by catastrophic events such as colliding black holes, the collapse of stellar cores (supernovae), coalescing neutron stars or white dwarf stars, the slightly wobbly rotation of neutron stars that are not perfect spheres, and the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the birth of the Universe itself.

Both the statements are true.

Gravitational waves were first predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein on basis of his Theory of General Relativity. They were detected for by US LIGO laboratory in 2015. Since then three more examples have been detected

The SECURE project aims at securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems. It is meant for specific landscapes including Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir), Lahaul – Pangi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri – Govind and Darma – Byans Valley in Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga – Upper Teesta Valley (Sikkim). The key focus areas of the project is protection of snow leopard and other endangered species and their habitats and also securing livelihoods of people in region and enhancing enforcement to reduce wildlife crime. Under it, enhanced enforcement efforts and monitoring will be undertaken to curb illegal trade in some medicinal and aromatic plants which are among most threatened species in these landscapes.