10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | April 11 2021

InSight short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport is a NASA Mission.

This Mission aims at studying the deep interiors of Mars. It is the first program to analyze the interior of the Red Planet, beneath its surface i.e. its crust, mantle, and core.

Part of: InSight mission is part of NASA’s Discovery Program (1992).

Discovery Program is a series of Solar System exploration missions. NASA funds these missions through its Planetary Missions Program Office.

Statement 1 is correct. Ground Fires are more damaging than surface fires, as they can destroy vegetation completely. Ground fires burn underneath the surface by smoldering combustion and are more often ignited by surface fires.

Statement 2 is correct. On hill slopes, if the fire starts downhill, it spreads up fast as heated air adjacent to a slope tends to flow up the slope spreading flames along with it. If the fire starts uphill, there is less likelihood of it spreading downwards.

A consultation meeting is scheduled under E-9 Initiative. This consultation meeting will be the 1st of the 3-phase process to co-create a Digital Learning initiative. The target population will be marginalized children and youth especially girls.

Read More – “E9 Initiative” to Accelerate Digital Learning

Forest fires occurs due to both man-made and natural causes

Man-Made causes include,

• Manmade fires are high particularly in places where people visit forests. People leave burning bidis, cigarette stubs or other inflammable materials inside the forest.
• Slash and Burn Cultivation: This is one of the major reasons for the fire in India’s Northeastern region.
• In some places, people deliberately cause a fire. For example, the recent fire in Simlipal National Park in Odisha is due to deliberation. Villagers set dry leaves to fire in order to collect mahua flowers. (The local people use these flowers in preparation for a local drink).
• Other reasons include, campfires, fireworks, mining works, etc can also cause forest fires.

Natural causes include,

• Volcanic eruption: Hot magma in the earth’s crust is usually expelled out as lava during a volcanic eruption. The hot lava then flows into nearby fields or lands to start wildfires.
• Heat waves: Increased temperatures due to global warming are making the forests more vulnerable.
• Climate Change: Massive fires in the Amazon forests in Brazil and in Australia are primarily due to Climate Change.
• Lack of soil moisture: It is also seen as a key factor. For example, the recent Uttarakhand forest fires are due to this.
• Lightning strikes, Increased heat waves can also cause forest fires.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization also called North Atlantic Alliance is an intergovernmental military alliance.

It was formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty. It consists of 30 countries from North America and Europe. It is headquartered at Brussels, Belgium.(Statement 1 is correct)

The goal of NATO is to safeguard the Allies freedom and security by political and military means.

The members of NATO follow a system of collective defence. Under this, if one member of the alliance is attacked, then it is considered as an attack on all members. (Statement 2 is correct).

Sadabahar is a dwarf variety of mango. It can be grown regularly round the year.

The dwarf is used to describe varieties or species of plants and animals which are much smaller than the usual size for their kind.

It is resistant to most major diseases and common mango disorders.

It is deep orange with sweet taste, and the pulp has very less fiber content which differentiates it from other varieties.

Read More – Farmer develops mango variety that bears fruits round the year 

Karachi Agreement of 1949

• This agreement was signed after the India Pakistan war of 1947 and supervised by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan.
• The agreement established a Ceasefire line along the disputed regions of Kashmir.

Shimla Agreement of 1972

• This agreement was signed after the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971.
• Under this agreement both the countries agreed to resolve the disputes bilaterally.
• The agreement converted the ceasefire line into a Line of Control (LoC).

Ceasefire Agreement of 2003

• This agreement came after four years of Kargil and two years after the Indian Parliament got attacked.
• Pakistan PM announced the Ceasefire on LoC on November 26, 2003. So, it is not a formalised document. But it has certain important points such as,

• Creating a buffer Zone within 500 yards of LoC.
• Proper fencing on LoC can be done by countries.
• No firing will be done by both the countries on LoC.

Read more about ceasefire violations and agreements

Border Defence cooperation Agreement of 2013

This is an agreement is between India and China. This agreement aims to reduce misunderstandings and improve communication. Article VI of the agreement prohibits either side from tailing the patrols of the other “in areas where there is no common understanding of the line of actual control”.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) releases the Food Waste Index Report 2021. (Statement 2 is incorrect)

The report found few major observations. Such as,

• Food Waste: An estimated 17% (931 million tonnes) of total global food production was wasted in 2019. Among them, 61% of the global waste came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail.
• Food Wastes across income groups: Household per capita food waste generation is broadly similar across country income groups. It suggests that action on food waste is equally relevant in high, upper‐middle and lower-middle-income countries.
• Hunger Across the World: In 2019, some 690 million people were impacted by hunger and three billion were unable to afford a healthy diet.

Read more about the Food Waste Index

• The Constitution of India does not have any specific provision for criteria and procedure for appointing the CJI.
• The closest mention is in Article 126. It deals with the appointment of an acting CJI.
• The procedure to appoint the next CJI is laid out in the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) between the government and the judiciary.
• The Constitution of India given the power to the Parliament to decide the salaries, allowances, privileges, leave and pension of the judges. This includes both the Judges and CJI of the Supreme Court.
• However, his terms and conditions cannot alter to their disadvantage after they get appointed. It can be altered only when there is a financial emergency.

Statement 1 is correct. SUPACE is an artificial intelligence-based portal. It will make the research work easier for judges, thereby easing their workload.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The portal is not designed to make decisions. It only processes facts and makes them available to judges, looking for input for a decision.