10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : March 20, 2018

All the statements are correct. Water striders are group of insects adapted to life on surface of water, using surface tension to their advantage. Their presence serves as indicator water of water quality and also play important role in food chain in river ecosystem as they feed on mosquito larvae.

Water strider legs are covered in thousands of microscopic hairs scored with tiny groves. As reported in National Geographic, “These groves trap air, increasing water resistance of the water’s striders legs and overall buoyancy of the insect.”

The water skipper’s legs are so buoyant they can support fifteen times the insect’s weight without sinking. Even in a rainstorm, or in waves, the strider stays afloat.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has been developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) has ranked India as fourth worst country worldwide in curbing environmental pollution. India has slipped from 141st position in 2016 report.

India has been ranked 177 among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – 2018. This report has been released on 23 January, 2018 on the sidelines of World Economic Forum meet in Davos.

Pairs 2 and 3 are correctly matched.

Pair 1 is incorrectly matched. The Mathikettan Shola National Park is located in Kerala’s Western Ghats. It is a global biodiversity hotspot.

All the statements are correct. The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is a proposed pure-Science underground laboratory. Its primary goal is to study the properties and interactions of weakly interacting, naturally occurring particles, called neutrinos.

The proposed site for INO is located in the Bodi West Hills region, about 2 km from the nearest village Pudukottai in Pottipuram Panchayat, Theni District of Tamil Nadu. The nearest major city is Madurai about 110 km away.

The ‘Varuna-18’ is a bilateral naval exercise between Indian and French Navy.

The first phase of the exercise was held in Arabian Sea. The second phase was held off the Chennai coast in Bay of Bengal in April 2017 and third will be held near France’s La Reunion Island in South Western Indian Ocean in May 2018.

It was aimed to explore measures to facilitate operational-level interactions between their armed forces and increase mutual cooperation, considering the common global threats.

The Ansupa Lake is Odisha’s largest freshwater lake. This lake silted up following drastic reduction of water inflow from the Mahanadi. The Chilika Development Authority has taken up restoration measures under funding from National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India was set up in March 2000 with the assistance of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Statement 2 is correct. NIF scouts, supports and spawns grassroots innovations developed by individuals and local communities in any technological field, helping in human survival without any help from formal sector.

NIF helps grassroots innovators and outstanding traditional knowledge holders get due recognition, respect and reward for their innovations. It also tries to ensure that such innovations diffuse widely through commercial and/or non-commercial channels, generating material or non-material incentives for them and others involved in the value chain.