Daily Quiz #20 UPSC Prelims Marathon – November 23, 2019

Explanation: The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2014 launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi. The National Air Quality Index is an initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce the culture of cleanliness.
AQI will act as a One Number- One Colour-One Description to judge the Air Quality for Common Man. The earlier measuring index was limited to three indicators, while this index has been made quite comprehensive by the addition of five additional parameters.
The proposed AQI will consider eight parameters (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.

Explanation: A biome is a community of plants and animals that have common characteristics for the environment they exist in. They can be found over a range of continents. Biomes are distinct biological communities that have formed in response to a shared physical climate. “Biome” is a broader term than “habitat”; any biome can comprise a variety of habitats.
While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For instance, while an Ocean is a larger biome, whereas a pond or an aquarium is a microbiome.

Explanation: The Only 5 Marine National Park and Water Sanctuaries of India India boasts of several marine national parks which are hotspots of bio-diversity and home to a number of marine creatures including Olive Ridley sea turtles, saltwater crocodile and a medium-sized marine mammal known as Dugong. Water sanctuaries of India include Bhitarkanika National Park, Sundarbans National Park and Rani Jhansi Marine National Park. These are swamp or large mangroves forests in India.

Explanation: Namdapha National park:
•It is the largest protected region of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot.
•Area wise, Namdapha is the third largest national park of India.
•The region is famous for its extensive Diterocarp forests.
•Wolves, Dholes, Mongoose, Asiatic Black Bears, Red Panda, Gaur, Sambar, Takin and many more.
•There is a local tribe called Lisu within the periphery of the park.
•This protected area is India’s only national park credited with providing a haven to all the three top types of cat- The snow leopard, the clouded leopard and the Bengal tiger.
•It is the only national park that is a preferred habitat for Hoolock Gibbons.

Explanation: The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) has launched the country’s first interactive online repository, called IndAIR or Indian Air quality Interactive Repository. The repository is one of few such facilities in the world and has the maximum number of studies-262 concerning Delhi-NCR.
The project aims to make air quality research and studies in an easily accessible web format for the public, media, researchers and academics.
NEERI has been working to develop a web repository of all research that has been done on subjects in India. The endeavour will be first comprehensive effort to inventories surviving Indian research and analysis on air pollution, its causes and effects.
It has archived about 700 scanned materials from pre-internet era, 170 reports and case studies, 1,215 research articles, 100 cases and more than 2,000 statutes to provide the history of air pollution research and legislation in India.