Daily Quiz #59 UPSC Prelims Marathon – January 11, 2020

Explanation: Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), the amount of dissolved oxygen used by microorganisms in the biological process of metabolizing organic matter in water. The more organic matter there is (e.g., in sewage and polluted bodies of water), the greater the BOD; and the greater the BOD, the lower the amount of dissolved oxygen available for higher animals such as fishes. The BOD is therefore a reliable gauge of the organic pollution of a body of water. One of the main reasons for treating wastewater prior to its discharge into a water resource is to lower its BOD—i.e., reduce its need of oxygen and thereby lessen its demand from the streams, lakes, rivers, or estuaries into which it is released.

Explanation: The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value. The convention entered into force in India on 1 February 1982.
India currently has 27 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites), with a surface area of 1,056,871 hectares.

Explanation: Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is located in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu state spread over 321 sq.km. at the tri-junction of three states, viz, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and it plays an unique role by forming part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, the first Biosphere Reserve in India, declared during 1986. It has a common boundary with Wyanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) on the West, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) on the North, and the Nilgiris North Division on the South and East and Gudalur Forest Division on the South West, together forming a large conservation landscape for flagship species such as Tiger and Asian Elephant. Reception Centre is located at Theppakadu. The name Mudumalai means ” the ancient hill range”. Indeed, it is as old as 65 million years when Western Ghats were formed.

Explanation: The Government of India has set a target of installing of installing 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by the year 2022, which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro-power.

The Ministry of Urban Development had requested all States & UTs, in 2014 to issue necessary directives to all State Government Departments for using rooftop of buildings under their control for solar power generation on mandatory basis and also to local bodies under their jurisdiction to incorporate the similar provision in their building bye-laws so that installation of Roof Top Systems (RTS) on rooftops of all types of buildings in their jurisdiction may become mandatory. Further, the Ministry of Urban Development also issued Model Building Bye-Laws, 2016, in which suitable provisions for installation of RTS on buildings have been incorporated. Four States/UTs viz. Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have already issued mandatory notifications for installation of RTS in different categories of buildings.

Explanation: Electronic waste or e-waste is used to describe all electrical appliances and electronic devices that are discarded for reuse, recycle or dumped in the bin. E-waste can be classified into three categories:
•large household appliances, also called as white goods, such as refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners;
•goods built on information technology and telecommunications, also known as grey goods, such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, printers; and
•consumer goods, also known as brown goods, like televisions, cameras and recorders.
All e-waste items can be classified either as hazardous or non-hazardous depending on the materials they are made of. These materials could be ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastic, glass, wood, ceramic, rubber and others.
According to a Global E-waste Monitor 2017 report, above 45 million metric tonnes (mmt) of e-waste is generated annually around the world. India is one of the countries that generates the most amount of e-waste, falling only behind China, the United States and Japan. China tops the charts with over seven mmt, the United States is second with nearly 6.5 mmt and India ranks fourth with two mmt of e-waste generated in 2016.