Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon- August 11

Explanation:

The Supreme Court has banned fireworks manufacturers from using five substances that stoke air and noise pollution, an order that is likely to mean firecrackers with subdued sound and light effects this Diwali. The substances barred are lithium, antimony, mercury, arsenic and lead.

• Lithium is a metal used to impart red colour to fireworks, while antimony is used to create glitter effects.
• Lead oxide provides a special crackling effect which, if inhaled, in high concentration could cause damage to the nervous system.

All the above pairs is correctly matched

Dihang pass:

It is located in the Northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh. This pass connect Arunachal Pradesh with Myanmar (Mandalay)

Pensi La Pass:

The Pensi La connects the Kashmir valley with Kargil. It is situated in the Greater Himalayas.

Khunjerab Pass:

Khunjerab Pass or is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan-administered Gilgit–Baltistan Hunza – Nagar District on the southwest border of the Xinjiang region of China.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched

Kuroshio Current is a warm current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean. It is similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic and is part of the North Pacific Ocean gyre.

Important Learning:

• Ocean Currents that move warm water away from the Equator are called warm currents.
• Warm currents have higher temperatures, so they are less dense than cold water.
  Usually warm water has a higher salinity, but it remains less dense than cold water, so cold water is heavier and flows under warm water.
• The water is warmed on the surface, so warm currents flow across the surface of the ocean.
• As warm current cools down, it drops down and becomes cold water current.
• Cold ocean currents come from high latitude areas near the poles.
  The cold temperatures cause a high density, which makes cold water heavier than warm water.
• Cold water tends to have a lower salinity too.

1 is incorrrect:

Jarawas – Andaman islands

The Jarawas are an indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India. They live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands, and their present numbers are estimated at between 250–400 individuals. They have largely shunned interaction with outsiders, and many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood.

B is incorrect:

Shompens – Nicobar islands

The Shompen or Shom Pen are the indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They practice a hunter-gatherer subsistence economy.

Oraon – Chota Nagpur plateau

They are also known as Kurukh tribes. These tribes are mainly found in the states of Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa.

Asian Waterbird Census is an annual event in which thousands of volunteers across Asia and Australasia count waterbirds in the wetlands of their country. This event happens every January. This event is coordinated by wetalands Internationaland forms part of global waterbird monitoring programme called the International Waterbird Census (IWC).

The AWC initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent and has grown rapidly to cover the region of Asia, from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast Asia and Australasia. It therefore includes the entire East Asian – Australasian flyway and a large part of the Central Asian flyway. The AWC runs parallel to other regional programmes of the International Waterbird Census of waterbirds in Africa, Europe, West Asia, the Neotropics and the Caribbean.

The census has three major objectives:

1. to obtain information on an annual basis of waterbird populations at wetlands in the region during the non-breeding period of most species (January), as a basis for evaluation of sites and monitoring of populations
2. to monitor on an annual basis the status and condition of wetlands

3.  to encourage greater interest in waterbirds and wetlands amongst people, and thereby promote the conservation of wetlands.

All of the above given characteristic is correct about Mediterranean Climate

• Entirely confined to the western portion of continental masses, between 30° and 45° north and south of the equator.
• The basic cause of this type of climate is the shifting of the wind belts.
• Mediterranean Sea has the greatest extent of this type of ‘winter rain climate’, and gives rise to the name Mediterranean Climate.
• The best developed form of this climatic type is found in central Chile.
• Other Mediterranean regions include
• California (around San Francisco),
• the south-western tip of Africa (around Cape Town),
• Southern Australia and south-west Australia (Swanland).
• In summer when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, the belt of influence of the Westerlies is shifted a little pole wards. Rain bearing winds are therefore not likely to reach the Mediterranean lands.
• The prevailing Trade Winds [tropical easterlies] are off-shore and there is practically no rain.
• Strong winds from inland desert regions pose the risk of wildfires.
• The Mediterranean lands receive most of their precipitation in winter when the Westerlies shift equator wards.
• In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing on-shore Westerlies bring much cyclonic rain from the Atlantic (Typical to Mediterranean Climate).
• The rain comes in heavy showers and only on a few days with bright sunny periods between them. This is another characteristic feature of the Mediterranean winter rain.
• Though the downpours are infrequent they are often very torrential and in mountainous districts, destructive floods occur.
• Many local winds, some hot, others cold are common around the Mediterranean Sea.
• Trees with small broad leaves are widely spaced and never very tall.
• The absence of shade is a distinct feature of Mediterranean lands.
• Plants are in a continuous struggle against heat, dry air, excessive evaporation and prolonged droughts. They are, in short xerophytic [drought tolerant], a word used to describe the drought-resistant plants in an environment deficient in moisture.

Explanation:

Temperate Cyclones also called mid-latitudinal cyclones or extra tropical cyclones are formed due to interaction of air masses of different temperature. The cold air mass is from the polar region and hot air mass from the temperate region. This condition occurs between sub-polar low and sub-tropical high pressure belts and along the tropopause.