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Daily MCQ UPSC Current Affairs

Daily MCQs for UPSC Current Affairs | 28TH DECEMBER 2022

/ EDEN Daily MCQ UPSC Current Affairs December 2022, EDEN Daily Prelims

Question 1: Consider the following statements:

  1. Nearly 30 per cent of India is degraded or facing Desertification.
  2. The UNCCD is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda.
  3. 2016 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

  1. 1 and 2
  2. 2 and 3
  3. 1 and 3
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

  • The State of India’s Environment report, 2017 calculates that nearly 30 per cent of India is degraded or facing desertification.
  • This figure touches 40 to 70 percent in eight states—Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
  • Land Degradation Neutrality has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as: A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.
  • Established in 1994, the UNCCD is the only legally binding international agreement linking environment and development issues to the land agenda.
  • 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.

Question 2: Consider the following statements:

  1. Great Green Wall Initiative is launched in 2007 by the African Union, being implemented across 22 African countries.
  2. Great green wall initiative aims to restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel.
  3. Bonn challenge is a global goal to bring 50 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020 and 150 million hectares by 2030.
  4. Bonn challenge is launched by the Government of Germany and IUCN in 2011.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

  1. 1, 2 and 3
  2. 2, 3 and 4
  3. 1, 2 and 4
  4. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Correct Answer: C

Explanation

Great Green Wall Initiative:

  • Launched in 2007 by the African Union, being implemented across 22 African countries.
  • Aim: To restore the continent’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives in the Sahel.
  • Objective: To restore 100 million hectares of currently degraded land; sequester 250 million tons of carbon and create 10 million green jobs by 2030.

Bonn Challenge:

  • It is a global goal to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.
  • Launched by the Government of Germany and IUCN in 2011, the Challenge surpassed the 150-million-hectare milestone for pledges in 2017.

Question 3: Consider the following statements:

  1. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Government of Goa is organizing the International Lusophone Festival in Goa.
  2. India joined Community of Portuguese Language Countries as Associate Observer.
  3. The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) consists of 9 member states.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

  1. 1 and 2
  2. 2 and 3
  3. 1 and 3
  4. 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: D

Explanation

  • India joined Community of Portuguese Language Countries as Associate Observer. This sets a new platform for strengthening India’s historic bonds of friendship with Lusophone countries.
  • The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in partnership with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Government of Goa is organizing the International Lusophone Festival in Goa from 3-6 December 2022.
  • The Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking countries) world is spread in nine countries across four continents, and Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) was created on July 17, 1996, at the Lisbon Constitutive Summit. It comprises Brazil, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, and Timor-Leste.

About Community of Portuguese Language Countries

  • It is also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth.
  • It is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.
  • The CPLP operates as a privileged, multilateral forum for the mutual cooperation of the governments, economies, non-governmental organizations, and peoples of the Lusophonia.
  • The CPLP consists of 9 member states and 32 associate observers, located in Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, totaling 37 countries and 4 organizations.

Question 4: Consider the following statements:

  1. The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
  2. India is also a member of The Paris club.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. 1 and 2 only
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

  • The Paris Club is an informal group of creditor nations whose objective is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
  • The Paris Club has 22 permanent members, including most of the western European and Scandinavian nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
  • The objective of the Paris Club, an informal group of creditor nations that meets each month in the French capital, is to find workable solutions to payment problems faced by debtor nations.
  • India is not a member.

Question 5: Consider the following statements:

  1. A meteorite is that part of the meteoroid that reaches the Earths’ surface.
  2. A place called El Ali is located in the Hiiraan region of Egypt.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. 1 and 2 only
  4. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

  • A meteorite is that part of the meteoroid that reaches the Earths’ surface.
  • One such meteorite was found in Somalia and sent for analysis to University of Alberta in Canada.
  • A slice of the El Ali meteorite, now housed in the U of a’s Meteorite Collection, contains two minerals never before seen on Earth. It is the 9th largest meteorite ever discovered and is one of the four meteorites recognized from Somalia.
  • The two minerals have been called: Elaliite, and Elkinstantonite.
  • Elalite comes from El Ali – the name of the meteorite. The meteorite was called El Ali because it was found at a place called El Ali in the Hiiraan region of Somalia.