UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 12th JUNE 2021

Solution (b)

Assam has the third most National Parks after the 12 in Madhya Pradesh and nine in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

National Paks in Assam are: Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri, Orang, Dibru-Saikhowa, Dihing-Patkai and Raimona National Park. Kaziranga and Manas are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They are also tiger reserves along with Nameri and Orang.

Kaziranga National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1985, nine years after it was declared a national park.

Manas National Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Recently, Raimona and Dihing Patkai were notified as the sixth and seventh National Parks of Assam.

Article Link: Dihing Patkai is Assam’s 7th National Park

Solution (c)

Addu Atoll, also known as Seenu Atoll, is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives. Addu Atoll, together with Fuvahmulah, located 40 km north of Addu Atoll, extend the Maldives into the Southern Hemisphere.

Located in the Indian Ocean, Addu is the second largest city in Maldives, home to over 30,000 people.

Article Link: No decision yet on Indian consulate in Addu Atoll: Solih

Solution (b)

The HKH region spans Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

It traverses about 5 million square kilometres and hosts a large and culturally diverse population.

It is considered the Third Pole (after the North and South Poles), and has significant implications for climate.

It contains vast cryospheric zones and is also the world’s third-largest storage of snow and ice after the Antarctica and Arctic.

HKH region is home to 4 global biodiversity hotspots: the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Mountains of Southwest China, and Mountains of Central Asia hotspots.

Major river basins in HKH region are: Amu Darya, Brahmaputra, Ganges, Indus, Irrawaddy, Mekong, Salween, Tarim, Yangtze, Yellow Rivers.

Article Link: Glacier melting in Hindu Kush: 2 billion people may face food, water shortage by 2100

Solution (d)

Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed region between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh region is a mountainous land-locked region in the South Caucasus. It is a forested region and geographically lies within the boundary of Azerbaijan.

Reasons for Dispute:

• Territorial: Nagorno-Karabakh region has 95% of the population as ethnically Armenian and is controlled by them but it is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
• Religious: Armenia is Christian majority, while Azerbaijan is Muslim majority country.

In September 2020, a war erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding territories, which saw both the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia report military and civilian casualties. Azerbaijan made significant gains during the war, regaining most of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh and large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the culturally significant city of Shusha. 

The war ended on 10 November 2020, when a trilateral ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, which forced Armenia to return all the remaining occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh.

Solution (d)

The Global Economic Prospects report 2021 is recently released by the World Bank.

• It has forecast India’s GDP growth to be 8.3% for the year 2021-22.
• India’s economy is expected to grow at 7.5% for 2022-23 and 6.5% for 2023-24.
• The world economy is expected to expand at 5.6%, the fastest post-recession growth rate in eighty years.
• However, global output will still be 2% below pre-pandemic projections by year-end.

Article Link: India expected to grow at 8.3%, says World Bank