UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 29th JULY 2021

Solution (b)

Wasteland Atlas 2019 has been prepared by the Department of Land Resources under Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Department of Space.

Significance of wasteland atlas: Unprecedented pressure on the land beyond its carrying capacity is resulting into degradation of lands in the Country. Therefore, robust geospatial information on wastelands assumes significance and effectively helpful in rolling back the wastelands for productive use through various land development programmes / schemes.

This Wastelands Atlas-2019 provides district and state wise distribution of different categories of wastelands area.

Wasteland is defined not as desertified land, but land that not used for agriculture, commercial use or as forest land. It includes degraded forests, overgrazed pastures, drought-struck pastures, eroded valleys, hilly slopes, waterlogged marshy lands, barren land, etc.

Article Link: Over 7 lakh sq km of forest land in country, Rajya Sabha informed

Solution (d)

Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK) is a centrally sponsored sheme being implemented by the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

It is being implemented in 1300 identified Minority Concentration Areas (MCAs), with an objective of developing socio-economic infrastructure and basic amenities for minorities.

Special focus by earmarking funds

• 80% of the resources under the PMJVK would be earmarked for projects related to education, health and skill development.
• 33 to 40% of resources under the PMJVK would be specifically allocated for women centric projects.

Beneficiaries:

• As far as PMJVK is concerned, the communities notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 would be taken as Minority Communities. 
• At present 6 (six) communities namely Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains have been notified as Minority Communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.  

Article Link: Infrastructure Development Programme

Solution (b)

The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is a division of the Confederation of Indian Industry that works closely with the government and aims at sustainably built environment.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in New Delhi, founded in 1895. CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas. It is a membership-based organisation.

IGBC Green Cities rating system is a voluntary and consensus based programme. The rating system has been developed with the support of IGBC Green Cities Committee.

IGBC Green Cities rating system is the first of its kind rating in India to address environmental sustainability in emerging cities. The rating system shall enable the development authorities and developers to apply green concepts and planning principles, so as to reduce environmental impacts that are measurable and improve the overall quality of life.

Article Link: Kandla becomes first Green SEZ

Solution (c)

Nauka — meaning “science” in Russian — is the biggest space laboratory Russia has launched to date, and will primarily serve as a research facility.

It will replace Pirs, a Russian module on the International Space Station (ISS) used as a docking port for spacecraft and as a door for cosmonauts to go out on spacewalks.

Now, Nauka will serve as the Russia’s main research facility on the space station.

The new module is sent into orbit using a Proton rocket — the most powerful in Russia’s space inventory.

Article Link: What is Nauka, the module Russia is sending to the International Space Station?

Solution (a)

The Bhoj Wetland consists of two lakes located in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The two lakes are the Bhojtal (Upper Lake) & the Lower Lake, which lie to the west of the city center. It was declared Ramsar site in 2002.

Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary is located in Nasik district of Maharashtra. The site is a mosaic of lakes, marshes and riparian forest on the Deccan Plateau. It was declared ramsar site in 2019.

Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, saline, soda lake, located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra. It was declared Ramsar site in 2020.

Thane Creek is an inlet in the shoreline of the Arabian Sea that isolates the city of Mumbai from the Konkan region of the Indian mainland. The Maharashtra Government has declared the area along the western bank of Thane Creek as the “Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary” since 2015.

Recently, Maharashtra Government has proposed Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary to be included in the Ramsar site.

Article Link: Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary proposed as MMR’s Ramsar site