IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Jan 07, 2017

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated every two years.

Till 2015 it was celebrated every year. Then it became biennial (every two years).

Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was launched in 2015. It was in Gandhinagar. For 2017 it will be held in Bengaluru.

Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is a platform to connect with the youth, the new generation of Pravasis growing up all over the world.

The government is keen to enable young Diaspora to know more about their roots and the place from where their fathers or forefathers originated.

To familiarize the Diaspora youth with the limitless opportunity and potential that is India, and to harness their imagination and creativity, government has several programmes in place.

The Know India Programme, is a scheme aimed to give a flavour of India and provide a platform for interaction with policy makers; industry and civil society.

The Scholarship Programme for Diaspora Children enables Diaspora youth to pursue Undergraduate courses in Indian Universities and Institutes.

Bharat Ko Janiye (Know India) Quiz programme which Prime Minister launched for young overseas Indians in the last PBD in 2015 in Gandhinagar was another initiative which received tremendous response.

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:
A Memorandum of Understanding had been signed last year by Nobel Media and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India for hosting Nobel Prize Series in India for the next five years.

Nobel Prize Series is a unique programme combining a conference, lectures, roundtables, and exhibitions. By bringing together Nobel Laureates, other experts and lifelong learners the programme aims to stimulate innovation and creative thinking.

Nobel Media is holding the first Nobel Prize Series in India in Science City of Ahmedabad, in conjunction with the biennial summit of Vibrant Gujarat being held by the Government of Gujarat.

Beside the conference and meeting events, such as lectures, roundtables and other activities in Gandhinagar, Delhi and Bangalore, Nobel Prize Series, India 2017 will feature a 5-week long Science Exhibition being set up by the Nobel Foundation, with exhibits from the Nobel Museum, Stockholm, Sweden. This will be held at the Science City Ahmedabad.

Nine Nobel Laureates have confirmed their participation in this conference cum exhibition.

They are:

i. Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry,

ii. Dr. Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine,

iii. Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine,

iv. Dr. Randy Schekman,Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine,

v David Gross, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics,

vi. Dr. Ada Yonath, Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry,

vii. Dr. Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics,

viii. Dr. William E Moerner, in Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry

ANSWER: Breeding crops to increase nutrition value

Explanation:
Biofortification is the idea of breeding crops to increase their nutritional value.

This can be done either through conventional selective breeding, or through genetic engineering.

Biofortification differs from ordinary fortification because it focuses on making plant foods more nutritious as the plants are growing, rather than having nutrients added to the foods when they are being processed.

It has proposed as a strategy to counter malnutrition ‘Nutrition gardens’ (botanical gardens with plants considered rich in vitamins, iron, iodine etc.) along with

ANSWER: Jaundice

Explanation:
When a person has jaundice, the bilirubin gets deposited on the skin surface.

Gold nanoclusters that have been functionalised [using chitosan and mercaptopropionic acid] show yellow luminescence under UV light.

But when copper salt (copper sulphate) is added to it, the yellow luminescence gets quenched or reduced.

When bilirubin is added to the medium, the copper preferentially interacts with it, forming a complex and the luminescence of the gold nanoclusters gets restored.

This quick test has been developed by team of IIT Guwahati.

They just need a thumb imprint for detecting hyperbilirubinemia, a condition in which the amount of bilirubin in the blood is in excess and turns the sclera of the eye, urine and even the skin yellow.

Hyperbilirubinemia is commonly seen in people with jaundice and newborns. A person is said to have jaundice when the bilirubin concentration in the blood typically exceeds 12 ppm in adults and 50 ppm in a newborn.

While visual observation of yellow colour of the sclera and/or urine is routine for detecting jaundice, it is confirmed by a blood test. This new test is quicker.

ANSWER: Zebrafish

Explanation:
Scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have found a new species of Zingiber (commonly referred as Ginger) from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The species Zingiber pseudosquarrosum, new to science, belonging to genus Zingiber.

It was already used by the local Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups ( PVTGs) of the Andamans for its medicinal values.

The fresh extract [juice] of fleshy tuberous roots is used to treat abdominal pain and anti-helminthic troubles by Nicobarese and certain other tribal communities.

This pseudo stem of the new species is predominantly red in colour.

Flowers have a vermilion tinge and dehisced fruit [fully mature fruits] are lotus shaped.

Inflorescence buds are urceolate in shape.

The species has got tuberous root.

The morphological features of this species makes it distinct from other species belonging to the genus Zingiber.

Like other species of Gingers, this new species is edible and can be propagated vegetatively from the rhizome.

The planted rhizomes were successfully vegetatively propagated at the BSI garden at Port Blair after transplantation.