IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - June 05 & 06, 2016

ANSWER: Madhya Pradesh

Explanation:

• Minister of Railways flagged off the inaugural run of the Tiger Trail Circuit Train from Delhi Safdarjung Station.
• The train with 5 days/6 nights itinerary will start from Delhi Sufdarjung railway station and travel via Katani, Jabalpur, Bandhavgadh, Kanha. The semi-luxury train will take the guests on-board to the world famous Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks in Madhya Pradesh. In addition the trip will also take tourists to Dhuadhar Waterfall in Bedhaghat near Jabalpur.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
Salient features of the Tiger Express -

• The objective of the train is to create awareness about our national animal, the Tiger.
• The ‘Tiger Express’ is one of the most innovative tourism products ever launched by Indian Railways.
• The semi-luxury train will take the guests onboard to the world famous Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks in Madhya Pradesh.
• The Bandhavgarh National Park is known for its biodiversity. The density of the tiger population at Bandhavgarh is one of the highest known in India. The park has a large breeding population of leopards and various species of deer.
• The 5 days / 6 nights itinerary of the Tiger Express includes three Tiger Safaris, and it gives ample opportunity to the tourists to have a sight of the majestic wild cats in their natural environs and a spectacular view of the wildlife.
• Regular Monthly trips of the fully air-conditioned train, which has been vinyl-wrapped with motifs of the wildlife, are to begin from October, 2016 onwards.
• The most important objective of the train is to create and spread awareness about the wildlife in general and the tiger in particular. An added attraction of the trip is a visit to the famous Dhuadhar Falls in Bhedaghat, Jabalpur.
• IRCTC has been designated to execute the entire itinerary. They have been efficiently conducting a variety of tour programmes like the ‘Desert Circuit’ in Rajasthan and the ‘Heritage Circuit’ in North India. This is for the first time that Indian Railways have forayed into the exciting and fascinating wildlife tourism.

ANSWER: Kanha National Park

Explanation:

• The Kanha National Park is known for the presence of tigers, Swamp Deer, and the Barasingha.
• It is also recognized as the source of inspiration for the famous writer Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel, “The Jungle Book”.

ANSWER: Afghanistan

Explanation:

• The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has been conferred with Amir Amanullah Khan Award, Afghanistan’s highest civilian honour.
• It is the Highest Civilian honour bestowed by Afghan government to Afghan national as well as foreigners in appreciation of their services. The citation on the reverse of the medal reads: “nishan-e dawlati Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan”, or "State Order of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan.”
• The award is named after the Afghan national hero, Amanullah Khan (Ghazi), who championed the cause of Afghanistan’s freedom. He was the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919-1929 who led Afghanistan to independence.
• King Amanullah advanced Afghanistan’s modernist constitution, incorporated equal rights and individual freedom. He modernised the country, creating cosmopolitan schools for both boys and girls and also increased Afghanistan’s trade with Europe and Asia.

ANSWER: Planting more trees in urban areas

Explanation:

• Urban forestry is the careful care and management of tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment. Urban forestry advocates the role of trees as a critical part of the urban infrastructure.
• The Environment Ministry will launch the ‘Urban Forestry Scheme’ in Pune.
• There are many cities where the forest department has its land but there are no forests on it or are degraded. In these places through people’s participation, the ministry will undertake urban forestry.

ANSWER: Blood metabolites

Explanation:

• Researchers, for the first time, have found that the level of blood metabolites, the building blocks of fats and proteins, are "testable indicators" of whether or not a cancer treatment is working accurately, an advance that could help in tailoring treatment for patients.
• This new way of monitoring cancer therapy could speed up the development of new targeted drugs - which exploit specific genetic weaknesses in cancer cells - and help in tailoring treatment for patients.
• Using a sensitive technique called mass spectrometry, scientists initially analysed the metabolite levels in the blood of mice with cancers.

ANSWER: Qatar

Explanation:

• Qatar is India's biggest LNG supplier.
• India imports 65% of its LNG from Qatar. 6 lakh 30 thousand Indians are living in the gulf state. India is Qatar's third largest trading partner, while Qatar is the eleventh most significant trading partner of India.

ANSWER: Doha

Explanation:

• India and Qatar on Sunday signed 7 important agreements including investments, skills, health and tourism.
• Qatar is a high income economy and is a developed country, backed by the world's third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
• Capital of Qatar is Doha.
• It is located near Saudi Arabia. It is a peninsula. It is surrounded by the Persian Gulf.
• Bahrain is a small island nation near Qatar.

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:

• A team of scientists from Harvard University has created a unique ‘bionic leaf ‘, that uses solar energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen, and hydrogen-eating bacteria to produce liquid fuels from CO₂.
• Dubbed ‘bionic leaf 2.0,’ the new system can convert solar energy to biomass with 10 percent efficiency - a number far higher than the one per cent seen in the fastest growing plants.
• The team designed a new cobalt-phosphorous alloy catalyst.
• The new catalyst also came with another advantage. Its chemical design allows it to "self-heal" -meaning it wouldn't leech material into solution.
• It can be used to generate usable fuels like hydrogen.