IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - May 31, 2016

ANSWER: Phosphate

Explanation:

• India sources a large chunk of its rock phosphates and phosphoric acid requirements for is fertiliser industry from Morocco, the world's biggest phosphate exporter.
• The MoUs on Cultural Exchange and Institutional Training for Foreign Service officers were signed recently.
• MoUs relating to other three areas of cooperation—Water Resources, Television Broadcasting and Education—have been finalised.
• India appreciates Morocco’s support for India’s candidature for the UN Security Council. The two sides identified new areas of mutual cooperation which included information technology.
• India will also train Moroccans in various other fields like English speaking and e-governance, including creating data base of 33 million population of Morocco like the Aadhaar scheme in India.

ANSWER: Morocco

Explanation:

• India's ties with Morocco date back to the 14th century visit of Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta.
• Ibn Battuta came to India during the rule of Muhammad bin Tughluq of the Delhi Sultanate.
• He reached Delhi during the period of 1333-34. He was also in the service of the Sultan.

ANSWER: Kozhikode

Explanation:

• Vasco da Gama, (1460s –1524) was a Portuguese explorer.
• He was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by an ocean route, as well as connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans. Da Gama landed in Calicut on 20 May 1498.
• During classical antiquity and the Middle Ages, Kozhikode was dubbed the "City of Spices" for its role as the major trading point of eastern spices. It was the capital of an independent kingdom ruled by the Samoothiris (Zamorins) in the Middle Ages and later of the erstwhile Malabar District under British rule.

ANSWER: Spain

Explanation:

• Indian Railways is conducting trial runs with Talgo train coaches, which the Spanish company claims can help Railways attain higher speeds, even on the existing tracks. The lighter and faster train, with nine coaches is being hauled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine on the Bareilly-Moradabad line in Uttar Pradesh.
• The trial runs with Talgo coaches will continue till June 12, after which they will be tried on the Rajdhani track at speeds of up to 180 kmph. The route chosen for the high-speed trial run is between Mathura and Palwal.
• First trial is from Bareilly to Moradabad, Second phase will be between Mathura and palwal and the third phase will be between Delhi and Mumbai.
• Talgo's coaches are said to weigh much less than an average Indian Railways coach, and that is what the company claims will help it run trains at a higher speed. They also consume 30% less energy, the company says.
• The aim of the trial run with Talgo coaches is to reduce by 5 hours the time taken on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• Coronal holes are areas on the Sun where the solar magnetic field extends up and out into interplanetary space, sending solar material speeding out in a high-speed stream of solar wind.
• Coronal holes are low-density regions of the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. They contain little solar material and have lower temperatures, thus appearing much darker than their surroundings.
• Coronal holes are visible in certain types of extreme ultraviolet light, which is typically invisible to our eyes.
• These coronal holes are important to understand the space environment around Earth through which technology and astronauts travel.
• Coronal holes are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the Sun around three times faster than the slower wind elsewhere.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• As the Seychelles is considered one of the preferred offshore havens for routing of funds, the Union Cabinet recently approved the signing and ratification of the taxation pact with the island nation to unearth black money.
• On maritime security, the two countries had excellent security cooperation in the Indian Ocean region, and India was a partner in providing aircraft, naval vessels and coastal radar systems for strengthening surveillance capacities.
• The location of Seychelles in Indian ocean makes it all the more important for Indian interests from the perspective of India’s burgeoning diplomacy with Island nations such as the ones in the Pacific.
• Agreements were signed on - Maritime security ties and cooperation on blue economy with the island nation; A Taxation Agreement with the Seychelles for allowing exchange of information to curb tax evasion and avoidance; Agreements of Space cooperation and Agriculture

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• Gujrat-based Bhasha Research and Publication Centre (BPRC), had conducted a linguistic survey identifying 860 Indian languages.
• Survey which was completed in 2013 identifies 860 Indian languages with Arunachal Pradesh having the maximum number of dialects.
• Also, 300 languages are no longer traceable since Independence. The situation is grim when it comes to extinction of languages. In the Census report of 1961, a total of 1652 mother tongues were mentioned. About 300 of these are no longer traceable.
• As many as 40 crore people in India can communicate in Hindi. We found that Hindi as a language has gained popularity more than English and anything communicated in the language which is popular among the masses, would have a better reception.
• The survey holds great significance as it is almost a century after George Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India that such a survey has been carried out.

ANSWER: Child sexual abuse

Explanation:

• The Young India has launched a nationwide Project Masoom against child sexual abuse.
• The need arose as there is increasing number of such cases and also large numbers of cases are not being reported.
• The idea is to create better awareness about the issue and effectively spread the message by campaigning at public places like cinema halls.
• Information of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, 2012, is also given.
• The project will also be introduced in schools to educate the parents, teachers and children about the issue.

ANSWER: Using birth of child to gain citizenship

Explanation:

• Birth tourism is travel to another country for the purpose of giving birth in that country.
• "Anchor baby" is another related term which can have negative connotations. Reasons for the practice include access to the destination country's healthcare system, circumvention of China's one-child policy and in countries that recognize jus soli birth right citizenship for the child.
• The United States and Canada are popular destinations for birth tourism.
• Another target of birth tourism is Hong Kong, where the right of abode is awarded to Chinese citizens at birth instead of citizenship.
• Asians are being criticized by the US for practicing such methods for gaining citizenship.
• While studies by the Pew Research Centre and the Centre for Immigration Studies estimate that nearly 300,000 children a year are born in the U.S. with at least one parent who is an undocumented immigrant, nearly 70 per cent of them come from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, and not China (Asia).

ANSWER: Insect

Explanation:

• Measuring a mere 0.16 mm, Kikiki huna is a multicellular organism that is smaller than single-celled organisms.
• While the insect’s functions are yet to be determined, Kikiki was first discovered in Trinidad around 20 years ago and later in Hawaii. It has also been found in Australia and Argentina. It derives its name from Hawaiian which means ‘tiny bit’.
• It was found in Tamil Nadu.
• Like all fairyflies, Kikiki huna lays its eggs in the eggs of other insects. The entire life stage is passed in the single egg, from which it emerges as an adult.
• Not visible to the naked eye, the tiny insect has eluded many entomologists.