Daily Quiz 04 September 2024

Answer: B

Explanation: In news: Mekedatu Project is proposed at the confluence of the Cauvery River with its tributary Arkavathi.

• Pair 1 is correctly matched: The Cauvery River is one of the major rivers of the peninsula. It rises at an elevation of 1,341 m at Talakaveri on the Brahmagiri range near Cherangala village of Kodagu district of Karnataka. The total length of the river from origin to outfall is 800 km. Its important tributaries joining from left are the Harangi, the Hemavati, the Shimsha and the Arkavati whereas the Lakshmantirtha, the Kabbani, the Suvarnavati, the Bhavani, the Noyil and the Amaravati joins from right. The river drains into the Bay of Bengal.
• Pair 2 is correctly matched: The Brahmaputra River originates in the Kailash ranges of the Himalayas, flows through Tibet, and enters India through Arunachal Pradesh. It then flows through Assam and Bangladesh before joining the Bay of Bengal. Right bank tributaries: Siang, Subansiri, Kameng, Teesta, Sankosh, Champamati, Manas, and Baranadi Left bank tributaries: Dibang, Lohit, Dhansiri, Digaru, Kopili, Kulsi, Jinjiran, Lhasa, and Krishnai

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: Godavari river rises near Nasik in Maharashtra at an elevation of about 1067 m and flows for a length of about 1465 km before outfalling in to the Bay of Bengal. The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha,the Wainganga the Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), the Indravati, the Maner and the Sabri. As seen above, hemavati is tributary of Kaveri.

Answer: A

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: The Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) is a bilateral agreement between two or more nations designed to ensure priority support for defense-related goods and services during peacetime, emergencies, or armed conflict. The agreement mandates reciprocal support, meaning that both parties are committed to providing priority access to their respective defense industries. This mutual assistance strengthens the defense capabilities of both nations. India and Us recently signed SOSA.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: SOSA allows signatory nations to request and receive priority delivery of defense supplies. This ensures that critical resources are available even during times of high demand or supply chain disruptions. However, SOSA is a non-binding agreement that emphasizes mutual cooperation and priority access to defense resources. SOSA ensures that India can quickly procure vital defense supplies from the US, bolstering its national security and defense readiness. This is particularly valuable in scenarios involving geopolitical tensions or conflicts with neighboring countries like China.

Other important defence agreements which provide the framework for interaction and cooperation among India and USA are: Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (2016); Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (2018); Industrial Security Agreement (2019); and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (2020).

Answer: D

Explanation: A recent study conducted by the Research Design and Standards Organisation has found that train controllers face multiple challenges at work.

Statements 1 and 2  are incorrect while statement 3 is correct: The Research Designs & Standards Organisation is the research and development and railway technical specification development organisation under the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. It is the sole Research and Development organisation of Indian Railways. It functions as atechnical advisor to Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Production Units. It develops new and improved designs for railway equipment. It develops standards for materials and products, and provides detailed technical specifications for vendors. The KAVACH system was developed by RDSO. Kavach is an automated train protection safety system designed to prevent collisions on the same track. RDSO was the first Institution to be declared a Standard Developing Organization (SDO) under the One Nation One Standard mission of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Answer: B

Explanation: 

Option (b) is correct: Dark shipping refers to a vessel that has turned off its Automatic Identification System (AIS). The AIS is a transponder system that transmits information about a ship’s location, identification, and other details. Dark ships are difficult to detect because they are not visible to satellites and public monitoring systems, but they are still visible on radar. Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness is a technology and training initiative to enhance maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region. It aims to develop and disseminate real-time information on activities like dark shipping in the Indian Ocean and to integrate 3 critical regions in the Indo-Pacific — the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Answer: A

Explanation: The Pacific Island forum’s summit is going to be held in Tonga with a focus on climate change in the region. PIF is a framework of regional cooperation founded in 1971 by the newly independent Pacific island countries. The Pacific Island countries are divided into three main groups based on physical geography, local inhabitants, and location: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

• Pair 1 is incorrectly matched: The region of the Pacific north of Australia that borders Indonesia to the east is called Melanesia. The main island groups include Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. All are independent countries except New Caledonia, which is under the French government. The island of New Guinea is shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
• Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: North of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea is the large region of The “micro” portion of the name refers to the fact that the islands are small in size. It includes islands like Palau, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. It’s located north of the Equator and east of the Philippines. Kiribati island is world’s largest coral atoll. Kiribati the only country in the world located simultaneously in all four hemispheres: the Northern, Southern, Western, and Eastern hemispheres. The International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W.
• Pair 3 is correctly matched: The largest region of the Pacific is Polynesia, a land of many island groups with large distances between them. The region includes the Hawaiian Islandsin the north and the Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island to the east. Tonga is also a part of polynesia.