Current Affairs Question - 09 February 2019

Explanation :

•The Earth has two pairs of North and South poles. The geographic poles are defined by the axis around which the planet rotates, and are fixed. The Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet and this behaviour defines its magnetic north and south poles, which are not static.

•The magnetic North Pole or South Pole does not coincide with the geographical north or South Pole. Currently, the magnetic North Pole is located somewhere over northern Canada, a fact discovered in 1831 by Sir James Clark Ross.

•The origin of Earth’s magnetism lies in its outer core, a more than 2,000 km layer of liquid iron and some other metals like nickel that surrounds the central core, or the innermost part. This liquid iron is in constant motion due to Earth’s rotation and various other reasons, and this motion produces a magnetic field.

Explanation :

• The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment, the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) has been developed by the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) over the last five years.

• It provides insights on the various drivers of change in HKH, addresses data gaps and recommends the necessary actions to be taken.

• At least a third of the ice in the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush will melt down this century as temperatures rise, disrupting river flows vital for growing crops from China to India.

• And even if the most ambitious Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C is achieved, one- third of the glaciers would go, says the report.

Explanation :

• Doctrine of Basic Structure is the outcome of Judicial Activism in the famous ‘Keshvananda Bharati Case’. It finds no mention anywhere in the Constitution. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• From the various judgments of the apex court it has been deduced that Supremacy of the constitution, separation of powers, judicial review, federal structure of the Constitution etc. are the parts of basic structure of the Constitution.

Explanation :

• International IP Index is released by the Global Innovation Centre of US Chamber of Commerce. It analyses the IP Climate in 50 countries on the basis of 40 unique indicators.
• India has moved to the 36^th position in 2019 from 44^th position in 2018.
• According to the report, the increase in India's ranking is a result of specific reforms that better align India's IP environment with the international IP system, including its accession to the WIPO Internet Treaties, the agreement to initiate a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with Japan, a dedicated set of IP incentives for small business, and administrative reforms to address the patent backlog.

Cause of India’s Poor Ranking:

• Compulsory licensing
• Limited participation in International IP Treaties
• Limited protection of Life sciences IP etc.

Source: IE

Explanation :

RBI has recently reduced the Policy Rate (Repo Rate) by 25 basis points and has stated that it has moved to a ‘Neutral Stance’.

What is Neutral Stance and Accommodative Stance of RBI?

Under the Neutral Stance, RBI has flexibility to increase or decrease the Repo Rate or Policy rate seeing the circumstances. Till date it has adopted the calibrated tightening approach (where Repo rate is kept constant or is increased)

Under the Accommodative stance RBI mainly decreases the Policy Rate to boost the economic growth.

Source: TH

Explanation :

• Keoladeo National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland that is at the confluence of Gambhir and Banganga River. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• In 1985, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site under the World Heritage Convention and is also a Ramsar Site.

Explanation :

Guam is a military base in Micronesia at the heart of US Deterrent in Pacific Ocean. The Guam Military Base is in news as China thinks that US will now deploy its missile system to keep a tab on the South China Sea as it has now opted out of Intermediate Range Nuclear Force Treaty (INF Treaty).

Source: TH

Explanation :

Recently, ASI has observed that the lost ancient civilization of Vangchhia Village Mizoram (near Myanmar Border) used to store the water via drilling holes in the sandstones which are porous and can be used during the time of need which opens up the idea about water harvesting technique that was present during the ancient time.

Source: TH