Current Affairs Question - 15 July 2019

Explanation :

The onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala, which happened on June 8, marks the beginning of the four-month monsoon season over India. It came a week after its normal date of June. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands generally start getting monsoon rainfall between May 15 and 20, and the Kerala coast generally begins to have monsoon rainfall sometime in the last week of May. A delayed onset has the potential to delay the arrival of the monsoon in other parts of the country as well, especially in South India, most of which starts getting rainfall within days of it reaching the Kerala coast. However, it does not mean that the monsoon over the entire country would be delayed.

Explanation :

A cyclone is an area of low pressure around which the winds flows counter clockwise in the northern hemisphere. Since a cyclone is also known as a low pressure center, moving in any horizontal direction away from the “Low” will result in increasing pressure. Air converges into a low pressure center which causes air to rise. The cyclone is expected to interfere with normal progression, by sucking all the moisture from the monsoon winds towards itself.

Explanation :

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) at Hyderabad is responsible for remote sensing satellite data acquisition and processing, data dissemination, aerial remote sensing and decision support for disaster management. NRSC has a data reception station at Shadnagar near Hyderabad for acquiring data from Indian remote sensing satellites as well as others. NRSC Ground station at Shadnagar acquires Earth Observation data from Indian remote-sensing satellites as well as from different foreign satellites.

Explanation :

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, on December 2, 1946. In 1982, the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling. Currently, Japan, Russia, and a number of other nations oppose this moratorium.

Explanation :

India is now the lowest-cost producer of solar power globally, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The IRENA report titled ‘Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018’, revealed that the total installed costs of utility-scale solar PV in India is as low as $793 per kilowatt (kW) in 2018 which is 27 per cent lower than for projects commissioned in 2017.

Explanation :

Commonly known as paddy frogs, this is the first known species of this genus was originally described from the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Micryletta aishani is currently endemic to Northeast India but it could very well be present in the neighboring regions of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Explanation :

The invasive Kappaphycus alvarezii seaweed, which smothers and kills coral reefs, has spread its wings to coral reef areas in Valai Island in the Gulf of Mannar (GoM) and set to invade new coral colonies in the Marine National Park.

Explanation :

In a move to curb air pollution, the Union Environment Ministry banned import of pet coke for purpose of trading in Delhi and its neighbouring states. As part of its dedicated air pollution abatement programme for 100 polluting cities, the Centre formulated a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to fight the menace through a long-term strategy. It set a target to reduce 35 per cent of the pollution in three years and 50 per cent in the next 5 years for the 100 identified cities.

Explanation :

El Salvador has, in a historic move, recognised forests as living entities. Its citizens, will now be required to preserve forests.

Explanation :

There are some cases where the land gets damaged because of natural disasters, including drought and Tsunami. In those cases, there isn’t a lot that people can do except work to try and help rehabilitate the land after it has already been damaged by nature.

Explanation :

Astana Format is a series of meeting held in Astana, Kazakhstan for Syrian settlement which includes representatives of Syrian government and opposition. Russia, Turkey and Iran are the guarantor states of Astana talks which also enjoys the support of the UN. Its next round of talks is scheduled in July 2019.

Explanation :

ECOSOC is one of the six main organs of the UN. It is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals. ECOSOC engages a wide variety of stakeholders, viz. policymakers, parliamentarians, academics, foundations, business sector representatives and registered NGOs in a productive dialogue on sustainable development through a programmatic cycle of meetings.

Explanation :

It is a permanent body of SCO based in Tashkent created to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism. Each member sends its representative to RATS and the head of RATS is elected for a three year term. It assists interaction among the member states for preparation and staging of counter-terrorism exercises at the request of concerned member states. It prepares and conducts search operations and other activities for counter-terrorism.

Explanation :

The Prime Minister was honoured with United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) highest civilian honour, the ‘Zayed Medal’ by the President of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The medal, awarded to kings, presidents and heads of states, was conferred upon the PM for boosting bilateral strategic relations between the Emirates and India.

Explanation :

Iran is a member of OPEC which makes the first statement incorrect. Qatar has recently withdrawn from the bloc because its economy is largely based on gas and oil plays a minimum role.