Smart India Hackathon

(Software) - 2020

The Grand Finale of 4th edition of

Smart India Hackathon (Software) -

2020 was launched virtually in New

Delhi on 1 August 2020 by Union

Human Resource Development

Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

PM Narendra Modi also addressed the

Hackathon.

It is the World's biggest open innova-

tion model involving more than 4.5 lakh

students, 2000+ educational institutions,

1000+ mentors, 1500+ evaluators, 70+

problem submitting agencies including

central ministries, state government

departments and private industries

thereby having true PPP (Public Private

Partnership) model. The Hackathon

(software) emphasized on culture of

Innovation for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan

'Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan', 2020-21

was launched by Health and Family

Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on

1 August 2020.

It is a national programme for popu-

larizing science among school students

of Class 6th to 11th. He said that it is a

platform to identify the talent in the field

of science and to promote the scientific

approach among the students.

Sri Ram Temple in Ayodhya

On 5 August 2020, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi performed Bhoomi

Pooja and laid the foundation stone of

Sri Ram temple in Ayodhya. Modi

released a commemorative postage

stamp on the ‘Sri Ram Janmabhoomi

Mandir’.

He planted a Parijat sapling, consid-

ered a divine plant, ahead of foundation

stone-laying of Ram temple.

Rafale fighter jets landed

The five French Rafale fighter jets

arrived India and landed at Haryana's

Ambala airbase to join the Indian Air

Force.

The delivery of all 36 aircraft will be

completed on schedule by the end of

2021. Rs. 59,000 crore deal was signed

on September 23, 2016 for 36 Rafale

jets from French aerospace major

Dassault Aviation.

GH

1. Biosphere reserves differ from nationalparks and wildlife sanctuaries because informer ...

1) human beings are not allowed to enter.

2) people are an integral part of the system.

3) plants are paid greater attention than theanimals.

4) living organisms are brought from allover the world and preserved for poster-ity.

2. Read the following and identify the correctstatements.

I) In in-situ conservation endangeredspecies and entire ecosystem is protect-ed.

II) For intensive conservation efforts biodi-versity hotspots are very much useful.

III) Ex-situ conservation methods includecryopreservation, in-vitro fertilizationand botanical gardens.

IV) The first national park in India is JimCorbett National Park and Yellow StonePark (USA) is the first national park inthe world.

1) I, II 2) II, III 3) I, II, IV 4) All

3. Limited human activity is allowed in thiszone of biosphere reserve

1) Natural zone 2) Core zone

3) Transition zone 4) Buffer zone

4. The main reason for extinction of species is

1) hunting 2) over exploitation by man

3) pollution 4) destruction of habitats

5. In the 'rivet popper hypothesis', the wordrivet refers to

1) Community 2) Ecosystem

3) Species 4) Biomass

6. Which of the following has the highest num-ber of species?

1) fungi 2) insects

3) birds 4) angiosperms

7. Which of the following is not correctlymatched?

1) Earth Summit - Rio De Janeiro, 1992.

2) World Summit on SustainableDevelopment - Johannesburg, 2002.

3) Biodiversity hotspots - High levels ofspecies richness and high degree ofendemism.

4) Amazon rain forest - Produces 10% oftotal oxygen of Earth's atmosphere.

8. The basis of evolution of new species is ...

1) Genetic diversity

2) Species diversity

3) Community diversity 4) All of these

9. Decrease in species diversity in tropical

countries is mainly due to ...

1) urbanisation 2) pollution

3) deforestation 4) soil erosion

10. In India, we find mangoes with differentflavours, colours, fibre content, sugar con-tent and shelf life. The variation is due to..

1) Genetic diversity 2) Species diversity

3) Induced mutation 4) Hybridization

11. A species spread over a large tract withvaried environmental conditions will have

1) higher genetic diversity

2) uniform gene pool

3) little genetic diversity 4) Both 2 and 3

12. A biosphere reserve preserves ...

1) wild populations

2) traditional life styles of tribals

3) genetic resources of organisms

4) All of the above

13. Which of the following national parks ishome to the famous musk deer or hangul?

1) Keibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur

2) Bandhavgarh National Park, M.P.

3) Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, ArunachalPradesh

4) Dachigam National Park, J & K

14. How many hotspots of biodiversity in theworld have been identified till date byNorman Myers?

1) 17 2) 25 3) 34 4) 43

15. The species confined to a particular regionand not found elsewhere is termed as ...

1) Keystone 2) Alien

3) Endemism 4) Rare

16. Which of the following areas in India is ahotspot of biodiversity?

1) Gangetic Plain 2) Sundarbans

3) Western Ghats 4) Eastern Ghats

17. The term biodiversity was popularised bysocio biologist

1) Edward Wilson 2) W.G.Rosen

3) Robert May 4) Norman Myers

18. The major area where numerous speciesare believed to be unknown to science are

1) Tropical rain forests 2) Coral reefs

3) Temperate deciduous forests

4) Both 1 and 2

19. Read the following.

I) The greater is the genetic diversity of aspecies the higher is its efficiency of adapt.

II) Decrease in species diversity in tropicalcountries is due to deforestation.

III) David Tilman studied the importance ofspecies diversity for stability of anecosystem.

IV) Diversity of the habitats/ ecosystems

over the total land scape or geographi-cal area is Alpha or local diversity.

The correct statements are

1) I, II 2) II, III, IV 3) I, II, III 4) I, IV

20. The Indian wild ass is found in

1) Garhwal, Himalayas

2) Plateau and Ladakh

3) Thar desert 4) Rann of Kutch

21. As per conservative and scientific esti-

mate made by Robert May, the global

species diversity is about ...

1) 4 million 2) 1.5 million

3) 20 million 4) 7 million

22. Among the invertebrates, which of the fol-

lowing has more species after insects?

1) Molluscans 2) Crustaceans

3) Helminthes 4) Echinoderms

23. Assertion (A): India is one of the 12 mega

diversity countries of the world.

Reason (R): With 2.4% of world's land

area, India's share of global species diver-

sity is 8.1%.

1) Both A and R are true, R is the correct

explanation to A.

2) Both A and R are true, but R is not the

correct explanation to A.

3) A is true but R is false.

4) A is false but R is true.

24. Scientists estimate that atleast 2 million

lnsect species might be waiting to be dis-

covered here at

1) Ecuador 2) Midwest of USA

3) Greenland 4) Amazon rain forests

25. Constant environment as in tropical envi-ronments

1) Promote niche specialization

2) Promote greater extinction

3) Slow down productivity

4) Lessen the diversity

26. In the species area relationship, if theslope of the line is much steeper, it indi-cates

1) More diversity 2) Less diversity

3) Small area with more diversity

4) Large area with less diversity

27. Match the following.

List - I List - II

I) David Tilman A) Loss of species, mak-ing ecosystem lessfunctional.

II) Paul Ehrlich B) Described combineddiversity at all levels.

III) Alexander C) More diversity leads

von Humboldt to more productivity.

IV) Edward Wilson D) Increased species

richness withincreased exploredarea.

E) Estimation of globalspecies diversity.

F) Evil quartet

I II III IV V

1) D F B A C

2) C B D A E

3) C A D E B

4) D B C F A

28. The present episode of mass extinction ofspecies is ...

1) 3rd 2) 4th 3) 2nd 4) 6th

29. Read the following.

I) Current rate of extinction of species is 10times faster than in pre human times.

II) Habitat loss and fragmentation is themost important cause for plant and ani-mal extinction.

III) In Co-evolved species extinction of oneinvariably leads to the extinction ofother.

IV) The Amazon rain forests are 'lungs ofthe planet' as they produce 10% of theoxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.

The correct statements are

1) II, III 2) I, III 3) III, IV 4) I, IV

30. When an animal is endangered and needsurgent measures to save it from extinction,the desirable approach is ...

1) Off site conservation

2) On site conservation 3) National Parks

4) Wildlife Sanctuaries

31. Which of the following animal has recentlybecome extinct in Africa and Australia(respectively)?

1) Quagga and Dodo

2) Quagga and Thylacine

3) Thylacine and Quagga

4) 3 Sub species of Tiger and Thylacine

32. Records of extinction indicate that this gp.of animals is more vulnerable to extinction?

1) Bird species 2) Amphibian species

3) Fishes 4) Mammals

33. All are ex-situ measures of conservation,except:

1) National park 2) Zoological park

3) Wildlife safari 4) Botanical gardens

34. All biodiversity hot spots put togethercover about how much percent of theEarth's land area?

1) 10% 2) 20% 3) 2% 4) 0.2%

35. Afforestation should be done with

1) Exotic species 2) Bamboos

3) Eucalyptus

4) Indigenous/ endemic species

36. Read the following and choose the correctstatements.

I) Degree of biodiversity shows two mastergradients, latitudinal and altitudinal.

II) Amazon rain forest in South Africa hasthe greatest biodiversity on Earth.

III) Biodiversity increases from high to lowlatitudes.

IV) International Union for theConservation of Nature and NaturalResources (IUCN) is formerly known asWorld Conservation Union (WCU)

1) I, II 2) II, III 3) I, IV 4) I, III

37. Areas high endemism and high level ofspecies richness are

1) Hotspots 2) protected areas

3) Wildlife sanctuaries

4) Biosphere reserves

38. National forest policy envisages forestcover for the hills is about ...

1) 9% 2) 19% 3) 67% 4) 51.6%

39. The animal, extincted from India is....

1) Lion 2) Chetah 3) Gharial 4) Rhino

40. For cryopreservation, plant materials arefrozen at ...

1) −196°C 2) −150°C 3) −80°C 4) − 40°C

Ecology

Biodiversity and Conservation

ñªëÅ]î¦ô¢Ù ÎÞœú£ªd 12, 2020 n e-mail: help@eenadupratibha.net

17

NEET - 2020ZOOLOGY

KEY

1-2 2-4 3-4 4-4 5-3 6-2 7-4 8-1 9-3 10-1 11-1 12-4 13-4 14-3 15-3 16-3 17-1 18-4 19-3 20-4 21-4 22-1 23-1 24-4 25-1 26-127-3 28-4 29-1 30-1 31-2 32-2 33-1 34-3 35-4 36-4 37-1 38-3 39-2 40-1.

Amara Veeraswamy

Subject Expert

Writer

Dr. M.R. Prasad

Subject Expert

Writer

General

Awareness

Supreme Court building

in Mauritius

On 30 July 2020, the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister

of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth jointly

inaugurated the new Supreme Court

building in Port Louis, the capital of

Mauritius through video conferencing.

The new Supreme Court building

was completed with Indian assistance

as part of India's thrust on cooperation

with countries in the Indian Ocean

Region (IOR). This landmark project

has been completed with grant assis-

tance of $ 28.12 million from the

Government of India.

It is one of the five projects under the

$ 353 million Special Economic

Package (SEP) extended by India in

2016.

India-UN Development

Partnership Fund

India contributed $ 15.46 million to the

India-UN Development Partnership

Fund to support developing nations in

its developmental priorities across all

the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDG).

India-UN Development Partnership

Fund is managed by the UNOSSC

(United Nations Office for South-South

Cooperation) and implemented under

the leadership of partner developing

countries leveraging the strengths of

United Nations Agencies, Funds and

Programmes.

The tranche of $ 15.46 million

includes $ 6 million to the overall fund,

in which all the developing countries

are eligible for partnership, and $ 9.46

million dedicated to the

Commonwealth countries.

SCO Health Ministers

Digital Meet

On 24 July 2020, the Shanghai

Cooperation Organization (SCO)

Health Minister's Digital Meet was held

virtually. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union

Minister of Health and Family Welfare

digitally participated. This was chaired

by Mr. Mikhail Murashko, Minister of

Health of the Russian Federation.

Nuclear Energy Production

UAE became the first country in the

Arab World to produce nuclear energy.

Barakah plant is located in the Al

Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. It was built

by a consortium led by the Korea

Electric Power Corporation. UAE has

substantial oil and gas reserves, but it

has made huge investments in devel-

oping alternative energy sources,

including nuclear and solar power.

BRICS Environment

Ministers Meeting

On 30 July 2020, the Environment

Ministers of the five BRICS nations

(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa) participated in the 6th BRICS

Environment Ministers' Meeting

through a video conference.

The meeting was held under the

presidency of Russia. India will

assume the BRICS Presidency in

2021.

Union Environment Minister Prakash

Javadekar participated on behalf of

India. India launched the National

Clean Air Programme, the goal of

which is to reduce particulate pollution

by 20-30% relative to 2017 levels by

2024.

In 2015 India launched the Air

Quality Index monitoring in 10 cities,

now extended to 122 cities.

National Education Policy

To make India a global knowledge

superpower, the New Education

Policy (NEP) approved by the Union

Cabinet on 29 July 2020. HRD

Ministry to be renamed as education

ministry.

The policy set to bring major

changes in primary and high school

education, allowing top foreign uni-

versities, new evaluation models, get-

ting vocational education (Lok Vidya)

and a move towards institutes includ-

ing IITs turning multi-disciplinary.

The extant 10 + 2 structure in

school education will be modified with

a new pedagogical and curricular

restructuring of 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 covering

ages 3-18. Currently, children in the

age group of 3-6 are not covered in

the 10 + 2 structure as Class 1 begins

at age 6.

In the new 5 + 3 + 3 + 4 structure,

a strong base of Early Childhood

Care and Education from age 3 is

included. Wherever possible, the

medium of instruction until at least

Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8

and beyond, will be the home lan-

guage/ mother tongue/ local lan-

guage/ regional language. Bag less

days will be encouraged.

A National Mission on

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy

will be set up. Higher Education

Commission of India (HECI) will be

set up as a single overarching

umbrella body for the entire higher

education, excluding medical and

legal education.

By 2040, all higher education insti-

tutions become multidisciplinary insti-

tutions that offer undergraduate and

graduate programmes, with high

quality teaching, research, and com-

munity engagement.

Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher

education including vocational edu-

cation must be increased from 26.3%

to 50% by 2035. National Research

Foundation (NRF) will be estab-

lished.

Many recommendations of Former

ISRO chief Dr K Kasturirangan, who

led the nine-member team that

authored the National Education

Policy 2019 draft were taken.

Others

Sanskrit Diwas

To spread awareness, promote and

revive the ancient India Language

Sanskrit, World Sanskrit Day or

Sanskrit Diwas also known as

Vishvasamskritadinam celebrated

on Shraavana Poornima. This year

Sanskrit Day falls on 3 August.

Sanskrit Diwas was announced by

the government of India in 1969.

Prem Bhatia Awards, 2020

Dipankar Ghose, the Indian Express

Special Correspondent was con-

ferred with the Prem Bhatia Award

for political reporting for his work on

issues related to the COVID-19

pandemic including the migrant

labour crisis.

International Tiger Day

To create awareness about tiger con-

servation, every year the International

Tiger Day observed on 29 July. Union

Environment minister Prakash

Javedkar informed that India has

2,967 tigers as per the latest Tiger

Census. Project Tiger was launched

in 1973 with just 9 tiger reserves but

now there are 50 reserves.

Gustave Trouve Award

'Aditya', India's first solar-powered

ferry which commenced operations

three years ago in Vembanad back-

waters, Kerala won the prestigious

Gustave Trouve Award for

Excellence in Electric Boats and

Boating.

International

1. Mohamed Irfaan Ali became the

new president of …

1) Argentina 2) Philippines

3) Guyana 4) Gabon

5) South Sudan

2. Girish Chandra Murmu was

appointed as …

1) Lt. Governor of Delhi

2) Comptroller and Auditor

General of India (CAG)

3) Chief Election Commissioner

4) Chairman, Staff Selection

Commission

5) Governor of Madhya Pradesh

3. Former Union minister Manoj

Sinha was appointed as the new

governor of ..

1) Jammu & Kashmir

2) Uttar Pradesh 3) Mizoram

4) Manipur 5) Karnataka

4. The list of important days/ weekobservations given. The wrongcombination is..

1) National Handloom day: 7August

2) Breast Feeding Week: 1-7August

3) World day against trafficking inpersons: 30 July

4) CRPF Raising Day: 27 July

5) All of above correct

5. British Grand Prix F1 formula racewon by..

1) Sebastian Vettel

2) Lewis Hamilton 3) Valtteri Bottas

4) Max Verstappen

5) Charles Leclerc

6. 'Great Prophet 14' is the militaryexercise of …

1) UAE 2) Iran 3) Pakistan

4) Iraq 5) Kuwait

KEY: 1-3 2-2 3-1 4-5 5-2 6-2

Model Questions

Indian wild ass is found in..Edward

Wilson

Dr K Kasturirangan

National

Girish Chandra Murmu

was appointed as..?