IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - July - 01, 2016

ANSWER: Mumbai

Explanation:

• Animal-Human-Nature Continuum, billed as the first international film, arts and animal welfare festival, will run at Liberty in Mumbai.
• This unique two-month-long film festival focuses on the relationship among animals, humans and nature.
• Issues pertaining to stray, migration, animal welfare and rights, environment and climate change will dominate the curatorial ideas and philosophies of the festival.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• India's first integrated defence communication network was launched enabling the army, air force, navy and the Special Forces Command to share situational awareness for a faster decision-making process.
• The Defence Communication Network (DCN), a strategic, highly secure and scalable system, has a pan-India reach - from Ladakh to the North East to island territories.
• While all the three forces have their own command, communication and intelligence networks, this is the first time when there will be a dedicated network for greater synergy.
• DCN offers high quality voice, video and data services covering 111 entities spread across the country.
• It is capable of working on terrestrial as well as satellite mode of communication and has also been fixed onboard different military vehicles.

ANSWER: Turkey

Explanation:

• Capital of Turkey is Istanbul.
• Ataturk Airport is in Turkey. Recently there was a gun and bomb attack at this airport.
• The Black Sea is to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• ‘Prashikshak’ is a teacher education portal.
• DIETs were created in the early 1990s to strengthen elementary education and support the decentralization of education to the district level, under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Teacher Education.
• DIETs offer pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes for Government elementary school teachers. They also undertake studies in education, annual academic planning and reviews and function as resource centres for teaching learning and material development.
• Prashiskshak has started only for DIETs.
• ‘Prashikshak’ is launched with a vision to strengthen District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and bring quality teachers into the Indian school education system.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Joint Declaration by the International Solar Alliance cell and the World Bank will help in accelerating mobilization of finance for solar energy, and the Bank will have a major role in mobilizing more than US $1000 billion in investments that will be needed by 2030, to meet ISA’s goals for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy. Major areas identified for working jointly include:

• Developing a roadmap to mobilize financing
• Developing financing instruments including credit enhancement, reduce hedging costs/currency risk, bond raising in locally denominated currencies etc. which support solar energy development and deployment
• Supporting ISA’s plans for solar energy through technical assistance and knowledge transfer;
• Working on mobilization of concessional financing through existing or, if needed, new trust funds
• Supporting RE-INVEST events. In addition, both sides decided to work in other areas and themes as jointly decided.

ANSWER: Auto Rickshaw

Explanation:

• Buses are the most preferred mode of transport in both rural and urban India followed by auto rickshaws, according to a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report.
• Expenditure on air transport is negligible in rural areas while air transport accounts for 2.53 per cent of all transport expenditures in urban areas.
• Taxi and railways are the other major modes of transport, both in rural and urban areas, as per the survey.
• Expenditure on bus/tram, auto rickshaw, taxi and train constitute more than 90 per cent of the total expenditure on transport both in rural and urban areas.

ANSWER: Communication services

Explanation:

• As per the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) study in cities as well as villages, about 90 per cent or more households reported expenditure on barber & beauty shops and communication services.
• In rural areas, communication services accounted for the highest share of expenditure (25.33 per cent) followed by barber & beauty shops (11.07 per cent), TV & radio services (10.58 per cent), repair & maintenance (10.27 per cent) and tailoring services (10.18 per cent).
• The report stated that in urban areas, communication services accounted for the highest share of budget (26.33 per cent) followed by domestic services (12.11 per cent), TV & radio services (10.22 per cent) and recreational & cultural services (9.95 per cent).
• In terms of monthly per capita expenditure, the highest budget was incurred on communication services in both rural and urban areas.

ANSWER: Muscles

Explanation:

• Myosatellite cells or satellite cells are small multipotent cells with virtually no cytoplasm found in mature muscle.
• Satellite cells are precursors to skeletal muscle cells, able to give rise to satellite cells or differentiated skeletal muscle cells.
• A recent scientific study has shown that a type of muscle stem cell called ‘satellite cells’ are essential for muscle fibre repair and replacement.
• Myosatellite cells are located between the basement membrane and the sarcolemma of muscle fibres.
• Satellite cells are able to differentiate and fuse to augment existing muscle fibers and to form new fibers. These cells represent the oldest known adult stem cell niche, and are involved in the normal growth of muscle, as well as regeneration following injury or disease.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• This is the first time researchers have been able to combine several smart abilities, including shape memory behaviour, light-activated movement and self-healing behaviour, into one material.
• They have a variety of potential applications, such as for actuators, drug delivery systems and self-assembling devices.
• The team worked with a class of long-chain molecules, called liquid crystalline networks (LCNs), which provide order in one direction and give material unique properties.
• The researchers took advantage of the way the material changes in response to heat to induce a unique three-way shape shifting behaviour.
• The resulting material reacts to light, can remember its shape as it folds and unfolds and can heal itself when damaged.