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: [email protected]
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..?
