UPSC QUIZ 25.06.2024

Explanation:

• Recently, the CEO of Digi Yatra Foundation has proposed that the Digi Yatra technology used at airports can also be used at public places like hotels and historical monuments.
• 'Digi Yatra' is a Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel Experience (BEST) based facial-recognition technology.
• It provides check-in services at airports using biometrics, thereby facilitating paperless movement at airports. It is an industry-led initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• Since its launch in 2022, currently 14 airports are covered under it and 15 additional airports will be covered under it by the end of 2024.
• The potential application of Digi Yatra in hotels and other public places suggests that it can be implemented in areas other than the airspace.

Explanation:

• President of India Smt. Draupadi Murmu has appointed Bhartruhari Mahtab, seven-time Member of Parliament from Cuttack, as Pro-tem Speaker of 18th Lok Sabha and administered oath to him.
• The Pro-tem Speaker in India is appointed by the President under Article 95(1) of the Constitution and performs his duties until the election of a permanent Speaker of the Lok Sabha of India.

Meaning and Role of Pro-tem Speaker in India

• Pro-tem is a Latin phrase which means in English – “for the time being” or “for the time being”.
• Thus, Pro-tem Speaker is a temporary Speaker who is appointed for a limited period to conduct business in the Lok Sabha or State Legislatures. • When the Lok Sabha or Assembly elections have been completed and voting for the permanent Speaker and Deputy Speaker has not taken place, a Protem Speaker is selected to run the House.
• The term 'Protem Speaker' is not clearly mentioned in the Constitution of India, but this post plays an important role in the parliamentary system of India.

Explanation:

• Recently,the campus of Nalanda University was formally inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India.It is spread across 455 acres, located in Rajgir, Bihar.
• The site is only 12 km away from the ruins of the ancient Buddhist monastery of the same name.

History and Revival Efforts of Nalanda University

• Gupta Emperor Kumaragupta (Shakraditya) of the Gupta dynasty founded Nalanda University in 427 CE in modern Bihar in the early 5th century, and it flourished for 600 years until the 12th century.
• During the era of Harshavardhana and the Palas monarchs, it rose to popularity.
• During King Harshavardhana's reign (606-647 AD) Chinese scholar Xuan Zang (also known as Hiuen Tsang and Moksadeva, a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator) came here and studied for about 5 years.

Explanation:

• Indian botanists and researchers have discovered two new plant species from two biogeographical hotspots of the country - Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

Discovery in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

• The new species, Dendrophthoe longensis, was found on the Long Islands in the middle Andamans by a group of scientists led by Lal Ji Singh. This plant is in the mistletoe family and has aerial stem parasites that make it stand out.
• Dendrophthoe longensis lives on mango trees (Mangifera indica) near the edges of evergreen woods. It has amazing hemiparasitic adaptations, but habitat loss and human activities put it at risk.

Discovery in Arunachal Pradesh

• Another significant discovery was made by Krishna Chowlu’s team in the Mandla region of West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh. They identified a new herbaceous plant species named Petrocosmea arunachalense.
• It was hiding in a cave, which shows that it doesn’t need much sunlight. The Gesneriaceae family now has a new member. This species is fully white with purple spots and a hairy texture.

Explanation:

• In Namaqualand, South Africa, the heuweltjies are old termite mounds that take up about 20% of the land.
• The southern harvester termite (Microhodotermes Viator) lives in these sandy formations. They are home to termites for the longest period, going back between 13,000 and 34,000 years.
• In 2021, a group of earth scientists looked into the salty groundwater in the area, which is about 530 km from Cape Town.
• The main goal of the study was to find out how these termite mounds might change the chemicals in the groundwater. Radiocarbon dating of the organic and inorganic materials in the mounds showed how old they were and how nutrients, like carbon, kept building up over time.