Daily Quiz – 5th Feb 2024

Explanation:

• Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist who was awarded the ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ for his lifetime work in the field of agriculture and for contribution to the society. He was also regarded as the father of the Green Revolution.
• The Green Revolution started in 1965 with the introduction of High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds in Indian agriculture. This has resulted in high agricultural productivity, output and efficiency. Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer

Explanation:

The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International Importance where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interferences. It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.

The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. The Convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

Explanation:

• There are about 54 common rivers flowing between India and Bangladesh.
• The Kushiyara River is a distributary of the Barak River that flows in India’s northeast region and has a common boundary with Bangladesh in the Sylhet district. So, point 1 is correct.
• The Feni River is a trans-boundary river between India and Bangladesh. The river, which forms part of the India-Bangladesh border, originates in the South Tripura district, passes through Sabroom town on the Indian side, and drains in Sandwip Channel of Meghna estuary at Bay of Bengal after it flows into Bangladesh. So, point 2 is correct.
• River Mahakali is a trans-boundary/international river between India and Nepal. It originates at Kalapani in the Himalayas and is also known as Sharda River or Kali Ganga in Uttarakhand. It joins Ghagra river, a tributary of Ganga River, in Uttar Pradesh. So, point 3 is not correct.
• Dudhkumar River (the Raidak or the Sankosh river of West Bengal, India) enters Bangladesh near Pateshwary and is renamed as the Dudhkumar. The river receives the Gadadhar and the Gangadhar as tributaries at Pateshwary and later joins the Brahmaputra. So, point 4 is correct.
• Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Relevance: Recently, India and Bangladesh reached an interim agreement on water sharing for the trans-boundary Kushiyara River.

Explanation:

India is among the top 10 coffee-producing countries, with about 3% of the global output in 2020.

Karnataka is the largest producer accounting for about 70% of the total coffee production in India. Kerala is the second-largest producer of coffee but lags far behind, accounting only for about 23% of the total production. Tamil Nadu is the third-largest producer, where India’s 6% of the coffee is produced.

Coffee growing Coffee growing regions in India can be grouped under three distinct categories:

1. Traditional areas representing the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
2. Non-traditional areas comprising Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in the Eastern Ghats of the country.
3. The North Eastern region comprises the ’Seven Sister’ states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

Geographical conditions ideal for the growth of coffee:

Temperature: It requires a hot and humid climate with temperature varying between 15°C and 28°C. It is generally grown under shady trees. Therefore, strong sunshine, high temperatures above 30°C, frost and snowfall are harmful for coffee cultivation. Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of berries.

Rainfall: Rainfall between 150 to 250 cm is favourable.

Soil: Well drained, rich friable loamy soil containing a good deal of humus and minerals like iron and calcium are ideal.

Labour: Like tea, coffee cultivation also requires plenty of cheap and skilled labour for various purposes like sowing, transplanting, pruning, plucking, dying, grading and packing of coffee.

Explanation:

Tibetan High is a warm anticyclone (winds are changing in a clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and it will always have an outflow of winds) located over the Tibetan Plateau in the middle/upper troposphere during the south-west monsoon period. The outflow of winds from Tibetan High as the easterly flow concentrates into the jet stream. This jet stream runs from the east coast of Vietnam to the west coast of Africa.

Thus, the location of the Easterly Jetstream seems to influence the pattern of monsoon rainfall. So, statement 1 is correct.

Mascarene High is a high-pressure area that is found around Mascarene Islands (in South Indian Ocean) during the south-west monsoon period. So, statement 2 is not correct.

Shifting in the position of Tibetan High east or west causes variation of monsoon activity over India. The Tibetan 'High' may sometimes shift much to the west of its usual position. In such a situation, the monsoon may extend further westward into Pakistan and in extreme cases into north Iran, though such a westward position of the Tibetan 'High' would be against its having origin in the heating effect of the Tibetan Plateau. Westward shift in the location of Tibetan high, with respect to its normal position, is favorable for rainfall activity over the Indian subcontinent. So, statement 3 is not correct.

Mascarene High is responsible for cross-equatorial flow through south Arabian Sea and it acts as southern hemispheric linkage. The variation in the intensity of High Pressure causes monsoon surges across equatorial flow. These surges are responsible for heavy rains along the west coast. So, statement 4 is correct.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.