Current Affairs Quiz Today – 14th Jan 2021

ANS: (A) 1 ONLY

Explanation

• Maghi Mela is held in Muktsar, Punjab every year in January or in the month of Magh according to the Nanakshahi calendar. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
  • Nanakshahi calendar was designed by Sikh scholar Pal Singh Purewal to replace the Bikrami calendar, to work out the dates of gurpurab and other festivals.
  • The Bikrami calendar has been historically used by Hindus and Sikhs. The Bikrami or Vikrami calendar is named after king Vikramaditya and starts in 57 B.C.
    • It is based on twelve syndicalist lunar months and 365 solar days. The lunar new year starts on the new moon in the month of Chet.
• Maghi is the occasion when Sikhs commemorate the sacrifice of forty Sikhs, who fought for Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
  • The eve of Maghi is the common Indian festival of Lohri when bonfires are lit in Hindu homes to greet the birth of sons in the families and alms are distributed.
• The day of Maghi is observed to honour the heroic fight of the Chali Mukte, or the Forty Liberated Ones, who sacrificed their own lives defending an attack by the Mughal imperial army marching in pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

ANS: (A) 1 only

Explanation

• The Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is caused by infection of cattle or water buffalo with the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
  • The virus is one of three closely related species within the genus capripoxvirus, the other two species being Sheeppox virus and Goatpox virus.
• Recently, a Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) has been infecting India’s bovines.
  • The disease is being reported for the first time in India.
• It spreads through mosquitoes, flies and ticks and also through saliva and contaminated water and food. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• LSD is endemic to Africa and parts of West Asia, where it was first discovered in 1929.
  • In Southeast Asia the first case of LSD was reported in Bangladesh in July 2019.
  • In India it was first reported from Mayurbhanj, Odisha in August 2019.

ANS: (A)  only

Explanation

• Two Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG):
  • It is an electron gas that is free to move in two dimensions, but tightly confined in the third. This tight confinement leads to quantized energy levels for motion in the third direction. Thus the electrons appear to be a 2D sheet embedded in a 3D world. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
  • 2DEG is a valuable system for exploring the physics of superconductivity magnetism and their coexistence.
• The need for attaining new functionalities in modern electronic devices has led to the manipulation of property of an electron called spin degree of freedom along with its charge. This has given rise to an altogether new field of spin-electronics or ‘spintronics’. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • The manipulation of electron spin offers new dimensions for basic and applied research, and the potential for new capabilities for electronics technology. This motivates studies of spin polarized electrons in a high mobility two dimensional electron gas (2DEG).
    • Spintronics is the study of the intrinsic spin of the electron and its associated magnetic moment, in addition to its fundamental electric charge, in solid-state devices. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

ANS: (B) 2 only

Explanation

• The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has recently cleared a deal worth Rs. 48,000 crore for the acquisition of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
• CCS is chaired by the Prime Minister of India. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Major decisions with respect to the significant appointments, issues of national security, defence expenditure of India are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Hence, statement 2 is correct.

ANS: (D) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• The concept of judicial review was borrowed from the United States of America
• The power of judicial review can be exercised by both the Supreme Court and the High Courts.