Daily Current Affairs Quiz 7 February 2023

a) Dholavira

Dholavira is an archaeological site of immense importance associated with the Indus Valley Civilization. It represents the ruins of an ancient city of the Harappan civilization that was inhabited over a period of 1,200 years from 3000 BCE through 1800 BCE. Unlike Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the city was constructed to a pre-existing geometrical plan consisting of three divisions – the citadel, the middle town, and the lower town. The most striking feature of the city is that all of its buildings, at least in their present state of preservation, are built of stone, whereas most other Harappan sites, including Harappa itself and Mohenjo-daro, are almost exclusively built of brick. One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world, built completely of stone.

The G20 delegates and participants will have a Yoga session at the White Rann of Kutch followed by a visit to Dholavira, the UNESCO world heritage site of the Harappan civilization.

d) Right or ability of an industrial unit or a firm to withdraw from or to close down.

Exit policy means the policy regarding the retrenchment of the surplus labour force resulting from restructuring of industrial units and workers displaced by the closure of sick units. Exit may become necessary due to strategic reasons, financial constraints and environmental changes.

b) Ladakh

52 avian species were observed in the Asian Waterbird Census-2023, which was conducted in the union territory of Ladakh between 17th and 19th January 2023.
• The observations were recorded on the eBird app, an online bird observations database that offers real-time data about bird distribution and abundance to scientists, researchers, and amateur naturalists.
i. The census was organised by the Himalaya project and the Department of Wildlife Protection of Ladakh in collaboration with the Ladakh Biodiversity Council, a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
• Himalaya project, a joint project by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and MoEFCC.
ii. The Asian Waterbird Census-2023 was organised in and around Chumathang, and Puga (the two major hot springs in eastern Ladakh), and major birding sites like Tso Kar, and Shey and Phey villages along the banks of the Indus River.
• The waterbird census was led by Padma Gyalpo, a known birder (person who observes or identifies wild birds in their habitats) from Shey.

b) 2 only

The Asian black bear (Ursus thibetanus), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species native to Asia that is largely adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. It lives in the Himalayas, southeastern Iran, the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent, the Korean Peninsula, China, the Russian Far East, the islands of Honshū and Shikoku in Japan, and Taiwan. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

It is listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act. It also comes under Appendix I of CITES. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

The Kashmir Valley has bucked the trend of Asiatic black bear ( Ursus thibetanus) attacks on humans rarely reported throughout the animal’s global range, a new study has revealed.

c) Singapore

Singapore Chief Justice Sunadresh Menon attends as chief guest of the 73rd foundation day of the Supreme Court of India.
The Singapore chief justice delivered a lecture on the “Role of judiciary in a changing world” as this year’s event was aired on social media platforms. On January 28, 1950, two days after India became the Sovereign Democratic Republic, the Supreme Court of India was established.