UPSC QUIZ 08.06.2024

Explanation:

• The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga on January 15, 2022 was an incredible natural event with widespread and far-reaching consequences.
• The eruption not only generated a devastating tsunami but also generated sound waves around the world and released unprecedented amounts of water vapor into the stratosphere.
• A study recently published in the Journal of Climate examines the long-term climate impacts of this volcanic eruption.
• The study showed that the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano had a significant impact on global weather patterns.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcano

• It is an Undersea Volcanic Eruption consisting of two small uninhabited islands, Hunga-Ha’apai and Hunga-Tonga.
• The volcano has erupted regularly over the past few decades.
• This is one of the massive explosions the volcano is capable of producing roughly every thousand years.
• One of the reasons for it being highly explosive is the Fuel-Coolant interaction.

Explanation:

• World Environment Day is celebrated on 5th June every year to encourage awareness and environmental protection.In a remarkable initiative to combat deforestation and restore biodiversity, two environmentalists have spearheaded the creation of India's first biospheres within tiger reserves.

India’s First Biosphere in a Tiger Reserve

• Recently two environmentalists, Jai Dhar Gupta and Vijay Dhasmana created India's first biosphere in a tiger reserve, called the Rajaji Raghati Biosphere (RRB) within the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand.
• The biosphere is a 35-acre private forest initiative aimed at identifying and reviving rare and endangered species of native trees while protecting the area from poachers and mining.
• The land earmarked for RRB was previously barren and in a state of degradation.

Explanation:

• India has become chair of the regional grouping Colombo Process for the first time since its inception in 2003.India would lead the grouping for the period 2024-26.

Colombo Process

• The Colombo Process comprises 12 Asian member states and serves as a regional consultative forum. It aims to promote the sharing of best practices related to overseas employment for countries in South and Southeast Asia that send migrant workers abroad.
• The 12 member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
• The founding states include Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Explanation:

• Kenyan delegation visited India to discuss collaboration on wildlife conservation efforts, with a particular emphasis on the ongoing Cheetah Reintroduction Project (Project Cheetah).
• The delegation presented a draft MoU to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) proposing collaboration.
• It along with capacity building and knowledge sharing, also included provisions for supplying equipment to Kenyan forest rangers to enhance field patrolling and wildlife preservation efforts.

Project Cheetah

• The Phase-1 of the project started in 2022, to restore the population of cheetahs, which were declared extinct in the country in 1952.
• It involves the translocation of cheetahs from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park.
• The project is implemented by the NTCA in collaboration with the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, and Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

Explanation:

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software called Parallel RANS Solver for Aerospace Vehicle Aero-thermo-dynamic Analysis (PraVaHa).
• PraVaHa is a software tool specifically designed to analyse the aerodynamics and thermodynamics of aerospace vehicles such as launch vehicles and winged and unwinged re-entry vehicles.
• It simulates the air flow around aerospace vehicles and calculates the resultant forces and thermal effects, which are essential for designing the required shape, structure and thermal protection system (TPS) for these bodies.
• It has been extensively used in Gaganyaan mission for aerodynamic analysis of manned launch vehicles such as HLVM3, Crew Escape System (CES) and Crew Module (CM).
• Any aerospace vehicle is subjected to severe aerodynamic and aerothermal loads in terms of external pressure and heat fluxes while passing through the earth’s atmosphere during launch or re-entry.