Q. The authors of ‘The Many and the none’ claim that vegetables are being doctored. (2015)
i) Name the authors. (1mark)
-> Ashish Kothari and Bansuri Tanya are the authors of “The Many and the none.
ii) What is meant by ‘doctored’? (2marks)
-> In the purpose- piece the author had mentioned about the various systems applied to vegetables. Nowadays various processes are applied to make them “look good” and also to grow faster with help of various kinds of manures, pesticides, insecticides etc. the process of applying medicines for the above mentioned purpose has been mentioned as “ being doctored” by writers.
Q. What are ‘flagship” species of animals? (2marks) (2016)
-> Flagship means the most important product of an organization. Here in this prose- piece flagship species conveys the meaning that those species are the distinctive symbol which should be conserved.
Q. What is bio-piracy? What challenges is India facing from it? (3marks) (2016)
-> Bio –piracy means illegal use of copyright of the biological diverse items of our plants. Agriculture scientists and corporations are applying hitech technology in the field of agriculture. By doing so they are making face bio-piracy and the result is that our age-old knowledge regarding turmeric, neem and many other elements of biodiversity have been patented in order to make it the exclusive domain of corporate interest. Hence bio-piracy has an adverse affect on lives of people living in and dependent on bio-diverse areas and in turn affecting the country as a whole. It is surely harmful for the country.
Q. What is bio-piracy? How can it be prevented? (2marks) (2018)
-> Bio –piracy means illegal use of copyright of the biological diverse items of our plants. Agriculture scientists and corporations are applying hitech technology in the field of agriculture. By doing so they are making face bio-piracy and the result is that our age-old knowledge regarding turmeric, neem and many other elements of biodiversity have been patented in order to make it the exclusive domain of corporate interest. Hence bio-piracy has an adverse affect on lives of people living in and dependent on bio-diverse areas and in turn affecting the country as a whole. It is surely harmful for the country.
Q. List three areas mentioned in “The Many and the None” where biodiversity can be seen. (3marks) (2018)
-> Bio- diversity can be seen in-
i) Plants
ii) Animals
iii) Vegetation.
Q. What is biodiversity? Why is it important in our lives? (5marks) (2019)
-> Bio- diversity refers to variety and variability of plant, animal and human life on earth. Biodiversity is very important in our lives because all the plants, animals and human life on earth survive depending upon one another. At the same time among plants, animals there are different species which is very important. Similarly, we eat varieties of food also. We cannot eat the same dish every day. In our meal one item is not sufficient. Various items constitute the meal. Likewise, in India we enjoy the taste of seven hundred varieties of mangoes through the few months of summer.
Q. Do you think the writers’ comparison of the ship losing nuts to the loss of biodiversity is apt? Why do they make this comparison? (5marks) (2016)
-> The writer’s comparison of the ship losing nuts to the loss of biodiversity is doubtlessly apt. Because the ship that is losing one nut at a time and gradually going to sink and the same is the case of losing biodiversity. We are losing the species and genes that keep the earth ‘afloat’ stepwise. The line of decline is increasing. If we are unable to check this line the earth will also sink. Already signs of this alarming condition are manifested by a series of global changes in climate, hydrological patterns and other ecological functions that we all survive on. And by the collapse of global fisheries, the desertification of tens of millions of hectares of one productive land, the loss of soil nutrition and so on.
Both scenes are likewise the same and the comparison has perfectly matched.
