10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #11 August 13, 2019

Explanation: Desertification and land degradation are major threats to agricultural productivity in our country. Combating desertification and land degradation is one of the thrust areas identified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, New Delhi. Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmadabad along with 19 concerned partner institutes has carried out an inventory and monitoring of desertification of the entire country using Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS) data in Geographical Information System (GIS) environment.
The maps and salient findings compiled in the form of an Atlas were released on the occasion of “World Day to Combat Desertification”, on June 17, 2016 jointly organized by MoEF&CC, and Arid Zone Forest Research Institute (AFRI) at Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
This Atlas presents state-wise desertification and land degradation status maps depicting land use, process of degradation and severity level. This was prepared using IRS Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) data of 2011-13 and 2003-05 time frames in GIS environment. Area under desertification / land degradation for the both time frames and changes are reported state-wise as well as for the entire country. The outputs are helpful in prioritizing areas to be taken up for minimizing the impact of desertification and land degradation.

Explanation: The Ministry of Labour and Employment had constituted an expert committee on 17 January 2017, under the Chairmanship Dr. Anoop Satpathy, Fellow, V. V. Giri National Labour Institute (VVGNLI) to review and recommend methodology for fixation of National Minimum Wage (NMW). The Expert Committee has submitted its report on “Determining the Methodology for Fixation of the National Minimum Wage” to the Government of India through the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment on 14-02-2019. The report has recommended fixing the need based national minimum wage for India at INR 375 per day (or INR 9,750 per month) as of July 2018, irrespective of sectors, skills, occupations and rural-urban locations for a family comprising of 3.6 consumption units. It has also recommended to introduce an additional house rent allowance (city compensatory allowance), averaging up to INR 55 per day i.e., INR 1,430 per month for urban workers over and above the NMW. Apart from proposing the level of a single national minimum wage at an all-India level, the report has also estimated and recommended different national minimum wages for different geographical regions of the country to suit the local realities and as per socio-economic and labour market contexts. For the
Purpose of estimating national minimum wages at regional levels it has grouped the states into five regions based on a composite index and have recommended region specific national minimum wages.

Explanation: The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury. The Convention draws attention to a global and ubiquitous metal that, while naturally occurring, has broad uses in everyday objects and is released to the atmosphere, soil and water from a variety of sources. Controlling the anthropogenic releases of mercury throughout its lifecycle has been a key factor in shaping the obligations under the Convention.
Major highlights of the Minamata Convention include a ban on new mercury mines, the phase-out of existing ones, the phase out and phase down of mercury use in a number of products and processes, control measures on emissions to air and on releases to land and water, and the regulation of the informal sector of artisanal and small-scale gold mining. The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.

Explanation: The Department of IT, BT and S&T in Karnataka, through Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), has launched the E-Step, an initiative to empower student start-ups. E-Step focuses on boot camps, mentoring and training programmes which cover various aspects of entrepreneurship. E-Step, an initiative from Start-up Cell, is a specially crafted for students/start-ups/entrepreneurs to understand the basics of entrepreneurship from experienced trainers.

Explanation: The oil which contains sulfur amount less than 0.5% is called Sweet Crude Oil. If the Sulfur content is more than 0.5%, it will be called Sour Crude Oil. The Brent crude oil is having around 0.37% Sulfur and that is why Brent Crude Oil is a Sweet crude Oil. Brent Crude is extracted from the North Sea and comprises Brent Blend, Forties Blend, Oseberg and Ekofisk crudes (also known as the BFOE Quotation). The Brent Crude oil marker is also known as Brent Blend, London Brent and Brent petroleum.