10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #13 September 16, 2019

Explanation: T-Wallet, the official digital wallet of Telangana government, is to be used extensively by the Welfare Department for transferring scholarships to students throughout the State. This is after a successful pilot project of allowing 20,000 students in Nizamabad district to draw money directly making use of the wallet rather than through bank account. Launched in June 2017, it will be the first mobile wallet to offer such a service and is also purported to be the only digital wallet initiated by any State government across the country. It was recently given permission by Reserve Bank of India to facilitate such cash withdrawals. The Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) wing of the Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (ITEC) Department has once again sought the permission of the RBI to roll out the T-Wallet service of withdrawing money from various MeeSeva Centres in Telangana.

Explanation: The government has taken prompt and adequate measures to boost exports, say exporters and analysts. “The provision for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) and replacing the existing Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme on export of garments and made-ups should ease the existing financial crunch,” said Govind Zanwar, vice president, Vibrant Terry Towel Global Expo and Textile Development Foundation (TDF), which is planning large-scale exports of terry towels to the U.S.

Explanation: Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is not just home to great science minds, it also harbors some unique microorganisms. Recently, researchers have identified a soil bacterial strain from the campus that helps in “complete remediation” of the carbaryl pesticide. Carbaryl pesticide continues to be used in the agricultural sector in spite of experimental studies in laboratory animals suggesting it to be a probable carcinogen to humans. Carbaryl is also persistent in nature leading to pollution of both soil and water ecosystems. The newly isolated bacterial strain utilizes the pesticide as its source of carbon and nitrogen for its growth. The team was also able to identify the genes responsible and the metabolic pathway involved in the complete metabolism and bioremediation process.

Explanation: Nandankanan Zoological Park is a premier large zoo of India. Unlike other zoos in the country, Nandankanan is built right inside the forest and set in a completely natural environment. The animals are housed in enclosures with greenery with a feel of real forest and live with no fear or apprehension of becoming the hunter’s prey.
Nandankanan is 15 kms from Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar.

Explanation: The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada River near Navagam, Gujarat in India. Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supplied from the dam. The foundation stone of the project was laid out by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April 1961. The project took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme funded by the World Bank through their International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity, using a loan of US$ 200 million. The construction for dam begun in 1987, but the project was stalled by the Supreme Court of India in 1995 in the backdrop of Narmada Bachao Andolan over concerns of displacement of people. In 2000-01 the project was revived but with a lower height of 110.64 metres under directions from SC, which was later increased in 2006 to 121.92 meters and 138.98 meters in 2017.