10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #22 August 27, 2019

Explanation: Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Division was created w.e.f. October 19, 2006 in the Ministry, to effectively address the Left Wing Extremist insurgency in a holistic manner. The LWE Division implements security related schemes aimed at capacity building in the LWE affected States. The Division also monitors the LWE situation and counter-measures being taken by the affected States. The LWE Division coordinates the implementation of various development schemes of the Ministries/Departments of Govt. of India in LWE affected States. The States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala are considered LWE affected, although in varying degrees.

Explanation: As the Asia Pacific Group (APG) reportedly found that Islamabad (Pakistan) failed to meet its rules on 32 out of 40 special standards and benchmarks, relating to its legal and financial system, and 10 of 11 ‘effectiveness’ parameters relating to the enforcement of safeguards against terror financing (TF), money laundering, and have effectively ‘blacklisted’ Pakistan by awarding it its lowest “enhanced expedited follow-up” ranking.
The APG and FATF processes are separate, but they have an important bearing on each other. It is clear now that Islamabad will not only find it difficult to extract itself from the FATF’s grey list – also known as “jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies” – but actually have to confront being blacklisted.

Explanation: For more than a week, the daily chatter between Earth and Mars will go silent. On the surface of Mars are NASA’s Curiosity rover and InSight lander. Above Mars are several orbiters, including India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft (Mangalyaan), which has completed its official mission life but remains in orbit. Antennas on Earth and those on active spacecraft on or around Mars regularly exchange data. Now this will pause because of a phenomenon called Mars solar conjunction. For NASA’s spacecraft, this will happen between August 28 and September 7. Besides Curiosity and Insight on the Mars surface, NASA has the Odyssey orbiter, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the MAVEN orbiter. Some instruments aboard spacecraft will be inactive, especially cameras that generate large amounts of data.

Explanation: Geneva, 14 December 2017-The Secretariat of CITES, the global treaty that regulates wildlife trade, announced today that the next meeting of its Conference of the Parties (CoP18) will be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 23 May to 3 June 2019. Sri Lanka’s generous offer to host CoP18 was accepted at CoP17 held in October 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. CITES Secretary-General, Mr. John E. Scanlon said: “The next World Wildlife Conference will be hosted by an island country, the first time since CoP8 in Japan in 1992, and it is only the second time a CITES CoP is being held in South Asia, with the last occasion being 36 years ago in India. Sri Lanka is a beautiful country with diverse and truly unique wildlife both on land and at sea. It has a blossoming wildlife-based tourism industry and can boast the ‘Top 7’ wildlife species, being the Asian Elephant, Sloth Bear, Leopard, Black-necked Stork, Saltwater Crocodile, Leatherback Turtle and Blue Whale, six of which are listed under CITES. As one can see, Sri Lanka is an ideal location for a World Wildlife Conference and it will be a wonderful host of CoP18”.

Explanation: The world’s first space-based automatic identification system (AIS) to track merchant ships on a real-time basis will be built and operated jointly by India and France. The constellation carrying telecommunications (AIS), radar and optical remote-sensing instruments will be capable of monitoring ships in the Indian Ocean.
“The system will cover a wide belt across the globe, benefiting a broad range of French economic interests. With a revisit capability making it possible to task acquisitions several times a day, it will also be able to detect oil slicks and trace their origin”.