10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #88 February 14, 2020

Explanation: In a lake in Brazil, researchers have discovered a virus that they find unusual and intriguing. Called Yaravirus, it has a “puzzling origin and phylogeny”, they report in a study on the pre-print server bioRxiv. The Yaravirus infects amoeba and has genes that have not been described before, something that could challenge how DNA viruses are classified. The researchers found the Yaravirus while looking in the lake for giant viruses that infect amoeba. Because of the Yaravirus’s small size, it was unlike other viruses that infect amoeba and they named it as a tribute to Yara, the “mother of waters” in the mythological stories of the Tupi-Guarani indigenous tribes.

Explanation: Pesticides Management Bill, 2020 seeking to promote safe and effective pesticides will be introduced in the current session of Parliament. “The new draft bill is aimed at protecting the interest of the farmers, so that they get safe and effective pesticides. Farmers would be empowered to get all information regarding the available pesticides, their strength, weaknesses, and risks from the dealers they choose to purchase the pesticide from”. The bill seeks to replace the existing Insecticide Act, 1968, which the government said is “age-old and needs immediate re-writing”. It comes against the backdrop of rising concern over the need to protect farmers from spurious and sub-standard pesticides, along with the need to assess their potential effects on the health of people and that of the environment. Any person who wants to import, manufacture, or export pesticides would have to register under the new bill and provide all details regarding any claims, expected performance, efficacy, safety, usage instructions, and infrastructure available to stock that pesticide. The information will also include details on the pesticide’s potential effects on the environment.

Explanation: The world economy will suffer a total cumulative loss of $10 trillion by 2050 unless humanity reverses destruction of nature, a report released on February 12, 2020, has said. Titled Global Futures: Assessing The Global Economic Impacts of Environmental Change To Support Policy-Making, the report has been prepared jointly by the World Wide Fund for Nature, The Global Trade Analysis Project and the Natural Capital Project. However, annual global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be 0.02 per cent higher by 2050 if the world adopted a more sustainable model of living, the report said.

Explanation: Government launched a School Health Programme under Ayushman Bharat-Health & Wellness Centres that will teach skills ranging from emotional wellbeing, mental health, and interpersonal relationships to values and maintaining healthy lifestyle. “The first phase of implementation will be in all the public upper primary, secondary and senior secondary schools of Aspirational districts. Subsequently, remaining districts will be taken up in the second year”. The program has been jointly rolled out by Ministries of Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

Explanation: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced a new global campaign calling on people all over the world to cover the distance travelled by refugees each year. The 2 Billion Kilometres to Safety campaign will encourage people to support refugees by championing individual acts of solidarity. These acts, when taken together, acknowledge the resilience and strength of refugees. UNHCR traced the journeys of refugees around the world and calculated that collectively, people forced to flee travel approximately two billion kilometres every year to reach the first point of safety. In 2016, Syrian refugees travelled more than 240 kilometres to reach Turkey. South Sudanese refugees travelled more than 640 kilometres to reach Kenya and Rohingya refugees in Myanmar travelled approximately 80 kilometres to reach Bangladesh. The 2 Billion Kilometres to Safety campaign invites people to act in solidarity and run, walk or cycle to achieve a cumulative total of two billion kilometres.