10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #9 October 12, 2019

Explanation: Shore Temple is a standing testimonial to the regal heritage of India. Built in the 7th century, Shore Temple depicts the royal taste of Pallava dynasty. During the reign of Rajasimha, the temple saw its construction when Pallava art was at its apex. Ravaged by wind and sea, the temple has witnessed the historical events of India. This work of genius was recognized and listed amongst the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Shore Temple comprises three shrines, where the prominent ones are dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. In the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum), an image of Shivalinga embraces the site. At the rear end, one can find two shrines facing each other. Here, one shrine is dedicated to Ksatriyasimnesvara and other to Lord Vishnu. In the shrine, Lord Vishnu is imaged reclining on the ‘Seshanag’, which is a symbol of consciousness in Hinduism.

Explanation: The Sendai Framework is a 15-year, voluntary, non-binding agreement which recognizes that the State has the primary role to reduce disaster risk but that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders including local government, the private sector and other stakeholders. It aims for the following outcome:
•The substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries.
The Sendai Framework is the successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters. It is the outcome of stakeholder consultations initiated in March 2012 and inter-governmental negotiations held from July 2014 to March 2015, which were supported by the UNISDR upon the request of the UN General Assembly.
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction began in 1989, after a call by the United Nations General Assembly for a day to promote a global culture of risk-awareness and disaster reduction. Held every 13 October, the day celebrates how people and communities around the world are reducing their exposure to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of reining in the risks that they face. The 2019 edition continues as part of the “Sendai Seven” campaign, centred on the seven targets of the Sendai Framework.

Explanation: The ‘mHariyali’ mobile application was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to encourage public engagement in planting trees and Green drives. The application provides automatic geo – tagging of plants. It will hence enable the nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in September 2019, had selected 103 Central Government colonies to implement the following Awareness and Construction of Roof top rain water harvesting Cleaning and Greening of open space through plantation Sensitization on Source Segregation of household waste Orientation and Capacity building on Home Composting. The application is a part of the campaign to keep the participants motivated.

Explanation: Environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt was awarded Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for the years 2017 and 2018 for his services in promoting and preserving national integration in the country. The award would be presented on 31 October 2019, in a function at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi.
The 85 year old noted environmentalist and social activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt hails from Uttarakhand. In 1964 he had founded the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS) in Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand which later became a mother organisation to Chipko Movement, in which he was one of the pioneers. He has earlier been awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award (in 1982) for community leadership, followed by Padma Bhushan (2005) and has also been a recipient of Gandhi Peace Prize.

Explanation: India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) is India’s most respected credit rating agency committed to providing India’s credit markets accurate, timely and prospective credit opinions. Built on a foundation of independent thinking, rigorous analytics, and an open and balanced approach towards credit research, Ind-Ra has grown rapidly during the past decade, gaining significant market presence in India’s fixed income market.
Ind-Ra currently maintains coverage of corporate issuers, financial institutions (including banks and insurance companies), finance and leasing companies, managed funds, urban local bodies, and structured finance and project finance companies.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Ind-Ra has seven branch offices located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune. Ind-Ra is recognised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Reserve Bank of India and National Housing Bank.
Ind-Ra is a 100% owned subsidiary of the Fitch Group.
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), a part of Fitch group has lowered India’s gross domestic product (GDP) forecast for financial year (FY) 2019-20 to 6.1%. This was second downgrade in the last two months.