10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: December 11, 2020

Both statements are correct.

NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a specification developed by 3GPP. It is a standards-based low power wide area (LPWA) technology developed to enable a wide range of new IoT devices and services. NB-IoT significantly improves the power consumption of user devices, system capacity and spectrum efficiency, especially in deep coverage.

NB-IoT is an ‘industrial grade’ LPWA solution – it runs on licenced spectrum which guarantees quality of service and a future-proofed capability. It’s a cellular technology related to LTE, supports two-way communications and is designed specifically for LPWA applications

It has low device cost, and compatibility with existing cellular network infrastructure, with the same level of security as LTE.

# BSNL, in partnership with Skylo, to introduce worlds’ first, satellite-based narrowband-IoT network in India.

Natural uranium deposits exist all over the world, but uranium in this form is not suitable for nuclear weapons, and cannot be used in most nuclear reactors for either electricity or plutonium production.

Natural uranium is composed of various isotopes, or different types of uranium. It contains approximately 99.3% of the isotope uranium-238, and has only very small concentrations, about 0.7%, of the fissile isotope uranium-235. An isotope is considered fissile if it can be split by a slow-moving neutron.

Uranium-235 is the most significant fissile isotope of uranium for reactor fuel and nuclear weapons. To be useful for either of these purposes, the concentration of uranium-235 must be increased by separating it from uranium-238 through a process known as enrichment.

A new species of Indian Muraingrasses known for their ecological and economic importance, such as fodder, have been spotted by scientists in Goa in the Western Ghats, one of the four global biodiversity hotspots of India. The species has adapted to survive harsh conditions, low nutrient availability, and blossoms every monsoon.

Globally 85 species are known from Ischaemum, of which 61 species are exclusively found in India. The Western Ghats have 40 species with the highest concentration of the genus.

The species was named Ischaemum janarthanamiiin honor of Prof. M. K. Janarthanam, Professor of Botany, Goa University, for his contribution to the Indian grass taxonomy and documentation of the floristic diversity of Goa state.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Natanz is a city and capital of Natanz County, Isfahan Province, Iran. Natanz nuclear facility in Iran is largest uranium enrichment facility.

Option 2 is correctly matched. The Tigray Region is the northernmost region of Ethiopia. The Tigray make up about 6 percent of Ethiopia’s 110 million people, and they were the arbiters of power and money in the country from 1991, when they helped dismantle a military dictatorship, until 2018, when anti-government protests catapulted Mr. Abiy to power.

An armed conflict has started recently in the region between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF); and an alliance of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) is Iran’s second pilot enrichment plant (the first is the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz). The site was originally a tunnel facility associated with Iran’s paramilitary organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and is located buried in a mountain near the city of Qom.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Under the nuclear deal, Iran is allowed to enrich uranium only up to a 3.67% concentration; to stockpile no more than 300kg (660lbs) of the material; to operate no more than 5,060 of its oldest and least efficient centrifuges; and to cease enrichment at the underground Fordo facility.

Another part of the deal instructs Iran not to accumulate more than 130 tonnes of heavy water, which contains more hydrogen than ordinary water, and to redesign its heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak. Spent fuel from a heavy-water reactor contains plutonium, which can be used in a nuclear bomb.

Statement 2 is correct. Iran’s compliance with the nuclear-related provisions of the JCPOA was to be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) according to certain requirements set forth in the agreement.

ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus is an annual meeting of Defence Ministers of 10 ASEAN Countries and eight partner countries. This year marks the 10th year of inception of ADMM Plus forum.

The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries”), to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.

Both statements are correct.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

# Available in more than 500 languages, it is the most translated document in the world.

The 2020 Human Rights Day theme is ‘Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights’. This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights are central to recovery efforts.

Statement 1 is correct. A consumer is defined under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 as a person who buys any good or avails a service for a consideration.  It does not include a person who obtains a good for resale or a good or service for commercial purpose.  It covers transactions through all modes including offline, and online through electronic means, teleshopping, multi-level marketing or direct selling.

Statement 2 is correct. Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) is to regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade practices, and misleading advertisements.

CCPA will carry out the following functions, including: (i) inquiring into violations of consumer rights, investigating and launching prosecution at the appropriate forum; (ii) passing orders to recall goods or withdraw services that are hazardous, reimbursement of the price paid, and discontinuation of the unfair trade practices, as defined in the Bill; (iii) issuing directions to the concerned trader/ manufacturer/ endorser/ advertiser/ publisher to either discontinue a false or misleading advertisement, or modify it; (iv) imposing penalties, and; (v) issuing safety notices to consumers against unsafe goods and services.

# The CCPA has referred the recent complaints of Honey adulteration to FSSAI.

The 5th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS), organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga and Center for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) began on 10^th December with the theme of comprehensive analysis and holistic management of local rivers and water bodies with focus on Arth Ganga – river conservation synchronised development.

The Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) was established at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IITK) in 2016. The Centre is a Centre of Excellence for data collection, the creation and dissemination of knowledge and information for the sustainable development of Ganga River Basin.

Statement 1 is correct. Black Carbon is produced both naturally and by human activities as a result of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels, and biomass. Primary sources include emissions from diesel engines, cook stoves, wood burning and forest fires.

Complete combustion would turn all carbon in the fuel into carbon dioxide (CO2), but combustion is never complete and CO2, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and organic carbon and black carbon particles are all formed in the process. The complex mixture of particulate matter resulting from incomplete combustion is often referred to as soot.

Statement 2 is correct. A team of researchers from National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Leipzig Institute for Meteorology (LIM), University of Leipzig, Germany, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur supported by the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India under DST Climate Change program have highlighted the crucial role of the aerosol direct radiative effect on high precipitation events over the Himalayan region.

Scientists have found that aerosols like black carbon and dust, which makes the Indo-Gangetic Plain one of the most polluted regions of the world, have led to increased incidents of high rainfall events in the foothills of the Himalayan Region. [Source: PIB]