10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: December 25, 2020

The Government of India will launch STIP 2020, a holistic and pragmatic policy dedicated to Science, technology and most importantly innovation. The policy aims to reorient Science Technology & Innovation (STI) in terms of priorities, sectoral focus and strategies.
Statement 1 is incorrect. A preparatory framework has been developed for the formulation of STIP 2020. This is only the fifth national science, technology, and innovation policy of/for India that follows Science Policy Resolution 1958 (SPR 1958), Technology Policy Statement 1983 (TPS 1983), Science and Technology Policy 2003 (STP 2003) and Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2013 (STIP 2013).
Statement 2 is correct. STIP2020 formulation process is being facilitated jointly by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India (Office of PSA) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

Statement 1 is correct. The Sagarmala programme is the flagship programme of the Ministry of Shipping to promote port-led development in the country through harnessing India’s 7,500 km long coastline, 14500 km of potentially navigable waterways and strategic location on key international maritime trade routes.
Statement 2 is correct. Components of Sagarmala Programme are:
Port Modernization & New Port Development: De-bottlenecking and capacity expansion of existing ports and development of new greenfield ports
Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing the connectivity of the ports to the hinterland, optimizing cost and time of cargo movement through multi-modal logistics solutions including domestic waterways
Port-linked Industrialization: Developing port-proximate industrial clusters and Coastal Economic Zones to reduce logistics cost and time of EXIM and domestic cargo
Coastal Community Development: Promoting sustainable development of coastal communities through skill development & livelihood generation activities, fisheries development, coastal tourism etc.
Coastal Shipping & Inland Waterways Transport: Impetus to move cargo through the sustainable and environment-friendly coastal and inland waterways mode.
# Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) intends to create Product Specific Warehouses/Silos at various Ports, Multi Modal Logistics Parks located near Port area and alongside the National Waterways.

Both statements are correct.
Prime Minister will launch Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT to extend coverage to all the residents of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir on 26th December 2020.
The scheme will ensure Universal Health Coverage and focus on providing financial risk protection and ensuring quality and affordable essential health services to all individuals and communities.
It provides health insurance cover upto Rs 5 lakh per family on a floater basis to all residents of the UT of J&K. It provides for operational extension of PM-JAY to 15 lakh (approx) additional families.
The scheme will operate on insurance mode in convergence with PM-JAY. The benefits of the scheme will be portable across the country. The hospitals empanelled under PM-JAY scheme shall provide services under this scheme as well.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bharat Skills is a e-learning portal of the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Statement 2 is correct. Bharatskills is a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.
# The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students and also future-ready employability skilling program for upskilling and reskilling. Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

Ministry of AYUSH has released its year end review for 2020 [PIB].
Statement 1 is correct. The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda Act, 2020 confers the status of Institute of National Importance to the Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA) at Jamnagar by conglomerating four institutes at Gujarat Ayurved University, campus Jamnagar.
Statement 2 is correct. The Government has suitably amended the Allocation of Business Rules and inter-alia included the business of formulation of policy for development and propagation of Sowa-Rigpa under the ambit of Ministry of AYUSH.
The National Research Institute of Sowa-Rigpa was upgraded to “National Institute of Sowa Rigpa” in Leh, UT of Ladakh with the approval of Cabinet on 20th November, 2019.

Statement 1 is correct. Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), in partnership with the States, has launched an all India centrally sponsored “PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PM FME Scheme)”. The objectives of the scheme are :
–Formalization of micro units by means of GST, Udyog Aadhar and FSSAI registrations
–Financial assistance to individual units for upgradation of food processing facilities
–Quality improvement and skill development through trainings and technical knowledge
–Financial assistance to Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs), producer’s cooperatives for setting up common infrastructure facilities
Statement 2 is correct. The PM FME scheme derives inspiration from the One District One Product (ODOP) Programme of the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government which aims to create product-specific traditional industrial hubs across 75 districts of UP.
Under the PM FME scheme, the states will be required to identify one product per district based on the availability of raw material and existing clusters.

Statement 1 is correct. The PCA was established by the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, concluded at The Hague in 1899 during the first Hague Peace Conference. India is party to this convention.
Statement 2 is correct. The ‘Enrica Lexie’ Incident (Italy v. India) case proceedings were instituted under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”) at PCA.
The dispute arises from an incident that occurred on 15 February 2012 approximately 20.5 nautical miles off the coast of India involving the “Enrica Lexie”, an oil tanker flying the Italian flag, and India’s subsequent exercise of criminal jurisdiction over the incident and over two Italian marines from the Italian Navy.
# The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ruled in favour of Cairn Energy stating that the Indian government failed to uphold its obligations under the India-UK bilateral investment treaty.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Tso Kar Basin is a high-altitude wetland complex, consisting of two principal waterbodies, Startsapuk Tso, a freshwater lake of about 438 hectares to the south, and Tso Kar itself, a hypersaline lake of 1800 hectares to the north, situated in the Changthang region of Ladakh, India. It is called Tso Kar, meaning white lake, because of the white salt efflorescence found on the margins due to the evaporation of highly saline water.
It is southwest of the Pangong Tso lake.

Statement 2 is correct. India has added Tso Kar Wetland Complex in Ladakh as its 42nd Ramsar site, which is a second one in the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.
The Tso Kar Basin is an A1 Category Important Bird Area (IBA) as per Bird Life International and a key staging site in the Central Asian Flyway.

Andrott Island, also known as Androth Island, is a small inhabited island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, a group of 36 coral islands scattered in the Arabian Sea off the western coast of India.
# A sailing expedition from Kochi to Androth Island in Lakshadweep and Minicoy group of islands and back is being undertaken by Offshore Sailing Club, Kochi under the aegis of Southern Naval Command.

The new variant known as 501Y.V2 was discovered through routine surveillance by a network of laboratories in South Africa.
South Africa reported last week that scientists have found a new genetic mutation which might be responsible for the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in South Africa.
The new variant has multiple changes in the spike protein, the part of the virus that binds to cells inside the human body and that is also the main target for many of the antibodies produced during infection or after vaccination. Scientists have isolated one particular mutation – N501Y, common to both the new UK variant and that from South Africa – which they believe is important to its ability to spread fast.