10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: January 18, 2021

Crop diversification refers to the addition of new crops or cropping systems to agricultural production on a particular farm.
— As crop prices become less stable and growing conditions become more difficult, many farmers struggle to ensure their financial security. However, farmers can reduce economic uncertainty by cultivating more than one type of crop.
— Single crop farming results in entire fields being susceptible to the same hazard, be it a pest or disease. Diversifying crops means that no one pest or disease can destroy a farm’s entire harvest.
— Planting a variety of crops makes the soil healthier, which in turn reduces the need to use excessive amounts of fertilizer. In addition, diversification ensures that crops are more resistant to disease and therefore require fewer pesticides.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under the Ministry of Culture recently inaugurated excavations Sites at Karanbel Tripuri and Tewar in District Jabalpur of Madhya Pradesh. Tripuri, an ancient city-state, and the capital of the later Kalachuris during the 8th–13th centuries.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Sinauli is an archaeological site located in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh famous for its Bronze Age solid disk wheel “chariots”, the first ones to be recovered in archaeological excavation in South Asia.

Statement 1 is correct. Brown Fish-owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) has a large range and is a native resident species in the South Asia and South East Asia.
Statement 2 is incorrect. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion under IUCN Red List, therefore it is listed as a Least Concern species. It is not listed in the Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
# Recently National Zoological Park (NZP), Delhi witnessed a death of Brown Fish Owl in its captivity, which has been found positive for H5N8 Avian Influenza.

With a view to create awareness among the consumers of fossil fuels, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched a month-long campaign, highlighting the adverse health and environmental impacts of increasing carbon footprints.
The campaign will also spread awareness about 7 key drivers that include moving towards a gas-based economy, cleaner use of fossil fuels, greater reliance on domestic sources to drive bio-fuels, achieving renewable targets with the set deadlines, increased use of electric vehicles to decarbonize mobility, increased use of cleaner fuels like Hydrogen, and digital innovation across all energy systems.

Option 1 is correct. The first rail line between India and Dhaka was opened in 2008 when Maitree express between Dhaka and Kolkata was started. In 2017 Bandhan express was also started between Kolkata and Khulna.
Option 2 is correct. Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway line project connects India and Nepal. As first phase of this project, the rail line from Jayanagar in Madhubani district, Bihar has been connected to Kurtha in Nepal and will be extended up to Bijalpura by March 2021.
Option 3 is incorrect. The Delaram-Zaranj Highway is roadway in the Nimruz Province of Afghanistan connecting the Delaram District in Afghanistan to the border of Iran. India provided assistance to Afghanistan for construction of this highway which further connects to Chabahar port through Iran.

The Defeat-NCD Partnership is a ‘public–private–people’ partnership anchored in the United Nations (UN Institute of Training and Research, Geneva). It partners with governments, multilateral agencies, civil society, academia, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
The Partnership aims to gather and mobilise global and national knowledge, tools, capacities, and finances to benefit low-resource countries.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Indian Railways is not a PSU but is a department of Government of India under a ministry, handled by a minister, elected to Parliament.
Statement 2 is incorrect. Iron-ore is the second most important stream of traffic of Railways and along with steel accounts for nearly 17% (53.81 Million Tonne of Steel & 153.35 Million Tonne of Iron ore) of total 1210 Million Tonne freight loading of IR in 2019-20.
# A new ‘Iron-ore Policy 2021’ governing allocation of rakes and transportation of iron-ore has been issued by Indian Railways recently.

Statement 1 is correct. 5G technology offers an extremely low latency rate, the delay between the sending and receiving of information. From around 200 milliseconds for 4G, it goes down to about 1 millisecond (1ms) with 5G.
Statement 2 is correct. 5G speed tops out at 10 gigabits per second (Gbps). According to communication principles, the shorter the frequency, the larger the bandwidth.
The use of shorter frequencies (millimeter waves between 30GHz and 300GHz) for 5G networks is why 5G can be faster. This high-band 5G spectrum provides the expected boost not only in speed but also in capacity, low latency, and quality.

Statement 1 is incorrect. A Seroprevalence Survey employs Antibody Tests on large scale. Serology testing checks a sample of a person’s blood to look for antibodies against a particular infection.
Statement 2 is correct. The percentage of individuals in a population who have antibodies to an infectious agent is called seroprevalence.

An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance. A company that was privately-owned until then becomes a publicly-traded company.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is a statutory body and a market regulator, which controls the securities market in India. The basic function of SEBI is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote and regulate the securities market.
Companies must meet requirements by exchanges and the SEBI to hold an initial public offering (IPO).