10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: January 21 2021

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, has given its approval for the investment of Rs.5281.94 crore for 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric (HE) Project located on river Chenab, in Kishtwar district of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, by a new Joint Venture Company (JVC) to be incorporated between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC).

Both statements are correct.
Union Ministry of Power has promulgated “Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020” laying down the rights of power consumers in the country.
–It is the duty of every distribution licensee to supply electricity on request made by an owner or occupier of any premises in line with the provisions of Act.
–It is the right of consumer to have minimum standards of service for supply of electricity from the distribution licensee.
— Maximum time period of 7 days in metro cities and 15 days in other municipal areas and 30 days in rural areas identified to provide new connection and modify an existing connection:
–While the prosumers will maintain consumer status and have the same rights as the general consumer, they will also have right to set up Renewable Energy (RE) generation unit including roof top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems – either by himself or through a service provider. Net metering for loads up to ten kW and for gross metering for loads above ten kW.
A prosumer is an one who both consumes as well as produces.

Time Use Survey (TUS) provides a framework for measuring time dispositions by the population on different activities. It is an important source of information about the activities that are performed by the population and the time duration for which such activities are performed.
The primary objective of Time Use Survey (TUS) is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities. TUS is an important source of information on the time spent in unpaid caregiving activities, volunteer work, unpaid domestic service producing activities of the household members. It also provides information on time spent on learning, socializing, leisure activities, self-care activities, etc., by the household members.
National Statistical Office (NSO) conducted the first Time Use Survey in India during January – December 2019. The survey measures the participation rate and time spent on paid activities, care activities, unpaid activities, etc.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The first National Conference with States on Logistics was organized on Tuesday 19th January, 2021 by the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, with the objective to initiate a consultative and collaborative framework for the Central and State Governments to work in a coordinated manner in the logistic sector.
Statement 2 is correct. The Logistics Performance Index is reported by the World Bank in every two years. The LPI is based on a worldwide survey of stakeholders on the ground providing feedback on the logistics “friendliness” of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade.

Statement 1 is incorrect. NITI Aayog, along with the Institute for Competitiveness, have released the second edition of the India Innovation Index in a virtual event. The report examines the innovation capabilities and performance of the states and union territories. The first edition of the index was launched in October 2019.
Statement 2 is correct. In the ‘Major States’ category, Karnataka continued to occupy the top position, while Maharashtra moved past Tamil Nadu to reach the second place.
Overall, Delhi retained its first rank, while Chandigarh made a big leap since 2019 and landed in the second place this year.
Under the ‘North-Eastern/Hill States’ category, Himachal Pradesh moved up from the second position to emerge as the top ranker this year, while 2019’s top performer (in this category), Sikkim, slipped down to the fourth position.

Both statements are correct.
The Labour Bureau is responsible for compilation and maintenance of Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers (CPI-AL/RL) and Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW).
The current series of CPI Numbers for Agricultural and Rural Labourers (base 1986-87=100) replaced the earlier series on base 1960-61=100 in 1995.
# The All-India Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers and Rural Labourers (Base: 1986-87=100) for the month of December, 2020 decreased by 13 points and 12 points to stand at 1047 and 1053 points respectively.

Statement 1 is correct. Vaccines contain weakened or inactive parts of a particular organism (antigen) that triggers an immune response within the body to produce the pathogen specific antibodies. Newer (DNA/RNA) vaccines contain the blueprint for producing antigens rather than the antigen itself.
Regardless of whether the vaccine is made up of the antigen itself or the blueprint so that the body will produce the antigen, this weakened version will not cause the disease in the person receiving the vaccine, but it will prompt their immune system to respond much as it would have on its first reaction to the actual pathogen.
Statement 2 is correct. Some vaccines require multiple doses, given weeks or months apart. This is sometimes needed to allow for the production of long-lived antibodies and development of memory cells. In this way, the body is trained to fight the specific disease-causing organism, building up memory of the pathogen so as to rapidly fight it if and when exposed in the future.

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels. This process involves the migration, growth, and differentiation of endothelial cells, which line the inside wall of blood vessels. The process of angiogenesis is controlled by chemical signals in the body.
Angiogenesis is critical in the growth of cancer because tumors need blood supply to grow. Tumors trigger the growth of blood cells by giving off chemical signals that stimulate angiogenesis.
Inhibition of tumor angiogenesis has become a popular anti-cancer strategy after chemotherapy. However, the clinically approved anti-angiogenic drugs are ineffective due to parallel activation of various compensatory mechanisms involving a cascade of molecules, which aids tumor angiogenesis and investigation of these mechanisms are essential for developing anti-angiogenic therapies.
# DST INSPIRE faculty from Chennai is working to develop transgenic zebrafish (which have exogenous genes added to their genome) model by use of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing tool to further study the compensatory angiogenesis mechanism in tumor microenvironment.

The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision was established in 1997, following major outbreaks of meningitis in Africa, as a mechanism to manage and coordinate the provision of emergency vaccine supplies and antibiotics to countries during major outbreaks.
ICGs have been established to provide access to vaccines for Cholera, Ebola, Meningitis and Yellow fever.
The ICG is made up of four member agencies: World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
# WHO, UNICEF, IFRC and MSF recently announced the establishment of a Global Ebola Vaccine Stockpile to ensure response to outbreak.

International Migration report 2020 has been released by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
–18 million people from India were living outside of their country of birth.
— India’s large diaspora is distributed across a number of major countries of destination, with the UAE (3.5 million), the US (2.7 million) and Saudi Arabia (2.5 million) hosting the largest numbers of migrants from India.
–Other countries with a large diaspora included Mexico and Russia (11 million each), China (10 million) and Syria (8 million).
# The World Migration Report is a flagship publication series of the International Organization for Migration.