10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: July 18, 2020

Both statements are correct.

The UN Charter established ECOSOC in 1945 as one of the six main organs of the United Nations.

ECOSOC links a diverse family of UN entities dedicated to sustainable development, providing guidance and coordination. The entities include regional economic and social commissions, functional commissions facilitating intergovernmental discussions of global issues, specialized agencies, programs and funds at work around the world.

ECOSOC has 54 member Governments which are elected for three-year terms by the General Assembly. India is currently a member.

The Advanced Persistent Threat 29 (APT-29), also known as ‘Cozy Bear’ or ‘The Dukes’ is a cyber-espionage group that have been accused by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, of stealing information about ongoing COVID-19 vaccine research from various laboratories.

The governments have assessed that the group belonging to Russia, uses a variety of tools and techniques to predominantly target governmental, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets for intelligence gain.

As per UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) the hacker group is part of Russian intelligence services. APT29 is using custom malware known as ‘WellMess’ and ‘WellMail’ to target a number of organizations globally.

The group has history of cyber-attacks in Germany, Uzbekistan, South Korea and the US.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Zydus Healthcare Company recently announced that it has got approval for Adaptive Phase I/ II human clinical trials of its plasmid DNA vaccine, ZyCoV-D against CoVID-19.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The ZyCoV-D is a plasmid DNA vaccine and not a live vaccine. It involves the direct introduction into appropriate tissues of a plasmid containing the DNA sequence encoding the antigen(s) against which an immune response is sought.

Statement 1 is correct. Department of Heavy Industry (DHI) is promoting innovation, R&D and product development in India for various sectors. There are five portals being developed for specific sectors by different organizations: BHEL for power sector equipment, HMT for machine tools, CMFTI for manufacturing technology, ICAT and ARAI for automotive sector.

The International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) has developed technology platform for automotive industry called ASPIRE – Automotive Solutions Portal for Industry, Research and Education.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Objective of this portal: self-reliant Indian automotive industry by assisting in innovation and adoption of global technological advancements by bringing together the stakeholders.

Option 1 is correct. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) have jointly initiated a new activity, “Retrofit of Air Conditioning to Improve Air Quality for Safety and Efficiency” (RAISE) for healthy and energy efficient buildings. The initiative will be scaled in public sector buildings.

Option 2 is correct. Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) is the flagship program on clean energy between the U.S. and India to jointly work on a range of issues related to energy security, clean energy and climate change.

Option 3 is incorrect. The Clean Technology Fund (CTF) is one of two multi-donor Trust Funds within the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), other being Strategic Climate Fund (SCF). It promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies. The World Bank is the Trustee and Administrating Unit of the CTF Trust Fund.

Government had set up three committees in 1918-19; Franchise Committee headed by Lord Southborough, Committee on Home Administration headed by Robert Crewe-Milnes and the Function Committee headed by Richard Feetham.

The Franchise Committee recommended that qualification of voters should be based on property and residence within a constituency. Further it did not suggest granting of franchise to women.

Indian states committee under Sir Harcourt Butler was to investigate and clarify the relationship between the paramount power and the Princes of Princely States.

Whitley Commission on Labour, 1929 was to inquire into the existing conditions of labour in industrial undertakings and plantations in India.

Muddiman Committee or the Reforms Enquiry Committee, 1924 was to aid in investigating the diarchy issue and to meet the demand of Indian leaders in context of Purna Swaraj declaration.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (China France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), 2015 with regards to nuclear development by Iran.

The nuclear deal was endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution.

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 agreement.

May 2018, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the JCPOA and reinstate U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime.

July 2019, Iran announced that it had breached the limit set on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, which the IAEA confirmed.

January 2020, after killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, Iran declared that it would no longer abide by the limitations of the deal but would continue to coordinate with the IAEA.

Statement 1 is correct. Article 324(1) provides that the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President shall be vested in Election Commission.

Statement 2 is correct. Article 324(5) provides that the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court and the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.

Statement 3 is correct. Article 326 provides that the elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage.

Every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than eighteen years of age and is not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any law made by the appropriate Legislature on the ground of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such election.

At its meeting in Helsinki in 1992, the then- Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE, now OSCE) requested the Chairman-in-Office to convene a conference on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict involving Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

In 1994, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Budapest Summit established the Minsk Group, which continues to work for the creation of conditions in which such a conference can take place.

The Prespes agreement is an agreement reached in 2018 between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia, to change latter’s name to North Macedonia.

Statement 1 is correct. NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA) is a program of the Department of School Education and Literacy (MHRD) to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level through an Integrated Teacher Training Program under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It is being organized by constituting National Resource Groups (NRGs) and State Resource Groups (SRGs) at the National and the State level who will be training 42 lakhs teachers subsequently.

The training program will be conducted for teachers, school principals, SMCs and state/district/block/cluster level functionaries.

All faculty members of DIETs, SCERTs etc. will be covered for training on learner- centered pedagogy, learning outcomes, improving social personal qualities of children, school-based assessment, new initiatives and pedagogies of different subjects, etc.