10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: July 7, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. The Global Warming Potential (GWP) of a greenhouse gas is its ability to trap extra heat in the atmosphere over time relative to carbon dioxide (CO2). This is most often calculated over 100 years, and is known as the 100-year GWP. Specifically, it is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2).

– Carbon dioxide (CO2) by definition has a GWP of 1 regardless of the time period used.

– Methane (CH4) is estimated to have a GWP of 28–36 over 100 years.

– Nitrous Oxide (N2O) has a GWP 265–298 times that of CO2 for a 100-year timescale.

– Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are sometimes called high-GWP gases because, for a given amount of mass, they trap substantially more heat than CO2. (The GWPs for these gases can be in the thousands or tens of thousands.)

Statement 2 is correct. Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect causes some of this energy to be waylaid in the atmosphere, absorbed and released by greenhouse gases.

Without naturally occurring greenhouse gases, Earth’s average temperature would be near 0°F (or -18°C) instead of the much warmer 59°F (15°C).

Statement 1 is correct. The Global Health Security (GHS) Index is a comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries that make up the States Parties to the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005).

Statement 2 is incorrect. The GHS Index is a project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (JHU) and was developed with The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The GHSI 2019 stated that National health security is fundamentally weak around the world and no country is fully prepared for epidemics or pandemics, and every country has important gaps to address.

Statement 1 is correct. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister comprises the minister of external affairs, the home minister, finance minister, and the defence minister.

Statement 2 is correct. National Security Council, chaired by the Prime Minister was established post-Kargil war with objective of integrated thinking and coordinated application of the political, military, diplomatic, scientific and technological resources of the State to protect and promote national security goals and objectives.

Statement 3 is correct. Strategic Policy Group (SPG) assists the National Security Council and is the principal mechanism for inter-ministerial coordination and integration of relevant inputs in the formulation of national security policies. SPG is chaired by the National Security Adviser.

Statement 1 is correct. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS was first reported in Asia in February 2003.

SARS-CoV is thought to be an animal virus from an as-yet-uncertain animal reservoir, perhaps bats, that spread to other animals (civet cats) and first infected humans in the Guangdong province of southern China in 2002.

Statement 2 is correct. The main way that SARS seems to spread is by close person-to-person contact. The virus that causes SARS is thought to be transmitted most readily by respiratory droplets (droplet spread) produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

The Galwan River flows from the Aksai Chin region in the area of Samzungling on the eastern side of the Karakoram Range and flows west to join the Shyok River.

Pangong Tso is an endorheic lake extends from India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China.

Daulat Beg Oldi is a campsite and India’s military base located in north Ladakh on an ancient trade route connecting Ladakh to the Tarim Basin.

In 1993, Lakdawala Committee to review methodology for poverty estimation recommended: (i) consumption expenditure should be calculated based on calorie consumption as earlier; (ii) state specific poverty lines should be constructed and these should be updated using the Consumer Price Index of Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) in urban areas and Consumer Price Index of Agricultural Labour (CPI-AL) in rural areas; and (iii) discontinuation of ‘scaling’ of poverty estimates based on National Accounts Statistics.

Tendulkar Committee (2009) to review methodology for poverty estimation recommended: (i) a shift away from calorie consumption based poverty estimation; (ii) a uniform poverty line basket (PLB) across rural and urban India; (iii) a change in the price adjustment procedure to correct spatial and temporal issues with price adjustment; and (iv) incorporation of private expenditure on health and education while estimating poverty.

C Rangarajan Committee (2014) to Review the Methodology for Measurement of Poverty added two more items of expenditure in estimating the poverty line: (a) clothing expenses, rent, conveyance and education expenses; and (b) all non-food expenses that meet nutrition requirements. It computed and reduced average requirements of calories, proteins and fats based on ICMR norms. Its estimation is based on an independent large survey of households by Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

Big data is data that contains greater variety arriving in increasing volumes and with ever-higher velocity.

-It provides high volumes of low-density, unstructured data which needs further processing.

-Velocity is the fast rate at which data is received and acted on. Some internet-enabled smart products operate in real time or near real time and will require real-time evaluation and action.

-Variety refers to the many types of data that are available. Unstructured and semi-structured data types, such as text, audio, and video, require additional preprocessing to derive meaning and support metadata.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services—including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence—over the Internet (“the cloud”).

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence based on the idea that systems can learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention.

Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines.

Statement 1 is correct. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed trade agreement among the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners. It aims to cover trade in goods and services, intellectual property, etc. It is due to be signed in November 2020.

Member states of ASEAN and their FTA partners in RCEP are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

India also has FTA with ASEAN but has opted out of RCEP.

Statement 2 is incorrect. On November 4, 2019 India opted out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Prime Minister at RCEP Summit said “the present form of the RCEP agreement does not fully reflect the basic spirit and the agreed guiding principles of RCEP. It also does not address satisfactorily India’s outstanding issues and concerns in such a situation.”

Japan has not opted out of RCEP.

Both statements are correct.

The World Bank and the Government of India have signed the $750 million agreement for the MSME Emergency Response Programme which was recently approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors, to support increased flow of finance into the hands of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

The World Bank has to date committed $2.75 billion to support India’s emergency COVID-19 response, including the new MSME project. The first $1 billion emergency support was announced in April this year for immediate support to India’s health sector. Another $1 billion project was approved in May to increase cash transfers and food benefits to the poor and vulnerable, including a more consolidated delivery platform – accessible to both rural and urban populations across state boundaries.

The $750 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a maturity of 19 years including a 5-year grace period.

All of the above are territories in Indian Ocean.

Assumption Island is a small island in the Outer Islands of Seychelles north of Madagascar.

Agalega are two outer islands of Mauritius located in the Indian Ocean.

Reunion is an island of the Mascarene Islands and a French overseas department and overseas region in the western Indian Ocean.