10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: May 20, 2020

The Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP) is a bilateral program, which supports a broad spectrum of activities relating to immunization and vaccine related research. All work is carried out within areas designated as priorities by the VAP Joint Working Group (JWG), which is comprised of scientists and officials from both countries.

Statement 1 is correct. The “nodal agencies” for this cooperation are India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT),Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The programme is under implementation since July, 1987 under the Gandhi-Reagan Science & Technology Agreement. The program has been working on dengue, enteric diseases, influenza (including avian influenza), malaria, and tuberculosis (TB) diseases.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The winds of the cyclone are driven by low-pressure core and the rotation of Earth which deflects the path of the wind (Coriolis force). Therefore, tropical cyclones rotate in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. Amphan cyclone developed in northern hemisphere rotates counterclockwise.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Amphan cyclone developed over Bay of Bengal, not Arabian Sea.

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane’s sustained wind speed. This scale can estimate the potential property damage due to sustained winds of a hurricane.

Both statements are correct.

Some of the features of the Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing Act, 2017 are:

– A state government may declare the whole state as a single unified market area where a single license will be applicable for the trade of agricultural produce and livestock.

– A Market Committee will manage market yards in a specified area. The Market Committee shall levy a market fee from a buyer on sale of notified agricultural produce and livestock.

– A private market yard may be set up by private individuals to facilitate operations of traders, andcommission agents. These can also include farmer-consumer market yards.

Both statements are correct.

Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface. They are strongly magnetized, and they crackle with solar flares—magnetic explosions that illuminate Earth with flashes of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation.

Almost every 11 years sunspots fade away, which is called Solar Minimum. Sunspot counts were relatively high in 2014, and now they are sliding toward a low point in 2019-2020.

Statement 1 is incorrect. It has been announced that FDI limit in the Defence manufacturing under automatic route will be raised from 49% to 74%.

Statement 2 is correct. The Government will introduce competition, transparency and private sector participation in the Coal Sector through a revenue sharing mechanism instead of regime of fixed Rupee/tonne. Any party can bid for a coal block and sell in the open market.

World Bank has approved one billion US dollar ‘Accelerating India’s COVID-19 Social Protection Response Programme’ to support India. An immediate allocation of 750 million USD for fiscal year 2020 and a 250 million USD second tranche that will be made available for fiscal year 2021. The program will support India’s efforts at providing social assistance to the poor and vulnerable households, severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first phase of the operation will be implemented country wide through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. In the second phase, the programme will further the social protection package, whereby additional cash and in-kind benefits based on local needs will be provided.

Doppler Effectrefers toan increase or decrease in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and observer move towards or away from each other.

On a Doppler system, microwaves are sent out and received continuously, for a non-mobile target; the returning waves have same frequency as the transmitted wave. This returning frequency is higher if the target is moving towards the antenna and is lower if the target is moving away from the antenna.

The difference between the transmitted and the returned frequency can be used to measure the speed of the target to or from the antenna. The Doppler radar used in weather forecasting measures the direction and speed, or velocity, of objects such as drops of precipitation.

‘Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia’ report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warns that the synthetic drug market in East and Southeast Asia continues to expand and diversify, and the price of methamphetamine has dropped to the lowest level in a decade as the supply has surged.

India reported a substantial increase in seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), up from 431 kg in 2018 to more than 2.2 tonnes in 2019.

Statement 1 is correct. External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) includes commercial bank loans, buyers’ credit, suppliers’ credit, securitized instruments, credit from official export credit agencies and commercial borrowings from Multilateral Financial Institutions.

Statement 2 is correct. The Capital account under Balance of payments include foreign direct investment, foreign institutional investment/ ADR/GDR, external commercial borrowing (ECBs)/foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs), trade credit, NRI deposits and other banking liabilities/assets.