10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: November 26, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. Under the Constitution of India, Labour is a subject in the Concurrent List where both the Central & State Governments are competent to enact legislation subject to certain matters being reserved for the Centre. Trade Unions; industrial and labour disputes are listed as Entry 22 in Concurrent List.

Statement 2 is correct. All citizens have the fundamental right to form associations or unions or co-operative societies. [Article 19(c)]

Both statements are incorrect. These provisions were part of the 2019 bill but were further revised in the 2020 bill.

An establishment having at least 300 workers is required to seek prior permission of the government before closure, lay-off, or retrenchment.  Lay-off refers to an employer’s inability to continue giving employment to a worker in the face of adverse business conditions.  Retrenchment refers to the termination of service of a worker for any reason other than disciplinary action.

The threshold was 100 workers in the 2019 bill.

Under the 2019 Bill, if there were more than one registered trade union of workers functioning in an establishment, the trade union having more than 75% of the workers as members would be recognised as the sole negotiating union. The 2020 Bill lowers this threshold to 51% of workers.

Statement 1 is incorrect. eVIN (Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network) is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.

Statement 2 is correct. eVIN aims to support the Government of India’s Universal Immunization Programme by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in these states.

#The government is using eVIN – Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network in association with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to identify primary beneficiaries and vaccine distribution networks for potential COVID-19 vaccination program.

Agriculture Minister recently unveiled Sahakar Pragya. The 45 new training modules of Sahakar Pragya of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will impart training to primary cooperative societies in rural areas of the country along with Lakshmanrao Inamdar National Cooperative Research and Development Academy.

# The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Rudram-1 is an air-to-surface anti-radiation missile in development by Defence Research and Development Organisation.

# It is first anti-radiation missile to be developed in India.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Brahmos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile produced by an Indo-Russian joint venture Brahmos Aerospace.

# There have been reports recently that Brahmos missiles may be exported to Phillippines.

# India on November 24 successfully test fired the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos.

Statement 1 is correct. A desalination plant turns salt water into water that is fit to drink. The most commonly used technology used for the process is reverse osmosis where an external pressure is applied to push solvents from an area of high-solute concentration to an area of low-solute concentration through a membrane.

Statement 2 is incorrect. In India, Tamil Nadu has been the pioneer in using this technology, setting up two up in Chennai. The other states that have proposed these plants are Gujarat, which has announced to set up a 100 MLD RO plant at the Jodiya coast in Jamnagar district.

# Desalination has largely been limited to affluent countries in the Middle East and has recently started making inroads in parts of the United States and Australia.

Statement 1 is correct. Rotavirus spreads easily among infants and young children. The virus can cause severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Children who get rotavirus disease can become dehydrated and may need to be hospitalized.

Good hygiene like handwashing and cleanliness are important, but are not enough to control the spread of the disease.

Statement 2 is correct. The ROTAVAC vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech originated in India from an attenuated (weakened) strain of rotavirus that was isolated from an Indian child at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1985-86.

Rotavac received WHO-Prequalification in January 2018.

The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund backed by the United Nations was launched recently. It is hosted by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), a UN entity providing service, technical advice and implementing projects for the Organization and partners globally.
# Currently, half the world’s population does not have access to safely managed sanitation. 620 million children attend schools that do not have toilets. 1 in 3 schools do not have even basic sanitation and hygiene services, and 1 in 5 healthcare facilities have no sanitation services whatsoever. The estimated cost of lack of sanitation and hygiene is US$222 billion per year in lost productivity, increased health expenditures, and economic output.

Both statements are correct.
SDG Finance Facility platform at UNDP in partnership with Invest India, the investment promotion arm of the Government of India has developed the SDG Investor Map for India.
The Map will help public and private sector stake-holders direct capital towards Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs), and White Spaces (Areas of Potential) that can contribute to the nationally determined sustainable development needs of the country.
The Map has identified 18 IOAs and 8 White Spaces across 6 Priority Sectors including Education, Healthcare, Agriculture and Allied Services, Financial Services, Renewable Energy and Alternatives, and Sustainable Environment.

There are six regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) across the globe to monitor cyclogenesis, issue advisories and name cyclones.
IMD’s RSMC in New Delhi is one among them that provide advisories to 13 countries in the north Indian Ocean basin: Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. RSMC, New Delhi is also responsible for naming cyclones over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
In 2020, a new list of cyclone names was issued by IMD, following WMO guidelines. The new list comprises 13 names of cyclones each for the 13 member countries, totalling to 169. The names for India include Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar, Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.