10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : September 15, 2018

Bio fuel can be produced through processes such as Biogas, Pyrolysis and Gasification .Increased ethanol blending in petrol has many benefits including reduction in import dependency, support to agricultural sector, more environmental friendly fuel, lesser pollution and additional income to farmers. First Generation biofuels are produced directly from food crops by abstracting the oils .Second Generation biofuels produced from non-food crops such as wood, organic waste, food crop waste and specific biomass crops. Third Generation of biofuels are  based on specially engineered energy crops such as algae as its energy source. Fourth Generation Biofuels are aimed at not only producing sustainable energy but also a way of capturing and storing CO2

Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme was launched by the Government in 2003 on pilot basis which has been subsequently extended to the Notified 21 States and 4 Union-Territories to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels. This intervention also seeks to reduce import dependence for energy requirements and give boost to agriculture sector. Consistent surplus sugar production is depressing sugar price. Consequently, sugarcane farmer’s dues have increased due to lower capability of sugar industry to pay the farmers as the sugar prices have kept falling, lowering the profit margins of Sugar industries. To stabilize sugar prices at reasonable level and to improve liquidity position of mills thereby enabling them to clear cane price dues of farmers, EBP can become the powerful tool. Remunerative price to ethanol suppliers will help in reduction of cane farmer’s arrears, in the process contributing to minimizing difficulty of sugarcane farmers.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015. In accordance with the Decree, the Eastern Economic Forum takes place each year in Vladivostok. It is a platform for discussing the strategy for developing political, economic and cultural ties between Russia and Asia Pacific.

Rift valleys are the lowland regions formed along divergent plate boundaries and  transform plates. Rift valleys are observed in deep water as mid oceanic ridges e.g. Mid-Atlantic Ridges and in area surrounded by mountains Western Rift of Africa  is bordered by some of the highest mountains in Africa, including the Virunga Mountains, Mitumba Mountains, and Ruwenzori Range. The Rift Valley lakes also include some of the deepest lakes in the world e.g Lake Tanganyika

Baikal Lake is a freshwater lake located in Siberia is formed because of rift valley due to diverging plates.Tanganyika Lake is a freshwater lake (the western branch of the East African Rift)  lies in the Great Rift Valley and is divided among four countries – Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Burundi, and Zambia. Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India and is famous for the phumdis,is the only floating lake in world famous for Sangai. It is having a dendritic and radial drainage (So cannot be a rift). Ontario Lake is a freshwater lake in North America formed due to glacier melting.