10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | February 14 2021

KAPILA stands for Kalam Program for Intellectual Property Literacy and Awareness campaign. The campaign was launched in October 2020 under the Ministry of Education to create awareness regarding Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

It aims to develop training program on IPR for faculty and students of HEIs, sensitize and develop a vibrant Intellectual Property (IP) filing system and enable IPR protection on the inventions originating from the faculty and students of HEIs.

Gilt-edged stocks or securities are issued by the government for people to invest in for a fixed period of time at a fixed rate of interest.

# Sometimes securities issued by large corporations are also called gilt edged for their high-quality value.

By nature, a gilt edge denotes a high-quality item whose value remains fairly constant over time. As an investment vehicle, this equates to high-grade securities with relatively low yields compared to riskier, below-investment-grade securities.

# The Reserve Bank of India has proposed to provide direct access to retail investors to its government securities investment platform opens the door to this risk-free investment for retailers. Currently, retail investors are allowed to submit non-competitive bids in auctions of government bonds.

The India-US joint military exercise “Yudh Abhyas 20” commenced today in Mahajan Field Firing Range of Bikaner district in Rajasthan. This is the 16th edition of annual bilateral joint exercise of both the armies. It will continue till the 21st of this month. The previous version of the joint exercise was held at Seattle in the United States.

‘Vajra Prahar’ is a Special Forces joint training exercise conducted alternately in India and the US.

# Dustlik: India-Uzbekistan joint military exercise

The 20th edition of The Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) flagship event, the World Sustainable Development Summit, will be held online from 10th-12th February, 2021.

India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Ministry of Earth Sciences are key partners of the Summit. Energy and industry transition, adaptation and resilience, nature-based solutions, climate finance, circular economy, clean oceans and air pollution, are amongst the range of topics to be discussed during the Summit.

The World Sustainable Development Summit 2021 is being held on the theme ‘Redefining our Common Future: Safe and Secure Environment for All’

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.

The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Secretariat.

The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by resolution.

Statement 2 is correct. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfil their human rights obligations.

# The US President has decided to rejoin the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The moves come after the former US President had withdrawn from the global body three years ago.

Jökulhlaups is an Icelandic word that translates as ‘glacier burst’, it refers to glacial outburst floods (GLOFS). They occur when a lake fed by glacial meltwater breaches its dam and drains catastrophically.

These floods occur very suddenly discharge large volumes of water, ice and debris from a glacial source. They can occur anywhere where water accumulates in a subglacial lake beneath a glacier. The flood is initiated following the failure of an ice or moraine dam.

GLOFs are characterized by extreme peak discharges, often several times in excess of the maximum discharges of hydrometeorological induced floods, with an exceptional erosion/transport potential; therefore, they can turn into flow-type movements, e.g. GLOF-induced debris flows

Statement 1 is incorrect. Bio-gas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic (absence of oxygen) decomposition from waste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud, municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.

It is primarily composed of methane gas, carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide. It occurs naturally in compost heaps, as swamp gas, and as a result of enteric fermentation in cattle and other ruminants.

Statement 2 is correct. After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has pure methane content of over 95%. Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in its composition and energy potential.

The scheme of Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) aims to promote Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) as an alternative and green transport fuel.

Zolgensma is a gene replacement therapy indicated for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in paediatric patients.

Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare genetic disease that deteriorates the neuromuscular functioning of the body by causing motor neurons loss and associated muscle weakness and paralysis.

The disease is caused by a genetic defect in the survival motor neuron (SMN) gene, which encodes the SMN protein essential for the survival of motor neurons.

The Government of India has decided to waive off some GST amount against the import of gene therapy Zolgensma. This therapy is required to treat a child who is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

The Lingayat people are known for wearing a linga, an object representing a god; in this case, Shiva. They are found primarily in Karnataka, where they comprise a major population. They are also found in significant numbers in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

This group formed in the 12th century by Basava, a philosopher and a social reformer. He taught against the caste system and its regulations.

Lingayats reject polytheism and the Vedas and follow the teachings of the Vachana sahitya instead.

The Shahtoot dam is proposed to be constructed on the Kabul river basin. A signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] between India and Afghanistan for the construction of the Lalandar [Shatoot] Dam in Afghanistan took place recently.

The project is a part of the New Development Partnership between India and Afghanistan. The Lalander [Shatoot] Dam would meet the safe drinking water needs of Kabul City, provide irrigation water to nearby areas, rehabilitate the existing irrigation and drainage network, aid in flood protection and management efforts in the area, and also provide electricity to the region.

This is the second major dam being built by India in Afghanistan, after the India- Afghanistan Friendship Dam [Salma Dam].