10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | February 15 2021

Statement 1 is correct. Artificial recharge to an aquifer can occur when people inject water down into a well to force it back into an aquifer so they can withdraw it later. In places where the water table is close to the land surface and where water can move through the aquifer at a high rate, aquifers can be replenished artificially.

Statement 2 is correct. Groundwater contributes to streams in most geographic areas and climatic settings. The proportion of stream water that comes from groundwater inflow varies according to a region’s geography, geology, and climate. This groundwater component of a stream’s flow is called “base flow.”

Statement 3 is incorrect. This statement is truer for sinkholes and not land subsidence. Sinkholes can occur when water, sometimes a bit acidic in nature, dissolves underground rock, often limestone or dolomite. The land surface can collapse, often dramatically, into the void space underneath.

Land subsidence is a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth’s surface owing to subsurface movement of earth materials. The basic cause of land subsidence is a loss of support below ground. In other words, sometimes when water is taken out of the soil, the soil collapses, compacts, and drops. This depends on the type of soil and also on the type of rock below the surface.

Statement 1 is correct. Pangong Tso is a long narrow, deep, endorheic saltwater lake situated at a height of more than 14,000 ft in the Ladakh Union Territory at Line of Actual Control.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The lake lies north of the Tso Moriri.

Statement 3 is incorrect. It is yet to be recognised under the Ramsar Convention as wetland of international importance.

Researchers have discovered three fossils of the earliest known living animal — the 550-million-year-old ‘Dickinsonia’ — on the roof of the Bhimbetka Rock Shelters.

Dickinsonia is an extinct genus of basal animal that lived during the late Ediacaran period. It is one of the Ediacaran critters (first discovered in Ediacara hills in the Flinders ranges of South Australia), more than 50 types of Ediacarans are now known, and they have been found on every continent, save for Antarctica.

Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are a UNESCO World Heritage Site housing hundreds of pre-historic paintings.

A blazar is an active galactic nucleus (AGN) that produces a high-energy jet viewed face-on from Earth. Like other forms of active galactic nuclei (AGN), blazars are the most luminous and energetic objects in the known universe.

The central super-massive black-hole (SMBH) that drives an AGN are the nucleation seeds that stimulates the formation of their host galaxies, while the SMBH itself grows in the process.

# Indian Astronomers have reported one of the strongest flares from a feeding supermassive black hole or blazar called BL Lacertae.

Statement 1 is correct. The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) is a statutory body established through an Act of Parliament. Supporting basic research in emerging areas of Science & Engineering are the primary and distinctive mandate of the Board.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Secretary to the Government of India in Department of Science & Technology is the ex-officio chairperson of the SERB.

Statement 3 is correct. SERB supports research in frontier areas of Science and Engineering. The Board offers JC Bose National Fellowship to scientists and engineers for their outstanding performance and contributions and RAMANUJAN Fellowship for brilliant scientists and engineers from all over the world to take up scientific research positions in India, especially those scientists who want to return to India from abroad.

# Four young women fellows of National Science Academies have been awarded the SERB Women Excellence Award for excelling in science and engineering on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021.

Statement 1 is correct. The Information Technology Act 2000 provides legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as ―electronic commerce‖, which involve the use of alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Shreya Singhal v. Union of India judgement by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India in 2015 struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act that criminalised the sending of offensive messages through a computer or other communication devices.

Statement 1 is incorrect. FASTag is a device that employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid account linked to it. It is affixed on

the windscreen of vehicle and enables to drive through toll plazas, without stopping for cash transactions.

Statement 2 is correct. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has decided that all lanes in the fee plazas on National Highways shall be declared as “FASTag lane of the fee plaza” w.e.f midnight of 15th/16th February 2021.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Bank-specific FASTags are sold by various issuer banks whereas bank-neutral FASTags will be available across various NHAI points of sale, several petrol pumps, RTOs, and even e-commerce websites.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was conceived in the year 2015 and after the grand success of the First Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in November-2015, the Ministry of Culture decided to organize it with an intent to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Country in all its rich and varied dimensions, viz Handicrafts, Cuisine, Painting, Sculpture and Performing Arts-Folk, Tribal, Classical and Contemporary- all in one place.

Statement 2 is correct. The Ministry of Culture is mandated with the task of preservation, promotion and propagation of Indian Culture, both tangible and intangible which inter-alia includes traditional folk dances and art forms, performing arts and rich tribal heritage. It organizes cultural programs, festivals and theatrical performances to fulfill this mandate.

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav, the flagship festival of this Ministry organized since 2015 with the active participation of Seven Zonal Culture.

# The eleventh edition of Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav is being held between 14th to 28th February, 2021 in West Bengal.

Statement 1 is correct. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 defines golden hour as the time period of up to one hour following a traumatic injury, during which the likelihood of preventing death through prompt medical care is the highest.

Statement 2 is correct. The act defines a good samaritan as a person who renders emergency medical or non-medical assistance to a victim at the scene of an accident. The assistance must have been in good faith, voluntary, and without the expectation of any reward. Such a person will not be liable for any civil or criminal action for any injury to or death of an accident victim, caused due to their negligence in providing assistance to the victim.

# World Bank Report titled “Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities: The Burden on India Society”, prepared in association with the NGO – Save Life Foundation was released recently.

Both statements are correct.

Skill Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (“SANKALP”) is a programme of the Ministry of Skill Development with loan assistance from the World Bank.

It aims to improve short term skill training qualitatively and quantitatively through strengthening institutions, bring in better market connectivity and inclusion of marginalised sections of the society. SANKALP was launched on 19th January 2018 and has a tenure till March 2023.

The outcomes in the project are measured through the Results Framework, and Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) agreed between MSDE and World Bank.