10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | February 19 2021

Statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Mission Name: Mars 2020; Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020; Landing: Feb. 18, 2021

Landing Site: Jezero Crater, Mars

Tech Demonstration: The Mars Helicopter is a technology demonstration, hitching a ride on the Perseverance rover.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Last week, two other spacecraft, Hope from the United Arab Emirates and Tianwen-1 from China, entered orbit around Mars. But NASA’s spacecraft did not go into orbit first, instead it went along a direct path to the surface of Mars.

Statement 1 is correct. Particle pollution — also called particulate matter (PM) — is made up of particles (tiny pieces) of solids or liquids that are in the air. These particles may include Dust, Dirt, Soot, Smoke or Drops of liquid.

Particle pollution includes:

PM10: inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 10 micrometers and smaller; and

PM2.5: fine inhalable particles, with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Particle pollution can come from two different kinds of sources — primary or secondary. Primary sources cause particle pollution on their own. For example, wood stoves and forest fires are primary sources.

Secondary sources let off gases that can form particles. Power plants and coal fires are examples of secondary sources.

Quad is a dialogue forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.

Statement 1 is correct. The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union.

Statement 2 is correct. Quad group’s various readouts/statements have professed for ‘their common vision for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, with clear support for ASEAN cohesion and centrality.’

Statement 3 is correct. India has 2+2 Ministerial dialogue with USA, Australia and Japan.

The first UNEP synthesis report is titled: “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies” and is based on evidence from global environmental assessments.

The UNEP’s cross-disciplinary approach aims to tackle interlinked environmental crises within the framework of the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and to lay the groundwork for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The UNEP calculates that natural capital constitutes around 20% of so-called planetary wealth (in addition to human capital, manufactured capital and so on).

The report details our reliance on what it calls “natural capital” for livelihoods, prosperity, health and well-being, and outlines how that value is unevenly distributed.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Tree Cities of the World programme is an international effort to recognise cities and towns committed to ensuring that their urban forests and trees are properly maintained, sustainably managed, and duly celebrated.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation have developed this programme to celebrate greener cities and towns worldwide.

Statement 2 is correct. Hyderabad has won a green contest among cities in India, and emerged one of the ‘Tree Cities of the World’. With the recognition, the city joins 120 others from 23 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia.

The city was evaluated on five metrics: ‘Establish Responsibility’, ‘Set the Rules’, ‘Know What YouHave’, ‘Allocate the Resources’, and ‘Celebrate the Achievements’.

Ali Aye Ligang literally means sowing of roots and fruits as Ali means seeds, Aye stands for fruits and Ligang means sowing.

Ali-Aye-Ligang festival is a spring festival associated with agriculture, especially with the beginning of the Ahu paddy cultivation celebrated by the Mising/Mishing tribe of Assam. They perform traditional rituals and dances. This festival is celebrated on the first Wednesday of the Phagun month, which starts from mid-February.

Option 1 is correct. Bogibeel bridge is a combined road and rail bridge over the Brahmaputra River in Assam between Dhemaji district and Dibrugarh district.

Option 2 is correct. The first rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra, Saraighat Bridge was opened to public in 1962. Adjacent New Saraighat Bridge is a road only bridge.

Option 3 is incorrect. The Dhola–Sadiya Bridge (Bhupen Hazarika Setu), connecting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh spans the Lohit River, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra River, from the village of Dhola in the south to Sadiya to the north.

Kiriburu Iron ore Mines (KIOM) is one of the captive Iron ore Mines of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) in Jharkhand.

Union Minister for Mines and Chief Minister of Odisha recently inaugurated the production in two new iron ore mines of Odisha namely Jiling-Langlota Iron ore Block and Guali Iron ore Block.

Both the mines have production capacity of 15 lakh tonnes per month and they possess approx. 275 million tonnes of consolidated iron ore reserves. These blocks were recently reserved for the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), a state PSU, within a short time of 25 days, after a request was made by State Government to the Central Government, in order to ease the shortage of iron ore in the state of Odisha.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs.

Statement 2 is correct. Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister as ex-officio members of the NITI Aayog.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Prime Minister is the chairperson of the NITO Aayog. Vice-chairperson and CEO are appointed by the Prime Minister.

# Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will chair the sixth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog on 20th February 2021. The agenda of the meeting includes deliberations on agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing, human resource development, service delivery at grassroots level and health & nutrition.

The Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, announced twenty-five (25) shortlisted cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’ cohort, in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) and technical partner WRI India.

Statement 1 is correct. The Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge is a 3-year initiative that aims to work with Indian cities and their partners to pilot and scale ways to improve public space, mobility, neighborhood planning, access to early childhood services and amenities, and data management across city agencies.

The Challenge aims to propagate an early childhood centric approach among Indian cities, helping urban planners, architects, engineers, and city managers to implement pilots and scale up solutions using the Infant, Toddler, Caregiver-Friendly Neighborhood (ITCN) Framework.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Challenge is open to all Indian cities with population above 5 lakhs, Smart Cities, and capitals of States/Union Territories.