10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz : February 6 2021

Statement 1 is correct. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project is an international effort to build the world’s largest radio telescope, with eventually over a square kilometre (one million square metres) of collecting area.

The SKA telescope will be powerful enough to detect very faint radio signals emitted by cosmic sources billions of light years away from Earth, those signals emitted in the first billion years of the Universe (more than 13 billion years ago) when the first galaxies and stars started forming.

Statement 2 is incorrect. South Africa’s Karoo region and Western Australia’s Murchison Shire were chosen as co-hosting locations for many scientific and technical reasons, from the atmospherics above the sites, through to the radio quietness, which comes from being some of the most remote locations on Earth.

Organisations from 14 countries are members of the SKA Organisation – Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Both statements are correct.

The percentage of individuals in a population who have antibodies to an infectious agent is called seroprevalence. A seroprevalence survey uses antibody tests to estimate the percentage of people in a population who have antibodies against a particular infection.

When most of a population is immune to an infectious disease, this provides indirect protection—or herd immunity (also called herd protection)—to those who are not immune to the disease.

For example, if 80% of a population is immune to a virus, four out of every five people who encounter someone with the disease won’t get sick (and won’t spread the disease any further). In this way, the spread of infectious diseases is kept under control.

The events of 2020 have dramatically accelerated the digitalization of our economies and societies. In response to this complex and urgent challenge, the World Economic Forum launched The EDISON Alliance to mobilize a global movement to prioritize digital inclusion as foundational to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and a cross-sector platform to accelerate collaborative action.

The Alliance will prioritize three focus areas related to the Sustainable Development Goals each year. For 2021, the alliance will focus on health and healthcare, education, and financial inclusion.

Statement 1 is incorrect. There have been many claims that eating organic foods increases exposure to micro-biological contaminants. Studies investigating these claims have found no evidence to support them. It is important to realize that all organic foods must meet the same quality and safety standards applied to conventional foods. [Food & Agriculture Organisation]

One of the suggested sources of micro-biological contamination is manure. The use of manure is common in both conventional and organic systems, the potential for contamination is therefore applicable to both.

Statement 2 is correct. Organic farmers are both custodians and users of biodiversity at all levels.

–At the gene level, traditional and adapted seeds and breeds are preferred for their greater resistance to diseases and their resilience to climatic stress.

–At the species level, diverse combinations of plants and animals optimize nutrient and energy cycling for agricultural production.

–At the ecosystem level, the maintenance of natural areas within and around organic fields and absence of chemical inputs create suitable habitats for wildlife.

# Indian Council of Agricultural Research through ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram operates a research scheme of All India Network Programme on Organic Farming (AI-NPOF) with 20 cooperating centres covering 16 States to develop package of practices for organic production of crops.

The integrated farming system is a commonly used term to explain a more integrated approach to farming compared to monoculture approaches. It refers to agricultural systems that integrate livestock and crop production or integrate fish and livestock and may sometimes be known as integrated biosystems.

Advantages of Integrated Farming System:

–Maximising return from the unit area

–Utilising the by-products of one component of the farming system as an input in other for ensuring supplementary and complementary enterprise relationship

–Sustainable soil fertility and productivity through organic waste recycling

–Integration of allied activities will result in the availability of nutritious food enriched with protein, carbohydrate, fat, minerals and vitamins

–Integrated farming will help in environmental protection through effective recycling of waste from animal activities like piggery, poultry and pigeon rearing

–Reduced production cost of components through input recycling from the byproducts of allied enterprises

# Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed 63 Integrated Farming System (IFS) models by involving ICAR Institutes, State Agricultural Universities and farming community of 18 states.

Statement 1 is correct. Vembanad Lake, the largest and the longest lake in Kerala, hosts the much-celebrated Nehru Trophy Boat Race on a major portion of this lake.

Statement 2 is correct. Pamba River is the third longest river in the South Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa is located on the banks of the river Pamba.

It enriches the lands of Pathanamthitta District and the Kuttanad area of Alappuzha District and few areas of Kottayam and finally empties into the Vembanad Lake.

Statement 1 is correct. The whole country has been divided into four zones viz. zone V, IV, III and II according to the seismic zoning map of India prepared by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) based on the historical seismicity and strong ground motions. Out of these zones, Zone V exhibits the highest seismic risk and zone II has the least.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Zone V covers arts of Jammu and Kashmir (Kashmir valley); Western part of Himachal Pradesh; Eastern part of Uttarakhand, Kutch in Gujarat; part of Northern Bihar; all northeastern states of India and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

# National Centre for Seismology (NCS), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), maintains a nation-wide seismological network comprising of 115 seismic stations to monitor the earthquake activity in and around the country.

Statement 1 is correct. Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.

Statement 2 is incorrect. A startup, recognized by DPIIT, incorporated not more than 2 years ago at the time of application is eligible for funding.

Startup must have a business idea to develop a product or a service with market fit, viable commercialization, and scope of scaling. Further, Startup should be using technology in its core product or service, or business model, or distribution model, or methodology to solve the problem being targeted.

# Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) has been approved for the period of next four years starting from 2021-22.

Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) is a flagship scheme of Ministry of AYUSH. Its objectives:

–To provide cost effective AYUSH Services, with a universal access through upgrading AYUSH Hospitals and Dispensaries, co-location of AYUSH facilities at Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Hospitals (DHs).

To establish a holistic wellness model based on AYUSH principles and practices to empower masses for ‘self-care’ to reduce the disease burden, out of pocket expenditure and to provide informed choice to the needy public.

–To strengthen institutional capacity at the state level through upgrading AYUSH educational institutions, State Govt. ASU&H Pharmacies, Drug Testing Laboratories and ASU & H enforcement mechanism.

–Support cultivation of medicinal plants by adopting Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) so as to provide sustained supply of quality raw-materials and support certification mechanism for quality standards, Good Agricultural/Collection/Storage Practices.

–Support setting up of clusters through convergence of cultivation, warehousing, value addition and marketing and development of infrastructure for entrepreneurs.

Statement 1 is correct. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Government of India, has initiated the MCA21 project, which enables easy and secure access to MCA services in an assisted manner for corporate entities, professionals, and general public.

Statement 2 is incorrect. MCA21 project is designed to fully automate all processes related to enforcement and compliance of the legal requirements under the Companies Act, 1956.

During the fiscal 2021-22, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) will launch data analytics driven MCA21 Version 3.0. This Version will have additional modules for e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management.

MCA21 V3 Project is a technology-driven project, envisioned to strengthen enforcement, promote Ease of Doing Business, enhance user experience, facilitate seamless integration and data exchange among Regulators. The project will have Micro-services architecture with high scalability and capabilities for advanced analytics.