10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | May 14 2021

• Statement 1 is correct: In general, the World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following categories to describe transmission patterns: sporadic cases, clusters of cases and community transmission.
• Sporadic cases – small number of cases (one or more) that are either imported or detected locally;

• clusters of cases – cases that are clustered in time, geographic location and or by common exposures;
• community transmission – Community transmission simply means that the epidemic has become so widespread in a community that it gets difficult, if not impossible, to determine who is passing on the infection to whom. The source and chain of infections can no longer be established. Determining the chain of infections is key to the containment strategy that is being followed. Contact tracing, identification, testing and isolation of suspect cases are all dependent on establishing this chain.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: Response in case of community transmission would be different. If cases were still a cluster, it would mean that the government ought to be prioritising testing, contact tracing and isolating to prevent further infection spread. CT, on the other hand meant prioritising treatment and observing advisories to stay protected.

Read more: community transmission (CT)

• KNOMAD, the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, is a brain trust for the global migration community.

• It is an open, inclusive, multidisciplinary knowledge partnership that draws on experts to create and synthesize knowledge for use by policy makers in sending, receiving and transit countries.
• KNOMAD works in close coordination with the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the U.N. agencies working on migration.
• The World Bank has established a multi-donor trust fund to implement KNOMAD

• Statement 1 is correct: It is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices (e.g., oil and gas)
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Under flexible inflation targeting RBI uses headline CPI inflation instead of core CPI inflation.

• Core inflation is the change in the costs of goods and services but does not include those from the food and energy sectors. This measure of inflation excludes these items because their prices are much more volatile.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: PMI or a Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an indicator of business activity — both in the manufacturing and services sectors. It is a survey-based measures that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before. It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: For India, PMI is prepared by a Japanese firm Nikkei and compiled by Markit Economics. For US, PMI is prepared by The Institute of Supply Management (ISM)
• Statement 3 is correct: A value above 50 indicates expansion in business activity while a value below 50 indicates contraction in economic activity

• Statement 1 is correct: District Skill Committees (DSCs) function under the guidance of State Skill Development Missions (SSDM). These DSCs play a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level. DSC is composed of all the significant district development departmental officers.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The DSCs are headed by the District Collector.

Recently, the World Bank has released a report titled “Migration and Development Brief, 2020”.

Key findings:

• India has received the highest amount of remittances in 2020. This was followed by China, Mexico, the Philippines, Egypt, Pakistan, France and Bangladesh.

About the report:

• Prepared by: The report is prepared by the Migration and Remittances Unit, Development Economics (DEC)- the premier research and data arm of the World Bank.
• Aim: The report aims to provide an update on key developments. Especially in the area of migration and remittance flows and related policies over the past six months.

• The report also provides medium-term projections of remittance flows to developing countries.

• The report is produced twice a year.

Read More: Migration and Development Brief

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH):

• The mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare is implementing the MIDH scheme since 2014-15.
• Part of: The scheme is being implemented as a part of the Green Revolution – Krishonnati Yojana.
• Coverage: The scheme covers fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops. The scheme also covers mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew and cocoa.

Productivity of Horticulture:

• Area and production under horticulture crops during the years 2014 – 15 to 2019 – 20 has increased by 9% and 14% respectively.
• During the year 2019-20, the country recorded its highest ever horticulture production of 320.77 million tonnes from an area of 25.66 million hectares.

Read more: Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)

• Water hyacinth is a free-floating and flowering invasive aquatic plant that originated from Amazon Basin, South America.
• Effects of Water Hyacinth:

• Water Hyacinth interferes with boat navigation and prevents fishing, swimming and other recreational activities.
• The water hyacinth may also clog intake pipes used for drinking water, hydropower or irrigation.
• Moreover, it creates a prime habitat for mosquitoes that carry a variety of infectious diseases. So, water hyacinth is also considered a serious threat to biodiversity and human health

Read more: Water Hyacinth

• Lumpy Skin Disease is a viral illness that causes prolonged morbidity in cattle and buffaloes.
• It caused by the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).
• It spreads through mosquitoes, flies and ticks and also through saliva and contaminated water and food.
• There is no treatment for the virus, so prevention by vaccination is the most effective means of control
• Affected Countries:

• LSD is endemic to Africa and parts of West Asia, where it was first discovered in 1929.
• In Southeast Asia the first case of LSD was reported in Bangladesh in July 2019.
• In India it was first reported from Mayurbhanj, Odisha in August 2019.

• Recently The Bihar government sounded an alert and issued an advisory about the likely spread of the disease.

• The capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been exempted. But, the interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable as per the provision of Income Tax Act
• The time period of the Bond will be for a period of 8 years with exit option in 5th, 6th and 7th year. So, the bonds cannot be sold immediately like physical gold. This is one of the drawbacks of investing in SGB scheme.
• Bonds can be used as collateral for loans.

Recently the Government of India, decided to issue Sovereign Gold Bonds in six tranches from May 2021 to September 2021

Read more: Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) scheme