10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | May 3 2021

1. India’s rank: 142/180
2. Released by: Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
3. It has been published every year since 2002 by Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) or Reporters Without Borders.
4. Based in Paris, RSF is an independent NGO with consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF).
5. OIF is a 54 French-speaking nations collective. 
6. The Index ranks countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists. However, it is not an indicator on the quality of journalism. 
7. The parameters include pluralism, media independence, media environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information.

• Statement 1 is correct: Changes in how much fresh water is stored underground affects polar drift, too. Once this groundwater is pumped up to the surface for use as drinking water or for agriculture, it eventually flows into rivers and oceans, redistributing that water weight on Earth’s surface.
• Statement 2 is correct: It is a periodic rotation of the Earth’s spin axis about a mean axis, somewhat like the wobble of a spinning top.

• Statement 1 is correct: The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, or GRACE, mission flew twin spacecraft in tandem around Earth to study key changes in the planet’s waters, ice sheets and the solid Earth.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: it was joint mission under NASA & German Aerospace Center
• Statement 3 is correct: Among its innovations, GRACE has monitored the loss of ice mass from Earth’s ice sheets, improved understanding of the processes responsible for sea level rise and ocean circulation, provided insights into where global groundwater resources may be shrinking or growing and where dry soils are contributing to drought, and monitored changes in the solid Earth

Equator doesn’t pass through Peru 

• Statement 1 is incorrect:

• Focus: The point where the energy is released is called the focus of an earthquake. It is also called the Hypocentre.
• Epicentre: The energy waves travelling in different directions reach the surface. The point on the surface, nearest to the focus, is called the Epicentre.

• Statement 2 is incorrect: NCS works under Ministry of Earth Sciences

Competitiveness and Resilience Partnership, or CoRe was announced between US and Japan to support the funding of new-age technologies.

• The funding will be used for the deployment of secure 5G networks to build digital infrastructure in developing countries.
• Given the Chinese ambitions to dominate the development of new-age technologies such as 5G and quantum computing the announcement of CoRe is significant as it act as a counterbalance to Chinese tech ambitions.

Statement 1 is correct. In many countries, including India the VOC, by virtue of increased transmissibility, has started off a new wave(s) of epidemic transmission.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Immune to antibodies generated by previous vaccination or infection: Most vaccines were made using antigens made from D614G variant. However, these vaccines show low efficacy on the South African, Brazil and UK variants. Hence, reinfection can occur in spite of immunity provided by earlier D614G infection or vaccination.

Statement 3 is correct. Virulence: It is the ability to cause severe/life-threatening disease. The UK variant has the worse virulence. The South Africa and Brazil variants do not seem to have higher virulence.

The Indian Navy has launched Operation Samudra Setu-II.

• The Indian Navy launched this operation with the aim to bring oxygen-filled cryogenic containers to India from abroad.

• This is because the country is facing a severe shortage of medical oxygen in the wake of a massive spike in new Covid-19 cases.

• As part of the mission, Seven Indian Naval ships, namely Kolkata, Kochi, Talwar, Tabar, Trikand, Jalashwa, and Airavat, are participating. These ships will carry shipments of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries to India.

• Pyrolysis is a process of chemically decomposing organic materials at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen.

• The process typically occurs at temperatures above 430 °C (800 °F) and under pressure.
• It simultaneously involves the change of physical phase and chemical composition of organic material. Pyrolysis is an irreversible process.
• Pyrolysis is used to convert biomass into Synthesis Gas or Syngas and biochar

Read more: Project Pyrasol

Vulnerability of Northeast Region to Earthquake:

• High Seismicity Level: Northeast is located in the highest seismological zone. The Kopili Fault Zone is a seismically active area, so it falls into the highest Seismic Hazard Zone V. It is associated with collisional tectonics because the Indian Plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate.
• Nature of Soil: Kopili fault zone and its neighbouring areas are characterized by alluvial soils. These alluvial soil have a higher potential of trapping seismic waves. Thus making the region the most earthquake-prone zone in North East India.
• Terrain: The region has a significant amount of mountainous terrain that demands explosions for building a tunnel, road, etc. infrastructure. This enhances the probability of earthquakes.

• Untapped Potential: The region has not seen robust development like the rest of India. Thus, a greater number of development projects like mining, dam construction, etc. in the region are under planning. It may enhance earthquake probability in the future.
• High-technology equipment and tools: There has been an increase in the use of high-technology equipment and tools in the manufacturing and service industries. This has made them susceptible to disruption even by moderate ground shaking.
• Unscientific Buildings: Many buildings in the cities of Shillong, Gangtok etc. are constructed on the sloping ground. That too by excavating some part of the hill.
• The open ground storey, heavy overhangs, heavy rooftops, and irregular plan shapes are common in buildings that make them seismically more vulnerable.