10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : February 21, 2019

Green crackers are so named because they do not contain harmful chemicals that would cause air pollution.In green crackers the commonly used polluting chemicals like aluminium, barium, potassium nitrate and carbon have either been removed or sharply reduced to slow down the emissions by 15 to 30%.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) scientists has developed less polluting green firecrackers named as (a) Safe Water Releaser (SWAS) (b) Safe Thermite Cracker (STAR) and (c) Safe Minimal Aluminium (SAFAL).

SWAYATT stands for Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions on Government e Marketplace (GeM). It is an initiative to promote MSMEs, women and young entrepreneurs through e-transactions on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

It was launched by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This will bring together the key stakeholders within the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem to Government e-Marketplace, the national procurement portal.

The LCA Tejas is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multi-role light fighter. Its design is highly manoeuvrable, with a tailless, compound delta wing configuration.

It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. Later, the LCA was officially named “Tejas”, meaning “Radiant” by the then Prime Minister. It is the smallest and lightest in its class of contemporary supersonic combat aircraft.

It is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Navy

The United Nations Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) is a proposed treaty which intends to criminalize all forms of international terrorism and deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters’ access to funds, arms, and safe havens. The CCIT was proposed by India in 1996. Currently, the negotiations are going on and deadlocked mainly because of differences over the definition of terrorism.

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the national regulatory body for pharmaceuticals and medical devices in India.

Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is an organ of the CDSCO which is responsible for approving and licensing of drugs and medical devices in India. The DCGI is advised by the Drug Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) and the Drug Consultative Committee (DCC). It is divided into zonal offices which do pre-licensing and post-licensing inspections, post-market surveillance, and recalls when needed.

India has ranked 67 out of 199 countries in the 2019 Passport Index. In 2015, India had ranked 77. 25 countries offer visa-free entry to Indians, 39 countries offer visa on arrival. Indian tourists still need visas to enter 134 countries

Among SAARC nations, India only lags behind Maldives (Rank 51) in terms of passport power. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of nations in South Asia. Its member states include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

The Passport Index has been released by passportindex.org. The rankings are based on country’s Visa-Free Scores and their ranking on the UNDP human development index. The UAE passport has been ranked first, followed by Germany (No. 2), France and USA (No.3)