10 PM Current Affairs Quiz #37 December 13, 2019

Explanation: ‘International Seminar on Climate Smart Farming Systems’ for BIMSTEC countries is being held in Delhi. It has been organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare. The objective of the seminar is to share experiences to enable the improvement of tropical smallholder farming systems for greater productivity and resilience to climate change.

Explanation: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) has released the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) E-commerce Index 2019. The index compares 152 countries on four major indicators that are highly related to E-Commerce which includes population age, individuals using the internet, postal reliability index and secure internet servers. India has showed slight improvement in its ranking. It was ranked at jump 73rd among 152 countries.

Explanation: Odisha has won the ‘World Habitat Award’, global recognition for its ambitious initiative called Jaga Mission. Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission “JAGA” is a society under Housing & Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha. It is headed by the Chief Secretary, Odisha. The mission aims at transforming the slums into livable habitat with all necessary civic infrastructure and services at par with the better off areas within the same urban local body (ULB). The World Habitat Award is given by World Habitat. It is given in partnership with United Nations Habitat every year. The award is given for recognition of innovative, outstanding and revolutionary ideas, projects and programmes from across the world in the field of housing.

Explanation: Union Cabinet has approved Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme for purchase of high-rated pooled assets from financially sound NBFCs/HFCs by Public Sector Banks (PSBs). The scheme provides for a one-time partial credit guarantee to Public sector banks (PSBs) for purchase of pooled assets of financially sound NBFCs and HFCs. The scheme aims to address temporary asset liability mismatches of otherwise solvent NBFCs/HFCs without having to resort to distress sale of their assets to meet their commitments.

Explanation: InvITs are investment scheme similar to mutual funds. They allow investment from individuals and institutional investors in infrastructure projects to earn a portion of the income as return. This investment is more attractive for investors as it provides greater flexibility and they don’t have to build an infrastructure project from scratch and is averse to construction risk. Besides, mutual funds and institutes like Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) can also invest in infrastructure space through InvITs.