10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: June 14, 2020

RBI maintains India’s foreign currency reserve which constitutes Foreign currency assets, Gold, SDRs and Reserve Tranche position with IMF.

The objectives of maintain forex are:

(a) maintaining confidence in monetary and exchange rate policies,

(b) enhancing capacity to intervene in forex markets,

(c) limiting external vulnerability by maintaining foreign currency liquidity to absorb shocks during times of crisis including national disasters or emergencies.

(d) providing confidence to the markets especially credit rating agencies that external obligations can always be met, thus reducing the overall costs at which forex resources are available to all the market participants, and

(e) incidentally adding to the comfort of the market participants, by demonstrating the backing of domestic currency by external assets.

All the statements are correct.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body of the Ministry, with an overarching supervisory/coordination role, performing functions as provided in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

All India Tiger Estimation conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 is quadrennial exercise observing status of Tiger population in India by Wildlife Institute of India and NTCA.

India is a signatory to the St. Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation which aimed to double the wild tigers in respective countries by 2022.

India is yet to demonstrate its Human space flight capability which is planned through the Gaganyaan Mission.

Russia has human spaceflight capability with the Soyuz program.

China has demonstrated its crewed space missions under Shenzhou program.

USA has demonstrated its crewed space flight capability many times including the Appolo missions to Moon and recent Dragon Crew (SpaceX) launch.

World Bank– Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (WB-ESMAP), in partnership with, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and International Solar Alliance (ISA) developed the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) to support countries in developing sustainable solar programs to attract private investment and reduce reliance on public funding.

It has three components to mitigate the risk of solar deployment: Sustainable Solar Targets, Transparent procurement and Viable Risk Mitigation Coverage.

Both statements are correct.

Securitisation is the process of pooling and repackaging of illiquid financial assets (residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto loans or credit card debt obligations) into marketable securities that can be sold to investors.

Securitisation frees up an originator’s (owner of assets) capital by removing the assets from the balance sheet. It improves the liquidity position of the originator as the future receivables are replaced by cash.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) in partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) MAITREE program, launched the “Healthy and Energy Efficient Buildings” initiative that will pioneer ways to make workplaces healthier and greener.

The Market Integration and Transformation Program for Energy Efficiency (MAITREE), under which this initiative has been launched, is a part of the US-India bilateral Partnership between the Ministry of Power and USAID and is aimed at accelerating the adoption of cost-effective energy efficiency as a standard practice within buildings, and specifically focuses on cooling.

Certain materials in which application and removal of a magnetic field causes the materials to become warmer or cooler are called the magnetocaloric materials and the effect is called the Magnetocaloric effect (MCE).

Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST) have developed a rare-earth-based magnetocaloric material that can be effectively used for cancer treatment.

Both statements are correct.

Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight. These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes—near the  North and South Poles.

Permafrost is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.

Both statements are correct.

The brown rock chat (Oenanthe fusca) or Indian Chat, is a bird species of the family Muscicapidae. Its habitat includes rocky areas (e.g. inland cliffs, mountain peaks).

It is listed as Least Concern in IUCN Red List.

Its range includes north and Central India and areas of Pakistan.

Statement 1 is correct. Ulinastatin is a multifunctional serine protease inhibitor. Protease inhibitors prevent viral replication by selectively binding to viral proteases. Ulinastatin is a glycoprotein that is isolated from healthy human urine or synthetically produced.

Statement 2 is correct. It is often used in treatment of sepsis and acute pancreatitis. It inhibits several pro-inflammatory proteases and decreases inflammatory cytokine levels and mortality in sepsis.

Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd. (BSVL) have received approval from DCGI to conduct phase III clinical study on Ulinastatin for mild to moderate Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients with COVID-19.