10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: September 8, 2020

Statement 1 is correct. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully demonstrated the hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha recently.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Only the United States, Russia and China have developed technologies to field fast-manoeuvring hypersonic missiles that fly at lower altitudes and are extremely hard to track and intercept.

It is estimated to take around four years for India to develop hypersonic cruise missiles powered by air-breathing scramjet engines.

The dual-use hypersonic technology has non-military applications too – it can be used for launching satellites and developing commercial planes

# Hypersonic: more than five times faster than the speed of sound (>Mach 5).

Both statements are correct.

A ramjet operates by combustion of fuel in a stream of air compressed by the forward speed of the aircraft itself, as opposed to a normal jet engine, in which the compressor section (the fan blades) compresses the air. The air flow through a ramjet engine is subsonic, or less than the speed of sound. Ramjet-propelled vehicles operate from about Mach 3 to Mach 6.

A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) is a ramjet engine in which the airflow through the engine remains supersonic, or greater than the speed of sound. Scramjet powered vehicles are envisioned to operate at speeds up to at least Mach 15.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Nur–Sultan, known between 1998 and 2019 as Astana, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. In March 2019, it was renamed Nur-Sultan in honour of the departing Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan. It’s known for its many museums and its mix of modern and Soviet-era architecture.

Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 formally ended with the Tashkent Agreement on 10 January 1966; the second Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri died the following day, still in Tashkent.

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Dushanbe, on the Varzob River, is the capital of Tajikistan. On the east bank of the river is Rudaki Park, named for the classical poet.

Immunogenicity is the ability of a foreign substance, such as an antigen, to provoke an immune response in the body of a human or other animal. It is the ability to induce a humoral and/or cell-mediated immune responses.

Antigenicity is the ability to be specifically recognized by the antibodies generated as a result of the immune response to the given substance.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs

Statement 2 is correct. The National Biopharma Mission is an Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt of India for accelerating discovery research to early development for Biopharmaceuticals approved by the Cabinet for a total cost US$ 250 million and 50% co-funded by the World Bank.

It is being implemented at Biotechnology Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). This program is dedicated to deliver affordable products to the nation with an aim to improve the health standards of India’s population. Vaccines, medical devices and diagnostics and biotherapeutics are few of its most important domains, besides, strengthening the clinical trial capacity and building technology transfer capabilities in the country.

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), in its 75th round, conducted survey on Household Social Consumption: Education during 1st July 2017 to 30th June 2018.

Statement 1 is incorrect. The study has pegged the overall literacy rate in the country at about 77.7%. In rural areas, the literacy rate is 73.5% compared to 87.7% in urban areas of the country.

At all-India level, the male literacy rate is higher at 84.7% compared to 70.3% among women.

Statement 2 is correct. Kerala, Delhi has the best literacy rate, followed by Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Assam.

Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar are the worst performers.

The RBI had formed a committee under the chairmanship of former ICICI Bank CEO KV Kamath to make recommendations on the financial parameters to be considered in the restructuring of loans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The committee has selected 26 sectors which will require restructuring based on its analyses of financial parameters hit due to the economic crash caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The financial parameters selected include total outside liability to adjusted tangible net worth, debt to EBIDTA, current ratio, debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and average debt service coverage ratio (ADSCR).

All of the above are diagnostic tests for COVID-19.

Standard Q COVID-19 Ag detection kit is a rapid chromatographic immunoassay for qualitative detection of specific antigens to SARS-CoV-2 has been developed by SD Biosensor, a South Korea based company.

SalivaDirect is a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test intended for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in saliva collected without preservatives in a sterile container from individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider.

The COVID-19 RT-PCR test is a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in upper and lower respiratory specimens (such as nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swabs, sputum, lower respiratory tract aspirates, bronchoalveolar lavage, and nasopharyngeal wash/aspirate) collected from individuals suspected of COVID 19.

Option 1 is incorrect. Education, including technical education, medical education and universities is part of Entry 25 of the Concurrent List.

Option 2 is incorrect. Posts and telegraphs; telephones, wireless, broadcasting and other like forms of communication is Entry 31 of the Union List.

Option 3 is correct. Relief of the disabled and unemployable is Entry 9 of the State List.

All of the above locations are around the Line of Actual Control that separates the Indian and Chinese controlled regions in Ladakh UT.