Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 19 June 2021

ANSWER: B

Why in news ?

The illegal cultivation of Herbicide Tolerant (HT) Bt cotton has seen a huge jump as the sale of illegal seed packets has more than doubled from 30 lakh in 2020 to 75 lakh in 2021.

About:

Bt Cotton:

• Bt cotton is the only transgenic crop that has been approved by the Centre for commercial cultivation in India.
• It has been genetically modified (GM) to produce an insecticide to combat the cotton bollworm, a common pest.

Herbicide Tolerant Bt (HTBt) Cotton:

• The HTBt cotton variant adds another layer of modification, making the plant resistant to the herbicide glyphosate, but has not been approved by regulators.
• Fears include glyphosate having a carcinogenic effect, as well as the unchecked spread of herbicide resistance to nearby plants through pollination, creating a variety of superweeds.

ANSWER: D

Why in news ?

The United Nations General Assembly appointed Antonio Guterres as the ninth UN Secretary General (UNSG) for a second term beginning 1^st January, 2022 and ending on 31^st 2026.

About Antonio Guterres:

• Guterres took oath of office on 1^stJanuary, 2017 and his first term ends on 31^st December 2021.
• Guterres served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for a decade from June 2005 to December 2015.
• He was the former Prime minister of Portugal

ANSWER: B

Why in news ?

The maiden Indian Navy – European Union Naval Force (IN-EUNAVFOR) Exercise is being conducted in Gulf of Aden.

• Participants
  • Along with Indian Navy, other naval forces are from Italy, Spain and France.
  • The naval exercise included advanced air defence and anti-submarine exercises, tactical manoeuvres, Search & Rescue, and other maritime security operations.
• Aim:
  • To enhance and hone their war-fighting skills and their ability as an integrated force to promote peace, security and stability in the maritime domain.

ANSWER: B

Why in news ?

The Minister of Tribal Affairs has launched the ‘Adi Prashikshan Portal’.

About Adi Prashikshan Portal:

• Adi Prashikshan Portal aims to act as a central repository for information on all training programmes conducted by Tribal institutions across the country under Adi Prashikshan-Training for Tribals initiative.
• Developed by: Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with UNDP and Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)-Odisha.
• Institutions covered under the portal: The portal would act as a Central Repository of all training programs conducted by:
  • Tribal Research Institutes(TRIs)
  • Different divisions of the Tribal Ministry
  • National Society for Education of Tribal Students(NESTS)
  • Centre of Excellences funded by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and
  • National Tribal Research Institute.

ANSWER: C

Why in news ?

Four-day Summit for vaccine internationalism by Progressive International was opened on June 18, 2021.

Highlights

• Summit was opened with the goal of ending “covid-19 pandemic as quickly as possible by administering and securing COVID-19 vaccines for all”.
• Vaccine summit brings together political leaders, Global south governments, healthcare workers and vaccine manufacturers from about twenty countries and follows criticism of G7’s plan.
• Recently, U.N. aid Chief Mark Lowcock had criticised G-7 plan as not serious and lacking necessary urgency.

Agenda of the summit

• Participants of the summit seek to boost up production, distribution and delivery of the vaccines across world as presently, only 6.2% of the world population is fully vaccinated against COVID.
• Summit hope to consider concrete proposals to bring technology, invoke patent waivers and invest in rapid production of vaccines.
• Representatives from governments of Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela Kerala (India) and Kisumu (Kenya) will be joined by four vaccine manufacturers namely, Fiocruz (Brazilian manufacturer), Virchow Laboratories (Indian manufacturer), Biolyse (Canadian firm) and BioFarma Cuba (Cuba manufacturer)

ANSWER: B

Why in news ?

The report titled “Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Special Report on Drought 2021” was published on June 18, 2021 by UNDRR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction). It will be a part of discussions at vital UN climate talks called COP26, scheduled to take place in Glasgow in November 2021.

About:

• As per the report, Drought is a hidden global crisis which can become “the next pandemic” if no urgent action is taken on water & land management and tackling climate emergency.
• About 1.5 billion people are directly affected by drought this century.
• Economic cost was roughly estimated at $124bn. However, True cost is likely to be many times higher as these estimates do not include much impact in developing countries.
• Most of world will be with water stress in next few years and demand will outstrip the water supply during certain periods.
• Report highlights, drought is now widespread and by end of this century most of the countries will experience it in some form.