Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 20 May 2021

ANSWER: B 

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The Union Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel recently announced that around six cultural heritage sites have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Which are the six sites?

The following six places have successfully entered the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

• Ganga Ghats of Varanasi
• Temples of Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu
• Satpura Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh
• Maharashtra Military Architecture
• Hire Benkal Megalithic site
• Bhedaghat Lametaghat of Narmada Valley in Madhya Pradesh

With this, the total number of sites in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites Tentative list has increased to 48.

Background

The Archaeological Survey of India sent nine entries. Out of this, six have entered the tentative list. These proposed sites will remain in the tentative list for a year.

• Ganga Ghats of Varanasi

The Ghats of Varanasi are the riverfront steps that lead to the banks of river Ganges. There are 88 ghats. Most of these ghats were built in the 18th century when the city was under the rule of Marathas.

• Satpura Tiger Reserve

It is located in Madhya Pradesh. The other major attractions of Satpura Tiger Reserve are Pandav Caves, Bee falls, Dhoopgarh Peak, Denwa Backwaters and rock paintings. The Denwa backwater is the reservoir formed by the dam built on Denwa River.

• Maharashtra Military Architecture

There are more than five hundred forts of various hybrid eras making Maharashtra one of the richest places in military architecture in the world. They were built between 1500 and 1800. During this period, the architecture conceived was largely military defensive architecture.

• Hire Benkal Megalithic Site

It is located in Karnataka. Megalithic site is a large pre-historic stone that is used to construct a monument or structure. There are more than four hundred megalithic funerary monuments in Hire Benkal Megalithic site.

• Bhedaghat Lametaghat of Narmada Valley

They are referred to Grand Canyon of India. One can experience the outstanding beauty of marble rocks and their glittering forms on the other side of Narmada River. Several dinosaur fossil fuels have been found here.

Here the Narmada river flows into a thirty-metre-deep gorge and flows between marble rocks. These marble rocks are formed by the metamorphic mechanism of limestone

ANSWER:  A

WHY IN NEWS ?

• An Iceberg recently calved off from the continent of Antarctica. This iceberg is now the largest iceberg in the world. It has been named as A-76.

• About the Ice Berg

• The Ice Berg is 170 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide. The ice berg was spotted by a European Space Agency satellite called Copernicus Sentinel. It is a two-satellite constellation that orbits the earth’s poles.
• The Ice Berg is now floating on the Weddell Sea. Weddell Sea is a large bay in the Western Antarctic.

Satellites confirmed the calving of Ice Berg

• The satellites confirmed the observations made by British Antarctic Survey. The British Antarctic Survey was the first to notice the breakaway.

Impact of the ice berg on sea level

• Every time an ice berg calves out from Antarctica, it adds up to the rising sea levels. However, in this case, the ice shelf from which this berg carved out was already floating on water.The Ice Shelf from which A-76 calved out is called Ronne Ice Shelf.

Predecessor of A-76

• Prior to A-76, A-74 ice berg calved out from Antarctica. Both these calving were natural. The ice calving and regrowth occurs naturally in Antarctica at defined intervals. This process helps to maintain the ice levels in the region. However, influxes of warm water in the region are affecting this natural process and increasing the rate at which ice bergs calve out. The time taken by the ice bergs to calve out is now lesser than the time taken for the same amount of ice to regrow.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The government of India’s SWAMIH (Special Window for Affordable & Mid-Income Housing) Fund has completed its first residential project in Mumbai.

About SWAMIH Fund:

• SWAMIH Fund is a government-backed investment fund set up in the year 2019.
• Purpose: The fund was formed to provide relief to developers that require funding to complete a set of unfinished projects. Consequently, it will also ensure the delivery of homes to the home-buyers.
• Type: The fund has been set up as a Category-II AIF (Alternate Investment Fund) debt fund registered with SEBI.
• Investment manager: The Investment Manager of the Fund is SBICAP Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SBI Capital Markets. This in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India.
• Sponsor: The Sponsor of the Fund is the Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India.
• Criteria for Funding of Projects: The funding shall be provided to the projects that meet the following criteria:

• Stalled for lack of adequate funds
• Affordable and Middle-Income Category
• Net worth positive projects (including NPAs and projects undergoing NCLT proceedings)
• RERA registered
• Priority for projects very close to completion.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Setting up of 22 new regional AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) has been approved under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) so far.

About:
Launch:
PMSSY was announced in 2003 with objectives of correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

Nodal Ministry:

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Two Components:

• Setting up of AIIMS like institutions.
• Up gradation of government medical colleges in various states.

The project cost for upgradation of each medical college institution is shared by the Centre and the state.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?

The United Nations has designated May 20 as “World Bee Day.” 

Theme of the year 2020 – Bee engaged: Build Back Better for Bees.

About:

• Bee day is celebrated to create awareness of the importance of pollinators and the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development. 
• The main aim is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators, which will greatly help solve problems related to global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Jagannath Pahadia succumbed to COVID-19 at age of 89 on May 19, 2021.

About Jagannath Pahadia

• Jagannath Pahadia was born in Bhusawar district (present Bharatpur) in Rajasthan.
• He was the first Dalit to become the CM of Rajasthan in 1980-81.
• He was also a former governor of Bihar (1989- 1990) and Haryana (2009-2014).
• Pahadia represented Sawai Madhopur constituency in the 2nd Lok Sabha, and later Bayana constituency in the 4th, 5th, and 7th Lok Sabha.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS ?

Arjan ‘Singh’ Bhullar became the first Indian fighter to win the ONE Heavyweight World Title at the top-level (Mixed Martial Arts) MMA Championship event in Singapore on May 16, 2021, after defeating the longtime heavyweight king Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera.

About Arjan Singh Bhullar

• Arjan Bhullar is an Indian-Canadian mixed martial arts fighter. He was born and raised in Vancouver, Columbia. He is of Indian descent.
• He had won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in New Delhi in 2010. He also became the first Indian freestyle wrestler to represent Canada at the Olympics in London in 2012.
• Bhullar has also been the first Indian fighter to win a UFC fight where he defeated Luis Enrigue Barbosa de Oliveira in 2015.