Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 3 June 2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS ?

• India and United Kingdom have launched a new workstream to promote industrial energy efficiency. The workstream was launched under Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI) of Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).

12th Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM)

• 12^thCEM is being organised by Chile in virtual mode. It was started on May 31 and will conclude on June 6.
• India and United Kingdom launched a new workstream which is also coordinated by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

Industrial Deep Decarbonization Initiative (IDDI)

• Clean Energy Ministerial Industrial Deep Decarbonisation Initiative (IDDI) is a global coalition comprising of public and private organisations working together to stimulate demand of low carbon industrial materials. IDDI works to standardise carbon assessments and establish ambitious public & private sector procurement targets in collaboration with governments. It also incentivises investment into low-carbon product and design industrial guidelines. IDDI is coordinated by UNIDO while Co-led by India and UK. Additional members of the initiatives are Germany and Canada. It brings together a strong coalition of related initiatives and organizations.

Objective of IDDI

• Primary objective of this initiative is to infuse green technologies and stimulate demand for low-carbon industrial material.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?
Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, launched a seed Minikit programme by distributing high-yielding varieties seeds of oilseeds and pulses to farmers.

About Seed Minikit Programme

• This programme was launched as a major tool to introduce new varieties of seeds in fields.
• It will also help in increasing the seed replacement rate.
• Under the programme, Mini-kits are being provided by NAFED, National Seeds Corporation (NCS), and Gujarat State Seeds Corporation.
• It is completely funded by government through National Food Security Mission.

Distribution of seed minikits

• Under the mission distribution of seeds will continue till June 15, 2021. Thus, farmers will get seeds before commencement of Kharif sowing season.
• About 20,27,318 seed minikits of pulses, 74000 minikits of groundnut and 8 lakh for soybean will be provided free of cost to the farmers directly under National Food Security Mission.

Focus of the programme

• This mission was launched to increase production of oilseeds and pulses.

Production of Oilseeds and pulses

• Government has renewed its focus on production of oilseeds and pulses since 2014-15. As a result, production of oilseeds increased from 27.51 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 36.57 million tonnes in 2020-21. Similarly, production of pulses increased from 17.15 million tonnes to 25.56 million tonnes in same period.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?
Union Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar, launched a seed Minikit programme by distributing high-yielding varieties seeds of oilseeds and pulses to farmers.

About Seed Minikit Programme

• This programme was launched as a major tool to introduce new varieties of seeds in fields.
• It will also help in increasing the seed replacement rate.
• Under the programme, Mini-kits are being provided by NAFED, National Seeds Corporation (NCS), and Gujarat State Seeds Corporation.
• It is completely funded by government through National Food Security Mission.

Distribution of seed minikits

• Under the mission distribution of seeds will continue till June 15, 2021. Thus, farmers will get seeds before commencement of Kharif sowing season.
• About 20,27,318 seed minikits of pulses, 74000 minikits of groundnut and 8 lakh for soybean will be provided free of cost to the farmers directly under National Food Security Mission.

Focus of the programme

• This mission was launched to increase production of oilseeds and pulses.

 ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS ?

• American space agency, NASA, has announced its two new robotic missions namely Davinci+ and Veritas, to Venus to examine atmosphere and geological features on the planet.

About the mission

• Each of the missions has been awarded $500m funding. They will be launched in between 2028 and 2030. Missions would provide a chance to investigate the planet Venus that hasn’t been provided in about 30 years. T

Davinci+ Mission

• Davinci+ is “Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging” mission. It will measure atmosphere of Venus to gain insight into how it formed and evolved. It also seeks to determine whether Venus ever had an ocean.

Veritas Mission

• This mission is called as “Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy”. It will map surface of Venus to understand its geologic history.
• It will also investigate how it developed differently than Earth.
• It will use a form of radar to investigate surface elevations and will discover if volcanoes and earthquakes are still happening.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Maharashtra government has launched “Corona-free Village Competitions” which is an interesting route to ensure all Covid-19 precautionary norms are followed in villages of state.

Corona-Free Village Competitions

• Under ‘corona-free village’ competitions, three villages will be selected in each revenue district on the basis of their good work and efforts in Covid-19 management. This competition is part of ‘My Village Corona Free’ initiative which was recently announced by Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray.

Other benefits of competition

• Winning villages will also get an additional amount equal to prize money as encouragement. This money will be utilised to do development works these villages.
• Participating villages will be judged on the basis of 22 criteria by a committee set up for the purpose.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?

• K.P. Krishnan committee on “Variable Capital Company” has submitted its report to International Financial Services centres Authority (IFSCA) regarding feasibility of Variable Capital Companies in International Financial Services Centres in India.
  • Background
• IFSCA had set up K.P. Krishnan committee to explore potential for allowing variable capital company (VCC) as an additional option using which asset managers could pool investors’ funds.

Variable Capital Company (VCC)

• VCC is an alternative form of corporate vehicle which can be used for open-ended as well as closed-ended alternative and traditional fund strategies.
• It is a corporate vehicle with flexible capital because of which shares are created when investments are made and shares are readily redeemable by shareholders. It has been designed for fund management industry.

ANSWER:  B

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Largest warship of Iranian navy caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Oman, circumstances are still unclear. Kharg used to resupply other ships in fleet and conduct training exercises. It sank near Iranian port of Jask.

IRIS Kharg

• Kharg, named after Island Kharg, was a modified Ol-class fleet replenishment oiler of Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. It was built by Swan Hunter in United Kingdom, which was officially launched in 1977. It was largest naval vessel of Iran on the basis of tonnage.

Ol-class Tankers

• They were Royal Fleet Auxiliary “fast fleet tankers” which provides fuel, food, fresh water and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels across the world.

Kharg or Khark Island

• Kharg is a continental island, located in Persian Gulf and is about 25 km off the coast of Iran.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh takes charge as Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

About:

• Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1983 and specialized in Aviation.
• The Vice-Admiral has held several challenging command, staff and diplomatic assignments.
• He has commanded various Naval Air Squadrons and frontline ships including INS Himgiri, INS Ranvir, INS Ranvijay, INAS 551B, INAS 300 and premier Air Base INS Hansa
• He is a qualified flying instructor with a Master Green instrument rating.
• He has flown Kiran HJT 16, HT-2, TS 11 Iskra, Hunter, Harrier Gr 3, Jet Provost, Chetak, Gazelle, Hawk and Mig 29 KUB aircraft.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS ?

• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 2, 2021, approved the signing and ratification of an Agreement on ‘Cooperation in the field of Mass Media’ between all the Member States of Shangai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
• The Agreement on ‘Cooperation in the field of Mass Media’ between all the Member States of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was signed in June 2019.
• The Member States of the Shangai Cooperation Organization consists of eight countries: India, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

About:

• The Agreement on ‘Cooperation in the field of Mass Media’ between all the Member States of Shangai Cooperation Organization will:
• Provide an opportunity for the Member States to share new innovations and best practices in the field of Mass Media.
• Boost equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between associations in the field of Mass Media.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Labor Veteran Issac Herzog has been elected as the 11th President of Israel in a secret ballot in the Knesset (Parliament).
• The former labor leader was elected by the Parliament in a vote as the opposition lawmakers were holding the negotiations to form a coalition to end Prime Minister Netanyahu’s 12 straight years in office.
• The 60-year old will be the first President of Israel who is the son of a former president. Herzog’s father Chaim Herzog had also served as Israel’s head of state between 1983 and 1993.
• Herzog will replace President Reuven Rivlin, who was elected as a President in 2014, and will assume his position as Israel’s President on July 9, 2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS ?

• A research team led by Griffith University has discovered a new Frog Species in New Guinea. It has been named Litoria Mira.

About:

• The Litoria Mira or chocolate frog is a tree frog belonging to the genus Litoria.
• Name: Litoria is the genus of the common tree frog, and Mira comes from Latin mirum which means strange or surprised.
• When was it discovered? The frog was first discovered in 2016 in the rainforest swamps of New Guinea. However, it took years to complete the genetic analysis and found out that it is a completely new tree frog species.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS ?

• Recently, the former Chief Secretary of West Bengalwas served a show cause notice by the Home Ministry under Section 51 of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005.
  • Key Points

About the Show Cause Notice:

• The notice was issuedfor failing to comply with the Centre’s directions to attend the review meeting on Cyclone Yaas chaired by the Prime Minister in Bengal’s Kalaikunda.
• The Act is violative of Section 51 (b) of the DM Act, 2005.

Section 51 (b) of the DM Act:

• The section prescribes “punishment for obstruction”for refusal to comply with any direction given by or on behalf of the Central government or the State government or the National Executive Committee or the State Executive Committee or the District Authority under the Act.