Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 4 June 2021

 ANSWER: D

Why in news ?

• Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found three caves in Buddhist Caves Complex in Nasik, Maharashtra.

About:

• Newly discovered caves are being discovered about two centuries after the British military officer documented Tri-Rashmi Buddhist caves, which is also called as Pandav Leni, on a hill in Nashik.
• Antiquity of caves is yet to be established. They may have been dwellings of Buddhist monks.
• Archaeologists believe, these caves could be older than Trirashmi caves.

ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad has developed nano-fibre based oral tablets of Amphotericin B, called as AmB.

About:

• IIT Hyderabad researchers decided to keep this technology free of intellectual property rights and are ready for technology transfer so that tablet can be produced on mass level.
• This medicine is reportedly cheaper, higher AmB absorption and less Nephrotoxicity.
• AmB was earlier available in injectable form only.

What are Amphotericin B tablets?

• Amphotericin B tablets are nano-fibre based oral medicine that can be used to treat fungal infections which is currently spreading in India post COVID treatment.

  ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

• According to TATA Power, Blue-finned Mahseer has moved to “least concern” status which was listed in red list of endangered species of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) earlier.

About:

• TATA group is involved in conservation of blue-finned and golden mahseer for 50 years in Lonavala.
• Golden mahseer is still in danger of going extinct.
• About five lakh mahseer are bred at Walvan Hatchery in Lonavala, where group has created an artificial lake for their conservation.

About Mahseer

• Mahseer is the common name for genera Tor. These fishes are found across Vietnam in north and China in south, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Asia, Indian Peninsula, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. They are commercially important game fish and highly esteemed food fish. They have a high market price and are potential candidate species for aquaculture.

ANSWER: A

Why in news ?

• Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Thaawar chand Gehlot, will launch senior care Ageing Growth Engine or SAGE project on June 4, 2021.

What is SAGE project?

• SAGE project will be launched to select, support and create “one-stop access” of elderly care products and services provided by credible start-ups.
• Project was formulated following the recommendations of empowered expert committee report on start-ups for elderly.
• Once the project is launched, start-ups can apply to be a part of it through dedicated portal. This dedicated portal will also be launched along with the scheme.

How start-ups will be selected?

• Start-ups will be selected based on their innovative products and services, which they can provide across sectors like housing, health and care centres. They will also be selected based on technological access linked to finances, food & wealth management besides legal guidance.

Who will facilitate the scheme ?

• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be the facilitator to enable elderly to access products through these identified and verified start-ups.

ANSWER:  C

Why in news ?

• US House of Representatives has reintroduced bipartisan legislation to eliminate per country cap on employment-based green card. This legislation is called as “EAGLE Act” and was introduced to benefit Indian IT professionals who are waiting over decades for green card.

What is EAGLE Act, 2021?

• EAGLE Act is called as “Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment Act”. It proposes to phase out limit of seven per cent per-country on employment-based immigrant visas. It also seeks to raise seven per cent per-country limit to 15 percent on family-sponsored visas.

How will it help Indians ?

• Due to existing cap, a person from a large-population country like India with extraordinary qualifications, who could contribute to US economy & create jobs, waits behind person with lesser qualifications from small country. Thus, new legislation will reduce waiting time for Indian professionals.

ANSWER: A

Why in News ?

• India launched a global Initiative ‘Mission Innovation CleanTech Exchange’ with the aim of creating a network of incubators in member countries to boost clean energy innovation.
  • About:
• Mission was launched virtually at “Innovating to Net Zero Summit, 2021″ organised by Chile.
• It will provide access to expertise and market insights that are required to support new technologies in order to access new markets across the world.
• A total of 23 governments participated, out of which India launched new plans to prompt action and spearheaded decade of innovation so that it could navigate worldwide investment in clean energy research, development and demonstration.

Aim of the Mission

Mission was launched with the aim of making clean energy affordable, attractive and accessible for decades and to escalate action towards Paris Agreement & net-zero emissions.

ANSWER: C

Why in News ?

• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food & Agriculture Organisation of UN (FAO) launched ‘UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’ report for 2021-2030 and called on nations to meet commitments

About:

• As per the report, world is facing triple threat of climate change, loss of nature and pollution. So, world must deliver on its commitment to restore at least one billion degraded hectares of land (equal to size of China) in next decade.
• Report highlights, countries also need to meet similar commitments for oceans.
• Humanity is using 1.6 times the number of services that nature can provide sustainably.
• Thus, conservation efforts alone are insufficient to prevent ecosystem collapse and biodiversity loss on larger scale.
• Communities living across two billion of degraded hectares and include world’s poorest and marginalized people.

ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

• World Bicycle Day (WBD) is observed on June 3 every year with the objective of promoting health benefits of cycling among all age groups.
  • Aim of WBD
• Its primary aim is to draw attention of people towards the fact cycling is a zero-pollution mode of transportation which is good for environment.

Background

• United Nations General Assembly had declared June 3 as World Bicycle Day. UN resolution recognises “uniqueness, longevity, and versatility of bicycle, which has been in use for two centuries.”. Campaign to promote UN resolution for World Bicycle Day was led by Professor Leszek Siblisk, a social scientist in the United States. Campaign is supported by 56 countries.

Logo of WBD

• The logo of WBD is a Blue and White in colour, depicting bicyclists around the globe. Its tagline is #June3WorldBicycleDay. It was designed by Isaac Feld. Accompanying animation was created by Professor John E. Swanson.

ANSWER: C

Why in News ?

• NITI Aayog released third edition of Sustainable Development Index for 2020-2021, evaluating progress of states and Union Territories with respect to social, economic and environmental parameters.

Sustainable Development Index 2021

• In the index, Kerala has retained the top rank with score of 75.
• Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were worst performers.
• Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu retained second spot with score of 74.
• Chandigarh retained top spot among UTs with a score of 79. It is followed by Delhi with score 68.
• In terms of score improvement, Mizoram, Haryana and Uttarakhand are the top gainers in 2020-21 who have gained 12, 10 and 8 points, respectively as compared to index of 2019-2020.