Daily Current Affairs Quiz: 9 June 2021

ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

• Recently, Turkey’s Sea of Marmara, which connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, has witnessed the largest outbreak of ‘sea snot’.
• A ‘sea snot’ outbreak was first recorded in the country in 2007.

About:

• Sea Snot and its Formation:
  • It is marine mucilage that is formed when algae are overloaded with nutrients as a result of water pollution combined with the effects of climate change.
  • The nutrient overload occurs when algae feast on warm weather caused by global warming.
  • It looks like a viscous, brown and foamy substance.

ANSWER: C

Why in News ?

• Clinical trials of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy were conducted globally. Therapy has emerged as a breakthrough in cancer treatment. It has shown promising results on end stage patients, especially in patients of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia.
  • About:
• CAR-T technology has a remarkable therapeutic potential for cancer patients.
• This technology is not available in India, currently.

Background

• BIRAC and DBT have initiated and launched specialised calls and invitation to promote and support development of CAR-T cell technology against cancer and other diseases.

What are the challenges?

• CAR-T cell therapy costs rupees 3-4 crore for each patient. Thus, biggest challenge is there to develop this technology in cost-effective manner and make it available patients. Manufacturing of this technology is complex which increases the cost.

First CAR-T cell Therapy

• First CAR-T cell Therapy was done by IIT Bombay and cancer care in India at Bone Marrow Transplant unit of Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai. CAR-T cells were designed and manufactured at Bioscience and Bioengineering (BSBE) department, IIT Bombay. This was also supported by BIRAC-PACE scheme. Now, this therapy will undergo Phase I and II trial of their CAR-T product through National Biopharma Mission.

ANSWER: A

Why in News ?

• MIT engineers have discovered a new way of generating electricity using carbon nanotubes. A new material made up of carbon nanotubes has potential to generate electricity by collecting energy from its environment.

How electricity is generated ?

• These micro carbon particles can create current by interacting with liquid around them.
• Liquid, an organic solvent, attracts electrons out of the nanoparticles, which generates current.
• This current can be used to drive chemical reactions or to power micro or nanoscale robots.
• This electric current can also be used to drive a reaction known as alcohol oxidation.

Properties of discovery

This discovery grew out of research on carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are hollow tubes made of lattice of carbon atoms. These tubes have unique electrical properties. Potential of carbon nanotubes to generate thermopower waves was demonstrated way back in 2010. When Carbon nanotube is coated with layer of fuel, moving pulses of heat or thermopower waves travelling along tube generates electrical current.

ANSWER: A

Why in News ?

Foreign Minister of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, was elected as new President of UN General Assembly (UNGA).

About:

Abdulla Shahid won against Afghanistan’s former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul with three-fourth majority. He fetched 143 votes while Rassoul got 48 votes out of 191 votes polled. Maldives will occupy office of President of UNGA for the first time.

Election to UNGA President:

Election to UNGA presidential post is held annually. It is rotated amongst various regional groupings. 76th UNGA session for 2021-22 was the turn of Asia-Pacific group.

ANSWER: A

Why in News ?

• Weyan, a remote village in Bandipora district of Jammu & Kashmir became India’s first village to vaccinate all its adult population against COVID-19.

About:

• This successful vaccination drive in village was the result of healthcare workers.
• Village, located 28 kilometres away from Bandipora district, has an adult population of 362.
• In village, distance of 18 kilometres is required to cover by foot as there is no motorable road.
• Village was covered under ‘J & K model’, which is a 10-point strategy to vaccinate entire population.
• Under the model, first strategy is booth-level management which involves preparation of eligible population list. It is followed by “Vaccine on Wheels” under which health officials reaches out to people in far-flung areas to vaccinate them.

ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed three types of cost-effective ventilators and an oxygen concentrator.

About:

• 3 ventilators have been named as Prana, VaU and Svasta while oxygen cylinder has been named as Shwaas.
• All three are user-friendly and fully automated along with touch-screen specifications. It meets all safety standards.
• VSSC will transfer the Technology for commercial production of these three ventilators and one oxygen concentrator.
• Ventilators are likely to be priced around ₹1 lakh as compared to mini conventional ventilators which are priced around ₹5 lakh.

About Prana, VaU, Svasta and Shwaas

• Prana ventilator will deliver respiratory gas to patient by automated compression of Ambu bag.
• Svasta ventilator will work without electric power.
• VaU is a low-cost ventilator similar to commercial high-end ventilators in use.
• Shwaas oxygen cylinder is capable of supplying 10 litres of enriched oxygen per minute and is adequate for two patients at a time. It enhances oxygen gas content by selectively separating nitrogen gas from ambient air through Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA). PSA is commonly used for production of oxygen from the air.

ANSWER: D

Why in News ?

• Indian Navy will receive the first set of three of the 24 MH-60 ‘Romeo’ multi-role helicopters from the US in July this year. India and the US had inked a deal worth $2.4 billion (Rs 16,516 crore) in February 2020 to buy 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters from Lockheed Martin.
• The first batch of Indian pilots has reached the US for training on the helicopters that are scheduled to arrive in India in July 2022. The pilots would undergo training first in the Pensacola in Florida, US, and then in San Diego in California, US.

About:

• The MH-60 Romeo helicopters would be equipped with multi-mode radars and night vision devices, and they would be armed with Hellfire missiles, torpedoes, and precision-guided weaponry.
• The MH-60 helicopters have been designed to operate from cruisers, aircraft carriers destroyers, and frigates. MH-60 helicopters are built to target submarines, ships, and conduct search and rescue operations at sea. The MH-60 will replace Sea Kings.

ANSWER: B

Why in News ?

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare virtually attended the World Food Safety Day (7^th June) celebrations organized by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

About:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) jointly facilitate the observance of World Food Safety Day, in collaboration with Member States and other relevant organizations.
• It was first celebrated in 2019, to strengthen the commitment to scale up food safety made by the Addis Ababa Conference and the Geneva Forum in 2019 under the umbrella of “The Future of Food Safety”.

Aim:

• To draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.

2021 Theme:

• Safe Food for a Healthy Tomorrow.

 ANSWER: A

Why in News ?

Recently, the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj released a Model Panchayat Citizens Charter.

About:

• It is prepared by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)in collaboration with National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR).
  • NIRDPR is an autonomous organisationunder the Union Ministry of Rural Development.
• It has been developed for the delivery of the services across the 29 sectors, aligning actions with localised Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It is expected that the Panchayats utilising this framework, and with the due approval of Gram Sabha, would draw up a Citizens Charter, detailing the different categories of services rendered to the citizen by the Panchayat, the conditions for such serviceand also the time limit for such service.
• It will help in making the citizens aware of their rightson the one hand, and to make the Panchayats and their elected representatives directly accountable to the people, on the other hand.