Daily Current Affairs Quiz: August 04, 2022

ANSWER: C

Pitch Black Air Combat Exercise

• The exercises will be conducted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) starting August 19 to September 6. Almost 2,500 personnel from over 17 countries and 100 aircraft will engage in both Offensive Counter Air (OCA) and Defensive Counter Air (DCA) combat drills.

 About Pitch Black

• In the 1980s, this first started in Australia’s Northern Territories between different RAAF units. Australia has been inviting international partners since then to practice new doctrines, combat and most importantly interoperability.
• For the first time India participated in Pitch Black was in 2018 along with other countries like Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, France (New Caledonia), and the United States.

 Where is Pitch Black conducted?

• It is conducted on RAAF’s Bradshaw Field Training Area and Delamere Air Weapons Range — one of the largest training airspaces in the world. Usually the drills are out of RAAF’s Base Darwin and Base Tindal, this year Base Amberley will also be used.
• In this edition of the exercise, Australia will establish themselves as key players in regional security and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

 Who all are attending?

• Australia is the host, and others attending include India, Germany, France, UAE, Malaysia, the US, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the UK, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada, and the Netherlands.
• For the first time Japan, Germany and the Republic of Korea are participating and there will be an International Observer Group Programme which allows other countries to be present to observe the planning and execution of the exercise.

ANSWER: D

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA has approved the Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane for sugar season 2022-23 (October – September).
• It has approved the highest ever Fair and Remunerative price, FRP of 305 rupees per quintal for Sugarcane Farmers.
• The FRP for sugar season 2022-23 is 2.6 percent higher than the current sugar season 2021-22. FRP of sugarcane is fixed to ensure a guaranteed price to sugarcane growers.
• The decision will benefit five crore sugarcane farmers and their dependents, as well as five lakh workers employed in the sugar mills and related ancillary activities.
• In the past eight years, the government has increased Fair and Remunerative Prices by more than 34 percent aimed at increasing the income of farmers.

ANSWER: C

• The government launched State University Research Excellence scheme to augment the research capabilities in a structured way to create a robust R&D ecosystem in state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities.
• State University Research Excellence (SERB-SURE) is a new innovative scheme of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), that can foster collaboration for high-end research at state and private universities and colleges.
• “The new scheme will help bring the university system, which was so far mostly limited to teaching, into mainstream research and enable the young faculty there to participate in cutting-edge research,” said Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar, Chairman SERB and Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) at the launch of the programme.
• In this scheme, the state universities will have level competition to secure research funding, and present significant opportunities for strengthening of research ecosystem in state universities to upgrade their research capabilities to national and international levels,” said SERB Secretary Professor Sandeep Verma.
• SERB-SURE scheme provides research support to active researchers belonging to state and private universities and colleges, including self-financed institutions working within these universities, across India, to undertake research and development in frontier areas of science, engineering, and quantitative social science.

ANSWER: D

• Finance Ministry released the 5th monthly installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit grant (PDRD) of over seven thousand one hundred and eighty-three crore rupees to fourteen states.
• The grant has been released as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
• The Ministry said, the 15th Finance Commission has recommended a total Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of 86 thousand 201 crore rupees to 14 States for the financial year 2022-23.
• The recommended grant is released by the Department of Expenditure to the recommended States in 12 equated monthly installments.
• With the release of the 5th installment, the total amount of Revenue Deficit Grants released to the States in 2022-23 has gone up to over 35 thousand 917 crore rupees.
• The States who have been recommended Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant by the Fifteenth Finance Commission during 2022-23 are – Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
• The Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) grants are made available to the states under the provisions of article 275 of the Constitution.

ANSWER: C

• The Union Cabinet has approved India’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution, NDC to be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
• The updated NDC seeks to enhance India’s contributions towards the achievement of the strengthening of the global response to the threat of climate change, as agreed under the Paris Agreement.
• Such action will also help India usher in low emissions growth pathways. It will protect the interests of the country and safeguard its future development needs based on the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC.
• India at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UNFCCC held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, expressed to intensify its climate action by presenting to the world five nectar elements (Panchamrit) of India’s climate action.
• This update to India’s existing NDC translates the ‘Panchamrit’ announced at COP 26 into enhanced climate targets.

ANSWER: D

• The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) on signed an MoU with the Bangladesh Roads and Highways department in Dhaka for the emergency supply of petroleum goods via Bangladesh territory to India.
• This is an interim set up to facilitate urgent supply of petroleum products due to damage caused by the flood in Assam this year.
• The petroleum tankers will enter from Meghalaya and will go to Tripura crossing through the Bangladesh territory.
• The IOCL will bear all the administrative fees, charges and local taxes including road usage fee for use of the Bangladeshi territory.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bangladesh in a statement said that the MoU has been signed in a spirit of good neighbourly relations to allow Indian vehicles for transportation of the fuel from Assam to Tripura by Road which has been severely disrupted due to the recent floods in Assam and Tripura.

ANSWER: A

• The government has made a free entry for the visitors and tourists to all its protected monuments and sites across the country from 5th to 15th August.
• Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy said, the decision has been taken under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the 75th Independence -Day celebrations.
• The Director General of Archeological Survey of India has said that no fee will be charged at all the ticketed centrally protected monuments and Archaeological sites from 5th to 15th August this year.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.
• Its activities include carrying out surveys of antiquarian remains, exploration and excavation of archaeological sites, conservation and maintenance of protected monuments etc.
• There are over 3,600 ASI-protected monuments in the country. Out of these, 116 monuments across 19 states are ticketed, including 17 in Uttar Pradesh, 16 in Maharashtra, 12 in Karnataka, 10 in Delhi, eight in Madhya Pradesh, seven in Tamil Nadu, and six in Gujarat.
• It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham-the first Director-General of ASI. Alexander Cunningham is also known as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”.

ANSWER: A

• Nayanmoni Saikia, Pinki, Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey script history as they beat South Africa in the women’s four lawn bowls final to won a gold medal.
• This is India’s first medal in the sport.
• Lovely Choubey and Rupa Rani Tirkey hail from Ranchi. Ms Lovely is presently posted in Jharkhand Police and Ms Rupa is the District Sports Officer of Ramgarh district in Jharkhand.
• Ms Rupa rolled the bowls wide in the final match attempt to level the score for India.
• Lawn Bowls Association President is Madhukant Pathak.

ANSWER: A

• Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur dedicated to public 18 taxis for residents of Shimla under the “Ride with Pride” scheme of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC).
• The vehicles worth Rs 2.91 crore have been provided under the Smart City Shimla project for the convenience of the public.
• The addition of taxis to the existing fleet will benefit residents, including the elderly, women, physically challenged people and the tourists,”.
• CM said “Ride with Pride” taxis were already being operated by the HRTC and more than 3,000 commuters were using the service in Shimla every day.
• Apart from 18 taxis, 12 tempos and 20 electric buses had also been sanctioned to the HRTC, which would be dedicated to the public the next month.

ANSWER: C

• Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPAU), Palampur, has identified 368 landraces of rajmash (kidney beans) that are grown in the state.
• VC of the university HK Chaudhary, said the institute had decided to get the GI tag for all varieties of Himachali rajmash.
• Prof Chaudhary has contributed to developing 20 important crop varieties, including rajmash variety ‘triloki rajmash’.
• The VC said he had collected 368 rajmash landraces from the tribal belt and other areas of the state, including Kukumseri (Lahaul & Spiti), Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi and Chamba districts. These were called the hotspot regions for the landraces of rajmash cultivation.
• He said, “We evaluated, purified, characterised and developed a popular rajmash variety ‘triloki rajmash’ following the pure line selection method of breeding. The university has initiated a process to get Geographic Indicators for the rajmash landraces in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment (HIMCOSTE), Shimla. This will get it national and international recognition benefiting local farmers.
• He said the rajmash variety “triloki” had been released for the cultivation in dry temperate zone hilly region. It had bold and creamish yellow seeds with good cooking quality and excellent organo-leptic taste, resistant to diseases like bacterial blight, angular leaf spot and anthracnose and provides 20-22 quintal per hectare average seed yield.
• It was ready for harvesting 10-20 days earlier than other varieties of rajmash. Creamish yellow rajmash, grown by the farming community in the hilly regions, possesses many health-related nutrients. Such light-coloured rajmash contains a good amount of carbohydrates, fibers and anti-oxidants which has the ability to fight against diseases. Apart from this, vitamin B6 and vitamin C, mineral elements as potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium and iron are also found to increase the immune system and control blood pressure.
• Phytohaemoglutin, a harmful toxic element, is found in lesser amounts in creamish yellow rajmash than in red rajmash, which prevents many stomach-related problems like diarrhoea, colic and indigestion. Creamish yellow colour-seeded rajmash has a thin seed coat and takes less time for cooking.
• The VC said this variety had become very popular among the farming community and efforts were under way to promote it further by way of branding and attractive packaging.