Daily Current Affairs Quiz: January 19 2023

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: B

• World Economic Forum HAS launched Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA)to help unlock $3 trillion of financing needed each year to reach net-zero, reverse nature loss and restore biodiversity by 2050.
• Global initiative is to fund and grow new and existing public, private and philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs) and is supported by more than 45 partners (including India’s HCL Technologies).
• Philanthropic financing for climate mitigation has risen in recent years, but still represents less than 2% of total philanthropic giving.
• Advantage of philanthropic financing: It is nimble, more tolerant of risks and is driven by values and long-term outcomes rather than quarterly returns.

ANSWER: C

• Banks still investing heavily in fossil fuels despite net zero pledges – study
• According to a report, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) members are continuing to finance expansion of coal, oil and fossil gas industries.

About GFANZ

• GFANZ is world’s largest coalition of financial institutions committed to transitioning global economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emission.
• It aims to coordinate efforts across all sectors of the financial system to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy.
• It was launched in 2021 by UN Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance and COP26 presidency, in partnership with UNFCCC Race to Zero campaign.
• It has over 550 members from 50 jurisdictions.

ANSWER: C

• 44 lakh women entrepreneurs have fulfilled 14.76 lakh orders on GeM since 2019: Govt

• According to the data shared by the commerce ministry in a statement on Saturday, women MSE sellers have fulfilled over 14.76 lakh orders worth Rs 21,265 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) since 2019.
• Women entrepreneurs have a share of 74 per cent in the order value of products sold on GeM and 26 per cent in the order value of service categories.
• Moreover, the top five product categories with the maximum number of women entrepreneurs were desktop computers, smartphones, special purpose telephones (smartphone for integrated child development service – ICDS), hopper tipper dumper while the top five service categories were manpower outsourcing services – minimum wage, custom bid for services, human resource outsourcing service, monthly basis cab and taxi hiring services, and manpower outsourcing services – fixed remuneration, according to the government data.

About Womaniya 

• The “Womaniya” initiative was launched in 2019 and has sought to encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs and self-help groups (SHG) from the informal sector on the GeM portal and facilitate the sale of their products directly to various Government buyers, sans intermediaries.
• Generic product categories were created for a listing of handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, bamboo products, organic foods, spices, home décor, and office furnishings to facilitate ease-in product catalogue listing and procurement from women entrepreneurs.
• The Womaniya initiative is particularly important because nearly 80% of women-owned establishments are self-financed and more than 60% of 8 million units are owned and or led by women entrepreneurs from socially-challenged sections of the society.

• The Face of Womaniya on GeM-The initiative is represented by artist Anukta M Ghosh’s artwork “Magan”, an illustration of women empowerment and grace.
  • The Womaniya homepage will inform procurement officers in various government ministries, departments, and CPSEs about the drive to promote procurement of common use goods and services from women entrepreneurs.

About Government e Marketplace

• GeM is a 100% government-owned company set up under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry for procurement of common use goods and services by government ministries, departments, and CPSEs.
• GeM was set up in 2016 and has 731,431 product categories, with 180,862 registered sellers and 32,114 government buyers.
• Since inception, GeM has processed 1,171,761 orders worth Rs. 16,976 crores in gross merchandise value.

ANSWER: C

• Facing its worst economic crisis since independence, financing assurances from creditors is critical for Sri Lanka to get the $2.9 billion loan from IMF to put its economy on track.
• It is facing multiple challenges such as shortage of dollars, runaway inflation and a steep recession.
• India, Japan, and China are Sri Lanka’s three largest bilateral lenders.

About International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• IMF was established (in 1944) to provide emergency financing to countries hit by crises and help them to stabilize their economies.
• Unlike development banks, IMF does not lend for specific projects. It also provides precautionary financing to help prevent crises
• Crises can occur due to domestic or/and external factors and can take many different forms such as Balance of Payment issue, illiquid or insolvent financial institutions, excessive deficits and debt etc.
• Lending instruments of IMF include
  • General Resources Account on non-concessional terms (market-based interest rates).
  • Concessional financial support (currently at zero interest rates) through Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which is better tailored to needs of low-income countries.
  • Resilience and Sustainability Trust to help low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries.

ANSWER: A

• Greater Scaup– It is a rare species of duck (locally known as Sadangman) that was recently sighted in Loktak lake (Manipur) after a gap of over 90 years.
• Loktak lake is famous for Keibul Lamjao National Park and Sangai, the dancing deer.
• Greater Scaup is a migratory bird widely distributed across Arctic and Subarctic regions where it mainly nests in coastal tundra habitats.
• It belongs to the family of Anatidae.
• IUCN status: Least Concern.

ANSWER: A

• Foundation stone of a World Bank (WB)-funded fruit processing centre was laid at Behar Bithal village of Amb subdivision.
• A sum of Rs 1.65 crore will be spent on the centre under the HP Horticulture Development Project.
• The centre would process dragon fruit, ashwagandha, aloe vera, fig and stevia.

ANSWER: D

• More than 300 specially abled persons from 11 districts of the state are participating in the State Para Sports Tournament began at the sports complex in Anu here.
• The meet was inaugurated by local MLA Ashish Sharma. He donated Rs 20,000 to the organisers of the event and said he would raise the issue of promotion of para sports with the state government.

ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: C

ANSWER: C