Daily Current Affairs Quiz: July 05, 2022

ANSWER: C

• Ashadhi Bij is the second day of Shukla paksha of Aashaadha month, of Hindu calendar, which is associated with the beginning of rains in the Kutch region.
• Kutchi community of Gujarat celebrate their new year on this day.
• The Kutchi New Year is mostly a traditional affair and is observed in homes. Relatives, friends and neighbours join in the festival.
• Many organizations are also giving importance to the day and organize satsangs, musical competitions and other cultural programs.
• Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi and other regional deities are worshipped on the day.

ANSWER: C

• The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is re­engaging itself to develop the edible oil co­operatives and fruit and vegetable (F&V) sector in the country on the lines of dairy cooperative model.
• NDDB, which implemented the Operation Flood programme that helped the country achieve self-sufficiency in milk production, now expects to play a key role in boosting domestic oilseeds production such as sunflower and groundnuts, besides providing a forward linkage to co­operatives and the farmer producer companies focussed on F&V production.
• Fodder seeds NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah said the board’s expertise in propagating the fodder seeds will be used to enhance the production of sunflower seeds.
• As a pilot, NDDB recently partnered with the Karnataka Oilseeds Federation and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, to increase the production of hybrid sunflower seeds.
• NDDB will also look at replicating the initiative in other States like Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana
• In the 1980s, NDDB was instrumental in setting up edible oil co­operatives across the country.

ANSWER: B

• India’s largest floating Solar Power Project is now fully operational. NTPC declared Commercial Operation of the final part capacity of 20 MW out of 100 MW Ramagundam Floating Solar PV Project at Ramagundam, Telangana.
• With the operationalisation of 100-MW Solar PV Project at Ramagundam, total commercial operation of Floating Solar Capacity in Southern Region rose to 217 MW.
• Earlier, NTPC declared Commercial operation of 92 MW Floating Solar at Kayamkulam (Kerala) and 25 MW Floating Solar at Simhadri (Andhra Pradesh).
• The 100-MW Floating Solar project at Ramagundam is endowed with advanced technology as well as environment friendly features.
• The project spreads over 500 acres of its reservoir. Divided into 40 blocks, each having 2.5 MW.  Each block consists of one floating platform and an array of 11,200 solar modules.
• The floating platform consists of one Inverter, Transformer, and a HT breaker. The solar modules are placed on floaters manufactured with HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) material.
• The entire floating system is being anchored through special HMPE (High Modulus Polyethylene) rope to the dead weights placed in the balancing reservoir bed. The power is being evacuated up to the existing switch yard through 33KV underground cables.
• This project is unique in the sense that all the electrical equipment including inverter, transformer, HT panel and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) are also on floating ferro cement platforms. The anchoring of this system is bottom anchoring through dead weight concrete blocks.
• The presence of floating solar panels, the evaporation rate from water bodies is reduced, thus helping in water conservation. Approximately 32.5 lakh cubic meters per year water evaporation can be avoided. The water body underneath the solar modules helps in maintaining their ambient temperature, thereby improving their efficiency and generation.
• Similarly, while coal consumption of 1,65,000 Tons can be avoided per year; Co2 emission of 2,10,000 tons per year can be avoided.

ANSWER: D

• The RBI studied the debt-GSDP ratio of 10 states that prima facie appears to be in trouble.
• Besides Punjab, it identified four other states—Bihar, Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal—that are also highly stressed.
• Rajasthan, Kerala and West Bengal are projected to exceed the debt-GSDP ratio of 35 per cent by 2026-27, while Punjab is expected to cross 45 per cent.
• Five other states in trouble are Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.
• These 10 states account for around half of the total expenditure by all state governments in India.
• According to the RBI, the own tax revenue of Punjab, MP and Kerala has been declining over time.
• Among the 10 states, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Punjab exceeded both debt and fiscal deficit targets for 2020-21 set by the 15th Finance Commission.
• Kerala, Jharkhand and West Bengal exceeded the debt target, while Madhya Pradesh overshot the fiscal deficit target. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh met both criteria.
• Punjab would find it difficult to source loans after the RBI identified its debt position as the worst in the country.

ANSWER: B

• The theme for Digital India Week 2022 was Catalyzing New India’s Techade.

PM launched various initiatives:

• Digital India Bhashini’ will enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help the creation of content in Indian languages.
• Digital India GENESIS’ (Gen-next Support for Innovative Startups) – a National Deep-tech Startup Platform, to discover, support, grow and make successful startups in Tier-II and Tier-III cities of India.
• global’ – a global repository of key projects implemented under India Stack like Aadhaar, UPI, Digilocker, Cowin Vaccination Platform, Government e-Marketplace (GeM), DIKSHA Platform and Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission
• MyScheme’ – a service discovery platform facilitating access to Government Schemes. It aims to offer a one-stop search and discovery portal where users can find schemes that they are eligible for.
• Meri Pehchaan’- National Single Sign on for One Citizen Login. National Single Sign-On (NSSO) is a user authentication service in which a single set of credentials provide access to multiple online applications or services.

KEY POINTS

• PM announces the first cohort of 30 Institutions to be supported under Chips to Startup Programme.
• India is working on the target of taking electronics manufacturing to more than $ 300 billion in the next three-four years.
• India is guiding the world in the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0.
• Digital India has brought the government to the doorsteps and phones of the citizens.
• India’s FinTech endeavour is truly a solution by the people, of the people and for the people.
• India wants to become a chip maker from a chip taker.

ANSWER: C

KEY POINTS:

• Centre of Excellence on Satellite & Unmanned Remote Vehicle Initiative (CoE-SURVEI) has developed an Artificial Intelligence-based software which can automatically detect change on ground, including unauthorised constructions and encroachments in a time series using Satellite Imagery.
• The CoE-SURVEI, established by Directorate General Defence Estates at National Institute of Defence Estates Management, leverages latest technologies in survey viz. satellite imagery, drone imagery and geo-spatial tools for effective land management and urban planning.
• This Change Detection Software has been developed by CoE-SURVEI in collaboration with knowledge partner Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Visakhapatnam.
• The CoE-SURVEI has developed tools for vacant land analysis and 3D imagery analysis of hill cantonments for land management.
• By leveraging technology, it is trying to ensure optimum use of defence land through Geographic Information System (GIS)-based land management systems.

ANSWER: C

• The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans) had received a grant of Rs 10 crore in April from the Ministry of Ayush for integrative medicine research involving Ayurveda and yoga.
• They are looking for suitable professionals in the field to start their research in the coming months.
• Dr Shivarama Varambally of the Department of Integrative Medicine said the grant is for a period of three to five years.
• The research on integrated benefits of yoga and Ayurveda would be beneficial for treating disorders like schizophrenia, clinical depression, Alzheimer’s disease dementia, etc.
• They have a plan to create awareness among people to know about an integrative medicine department and its research work.
• Nimhans ex-director and now emeritus professor in Delhi, Dr BN Gangadhar, explained they have done a lot of work in the past for Yoga helping in healing mild and cognitive impairments.
• He added that multiple inputs were going on since two to three years and new courses were also added to generate more human resources.

ANSWER: C

• The avalanche took place on the Marmolada, which at more than 3,300 metres is the highest peak in the Dolomites, a range in the eastern Italian Alps straddling the regions of Trento and Veneto.
• Rising average temperatures have caused the Marmolada glacier, like many others around the world, to shrink steadily over recent decades.
• According to the polar sciences institute of the National Research Council (CNR), For weeks the temperatures at high altitudes in the Alps have been well above normal values, while this past winter there has been little snow, which hardly protects the glacial basins anymore.

ANSWER: A

• Paragpur, the first heritage village of the Himachal Pradesh located in the foothills of the Dhauladhars in the Kangra valley near Dehra Gopipur, 70 km from Palampur.
• The village got the heritage village tag 25 years ago but no development has taken place there.
• This village reflects the essence of an earlier era. Mature buildings, fine work, remarkable architecture and old shops are the core of the heritage zone. But with the passage of time, some of the historic buildings are decaying.
• In 1997, the state government had promised to come out with a master plan for the development of the village. A high-level committee was also constituted to submit its report to the government so that it could be developed as a major tourist destination, particularly for foreigners.
• However, no headway was made and the condition of the village turned from bad to worse. Most streets are in poor shape, water is overflowing on roads, there is no arrangement to clean the roads and streets regularly.
• Paragpur is also a shooting spot for many Punjabi and Hindi movies.
• This heritage zone can give a boost to tourism if the government takes care of historic monuments which are on the verge of collapse
• Villagers say that the government should set up a development board for the upkeep of the village. The board should have members from the area and also from the Sood community, whose ancestors are said to have built this village.

ANSWER: A

• Dr SS Guleria took oath as Information Commissioner of the State Information Commission.
• The oath ceremony took place at Raj Bhawan in the presence of Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.
• Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh conducted the proceedings.
• DGP Sanjay Kundu, Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of various commissions and boards and senior government officers were present on the occasion.