Daily Current Affairs Quiz: March 06, 2023

 ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: D

 ANSWER: B

• Recently the Government of India and World Bank signed two complimentary loans worth $1 billion to support and enhance India’s healthcare infrastructure.
• The World Bank is lending two complementary loans of $500 million to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure.
  • The $500-million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Program (PHSPP) will support efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to detect and report epidemics of concern.
  • Another $500 million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Program (EHSDP) will support government’s efforts to strengthen service delivery through a redesigned primary healthcare model.
• Both these loans utilise the Program-for-Results financing instrument that focuses on achievement of results rather than inputs.
• Through these loans, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and health service delivery in seven States of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

 ANSWER: B

• World Hearing Day is celebrated on the 3rd of March each year to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world.
• The theme of this year is “Ear and hearing care for all”, determined by World Health Organisation.
• Normal hearing range is from 0 dBHL (Decibel Hearing Level), which is the audiometric zero, to 20 dBHL.
• A person who is not able to hear as well as someone with normal hearing – hearing thresholds of 20 dB or better in both ears is said to have hearing loss.
• Hard of hearing refers to people with hearing loss ranging from mild to severe.
• Deaf people mostly have profound hearing loss, which- implies very little or no hearing.

 ANSWER: A

• Forest Certification offers a multi-layer audit system that seeks to authenticate the origin, legality, and sustainability of forest-based products such as timber, furniture, handicraft, paper and pulp, rubber, and many more.
• The certification is done to avoid consumption of any product that might be the result of deforestation or illegal logging.
• There are two major international standards:
  • One developed by Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) ;
  • Other by Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certifications (PEFC).
  • Both operate in India, but the Government is also working on its own national standards.
  • They are not involved in the evaluation and auditing of the processes; it is done by certification bodies authorised by FSC or PEFC.
• Two main types of certification:
  • Forest management and
  • Chain of Custody- CoC certification is meant to guarantee the traceability of a forest product like timber throughout the supply chain from origin to market.
• Currently, forests in only one state in India i.e. Uttar Pradesh are certified.

 ANSWER: A

• Recently, oldest human genome (23000 year old) was discovered in Spain.
• Genome is the entire set of DNA instructions found in a cell.
• In humans, genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes located in the cell’s nucleus, as well as a small chromosome in the cell’s mitochondria.
• A genome contains all the information needed for an individual to develop and function.

 ANSWER: B

• The unique and flagship initiative “Dhara: Ode to Indian Knowledge Systems”, taken up under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Ministry of Culture has completed one year in February 2023.
• The Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) Division of the Ministry of Education located at AICTE, New Delhi is the key execution partner for Dhara events.
• During its yearlong activities, it has been successful in creating public awareness and stakeholder participation and helped to devise a framework for the promotion and revival of multiple domains of IKS.
• The programme was conceptualized as a series of lectures and discussions dedicated to specific areas of inquiry highlighting India’s civilizational achievements.

ANSWER: C

• Ales Bialiatski, a leading defender of human rights in Belarus and a candidate for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, was given a 10-year prison term in Minsk, the Capital of Belarus.
• Ales Bialiatski and three other key members of the Viasna human rights organisation he created were found guilty of funding rallies against the government.

ANSWER: B

• Former Chief Justice of India A.M. Ahmadi has passed away at the age of 90.
• Ahmadi was the chief justice from 1994 to 1997.
• His judicial career as a City Civil and Session Court judge in Ahmedabad, he was the only Chief Justice of India who started at the very lowest rank to rise to the highest position of the Indian judiciary.

ANSWER: C

• World Obesity Day is observed on March 4 every year to promote practical solutions and help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight while undertaking proper treatment.
• The theme for World Obesity Day 2023 is: ‘Changing Perspectives: Let’s Talk About Obesity’.

ANSWER: C

• Huge blooms of phytoplankton — microscopic algae floating on the ocean’s surface — have become larger and more frequent along the world’s coastlines.
• Marine animals such as fish and whales eat phytoplankton.
• It can also prove toxic in large amounts, starving the ocean of oxygen and leading to “dead zones” that wreak chaos on the food chain and fisheries.
• Reasons behind the boom
  • Warmer sea surface temperatures.
  • Changes in climate can also mess with ocean circulation, affecting mixing between ocean layers and how nutrients move around the ocean.
  • Human development also plays a role. Fertilizer runoff from agriculture can spike nutrient loads in the ocean, leading to blooms.

ANSWER: A

• Delhi High Court has asked central government to appoint chairperson and other members of the appellate authority provided under PMLA within eight weeks.
• Act was enacted in 2002 in response to India’s global commitment (including Vienna Convention) to combat money laundering.
• Enforcement Directorate enforces the PMLA.

 ANSWER: B

• 286 primary and middle schools with zero enrolment of students have been de-notified, and the teaching and non-teaching staff in these facilities would be shifted to schools facing a staff crunch.
• About 3,000 schools in the state are running with one teacher, while 455 schools are running (with teachers) on deputation basis while 12,000 posts of teachers are vacant.
• There are 15,313 government-run schools in the state.

 ANSWER: C

• The state Cabinet decided to scrap the Himachal Pradesh Loktantra Prahri Samman scheme under which Himachal residents, who were jailed during Emergency in 1975, were provided a monthly pension.
• Those who when went to jail under the two laws during Emergency for 15 days or less were granted an honorarium of Rs 12,000 per month while those, who were jailed for more than 15 days, were given an honorarium of Rs 20,000 per month.