Daily Current Affairs Quiz: November 10,2021

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

• The Government of the United Kingdom (UK) has unveiled a £5 coin to commemorate the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. It is the first time Mahatma Gandhi has been commemorated on an official UK coin.
• The coin is available in a range of standards, including gold and silver, The special collectors’ coin was designed by Heena Glover.
• Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the UK, chose the final design for the coin. The coin features an image of a lotus, India’s national flower, alongside one of Gandhi’s most famous quotes – ‘My life is my message’.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

• Maharashtra-based, 28-year old mountaineer Priyanka Mohite was selected by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for the prestigious ‘Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award 2020’ for outstanding contribution in the field of land adventure.
• She scaled the world’s highest peak Mt Everest, Mt Lhotse and Mt.Makalu. She is the 1st Indian woman to climb Mt Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain peak in the world.
• Priyanka is one among the 7-recipients of the ‘2020 Tenzing Norgay National Award’ & will receive the award from President Ram Nath Kovind in during the 2021 National Sports Award.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar will be posthumously conferred the Basavashree award 2021 by the Bruhanmutt.
• Fondly called Appu, Puneeth, who was born in Chennai on March 17, 1975, was an actor, playback singer, television presenter, and producer. Puneeth, son of Matinee Idol Rajkumar, was a lead actor in 29 films and as a child and appeared in many films.
• The award honours people for services to society in their respective fields by following the principles of Lord Basaveshwar. It is presented by Chitradurga Bruhanmutt since 1997. The award includes Rs 5 lakh cash and a memento.
• PT Usha (2009), Malala Yousufzai (2014), P Sainath (2016), Dr K Kasturirangan (2020) are some to win the award in recent times.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

• Union Power Minister R K Singh virtually inaugurated the diversion of the Marusudar River of Pakal Dul Hydro Electric Project in Kishtwar, J&K.
• Pakal Dul HE Project (1,000 MW) is being constructed by Chenab Valley Power Projects Pvt Limited (CVPPPL) and Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation. Marusudar River is a major tributary of the Chenab River.
• Pakal Dul H.E. Project will help in fulfilling the target of 450 GW Renewable energy by 2030.
• Through this project, an investment of Rs 8212 crores is being made in this region. The investment will in turn provide direct & indirect employment opportunities. It will help in the overall development of local inhabitants

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

The annual Leonids Meteor Shower has started and will be active between November 6 and 30, 2021.

• The Meteor Shower will reach its peak on November 17.
• Peak time of the meteor shower comes when Planet Earth passes through densest part of the debris.
• On November 17, viewers from earth will witness bits of cosmic debris. It will appear like a display of fireworks in the sky.
• Which debris forms meteor shower?

The debris forming this meteor shower originates from small comet named “55P/Tempel-Tuttle” in the constellation Leo. It takes 33 years to orbit around the sun.

What are Leonids?

The Leonids are considered as a major shower, featuring the fastest meteors. The meteors usually travel at speeds of 71 km per second. The rates are usually as low as 15 meteors per hour. Leonids are also called as fireballs meteors, because of their bright colour and earth-gazer meteors because they streak close to the horizon. Friction between meteorite and molecule present in Earth’s atmosphere creates light. This is why a meteor is called shooting star.

Meteor storm

A Leonid shower turns into a meteor storm, every 33 years.  During Meteor storm, hundreds to thousands of meteors are observed every hour. A Leonid storm is called as meteor storm when around 1,000 meteors are visible per hour. Last meteor storm took place in 2002.

When are showers visible?

Such showers are visible on any cloudless night, when Moon is not that bright. In order to see showers, the viewing location should have no light pollution.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

World Economic Forum (WEP) published its report titled “Mission 2070: A Green New Deal for a Net-Zero India” to provide a roadmap for India’s energy transition.

About:

• The report was published in the backdrop of India’s target to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. This target was committed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow.
• At the summit, PM Modi also committed:

1. To bring non-fossil energy capacity of India to 500 GW by 2030,
2. To lower carbon intensity to 45 per cent by 2030
3. To reduce 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions out of total projected emission by 2030.
4. To fulfil 50 per cent of energy requirement using renewable waste by 2030.

Key Findings of the report

• Report highlights that, India’s transition towards a green economy could contribute about $1 trillion in economic impact by 2030. It will create more than 50 million jobs.
• The economic impact would increase to $15 trillion by 2070.
• Report notes that, India’s commitments are a critical foundation for achieving 1.5-degree Celsius global warming target.
• India is on the frontline of climate change. More of Indians are exposed to negative effects of climate change and extreme weather events as compared to other nationality.

Five Pillars contributing towards emission in India

Energy, industry, mobility, agriculture and infrastructure & cities are the five pillars in India, contributing over 90 per cent emissions. India will require to curb this emission, along with four cross-sectoral enablers including-

1. Accelerated approach to green technology innovation;
2. Integrated approach to carbon, capture, utilisation and storage
3. Overarching framework to catalyse green finance and
4. Plan for climate adaptation.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has released the Logistics Ease across Different States (LEADS) Report (Index) 2021.

About:

• The LEADS report is aimed at gauging the logistics performance of states and Union Territories (UT) and identifying areas where they can improve logistics performance.
  • It was launched in 2018.
• States are ranked based on quality and capacity of key infrastructure such as road, rail and warehousing as well as on operational ease of logistics including security of cargo, speed of terminal services and regulatory approvals.
• The report is structured along the three dimensions which collectively influence logistics ease- Infrastructure, Services, and Operating and Regulatory Environment which are further categorised into 17 parameters.

• Need:
  • India’s logistics costs account for 13-14% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to 7-8% in developed countries.
  • The government was aiming to bring down logistics costs by 5% over the next 5 years.
    • Estimated logistics costs in India are currently about 14%, which is quite high compared to 8-10% globally.
  • Efficient logistics was pivotal to bring ease and empowerment to businesses as well as citizens.
    • Logistics contributed immensely in our fight against Covid-19 by taking essential supplies including liquid Medical Oxygen throughout the country during the 2^nd
  • Ranking of States:
    • Top Performers:
      • Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab have emerged as the top performers in the LEADS 2021 index respectively.
        • This is the third year in a row that Gujarat remained on top of the rankings.
      • Delhi stands at the top rank among Other UTs.
    • North Eastern States and Himalayan Region:
      • Jammu and Kashmir is the top ranker followed by Sikkim and Meghalaya.

Suggestion:

• States should frame state level logistics policy & logistics master plan, use single-window clearance system for logistics, establishment of grievance redressal mechanism and enable skilling in logistics through State skilling infrastructure.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the inaugural Global Drug Policy Index was released by the Harm Reduction Consortium.

• It is a data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation which comes at a time when the Indian government is reviewing the provisions of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic substances act 1985.
• The Harm Reduction Consortium is a global consortium of networks aiming to challenge the global “war on drugs”, scale up access to harm reduction services, and advocate for increased resources for harm reduction.

About the Index: It is a unique tool that documents, measures and compares national-level drug policies.

• It provides each country with a score and ranking that shows how much their drug policies and their implementation align with theUnited Nations principles of human rights, health and
• The Index provides an essential accountability and evaluation mechanism in the field of drug policy.
• It evaluates the performance of 30 countries covering all regions of the world.

Major Findings:

• The global dominance of drug policies based on repression and punishment has led to low scores overall, with a median score of just 48/100, and the top-ranking country (Norway) only reaching 74/100.
• Standards and expectations from civil society experts on drug policy implementation vary from country to country.
• Inequality is deeply seated in global drug policies, with the top-ranking 5 countries scoring 3 times as much as the lowest-ranking 5 countries.
  • This is in part due to the colonial legacy of the ‘war on drugs’ approach.
• Drug policies disproportionately affect people marginalised on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.
• There are wide disparities between state policies and how they are implemented on the ground.
• With a few exceptions, the meaningful participation of civil society and affected communities in drug policy processes remains severely limited.

India’s Performance:

• Ranking:
  • India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries. It has an overall score of 46/100.
• Scores:
  • Using extreme sentencing and responses, it has a score of 63/100.
  • Health and harm reduction, 49/100.
  • Proportionality of criminal justice response, 38/100.
  • Availability and access of internationally controlled substances for the relief of pain and suffering, 33 /100.