Daily Current Affairs Quiz: October 16,2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Recently, the Climate Resilience Information System and Planning (CRISP-M) tool for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) was launched.

CRISP-M Tool:

• It will help embed climate information in the Geographic Information System (GIS) based planning and implementation of MGNREGS.
  • GIS is a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information.
• The implementation of CRISP-M will open up new possibilities for rural communities to deal with the issues of climate change.
• This tool will be used in seven states: Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Rajasthan.

MGNREG Scheme:

• About: It is one of the largest work guarantee programmes in the world.
• Launch:
  • It was launched on 2^ndFebruary 2006.
  • The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed on 23^rdAugust 2005.

Objective:

• To guarantee 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work.

Legal Right to Work:

• Unlike earlier employment guarantee schemes, the act aims at addressing the causes of chronic poverty through a rights-based framework.
• At least one-third of beneficiaries have to be women.
• Wages must be paid according to the statutory minimum wages specified for agricultural labourers in the state under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (now subsumed under Code on Wages, 2019).

Demand-Driven Scheme:

• The most important part of MGNREGA’s design is its legally-backed guarantee for any rural adult to get work within 15 days of demanding it, failing which an ‘unemployment allowance’ must be given.
• This demand-driven scheme enables the self-selection of workers.

Decentralised Planning:

• There is an emphasis on strengthening the process of decentralisation by giving a significant role to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in planning and implementing these works.
• The act mandates Gram sabhas to recommend the works that are to be undertaken and at least 50% of the works must be executed by them.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic related situation and concerns regarding increasing pollution due to firecrackers during festive season, many states have imposed certain rules on fireworks in the year 2021.

About:

• States have imposed either a complete or partial ban on firecracker sales.
• In these states, government has permitted the sale of ‘green crackers’ instead.

What are green crackers?

‘Green crackers’ are low-emission fireworks that Supreme Court in 2017 had permitted for celebrations to a moderate level during festivals & relaxed the ‘complete ban’ on fireworks. Green crackers were researched and developed by CSIR-NEERI (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute). These crackers are produced with less harmful raw materials and are they suppresses the dust when they are burnt, reducing the emissions.

Do they contain harmful chemicals?

Green Crackers do not comprise of harmful chemicals like arsenic, lithium, barium, and lead. They release water vapour which does not allow the dust to rise. These crackers are believed to cause 30 per cent less particulate matter pollution as compared to traditional crackers.

Scenario in different states

• Rajasthan government banned the sale and use of crackers in the state. Only green crackers would be allowed and there will be restricted timing for bursting crackers during festive season.
• Delhi Pollution Control Committee has completely banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi till January 1, 2022.
• Tamil Nadu urged the governments in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Odisha to seriously consider the sale of green crackers in their territories.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

China launched a three-person crew for a mission of six-month on board the Shenzhou-13 spaceship to its space station on October 16, 2021.

About:

• The crew is planned to set up new record for the time spent in space by Chinese astronauts as China moves for completing the orbiting structure.
• Shenzhou-13 spaceship is carrying three astronauts.
• It was launched by a Long March-2F rocket.
• The spacecraft is expected to complete docking with “Tianhe module” within six hours.
• The mission will continue the work of first three-person crew that already spent 90 days on board.
• First three-person crew conducted two spacewalks and deployed 10-metre (33-foot) mechanical arm before they returned to Earth in mid-September, 2021.

About new three-member crew

New three-member crew comprise of two veterans of space travel namely, pilot Zhai Zhigang aged 55, the only woman on mission- Wang Yaping aged 41 and Ye Guangfu aged 41, who is making his first trip to space.

Activities of crew

The scheduled activities of the crew include:

1. Up to three spacewalks in order to install equipment for expanding station
2. To assessing living conditions in the module and
3. To conduct experiments in space medicine & other fields.

Military Run Space Programme

The military-run space programme of China plans to send multiple crews on the station in next two years in order to make it fully functional. Shenzhou-13 is the fifth mission to the structure, including the missions without crews to deliver supplies. After addition of two more modules named Mengtian and Wentian, Chinese space station will weigh around 66 tonnes.

Future modules

China is due to launch two additional modules before the end of 2020 during the stay of the Shenzhou-14 crew.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

World Sight Day is observed on the second Thursday in months of October. In the year 2021, the day was observed on October 14.

About:

• This day is a global event which seeks to draw attention on blindness and vision impairment.
• It was originally started in the year 2000 by the Sight First Campaign of Lions Club International Foundation.
• It is considered as most important advocacy and communication day in the eye health calendar.
• It is observed with the aim of bringing global attention to impairment and blindness.

Theme of the day

The theme of World Sight Day 2021 is ‘Love Your Eyes’.

Background of the day

The first World Sight Day was observed by the Lions Clubs International partnered with blindness presentation organizations in the year 1998. The event was later integrated into VISION 2020, which is a global initiative, coordinated by IAPB (International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness) Observance of the day is a joint program between WHO and the IAPB. It comprises of professional association, non-government organizations and eye-care institutions & corporations.

Significance of the day

• This day is significant because, there are more than billion people across the globe who cannot see properly as they do not have access to glasses. Out of them, one billion people are suffering with preventable vision impairment.
• Poor or lost eyesight leave long-lasting effects on every aspect of life, such as on daily personal activities, school & work, daily routine and interacting with the community.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Prerna Sthal was inaugurated on October 15, 2021 at Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam.

About:

• Prerna Sthal was inaugurated to commemorate 90^th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam as well as to commemorate ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
• On the occasion, a statue of Dr Kalam was also unveiled by director general (Naval Systems & Materials) of DRDO, Dr Samir V Kamat.
• NSTL products like Varunastra, Torpedo Advanced Light (TAL) and Maareech decoy are also being displayed on the occasion at NSTL.

About NSTL

NSTL is the premier naval research laboratory working under the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). It is located in Visakhapatnam. The main function of NSTL is the research & development of underwater weapons & associated systems. It is organized under the Directorate of Naval R&D of DRDO. Current director of NSTL is Dr Y. Sreenivas Rao.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam

He was an Indian aerospace scientist and also served as 11th president of India from 2002 to 2007. He was born and brought up in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. He studied physics and aerospace engineering. He dedicated his four years as a scientist and science administrator, at the DRDO and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He was involved in the military missile development efforts and civilian space programme in India.  This, he is known as Missile Man of India. He also played significant organisational, technical, and political role the Pokhran-II nuclear tests by India in 1998.