Daily Current Affairs Quiz: October 23,2021

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

Indian state of Karnataka is celebrating “Kittur Rani Chennamma Jayanthi” on October 23, 2021.

About:

• On the occasion, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai garlanded the statue of Queen in Hubbali in Dharwad district.
• A sum of 50 crore rupees will be sanctioned in the year 2021 for the Kittur Development Authority.

Kittur Chennamma

Kittur Chennamma was born on October 23, 1778. She belonged to the Lingayat community. She married Raja Mallasarja from the Desai family when she was 15. She was Indian Queen of Kittur which was a princely state in Karnataka. She led an armed rebellion in the year 1824, against the British East India Company (BEIC). She rebelled in confrontation of the doctrine of lapse in a bid to maintain Indian control over the region. In the fight, she defeated the British. However, she was dead in the imprisonment of second rebellion by BEIC. She was one of the first female rulers who rebel against British rule. She became a folk hero in Karnataka. She also became a symbol of independence movement in India.

About Kittur

Kittur is a taluka in Belagavi district of Karnataka. It was the part of Bailhongal taluka. On October 23, 2012 it was declared as an independent taluka by the Chief Minister of Karnataka. It is 177th Taluk of the State

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

India has handed over 34.9 km long cross-border rail link to Nepal government that connects Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal.

About:

The ceremony took place on October 22, 2021 in the presence of Indian ambassador to Nepal Vinay M. Kwatra and Nepal minister for physical Infrastructure & transport Renu Kumari Yadav.

About Jaynagar-Kurtha Section of rail link

The Jaynagar – Kurtha section of rail link is the part of 68.7 km Jaynagar – Bijalpura- Bardidas rail link. It was built under the grant assistance programme of Indian government. Under the grant assistance of India, gauge conversion of 34.9 km narrow gauge has been completed. The project has completed at a cost of Rs 619 crore. It has five stations in the section namely, Jayanagar, Khajuri, Inarwa, Baidehi and Kurtha near Janakpur in Nepal. The highest fare will likely be Rs 70 for general class and Rs 300 for AC for the entire journey. The train will run at 115 km per hour and the distance will be covered in 23 minutes.

Significance of the rail link

This operationalised cross-border rail link is likely to enhance trade and commerce activities. It will also enhance people to people linkage between both the countries.

Jainagar or Jaynagar

It is a town and a notified area in the Madhubani district of Bihar. As per 2011 census, Jainagar had a population of 1,77,556. Males account for 53% of the population while females account for 47%. The town has an average literacy rate of 58%.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Fourth general assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was held virtually between October 18 to October 21, 2021.

About:

• Assembly was presided by Union Minister of power, new & renewable energy, R.K. Singh and President of ISA Assembly.
• 108 countries participated in the ISA Assembly, including 34 observer & prospective countries and 74 Member Countries.
• It was also participated by 23 Partner Organizations and 33 Special Invitee Organisations.
• During the meeting countries discussed that how MSME clusters can replace diesel gensets with hydrogen.
• Discussion was focused on how ISA’s waste management programme will be significant for the growing volume of waste & toxic materials, high cost of waste treatment and lack of waste specific legislation.
• They also discussed an update on One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative. This concept of a single global grid for solar was proposed at First Assembly of the ISA in 2018.

Two New programme

During the assembly, countries launched two new programmes namely- Management of Solar PV panels & battery usage waste and Solar Hydrogen programme.

1. Solar Hydrogen Programme: Solar Hydrogen Programme was launched with the aim of enabling the use of solar electricity in order produce hydrogen at more affordable rate as compared to what is available currently that is USD 5 per KG. This aim will be achieved by reducing it to USD 2 per KG.

Partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies

The ISA also announced a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies in order to mobilize $1 trillion in global investments for solar energy among the member countries of ISA. The two organizations will work with World Resources Institute (WRI) in a bid to develop a “Solar Investment Action Agenda” as well as a “Solar Investment Roadmap”. Both will be launched at COP26.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

We Protect Global Alliance recently released its Global Threat Assessment report 2021.

About:

• The report notes that, Child sexual abuse is a chronically underfunded issue.
• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of child sexual exploitation and abuse online have increased.
• In the last two years, reporting of child sexual exploitation and online abuse cases has reached its highest level.
• According to “The Internet Watch Foundation”, there is an increase of 77% in child ‘self-generated’ sexual material in between 2019 to 2020. Such instances arose without any apparent external cause.
• As per report, currently, 37% children use tools to detect online grooming.

Online Grooming

Online grooming is the situation, in which someone befriends a child online, and builds up their trust in order to exploit them and cause them harm.

Recommendations made by report

Report suggests following measures to tackle the instances of sexual exploitation and abuse online:

1. Prioritise prevention activities against abuse online
2. Create safe online environments for children
3. Stakeholders, who are having a key role in protecting the children, should work together to improve the response.

We Protect Global Alliance

We Protect Global Alliance is a global movement of around 200 governments, private sector companies as well as civil society organisations who are working together to transform the global response to child sexual exploitation as well as abuse online.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

The 52nd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is going to held in Goa from November 20 to November 28, 2021 in which Hungarian filmmaker Istvan Szabo and Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese will be honoured with “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award”.

Istvan Szabo

• Istvan Szabo is the most notable Hungarian filmmakers. He has been known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since 1960s.
• He achieved his greatest international success with movie called Mephisto (1981). For this, he was awarded with an Oscar in the best foreign language film category.

Martin Scorsese

He is one of the greatest and most influential directors in film history. He established filmmaking history in nine films made with Robert De Niro, such as biographical sports drama Raging Bull (1980) and psychological thriller Taxi Driver (1976). He has also been known for his collaborations with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Scorsese directed Leonardo in five films namely, Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).

52nd International Film Festival of India

52^nd International film Festival of India is scheduled to organise from November 20 to November 28, 2021 in Goa. It will be held in hybrid form like its 51st edition. In the year 2021, to mark the birth centenary of Satyajit Rai, Directorate of Film Festivals will pay tribute to him by means of a ‘Special Retrospective’. An award named “Satyajit Ray Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cinema, will be given on the occasion to recognise auteur’s legacy.

Satyajit Ray

He was an Indian film director, documentary filmmaker, scriptwriter, essayist, author, illustrator, lyricist, magazine editor, calligrapher, and music composer. He is considered as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

According to a new report, Global agricultural productivity is not growing as fast as the demand for food, amid the impact of climate change.

• The report was released in conjunction with the World Food Prize Foundation’s annual conference.

Findings of the Report:

TFP Growth:

• Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is growing at an annual rate of 1.36% (2020-2019).
  • This is below the Global Agricultural Productivity Index that has set an annual target of 1.73% growth to sustainably meet the needs of consumers for food and bioenergy in 2050.

Difference between TFP and Yield

Yield:

• Yield measures output per unit of a single input, for example, the amount of crops harvested on a hectare of land. Yields can increase through productivity growth, but they can also increase by applying more inputs, called input intensification. Therefore, an increase in yield may or may not represent improvements in sustainability.

TFP:

• Total factor productivity captures the interaction between multiple agricultural inputs and outputs.
• TFP growth indicates that more farmers generate more crops, livestock, and aquaculture products with the same amount or less land, labor, fertilizer, feed, machinery, and livestock. As a result, TFP is a powerful metric for evaluating and monitoring the sustainability of agricultural systems.

Factors Responsible for Low TFP Growth:

• TFP growth is influenced by climate change, weather events, changes in fiscal policy, market conditions, investments in infrastructure and agricultural research and development.

Situation in Different Regions:

• Drier Regions (Africa and Latin America): Climate change has slowed productivity growth by as much as 34%.
• High-Income Countries (in North America and Europe): Modest TFP growth.
• Middle Income Countries (India, China, Brazil and erstwhile Soviet republics): Strong TFP growth rates.
• Low-Income Countries (Sub-Saharan Africa): TFP is contracting by an average of 0.31% per year.

Significance of Productivity Growth:

• Destruction of Forest Areas: 36% of the world’s land is used for agriculture. Forests and biodiverse areas will be destroyed for planting or pasture.
• Diet-Related Diseases: USD 2T in economic losses and 4 million deaths are attributed to diet-related diseases each year.
• Soil Degradation: 90% of the earth’s soils could be degraded by erosion by 2050.
• Methane Emissions: 37% of methane emissions from humans influenced activity come from cattle and other ruminants.
• Loss of Irrigation Water: 40% of irrigation water is lost due to inefficient irrigation.
  • Water sources will be depleted, making prime agricultural land unusable.

Suggestions:

• Invest in agricultural research and development
• Embrace science-and-information-based technologies
• Improve infrastructure for transportation, information and finance
• Cultivate partnerships for sustainable agriculture, economic growth and improved nutrition
• Expand and improve local, regional and global trade
• Reduce post-harvest loss and food waste

Indian Scenario

About:

• Strong TFP Growth:
  • India has seen strong TFP and output growth this century.
  • The most recent data shows an average annual TFP growth rate of 2.81% and output growth of 3.17% (2010–2019.)
• Impact of Climate Change:
  • By the end of the century, the mean summer temperature in India could increase by five degrees Celsius.
  • This rapidly rising temperature, combined with changes in rainfall patterns, could cut yields for India’s major food crops by 10% by 2035.
• Other Challenges:
  • In addition to the challenges for environmental sustainability, India’s small-scale farmers face significant obstacles to economic and social sustainability.
  • Of the 147 million landholdings in India, 100 million are less than two hectares in size. Nearly 90% of farmers farming less than two hectares participate in a government food ration program.