Daily Current Affairs Quiz: September 12, 2023

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

• The country’s top annual science award, the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, was announced after a gap of two years. This year, 12 scientists were selected for the award in seven different scientific categories.

WINNERS:

ABOUT SHANTI SWARUP BHATNAGAR AWARDS

• The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology is a prestigious award that recognizes the outstanding achievements of young Indian scientists and engineers.
• The award is named after Dr. (Sir) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, the Founder-Director of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India’s largest research and development organization.
• It aims to honour the research and developmental work of Indian citizens in various fields of science and technology that have the potential for social and economic benefits.
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award are awarded in seven scientific disciplines, including physics, biology, engineering, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, and earth sciences.
• It is open to any Indian citizen under the age of 45 years who is engaged in research in India. Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) working in India are also eligible.
• A member of the CSIR governing body, a Vice-Chancellor of a university or an institute of national importance, a dean of a science faculty or a previous Bhatnagar Awardee can propose names of candidates for the award.
• The work being considered for the award should have been done in India during the five years preceding the year of the award.
• The award consists of a citation, a plaque, and a cash prize of 5 lakhs. In addition, the awardees receive a monthly honorarium of Rs. 15,000 until they reach the age of 65.

ANSWER: A

• Under the National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), the Ministry of Education is pushing States to open Vidya Samiksha Kendras (VSKs).

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE:

• Vidya Samiksha Kendras (VSKs) are an open-source platform run on C-Qube software to collect data from all schemes run by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
• VSK control rooms will collect data to track key performance indicators as well as analyse data collated from govt schemes ‘using AI & machine-learning’.
• The operations of VSK centres are managed by an open-source platform run on C-Qube software.
• Advisory role – ‘EkStep Foundation’, a non-profit organisation is on board in an advisory role for implementing the VSK project.
• The Centre has allocated funds ranging from 2 to Rs.5 crore to each State for adopting and establishing VSK.
• The repository will include regularly updated data from
  • PM-POSHAN mid-day meal programmes;
  • Teacher training data from National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement portal;
  • Textbook content from Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA);
  • School dropout and attendance-related data on Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+);
  • Students’ learning outcomes from National Achievement Survey;
  • Performance Grading Index which evaluates school education system at the State/U.T. level.
• Function- Multiple platforms at Centre, State and district levels can communicate with each other using requests and responses to seamlessly integrate data at all levels on the platforms.
• This is in line with the National Education Policy, 2020 talking about developing operational standards for making data open source.

NATIONAL DIGITAL EDUCATION ARCHITECTURE (NDEAR):

• NDEAR is an architectural blueprint for the educational ecosystem in the country that defines a set of principles, standards and specifications, guidelines and policies to strengthen the digital infrastructure for education.
• It is under the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
• Under this, the government will not be building technology solutions for the education sector but will act as an enabler, offering a framework wherein technology can be developed and built by anyone.
• It promotes a ‘digital first’ approach, supporting teaching and learning activities, and facilitating educational planning as well as governance and administrative activities.

ANSWER: A

• A day-long conference on “Transnational Grid Interconnections for One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG)” was recently held in New Delhi.
• The idea for the OSOWOG initiative was put forth by the Prime Minister of India, at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018.
• The initiative aims at connecting energy supply across borders.
• It aims to connect different regional grids through a common grid that will be used to transfer renewable energy power and, thus, realise the potential of renewable energy sources, especially solar energy.
• The project is being spearheaded by the governments of India and the UK in partnership with the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the World Bank Group.

WHEN WILL IT BE COMPLETED?

• The grid is expected to be set up over the next few years by the ISA. Once operational, it will transport solar power to different countries.

INTERNATIONAL SOLAR ALLIANCE (ISA):

• The ISA is an intergovernmental organisation that was launched in 2015 by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France at the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris.

ANSWER: B

• A Cheriyal scroll painting from Telangana was among the gifts that first ladies or spouses of heads of state from around the world, who gathered for the G20 Summit, received during their visit to the Indian Agricultural Research (IARI) at Pusa campus.

ABOUT THE PAINTING:

• Cheriyal Scroll Painting is a popular and modified version of Nakashi art, considered highly rich in the local motifs.
• This painting also received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in the year
• The name Cheriyal painting is derived from the Cheriyal village, which is located about 90 km from Hyderabad, in the Warangal district of Telangana.
• Cheriyal paintings essentially consists of scrolls that depict stories from the epics, puranas, and folktales, and was once an integral part of the religious, social, and cultural lives of the villages in Telangana.
• The stories painted on scrolls were mainly from the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Markandeya purana, Garuda purana, and various stories from the Krishna leela series, with local heroes also being depicted.
• This traditional art form is considered an inseparable part of the profession comprising the story-telling and balladeer community called Kaki Padagollu.
• They have displayed these scrolls which are also accompanied by music and dance. The scrolls would be flowing like a film roll, which is usually nearly three feet in width and about 40 to 45 feet in length, based on the story.

ANSWER: B

• On the eve of the G20 leadership summit, the Ministry of Culture launched a portal of the mega exhibition—‘Bharat: The Mother of Democracy’.
• “Bharat: The Mother of Democracy” Portal showcases the content on the history of democracy in India, showcasing 7,000 years of democratic ethos starting from the Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation to 2019.
• It is available in 16 languages, including German, French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, and Russian besides English and Hindi.
• The portal is divided into five sections and 22 sub-sections starting from Sindhu-Saraswati Civilisation (6000-2000BCE), Mahajanapada and Gantantra (7-8 BCE), Vijaynagar Empire (14-16 century), and Mughal emperor Akbar reign (1556-1605) to Constitution of India (1947) and Elections in Modern India (1952 onwards).

ANSWER: B

• The work on the construction of Renuka Dam project is likely to begin shortly. The state government, in a meeting with Secretary Water Resources, has sought the final design of the project and release of funds from the Centre to kick-start work on the ground.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the project in December, 2021.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• Renuka dam project is water storage project on Giri River in Sirmaur district of the state.
• The beneficiary states of the project are Delhi, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Himachal.
• The project will generate 40 MW power during peak flow.
• As per the agreement, 90 per cent of the of the cost of irrigation or drinking water component will be provided by the Central government, while the remaining 10 per cent will be borne by the beneficiary states.

ANSWER: B

• The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to provide rented accommodation to disaster-hit people living in relief camps and pay the rent for these accommodations.
• Over 13,000 houses have been damaged fully or partially in the rain-related incidents since July.
• The CM said Rs 10 crore would be released for the repair of roads in the Shimla municipal areas.