Daily Current Affairs Quiz: September 25,2021

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

Central bank of China has declared all the Cryptocurrency transactions illegal.

About:
The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated in during 2020-2021 partly due to Chinese regulations that sought to prevent speculation and money laundering.

• According to People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities.
• Offenders will be “investigated for criminal liability” in accordance with the law.
• Chinese notice has banned all the related financial activities involving cryptocurrencies like transactions involving virtual currency derivatives, selling tokens, trading crypto, and illegal fundraising.

Why ban was put?

According to People’s Bank of China, trading of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies had become widespread and are disrupting economic & financial order. It also gave rise to money laundering, fraud, illegal fund-raising, pyramid schemes and other illegal & criminal activities. These disruptions were seriously endangering the safety of assets of the people. Considering these facts, China has declared all the Cryptocurrency transactions illegal.

Significance of the ban for China

Crypto crackdown has opened up gates for China to introduce its own digital currency. China’s own digital currency is already in the pipeline. It will allow the central government of China to monitor transactions.

Background

Crypto creation and trading have already been illegal in China since 2019.

About Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a binary data that have been designed to work as a medium of exchange. Here, individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger which is existing in the form of a computerized database. Strong cryptography are used to secure transaction records, control the creation of additional coins as well to verify the transfer of coin ownership.

ANSWER: C

WHY IN NEWS?

During the first leader-level meeting on energy, under the UN General Assembly, India has made commitments to increase the renewable energy installed capacity to 450 GW by 2030.

About:
India has also committed to develop and implement a National Hydrogen Energy Mission in order to boost the annual green hydrogen production to 1 MT by 2030.

• It also announced to start a Production Linked Incentive Scheme which will help in adding 10 GW solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2025.
• India’s commitments were the part of new multi-billion-dollar commitments that countries made in order to increase renewables and access to electricity & clean cooking technologies at the critical summit.
• The summit was aimed at boosting efforts towards reducing the ranks of about 800 million people living in energy poverty. It also seeks to set the world on a trajectory towards net-zero-emissions by 2050.

Production Capacity of Compressed Biogas

India also announced to establish a 15 MMT production capacity of compressed biogas by 2024 and achieve 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol by the year 2025-26. It seeks to enhance energy efficiency in agriculture, industry, buildings and transport sectors besides promoting energy-efficient appliances & equipment in a bid to reduce India’s emissions intensity of GDP by 33-35 per cent by 2030.

Commitments by other countries

About 35 countries including Small Island, Developing States and major emerging & industrialized economies have made new energy commitments in the form of Energy Compacts. They also announced partnership initiatives with the aim of providing and improving access to reliable electricity.

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed lenders to sell loans that are tagged as fraud to the asset reconstruction companies (ARCs).

About:
This permission by RBI potentially paves the way for focussed recovery efforts on loans worth trillions of rupees.

• As per RBI’s annual report, banks have reported frauds of about Rs 95 trillion in between Financial Year 2019 and Financial Year 2021.
• With RBI’s permission, now banks can sell stressed loans in default for more than 60 days or those classified as bad loan including the fraudulent loans. However, this permission is subject to some conditions.
• However, transfer of these exposures to an ARC does not absolve the lender from fixing staff accountability which is required under the extant instructions on frauds.
• Currently, lenders are not permitted to transfer fraudulent loans to asset turnaround companies. But the recent change in norms will allow ARCs to buy more assets as well as the National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) to partake in more asset resolutions. It will thus lead to a faster clean-up.

Significance of the new norm

The new norm has open significant opportunities for banks as well as asset reconstruction companies as it would allow them to probably buy these assets at a greater discount rather than regular bad loans.

How lenders sell stressed loans?

Lenders sell stressed loans to ARCs at a discount, in exchange for cash or a mix of cash & security receipts. These receipts are redeemable after ARC has recovered the specific loan. ARCs charge an asset management fee of 1.5-2% of the asset annually. Once an account is declared fraud, banks are required to set aside 100% of the outstanding loans.

ANSWER: B

WHY IN NEWS?

Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a $2.5 billion contract for the acquisition of 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft.

About:

• 56 Airbus C-295 aircraft will replace the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) legacy fleet of Avro HS-748 aircraft.
• As per contract, Airbus will deliver the first 16 aircraft in ‘fly-away’ condition. It will be delivered from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain.
• Other 40 aircraft will be manufactured and assembled in India by Tata Advanced Systems (TASL). Manufacturing will be done in India as part of an industrial partnership between Airbus and TASL.

Operator of C-295

Indian Air Force will become the 35th operator of C-295 aircraft worldwide.

Order of C-295 aircraft

Airbus had obtained orders for 278 of the aircraft. Out of which 200 are already in operation.

Avro replacement programme

Under the “Avro replacement programme”, a private sector firm will build an entire aircraft in India for the first time. It will be developing an entire industrial ecosystem ranging from manufacture, assembly, testing and qualification, delivery to the maintenance of aircraft’s lifecycle.

Specification of C-295 aircrafts

C-295 aircraft is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW-127 turbo-prop engines, which is a part of the PW-100 family. It can transport up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers along with battle loads. It can also ferry supplies to locations which are not accessible by the heavier transport aircraft of IAF. It can also be used for medical evacuation, using basic litters or mobile intensive care units (ICU) comprising of life support equipment.

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has started a historic initiative to set up first ever Tussar Silk Yarn Production Centre at Choudwar in Cuttack district in Odisha.

About:

• The silk yarn production centre was inaugurated on September 24, 2021 by Chairman of KVIC, Vinai Kumar Saxena.
• This centre will ensure local availability of Tussar Silk yarn, reduce the silk production cost as well as create local employment.
• Tussar silk is one of the finest varieties of Silk. It is distinguished by its coarseness and porous weave, giving it a rugged and rustic appearance.
• This centre was set up at a cost of Rs 75 lakh.
• It is capable of producing 200 KG of silk yarn of worth Rs 94 lakh annually.

Silk production in Odisha

Odisha has been known for exquisite Silk production, particularly the Tussar variety. This industry provides livelihood to thousands of tribal people, particularly women in the state. But the Silk weavers were totally dependent on states such as West Bengal, Karnataka and Jharkhand for the Silk yarn. This in turn, increased the cost of the Silk fabric here.

Significance of the Production centre in Odisha

Opening up of the Tussar Silk Yarn Production Centre in Odisha is of great significance because Silk comprises nearly 75% of the total Khadi fabric production in the State alone. This production centre will be creating direct employment for 50 artisans including 34 women. It will also provide livelihood support to more than 300 tribal farmers engaged in cocoon farming. This centre will also create indirect employment for weavers. Every kilo of raw silk produced will create employment for 11 artisans of which 6 are women

ANSWER: A

WHY IN NEWS?

World’s highest EV charging station was opened at Kaza town, which is located in of Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

About:

• The EV charging station was opened on September 23, 2021 in order to promote a sustainable environment.
• It is the world’s highest electric vehicle charging station located at 500 ft.
• Along with the EV charging station, two women drove electric vehicles from Manali to Kaza to promote a clean and green environment.
• All the products including chargers of this station are made in India.

India’s EV ecosystem

India is gaining good momentum in the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem. There is a good response for battery-operated small electric vehicles such as e-scooter, e-rickshaws, electric three-wheelers, e-carts, and e-bikes in India. Currently, road ministry is planning to run railway, metro, and long-run intercity buses on green hydrogen fuel. Battery electric vehicle as well as fuel cell vehicle technologies are complementary to each other. These technologies are all set to overtake fossil-run automotive by 2050 in India.

Kaza Town

Kaza Town is the sub-divisional headquarters of Spiti Valley. It is located in western Himalayas in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. Spiti is a high altitude or cold desert which is having close similarities to the neighbouring Tibet and Ladakh regions with respect to the terrain, climate and the Buddhist culture. Kaza is situated along the Spiti River, at the elevation of 3,650 metres. It is the largest township and commercial center in Spiti valley

ANSWER: D

WHY IN NEWS?

UNICEF released its new report titled “Fed to fail? The crisis of children’s diets in early life”.

About:

• According to the report, Children aged under 2 are not getting the food or nutrients they need to thrive and grow well. This is leading to irreversible developmental harm.
• Report warns that rising poverty, conflict, inequality, climate-related disasters, and health emergencies like COVID-19 pandemic, are contributing to the nutrition crisis among those children.
• Poor nutritional intake in the first two years of life can harm the rapidly growing bodies and brains of the children. It also impacts their schooling, job prospects and futures. But there has been little progress towards providing right kind of nutritious and safe foods for them.
• While conducting the analysis across 91 countries, the report finds that, half of children aged 6-23 months are getting minimum recommended number of meals in a day.
• One third of the children consume the minimum number of food groups they need to grow.

Impact of Covid-19

COVID-19 pandemic still continues to disrupt the essential services and is driving more families into poverty. According to the report, pandemic is also affecting how families feed their children. In several countries, families have been forced to reduce the purchases of nutritious food. Because of this, percentage of children consuming minimum recommended number of food groups reduced by a third in 2020 as compared to 2018.

Vulnerability of Children

Children aged under two are most vulnerable to all forms of malnutrition like wasting, stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity. As per UNICEF estimates, more than half of children aged under 5 are vulnerable to wasting, globally.