QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 24 March 2018

Solution: a.

• There’s a whole field of science, known as Seti (The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) dedicated to listening for signals from intelligent beings elsewhere in the Universe. But Hawking cautioned against trying to actively hail any alien civilisations that might be out there. In 2010, he told the Discovery Channel that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources and then move on.
• Fermi Paradox refers to the lack of any evidence of ET life forms despite the high probability of such existence.
• The Drake equation is an important tool that has been used to estimate the odds of ET life.

Source/Improvisation: ‘Fermi Paradox’, Conceptual (Op-Ed Page), 22^nd March The Hindu;

Hawking’s warnings;

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Solution: b.

Cities are becoming thirstier – a 50 percent increase in urban water demands is anticipated within the next 30 years. Rapid urban population growth, economic expansion, and competing demands are increasing thirst and tightening the availability of water in areas where water scarcity is already a reality.

In a bid to develop concrete solutions for a water scarce future, the World Bank launched the Water Scarce Cities Initiative (WSC), to bolster awareness of integrated and innovative approaches to managing water resources and service delivery in water scarce cities as the basis for water security and climate resilience.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/making-every-drop-count/article23311134.ece;

Solution: d.

The seeker technology, which determines the accuracy of a missile, is a closely guarded secret. Mastering it is a significant milestone in missile technology and would reduce import dependence. So far, the seeker had come from Russia.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/brahmos-successfully-tested-with-indigenous-seeker/article23319659.ece;

http://pib.nic.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1525953;

Solution: c.

• AB-NHPM will be a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• It will subsume two on-going centrally sponsored schemes -RashtriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana (RSBY) and the Senior Citizen Health Insurance Scheme (SCHIS).
• To ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly) there will be no cap on family size and age in the scheme.
• The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.
• All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy.
• A defined transport allowance per hospitalisation will also be paid to the beneficiary.

For complete information regarding AB-NHPM, click HERE;

For the differences between a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and a Central Sector Scheme, click HERE;

Solution: b.

The scheme is expected to increase the silk production from the level of 30348 MTs during 2016-17 to 38500 MTs by end of 2019-20 with the following interventions:

• Production of import substitute bivoltine silk to the tune of 8500 MTs per annum by 2020.
• Research & Development to improve productivity from the present level of 100 Kgs to 111 kgs of silk per ha. of plantation by the end of 2019-20.
• Large scale propagation of improved reeling machines under Make in India programme to produce quality silk to cater to the market demand.

The scheme has following improvement over the earlier scheme:

• The scheme aims to achieve self-sufficiency in silk production by 2022.
• For the first time, there is clear focus on improving production of highest grade quality of silk.
• The implementation strategy is clearly based on convergence at the State level with the schemes of other Ministers like MGNREGS of Rural Development, RKVY & PMKSY of Ministry of Agriculture, for maximising benefits to the sericulturists.
• The R&D projects will be done in cooperation with Ministries of Science and Technology, Agriculture and Human Resource Development.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=177829

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