QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz,15 June 2018

Solution: a.

About IMBIE: The ice sheet mass balance inter-comparison exercise (IMBIE) was established in 2011 as a community effort to reconcile satellite measurements of ice sheet mass balance. IMBIE is a collaboration between scientists supported by the European Space Agency (ESA)  and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and contributes to assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). IMBIE has led to improved confidence in the measurement of ice sheet mass balance and the associated global sea-level contribution.

BBC; TH;

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Solution: d.

Improvisation: BBC; TH;

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Solution: b.

ICICI Prudential managed Bharat-22 ETF Further Fund Offer (FFO) will be open for subscription on June 19. The FFO is part of the government’s overall disinvestment program, announced earlier by the Ministry of Finance, using the ETF route. The FFO is open for all categories of investors, including retail investors, retirement funds and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) among others, with all investors getting an upfront discount of 2.5%.

The strength of this ETF lies in the specially created Index S&P BSE BHARAT-22 INDEX. This Index is a unique blend of shares of key CPSEs,Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and also the Government owned shares in blue chip private companies like Larsen & Tubro (L&T), Axis Bank and ITC. The shares of the Government companies represent 6 core sectors of the economy – Finance, Industry, Energy, Utilities, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Basic Materials. This combination makes the Index broad-based and diversified. The Sector and Stock exposure limits help in risk management and reduction of concentration, providing stability to the Index. The strength of the Index has been demonstrated in its performance from the time of its launch in August 2017 wherein it has out-performed the NIFTY-50 and Sensex.

TH;

From 2017: PIB;

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Solution: b.

The two major causes of global sea level rise are thermal expansion caused by warming of the ocean (since water expands as it warms) and increased melting of land-based ice, such as glaciers and ice sheets. The oceans are absorbing more than 90 percent of the increased atmospheric heat associated with emissions from human activity.

Sea level rise at specific locations may be more or less than the global average due to local factors such as land subsidence from natural processes and withdrawal of groundwater and fossil fuels, changes in regional ocean currents, and whether the land is still rebounding from the compressive weight of Ice Age glaciers. In urban settings, rising seas threaten infrastructure necessary for local jobs and regional industries. Roads, bridges, subways, water supplies, oil and gas wells, power plants, sewage treatment plants, landfills—virtually all human infrastructure—is at risk from sea level rise.

NOAA;

Improvisation: BBC; TH;

Solution: c.

So far, India has not been able to bargain better rates from the Gulf-based producers of the oil cartel, OPEC. Instead of getting a discount for bulk purchases, West Asian producers such as Saudi Arabia, charge a so-called ‘Asian Premium’ for shipments to Asian buyers, including India and Japan, as opposed to Europe.

TH;

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Solution: c.

Put simply, net metering is a utility billing mechanism that offers a credit to residential and business customers who are making excess electricity with their solar panel systems and sending it back to the grid.

When you have a rooftop solar system, it can often generate more electricity than you consume during daylight hours. With net metering, the homeowner is only billed for the “net” energy used each month, that is, the difference between the energy produced by the solar power system and the energy consumed by the house over the monthly billing period. Net metering can save homeowners money on their utility bills every year.

Since roof-top solar systems generate electricity near the point where they will be used, this reduces strain on the grid’s distribution and transmission infrastructure and minimizes energy loss from sending voltage many miles from the nearest power plants.

As of today, only a few (Indian) States have such policies, discouraging users elsewhere.

SunPower;

TH;

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