QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 30 January 2020

Solution: b)

A novel virus detected in Australian mosquitoes has been provisionally named the Yada Yada virus (YYV).

Yada Yada is an alphavirus, a group of viruses that the researchers described as “small, single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses (that) include species important to human and animal health, such as Chikungunya virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus… (and which) are transmitted primarily by mosquitoes and (are) pathogenic in their vertebrate hosts”. Unlike some other alphaviruses, Yada Yada does not pose a threat to human beings.

Source

Solution: b)

India has added 10 more wetlands to sites protected by the Ramsar Convention.

The 10 new ones are Nandur Madhameshwar, a first for Maharashtra; Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve and Nangal in Punjab; and Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and Sarsai Nawar in Uttar Pradesh. The other Ramsar sites are in Rajasthan, Kerala, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Tripura.

With this, a total of 37 sites in the country have been recognised under the international treaty. Wetlands declared as Ramsar sites are protected under strict guidelines.

The Convention, signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord for preserving the ecological character of wetlands. Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life.

Source

Solution: d)

The National Biotechnology Development Strategy -2015-2020 was recently unveiled.

The Strategy aims to establish India as a world-class bio-manufacturing hub.   It intends to launch a major mission, backed with significant investments, for the creation of new biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for R&D and commercialization, and empower India’s human resources scientifically and technologically.

The envisaged mission is:

• Provide impetus to utilising the knowledge and tools to the advantage of Humanity
• Launch a major well directed mission backed with significant investment for generation of new Biotech Products
• Empower scientifically and technologically India’s incomparable Human Resource
• Create a strong Infrastructure for R&D and Commercialisation
• Establish India as a world class Bio-manufacturing Hub

The Key elements of the Strategy are:

• Building a Skilled Workforce and Leadership
• Revitalizing the knowledge environment at par with the growing bio-economy
• Enhance Research opportunities in basic, disciplinary and inter-disciplinary sciences
• Encourage use-inspired discovery research
• Focus on biotechnology tools for inclusive development
• Nurturing innovation, translational capacity and entrepreneurship
• Ensuring a transparent, efficient and globally best Regulatory system and communication strategy
• Biotechnology cooperation- Fostering global and national alliances
• Strengthen Institutional Capacity with redesigned governance models
• Create a matrix of measurement of processes as well as outcome

Source

Solution: d)

India is still novel coronavirus free, even as 18 countries/regions have reported 67 cases, as on January 28, according to WHO. Nepal reported one case. The first case of human-to-human transmission was reported in Vietnam, and now Germany. The virus has long acquired the ability to spread among humans.

Source

Solution: b)

Common Services Centers (CSCs) are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme. They are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India. They are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.

The CSC project, which forms a strategic component of the National eGovernance Plan was approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale.

It is also one of the approved projects under the Integrated Mission Mode Projects of the National eGovernance Plan.

It is implemented under the aegis of Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Based on the assessment of CSC scheme, the Government launched the CSC 2.0 scheme in 2015 to expand the outreach of CSCs to all Gram Panchayats across the country.

Source