QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 29 February 2020

Solution: b)

The World Bank– Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (WB-ESMAP), in partnership with, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and International Solar Alliance (ISA) developed the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI or “the Initiative”) to address these challenges. This unique approach offers development and climate financing for: (i) technical assistance to help countries develop evidence-based solar targets, implement a sustainable solar program, and maintain robust procurement processes with transaction advisors; (ii) critical public investments to enable integration of variable renewable energy (VRE), finance solar park infrastructure, and increase access to electricity ; and (iii) risk mitigation instruments to cover residu­al risks perceived by private investors. SRMI aims to support countries in developing sustainable solar programs that will attract private investments and so reduce reliance on public finances. It has three components to mitigate the risk of solar deployment:

Sustainable Solar Targets: supporting the development of sustainable renewable roadmaps with medium-term targets based on sound planning and resource assessments, and providing concessional climate finance blended with development finance and technical support to ensure that countries have the right enabling environment to reduce country risk;

 Transparent Procurement: supporting the selection of private sector developers and investors in a competitive and transparent manner to address country and project risk; and

 Viable Risk Mitigation Coverage: developing viable risk mitigation coverage to cover residual project risks targeting solar (grid and off-grid) and storage deployment financed and operated by private investors.

Source

Solution: d)

Six official committees have so far estimated the number of people living in poverty in India — the working group of 1962; V N Dandekar and N Rath in 1971; Y K Alagh in 1979; D T Lakdawala in 1993; Suresh Tendulkar in 2009; and C Rangarajan in 2014.

Source

Solution: a)

World Air Quality Report 2019 was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and Greenpeace. The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels. Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted country for PM 2.5. Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India followed behind respectively.

While cities in India, on average, exceed the WHO target for annual PM2.5 exposure by 500%, national air pollution decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2019, with 98% of cities experiencing improvements. These improvements are believed to be largely a result of economic slowdown, IQAir said.

Source

Solution: b)

Over the last few weeks, photographs of “red snow” around Ukraine’s Vernadsky Research Base, off the coast of Antarctica’s northernmost peninsula, have gone viral. “Red snow” or “watermelon” is a phenomenon that has been known since ancient times. Now, it raises concerns about climate change.

Aristotle is believed to be one of the first to give a written account of red snow, over 2,000 years ago. In History of Animals, Aristotle wrote: “And, by the way, living animals are found in substances that are usually supposed to be incapable of putrefaction; for instance, worms are found in long-lying snow; and snow of this description gets reddish in colour, and the grub that is engendered in it is red, as might have been expected, and it is also hairy.”

What Aristotle described as worms and grub, the scientific world today calls algae. The Greek philosopher was right: it is the algae that give the snow its red tinge. This alga species, Chlamydomonas Chlamydomonas nivalis, exists in snow in the polar and glacial regions, and carries a red pigment to keep itself warm .

In turn, the red snow causes the surrounding ice to melt faster, a 2017 study from Alaska Pacific University said. The more the algae packed together, the redder the snow. And the darker the tinge, the more the heat absorbed by the snow. Subsequently, the ice melts faster.

In the melting of snow in the Arctic, the key drivers have been snow and ice albedo, according to a 2016 study in the journal Nature.

Source

Solution: c)

In India, the new HAM is a mix of BOT Annuity and EPC models. As per the design, the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments (annuity). The remaining payment will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the developer.

Here, hybrid annuity means the first 40% payment is made as fixed amount in five equal instalments whereas the remaining 60% is paid as variable annuity amount after the completion of the project depending upon the value of assets created. As the government pays only 40%, during the construction stage, the developer should find money for the remaining amount. Here, he has to raise the remaining 60% in the form of equity or loans. There is no toll right for the developer. Under HAM, Revenue collection would be the responsibility of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Source