QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 20 April 2020

Solution: b)

RBI has cut the reverse repo rate by 25 basis points — from 4% to 3.75% — encouraging banks to “deploy surplus funds” and lend more, a move that will in turn result in cash in the hands of the borrower.

The reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows from commercial banks. Broadly speaking, a cut in the reverse repo rate means banks are discouraged to park their excess money with RBI since they will get more incentives by giving loans to other institutions/individuals at a higher rate.

Repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks. A lower repo rate would mean availability of cheaper loans to industries and consumers.

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Solution: d)

In order to ease the liquidity position at the level of individual institutions, the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirement for scheduled commercial banks is reduced from 100% to 80% with immediate effect. The LCR requirement will, however, be gradually restored in two phases – 90% by October 1, 2020 and 100% by April 1, 2021. LCR is the proportion of high liquid assets set aside to survive an acute stress scenario and meet its short-term obligations.

LCR is a requirement under Basel III whereby banks are required to hold an amount of high-quality liquid assets that’s enough to fund cash outflows for 30 days.

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Solution: b)

While there are hundreds of coronaviruses that cause diseases in animals such as pigs, camels, bats and cats, till date seven different types of coronaviruses have been identified that infect humans.

What are coronaviruses?

Coronaviruses are a large family of single-stranded RNA viruses that cause diseases in animals and humans. In humans, the viruses usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses such as the common cold. In the last two decades, more aggressive coronaviruses have emerged that are capable of causing serious illness and even death in humans. These include SARS-CoV, MERS and now SARS-CoV-2.

In animals, coronaviruses can cause diarrhea in cows and pigs and upper respiratory tract disease in chickens. The first coronavirus was isolated in 1937 and it was the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) that caused respiratory disease in chickens.

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Solution: c)

For the first time ever India hosted the 14th session of Conference of Parties (COP-14) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in September 2019, to address the issue of land degradation and desertification.

India took over the Presidency of the COP from China.

About UNCCD:

• Established in 1994.
• It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
• It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
• To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
• Focus areas: The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
• Aim: Its 197 Parties aim, through partnerships, to implement the Convention and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The end goal is to protect land from over-use and drought, so it can continue to provide food, water and energy.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry for this Convention.

Solution: d)

ERSS is one of the key projects of Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under Nirbhaya Fund. In India, the decision to launch the ERSS system was taken in the wake of the 2012 Delhi bus gangrape case.

There is a pan-India single emergency number ‘112’ under ERSS.

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