DAY – 21 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 3.0, 2020

Solution: B

WhatsApp has been used to spy on journalists and human rights activists in India in 2019. The surveillance was carried out using a spyware tool called Pegasus, which has been developed by an Israeli firm, the NSO Group.

• The surveillance was carried out “between in and around April 2019 and May 2019” on users in 20 countries across four continents.
• In response, WhatsApp has sued the NSO Group in a federal court, accusing it of using WhatsApp servers in the United States and elsewhere “to send malware to approximately 1,400 mobile phones and devices (‘Target Devices’) for the purpose of conducting surveillance of specific WhatsApp users (‘Target Users’)”.

Concerns:

• Tools that enable surveillance into our private lives are being abused, and the proliferation of this technology into the hands of irresponsible companies and governments puts us all at risk.
• WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook, is the world’s most popular messaging app, with more than 1.5 billion users worldwide. About a quarter of those users — more than 400 million, or 40 crore — are in India, WhatsApp’s biggest market.

Solution: B

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog & National Informatics Centre (NIC) jointly launched CollabCAD in ATL schools.

What is CollabCAD?

• It is a collaborative network, computer enabled software system, providing a total engineering solution from 2D drafting & detailing to 3D product design.
• The aim of this initiative is to provide a great platform to students of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) across country to create and modify 3d designs with free flow of creativity and imagination.
• This software would also enable students to create data across the network and concurrently access the same design data for storage and visualization.

Tinker from Home campaign:

• In light of the current situation, the ATL program has launched a ‘Tinker from Home’ campaign to ensure that the children across the county have access to useful easy-to-learn online resources to keep themselves fruitfully occupied.
• The objective of the initiative is to harness the creativity and innovativeness of children by encouraging learning through self-initiation.

Solution: D

About Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN:

UDAN, which stands for ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’, aims to make air travel affordable and widespread.

It aims to increase ticketing volume from 80 million to 300 million by 2022.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had launched Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) in October 10 2016 to stimulate regional air connectivity and making air travel affordable to the masses.

• The scheme will be jointly funded by the central government and state governments.
• The scheme will run for 10 years and can be extended thereafter.

Viability Gap Funding (VGF):

The scheme entails making the routes financially viable, without insisting on the financial viability of the regional airports, by lowering the cost of flight operations and through financial support in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF). VGF will be available to flight operators on specific routes for the first 3 years of operation.

UDAN 4.0:

The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.

• The airports that had already been developed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) are given higher priority for the award of VGF (Viability Gap Funding)under the Scheme.
• Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.

Solution: C

National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology in Bengaluru, which will provide Blockchain as a service and allow stakeholders to benefit from shared learning, experiences and resources.

Functions:

1. The Centre of Excellence will facilitate various government departments in building proof of concepts for use of Blockchain technology in different dimensions of governance, leading to large scale deployment of some such applications.
2. With National Informatics Centre (NIC) providing a robust and an agile infrastructure, the CoE shall also provide Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for efficient hosting of Blockchain network, says an official release.

What are Blockchains?

Blockchains are a new data structure that is secure, cryptography-based, and distributed across a network.

• The technology supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and the transfer of any data or digital asset.
• Spearheaded by Bitcoin, blockchains achieve consensus among distributed nodes, allowing the transfer of digital goods without the need for centralized authorisation of transactions.

How it operates?

1. The technology allows transactions to be simultaneously anonymous and secure, peer-to-peer, instant and frictionless.
2. It does this by distributing trust from powerful intermediaries to a large global network, which through mass collaboration, clever code and cryptography, enables a tamper-proof public ledger of every transaction that’s ever happened on the network.
3. A block is the “current” part of a blockchain which records some or all of the recent transactions, and once completed, goes into the blockchain as permanent database.
4. Each time a block gets completed, a new block is generated. Blocks are linked to each other (like a chain) in proper linear, chronological order with every block containing a hash of the previous block.

Solution: D

Service Voter:

The soldiers of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) were the first to cast their vote for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Arunachal Pradesh as Service Voters.

• Service voter belonging to defence and paramilitary forces have the option of either voting through postal ballot or through a proxy voter duly appointed by him/her.
• There are roughly 30 lakh service votersincluding defence and paramilitary forces who (in many cases with families at family stations) will cast their votes through service voter facility.

Who is a service voter?

Service voter is a voter having service qualification. According to the provisions of sub – section (8) of Section 20 of Representation of People Act, 1950, service qualification means:

• Being a member of the armed Forces of the Union ; or
• Being a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), have been made applicable whether with or without modification ;
• Being a member of an Armed Police Force of a State, and serving outside that state; or
• Being a person who is employed under the Government of India, in a post outside India.

How is a service voter different from an ordinary elector?

While an ordinary elector is registered in the electoral roll of the constituency in which his place of ordinary residence is located, person having service qualification can get enrolled as ‘service voter’ at his native place even though he actually may be residing at a different place (of posting). He has, however, an option to get himself enrolled as general elector at the place of his posting where he factually, at the point of time, is residing ordinarily with his family for a sufficient span of time.

Are members of all Armed Forces / Para Military Forces eligible to be enrolled as service voters?

As per the existing arrangements, members of Indian Army, Navy and Air Force and personnel of General Reserve Engineer Force (Border Road Organization), Border Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Assam Rifles, National Security Guards, Central Reserve Police Force, Central Industrial Security Force and Sashastra Seema Bal are eligible to be registered as service voters.

Is wife or son/daughter of a service voter also enrolled as a service voter?

The wife of a service voter shall, if she is ordinarily residing with him, be also deemed to be a service voter in the constituency specified by that person. The service voter has to make a statement to the effect in the relevant Form 2/2A/3 that his wife ordinarily resides with him. The wife will be enrolled as a service voter on the basis of declaration made by her husband in the application form itself submitted by him and no separate declaration / application is required to be made by the wife. A son / daughter / relative / servant etc. residing ordinarily with a service voter cannot be enrolled as service voter.

Solution: B

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, has announced a “Contract for the Web” — aimed at saving the future of his invention.

What is the Contract for the Web?

The idea is to create a global plan of action for all stakeholders to together commit to building a “better” Web. The goal is to create a standard policy for a Web that benefits all.

The Contract consists of nine principles — three each for governments, private companies, and individuals and civil society to endorse.

It has been created by representatives from over 80 organisations, including governments, companies, civil society activists, and academics.

What are the principles in the Contract?

1. Governments will “Ensure everyone can connect to the Internet”, “Keep all of the Internet available, all of the time”, and “Respect and protect people’s fundamental online privacy and data rights”.
2. Companies will “Make the Internet affordable and accessible to everyone”, “Respect and protect people’s privacy and personal data to build online trust”, and “Develop technologies that support the best in humanity and challenge the worst”.
3. Citizens will “Be creators and collaborators on the Web”, “Build strong communities that respect civil discourse and human dignity”, and “Fight for the Web” so that it “remains open and a global public resource for people everywhere, now and in the future”.

Relevance of the contract:

The Contract is not meant to be “simply aspirational”, or just a “declaration”. “It’s actually meant to be implemented, and it’s meant to be a plan of action.

Governments who are looking to regulate in the digital era, can use the contract as a roadmap to lay out their policies and laws going forward.

Companies had themselves reached out to be active participants in the Contract. This was an opportunity for them to have conversations with governments and civil society instead of shouting at each other.

How will the Contract be implemented?

The ‘Contract for the Web’ is not a legal document, or a United Nations document — though the organisation is in talks with the UN. It cannot currently bend governments or companies — even those that are on board — to its will.

Need of the hour:

• The Web, which is now almost an essential condition for human existence, is at a tipping point and needs radical intervention from all stakeholders — governments, companies, civil society groups, as well as individual users.
• Citizen action is an important part of the Contract, and the organization hopes citizens would hold governments and companies accountable for violations of its terms.

Solution: C

India’s first indigenously developed high-temperature based Fuel Cell System was recently introduced. It is a 5.0 kW fuel cell system that generates power in a green manner.

The developed fuel cells are based on High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) technology.

Key facts:

• Developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Indian industries.
• Built under India’s flagship programme named ‘New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)’.

How it works?

It takes methanol or bio-methane as the input and produces heat and water as its bi-products, which can be further used. This helps to attain an efficiency that is greater than 70%, which is difficult to achieve by other energy sources.

Applications:

1. Suitable for distributed stationary power applications like; for small offices, commercial units, data centers etc.; where highly reliable power is essential with simultaneous requirement for air-conditioning.
2. It will also meet the requirement of efficient, clean and reliable backup power generator for telecom towers, remote locations and strategic applications as well.
3. Replace Diesel Generating (DG) sets and help reduce India’s dependence on crude oil.

What is HTPEM technology?

High Temperature Proton-Exchange-Membrane (HTPEM) is the core of the fuel cells running above 150 °C. As in classical PEM fuel cells technology, Hydrogen is electrochemically split to proton and electron on anode. Proton is transported through membrane to cathode while electricity is yielded in external circuit. At cathode protons recombine with electron and reacts further with Oxygen to water and heat.

The technology can achieve efficiency approaching 90% calculated as combined yield of electricity and heat.

Solution: A

About International Criminal Court (ICC):

• The International Criminal Court (ICC), located in The Hague,is the court of last resort for prosecution of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
• It is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal courtestablished to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
• Its founding treaty, the Rome Statute,entered into force on July 1, 2002.
• Funding: Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

Composition and voting power: The Court’s management oversight and legislative body, the Assembly of States Parties, consists of one representative from each state party.

Each state party has one vote and “every effort” has to be made to reach decisions by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, decisions are made by vote. The Assembly is presided over by a president and two vice-presidents, who are elected by the members to three-year terms.

Jurisdiction:

• The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
• The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer situations to the Court.

India is not a member of the ICC.

Solution: D

REN21 is the only global renewable energy community of actors from science, governments, NGOs and industry. We provide up-to-date and peer-reviewed facts, figures and analysis of global developments in technology, policies and markets. Our goal: enable decision-makers to make the shift to renewable energy happen – now.

REN21 was created in 2004 as an outcome of the Bonn2004 International Conference on Renewable Energy. This “coalition of the willing” came together with one objective in mind: to support and accelerate the development of renewable energy.

From the outset, REN21’s mandate has been to collect, consolidate and synthesise a vast body of renewable energy data to provide clear and reliable information on what is happening in real-time.

This mandate still holds today.

REN21 members are industry associations, governments, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, and academic and scientific institutions. An elected number of members form REN21’s Steering Committee – the main governing body of REN21.

REN21 Members convene every three years to review the proposed upcoming, three-year work plan and to elect a REN21 Steering Committee.  This Steering Committee represents the REN21 community, providing strategic direction to REN21’s work programme.

Solution: A

About Internet Saathi:

• It is joint initiative of Google India and Tata Trusts.
• It aims to facilitate digital literacy among women in rural India.
• The programme aims to train Saathis in villagesthat can in turn help educate other women from their village in the use of the internet.

Significance of the initiative:

It has contributed towards bridging digital gender divide in rural India. Women trained under this initiative have started their own micro-business such as stitching, honeybee farming, and beauty parlours. Many under programme are also driving awareness for issues like girl child education, menstrual hygiene and more within their communities.

Solution: A

Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA)

Alcohol manufacturers citing a shortage of domestic supplies have sought a reduction in import duty of Extra Neutral Alcohol to make it cost-effective for them to import from global markets.

What is ENA?

It is a byproduct of the sugar industry.

Formed from molasses that are a residue of sugarcane processing.

It is the primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages.

Features:

• It is colourless food-grade alcohol that does not have any impurities.
• It has a neutral smell and taste and typically contains over 95 per cent alcohol by volume.

Other applications of ENA:

1. An essential ingredient in the manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products such as perfumes, toiletries, hair spray, etc.
2. Utilized in the production of some lacquers, paints and ink for the printing industry, as well as in pharmaceutical products such as antiseptics, drugs, syrups, medicated sprays.

Solution: C

The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has powered voice-enabled ASKDISHA Chatbot to converse with customers in the Hindi language. The customers can now ask queries to ASKDISHA in Hindi by voice as well as text.

What is ASKDISHA Chatbot?

It is an Artificial Intelligence-based chatbot. It is a special computer programme designed to simulate conversation with users, especially over the internet. Initially launched in the English language in October 2018. Developed by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The aim is to resolve queries of railway passengers over the internet pertaining to various services offered.

Services provided:

Since its initial launch, passengers seeking help on the reservation of tickets, cancellation, enquiry of refund status, fare, PNR search, train running status, enquiry about retiring rooms and tourism products have been benefited.

Solution: D

The Shahab-3 is a quad-exhaust liquid-propelled medium-range ballistic missile developed by Iran and based on the North Korean Nodong-1. The Shahab-3 has a range of 1,000 kilometres; a MRBM variant can now reach 2,000 kilometres.

Solution: A

• Solar power in India is a fast-developing industry. The country’s solar installed capacity reached 35.12 GW as of 30 June 2020. India has the lowest capital cost per MW globally of installing solar power plants.
• The Indian government had an initial target of 20 GW capacity for 2022, which was achieved four years ahead of schedule.
• In 2015 the target was raised to 100 GW of solar capacity (including 40 GW from rooftop solar) by 2022, targeting an investment of US$100 billion.
• India has established nearly 42 solar parks to make land available to the promoters of solar plants. In the decade ending 31 March 2020, India expanded its installed solar power capacity by 233 times from 161 MW to 37,627 MW.
• Rooftop solar power accounts for 2.1 GW, of which 70% is industrial or commercial. In addition to its large-scale grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) initiative, India is developing off-grid solar power for local energy needs.
• Solar products have increasingly helped to meet rural needs; by the end of 2015 just under one million solar lanterns were sold in the country, reducing the need for kerosene.
• That year, 118,700 solar home lighting systems were installed and 46,655 solar street lighting installations were provided under a national program; just over 1.4 million solar cookers were distributed in India.
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA), proposed by India as a founder member, is headquartered in India. India has also put forward the concept of “One Sun One World one Grid” to harness abundant solar power on global scale

Solution: B

The Yogyakarta Principles is a document about human rights in the areas of sexual orientation and gender identity, published as the outcome of an international meeting of human rights groups in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in November 2006.

https://yogyakartaprinciples.org/

Solution: B

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an international organization working with leaders in government, the private sector and civil society to drive further, faster action toward achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), which calls for universal access to sustainable energy by 2030, and the Paris Agreement, which calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit climate warming to below 2° Celsius.

Achieving these goals will require a radical rethink of the way we produce, distribute and consume energy. SEforALL is at the heart of this foundational shift to ensure no one is left behind. Drawing on data and evidence, we identify a critical path to success in achieving SDG7.

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Sustainable Energy for All initiative in 2011. Now an independent organization, we maintain close links with the UN, including through a relationship agreement, partnerships with UN agencies and with SEforALL’s CEO acting as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy.

Our staff is based at our headquarters in Vienna, Austria and at our satellite office in Washington, DC in the United States. Governance is provided by the SEforALL Administrative Board.

Solution: C

A fuel cell is a device that converts chemical potential energy (energy stored in molecular bonds) into electrical energy. A PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cell uses hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2) as fuel. The products of the reaction in the cell are water, electricity, and heat. This is a big improvement over internal combustion engines, coal burning power plants, and nuclear power plants, all of which produce harmful by-products.

Since O2 is readily available in the atmosphere, we only need to supply the fuel cell with H2 which can come from an electrolysis process (see Alkaline electrolysis or PEM electrolysis).

Solution: B

The 2019 Iraqi protests have been named Tishreen Revolution or October Revolution or Iraqi Intifada. It was started in October 2019 in the social media by civil activists.

It then spread to northern and southern provinces of the country. The protests were against the 16 years of corruption in the country. It also aimed to stop the Iranian intervention in Iraq.

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/iraqs-autumn-of-discontent/article30270123.ece

Solution: D

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the wireless non-contact use of radio frequency waves to transfer data. Tagging items with RFID tags allows users to automatically and uniquely identify and track inventory and assets.

The Advantages of RFID vs. barcode technology:

• No line of sight requirement.
• The tag can stand a harsh environment.
• Long read range.
• Portable database
• Multiple tag read/write.
• Tracking people, items, and equipment in realtime.

Solution: C

Chandipura vesiculovirus (CHPV) is a member of the Rhabdoviridae family that is associated with an encephalitic illness in humans.

It was first identified in 1965 after isolation from the blood of two patients from Chandipura village in Maharashtra state

The likely vector (carrier) of the virus is the female phlebotomine sandfly. The virus predominantly infects children between the ages of 2-16, spreading through the bite of a sand-fly, and in some cases, even the mosquito during the monsoon and pre-monsoon season.

It has been detected in sand flies in Senegal and Nigeria, apart from India. The virus is known to cause inflammation of the brain, and progresses rapidly from an influenza-like illness to coma and death.

Solution: C

Breakthrough Listen is a $100 million program of astronomical observations in search of evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth. It is by far the most comprehensive, intensive and sensitive search ever undertaken for artificial radio and optical signals. A complete survey of the 1,000,000 nearest stars, the plane and center of our galaxy, and the 100 nearest galaxies. All data will be open to the public.

Solution: D

The Global Geothermal Alliance (GGA) serves as a platform for dialogue, co‑operation and co‑ordinated action between the geothermal industry, policy makers and stakeholders worldwide.

Launched at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, the GGA is a coalition for action to increase the use of geothermal energy, both in power generation and direct use of heat. It calls on governments, business and other stakeholders to support geothermal deployment and realise its potential.

The GGA has aspirational goals to achieve fivefold growth in the installed capacity of geothermal power generation and more than twofold growth in geothermal heating by 2030.

What is the GGA designed to do?

• Foster an enabling environment to attract investment in geothermal energy.
• Provide customised support to regions and countries with geothermal market potential.
• Facilitate the exchange of insights and experience among key stakeholders in the geothermal energy value chain.
• Identify and promote models for sharing and mitigating risks, in order to attract private investment and integrate geothermal facilities into energy markets.
• Help to streamline outreach to give geothermal energy greater visibility in the global energy and climate debates.

Global Geothermal Alliance is supported and coordinated by the International Renewable Energy Agency

Solution: D

Zero budget natural farming (ZBNF) is a method of chemical-free agriculture drawing from traditional Indian practices.

It is different from organic farming. The word Zero Budget refers to zero net cost of production of all crops.

The main aim of ZBNF is eliminate use of chemical pesticides and uses biological pesticides and promote of good agronomic practices.

The ZBNF method promotes: Soil aeration, Minimal watering, Intercropping, Bunds and topsoil mulching.

ZBNF is against vermicomposting, which is the mainstay of typical organic farming, as it introduces the most common composting worm, the European red wiggler (Eiseniafetida) to Indian soils.

Four Wheels of ZBNF

• Bijamrita (Seed Treatment using local cow dung and cow urine),
• Jiwamrita (applying inoculation made of local cow dung and cow urine without any fertilizers and pesticides)

• Mulching (activities to ensure favorable microclimate in the soil)
• Waaphasa (soil aeration)

Solution: B

The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, collectively The World Bank Group, have provided this Global Solar Atlas in addition to a series of global, regional and country GIS data layers and poster maps, to support the scale-up of solar power in our client countries. This work is funded by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), a multi-donor trust fund administered by The World Bank and supported by 13 official bilateral donors. It is part of a global ESMAP initiative on Renewable Energy Resource Mapping that includes biomass, small hydro, solar and wind.

The World Bank Group has selected Solargis as its global provider of solar data and related solar energy assessment services. This Global Solar Atlas has been prepared by Solargis under a contract to The World Bank, based on a solar resource database that they own and maintain. For commercial enquiries, please contact Solargis directly.

The primary aim of this Global Solar Atlas is to provide quick and easy access to solar resource and photovoltaic power potential data globally, at a click of a mouse.

Solution: C

TRIFED is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt. of India.

It was established in August 1987 by the then Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, under the Multi State Cooperative Societies Act 1984.

TRIFED was established with core objective of institutionalizing the trade of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and Surplus Agriculture Produce (SAP) collected/cultivated by tribals.

It has a network of 31 retail outlets called “TRIBES INDIA”, 37 consignment outlets of various State Emporia and 16 franchised outlets. The approach of marketing development of tribal products envisages TRIFED’s role as a facilitator and service provider.

It also works as an agency to the FCI for procurement of Wheat and Rice.