QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 8 December 2020

Solution: b)

The fifth edition of the UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook report, published recently by the UN Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), provides an overview of the state of nature worldwide. The report notes the importance of biodiversity in addressing climate change and long-term food security, and that action to protect biodiversity is essential to prevent future pandemics.

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Solution: d)

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is India’s first infrastructure specific investment fund or a sovereign wealth fund that was set up by the Government of India in February 2015. The objective behind creating this fund was to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure investment in commercially viable projects, both Greenfield and Brownfield.

NIIF currently manages three funds each with its distinctive investment mandate. The funds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The three funds are:

Master Fund: Is an infrastructure fund with the objective of primarily investing in operating assets in the core infrastructure sectors such as roads, ports, airports, power etc.

Fund of Funds: Managed by fund managers who have good track records in infrastructure and associated sectors in India. Some of the sectors of focus include Green Infrastructure, Mid-Income & Affordable Housing, Infrastructure services and allied sectors.

Strategic Investment Fund: Is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund II under SEBI in India. The objective is to invest largely in equity and equity-linked instruments. It will focus on green field and brown field investments in the core infrastructure sectors.

Solution: c)

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having optical and electronic properties that differ from larger particles due to quantum mechanics.

When the quantum dots are illuminated by UV light, an electron in the quantum dot can be excited to a state of higher energy.

Potential applications of quantum dots include single-electron transistors, solar cells, LEDs, lasers, single-photon sources, second-harmonic generation, quantum computing, cell biology research, and medical imaging. Their small size allows for some QDs to be suspended in solution, which may lead to use in inkjet printing and spin-coating. They have been used in Langmuir-Blodgett thin-films. These processing techniques result in less expensive and less time-consuming methods of semiconductor fabrication.

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Solution: a)

Solution: b)

Wetlands are regulated under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. The 2010 version of the Rules provided for a Central Wetland Regulatory Authority; the 2017 Rules replace it with state-level bodies and created a National Wetland Committee, which functions in an advisory role. The newer regulations removed some items from the definition of “wetlands” including backwaters, lagoon, creeks, and estuaries.

Wetlands International is a global organisation that works to sustain and restore wetlands and their resources for people and biodiversity. It is an independent, not-for-profit, global organisation, supported by government and NGO membership from around the world.