QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 9 December 2020

Solution: d)

Recently China sold negative-yield debt for the first time, and this saw a high demand from investors across Europe. As yields in Europe are even lower, there was a huge demand for the 4-billion-euro bonds issued by China. China’s 5-year bond was priced with a yield of –0.152%, and the 10-year and 15-year securities with positive yields of 0.318% and 0.664%.

What are negative-yield bonds?

These are debt instruments that offer to pay the investor a maturity amount lower than the purchase price of the bond. These are generally issued by central banks or governments, and investors pay interest to the borrower to keep their money with them.

Why do investors buy them?

Negative-yield bonds attract investments during times of stress and uncertainty as investors look to protect their capital from significant erosion. At a time when the world is battling the Covid-19 pandemic and interest rates in developed markets across Europe are much lower, investors are looking for relatively better-yielding debt instruments to safeguard their interests.

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Solution: a)

The Tharu community belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks or lower Himalayas. The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.

The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to take the unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world. The intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map, and to create jobs and bring economic independence to the tribal population.

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Solution: b)

Nearly four years after a mysterious neurological illness, referred to as “Havana syndrome”, started to afflict American diplomats and intelligence operatives in Cuba, China, and other countries, a report by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS) has found “directed” microwave radiation to be its “plausible” cause.

In late 2016, US diplomats and other employees stationed in Havana reported feeling ill after hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations in their hotel rooms or homes. The symptoms included nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems, and hearing loss, which have since come to be known as “Havana Syndrome”.

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Solution: c)

A 1907 ballad of defiance has made a quiet comeback over a century later to inspire protesting Punjab farmers.

‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta’, a song by by Banke Dayal, was introduced at a peasants rally in Lyallpur that year. It soon became an anthem that defined the farmers’ agitation against three British laws – the Doab Bari Act, Punjab Land Colonisation Act and the Punjab Land Alienation Act.

The tales of that unrest led by Bhagat Singh’s uncle, Ajit Singh, continue to inspire the current protesters

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Solution: b)

Black carbon (BC) is a component of fine particulate matter. Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms. It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuel, and biomass, and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot. Black carbon causes human morbidity and premature mortality.

In climatology, black carbon is a climate forcing agent. Black carbon warms the Earth by absorbing sunlight and heating the atmosphere and by reducing albedo when deposited on snow and ice.

Black carbon stays in the atmosphere for only several days to weeks, whereas carbon dioxide (CO
2) has an atmospheric lifetime of more than 100 years.

The term black carbon is also used in soil sciences and geology. Especially in the tropics, black carbon in soils significantly contributes to fertility as it is able to absorb important plant nutrients.