QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 18 June 2021

Solution: c)

Hail is produced by cumulonimbus clouds, which are generally large and dark and may cause thunder and lightning. In such clouds, winds can blow up the water droplets to heights where they freeze into ice. The frozen droplets begin to fall but are soon pushed back up by the winds and more droplets freeze onto them, resulting in multiple layers of ice on the hailstones. This fall and rise is repeated several times, till the hailstones become too heavy and fall down.

Solution: a)

A technique used by animals such as dolphins, whales and bats to navigate their surroundings can also be used by blind people to get around better and have greater independence and well-being, researchers at Durham University in the UK have shown.

Using the method, called ‘echolocation’, animals emit sounds that bounce off objects and come back to them, providing information about what is around them. The same technique helps blind people locate still objects by producing clicking sounds from their mouth and hands.

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Solution: a)

Cooperative banks have long been under dual regulation by the state Registrar of Societies and the RBI. As a result, these banks have escaped scrutiny despite failures and frauds.

The changes to The Banking Regulation Act approved by Parliament in September 2020, brought cooperative banks under the direct supervision of the RBI.

The amended law has given RBI the power to supersede the board of directors of cooperative banks after consultations with the concerned state government. Earlier, it could issue such directions only to multi-state cooperative banks.

Also, urban cooperative banks will now be treated on a par with commercial banks.

And a cooperative bank can, with prior approval of the RBI, issue equity shares, preference shares, or special shares to its members or to any other person residing within its area of operation, by way of public issue or private placements.

It can also issue unsecured debentures or bonds with maturity of not less than 10 years. This essentially means non-members can become shareholders of the bank, and this will allow the RBI to merge failing banks quickly.

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Solution: c)

The labour participation rate (LPR) for April 2021, at 40%, remained lower than the levels seen before last year’s lockdown. Labour participation helps measure the section of the population that is willing to take on jobs. Unemployment is a subset, which helps in giving a measure of those who are willing to take on jobs but are not employed.

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Solution: a)

For those on Earth, Venus is the second-brightest object in the sky after the moon. It appears bright because of its thick cloud cover that reflects and scatters light. But while Venus, which is the second closest planet to the Sun, is called the Earth’s twin because of their similar sizes, the two planets have significant differences between them.

For one, the planet’s thick atmosphere traps heat and is the reason that it is the hottest planet in the solar system, despite coming after Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun. Surface temperatures on Venus can go up to 471 degrees Celsius, which is hot enough to melt lead, NASA notes.

Further, Venus moves forward on its orbit around the Sun but spins backwards around its axis slowly. This means on Venus the Sun rises in the west and sets in the East. One day on Venus is equivalent to 243 Earth days because of its backward spinning, opposite to that of the Earth’s and most other planets. Venus also does not have a moon and no rings.

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