[Mission 2023] Current Affairs Quiz , 14 October 2022

Solution: a)

A solid-state battery is a battery technology that uses solid electrodes and a solid electrolyte, instead of the liquid or polymer gel electrolytes found in lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries.

Solid-state batteries have found use in pacemakers, RFID and wearable devices. They are potentially safer, with higher energy densities, but at a much higher cost.

A solid-state battery can increase energy density per unit area since only a small number of batteries are needed. For that reason, a solid-state battery is perfect to make an EV battery system of module and pack, which needs high capacity.

Challenges to widespread adoption include energy and power density, durability, material costs, sensitivity and stability.

Solution: d)

The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a government-backed project aimed at enabling small merchants and mom-and-pop stores in parts of the country to access processes and technologies that are typically deployed by large e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart.

It is an initiative aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks. ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform. It is being developed as a counter to the current stranglehold of two big players in the Indian e-commerce market, which is largely dictated by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart. In May this year, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) went live with a test run of ONDC in cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong where it plans to onboard 150 sellers.

The ONDC platform lies in the middle of the interfaces hosting the buyers and the sellers.

Source

Solution: b)

Although there is no universal legal definition, a sanction can be defined as a measure of coercion of an economic nature, as opposed to diplomatic or military means, taken by states, either collectively or individually. Collective sanctions can be imposed by an international organisation based on a multilateral (UN) or regional (EU) treaty. The UNSC is at the centre of the collective sanctions’ edifice with its Chapter VII, ‘Action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression’.

Sanctions are not defined nor listed, as such, but the allusion is clear. Since 1966, the UNSC has established 30 regimes of sanctions which have taken a variety of shapes from trade measures to embargoes on arms; and financial tools to travel bans.

UN-supported programmes of sanctions are administered by a sanctions committee chaired by a non-permanent member of the UNSC. 

Solution: c)

Fallow is the stage of crop rotation in which the land is deliberately not used to raise a crop.

Ground may be fallowed as part of a larger crop rotation plan or as a method to conserve moisture as in the summer fallow technique used in dryland farming.

The practice of leaving fields fallow dates back to ancient times when farmers realized that using soil over and over again depleted its nutrients.

If the duration of fallow is substantially reduced owing to multiple cropping, the soil does not get enough time to recuperate and allow natural fertilization like nitrogen fixation. If fallow is increased, it will help in nutrient replenishment.

Solution: d)

Traditional knowledge refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world. Traditional knowledge is mainly of a practical nature, particularly in such fields as agriculture, fisheries, health, horticulture, forestry and environmental management in general.

In addition to the Convention on Biological Diversity, a number of international bodies, instruments and initiatives are of particular relevance to traditional knowledge. They include but are not limited to the following:

• Agenda 21: Principle 22 of the main document that came out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro recognizes that indigenous peoples have a vital role to play in environmental management and development because of their traditional knowledge and practices;
• The International Labour Organization’s Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples: This Convention calls for action to protect the rights of indigenous peoples;
• The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP);
• The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues UNPFII);
• The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO);
• The United Nations Education, Scientific and cultural Organization (UNESCO);
• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Development Bank and the African Development Bank: These Banks are committed to ensuring that the development process promotes indigenous peoples’ participation;
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank

Source