[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 18 December 2023

Solution: a)

Only Statement 1 is correct.

What’s Bima Sugam?

It’s an online platform where customers can choose a suitable scheme from multiple options given by various companies. All insurance requirements, including those for life, health, and general insurance (including motor and travel) will be met by Bima Sugam. This platform will help in the settlement of claims, whether it’s health coverage or death claims, in a paperless manner on the basis of policy numbers.

Details about insurance schemes are expected to be stored in the platform through the insurance repository initially. This will be followed by a listing of policies.

The platform would act as a single window for the policyholder to manage his/her insurance coverage. It will provide end-to-end solutions for customers’ insurance needs i.e., purchase, service, and settlement in a seamless manner.

Will the physical mode go away?

Customers will open an insurance account and the policies will be stored in this account, thus obviating the need for physical documents. Further, the paperwork involved in buying a policy will also come down. Settlement of claims and renewal of policies will also become faster as paperwork is reduced drastically, making it easier for the customers.

IRDAI says Bima Sugam is an electronic marketplace protocol which would universalise and democratise insurance. “This protocol will be connected with India Stack which is a set of APIs (application programming interface) that allows governments, businesses, startups, etc. to utilise the unique digital infrastructure to enable seamless delivery of services. It is envisioned that this e-Market place would enable and empower all insurance stakeholders across insurance value chain.

IRDAI initially wanted the Bima Sugam to be up and running by January 2023 but postponed it to August 1. It has now postponed the implementation to June 2024. Life insurance and general insurance companies will own a 47.5 per cent stake each, while brokers and agent bodies will own 2.5 per cent each.

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Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

How did the Aditya L-1 go into space?

The solar probe was carried into space by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in ‘XL’ configuration. PSLV is one of the most reliable and versatile workhorse rockets of ISRO. Previous missions like Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mangalyaan in 2013 were also launched using PSLV. The rocket is most powerful in the ‘XL’ configuration as it is equipped with six extended strap-on boosters — they are larger than the boosters of other configurations and, therefore, can carry heavier payloads.

PSLV-XL can lift 1,750 kg of payloads to the sun-synchronous polar orbit (spacecraft here are synchronised to always be in the same ‘fixed’ position relative to the Sun), and much more — 3,800 kg — to a lower Earth orbit (normally located at an altitude of less than 1,000 km but could be as low as 160 km above the planet). As Aditya L-1 weighs 1,472 kg, it was launched aboard PSLV.

Notably, Chandrayaan-3 took off aboard LVM3, the most powerful rocket of ISRO, because it was more than two times heavier than the solar probe.

What are the objectives of the Aditya L-1?

The mission’s main objective is to expand our knowledge of the Sun, and how its radiation, heat, flow of particles, and magnetic fields affect us. Below is the list of other objectives that the mission will embark upon:

• To study the upper atmospheric layers of the Sun called chromosphere and corona. While the corona is the outermost layer, the chromosphere is just below it.
• To examine coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.
• To analyse the corona’s magnetic field and the driver of the space weather.
• To understand why the Sun’s not-so-bright corona is a million degree Celsius hot when the temperature on the surface of the Sun is just about 5,500 degree Celsius.
• To help scientists know the reasons behind the acceleration of particles on the Sun, which leads to the solar wind — the constant flow of particles from the Sun.

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Solution: d)

When IQAir released the World Air Quality Report 2022, 39 Indian cities were named in the list of the 50 most polluted cities in the world. The report said that air pollution is the second biggest risk factor for disease in India.

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Solution: c)

India’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) launched a $600-million fund to invest in sustainability projects.

JBIC will contribute 51% of that figure, and India the rest, the Indian government said in a statement.

The India-Japan Fund will target investment in sustainable projects in areas such as renewable energy, e-mobility and waste management, the NIIF, launched in 2015 as India’s first state-backed fund.

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Solution: c)

South Korea waited almost a year before reluctantly joining an initiative proposed by President Biden last year to form a semiconductor “Chip 4” alliance with the United States, Japan and Taiwan.

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