QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 06 OCTOBER 2017

Solution: c.
Embryo transfer technology (ETT) has revolutionized the breeding strategies in Bovines as a tool to optimize the genetic improvement in cattle. Through the use of ETT, (i) a farmer can get a 5-6 fold increase in number of offsprings , (ii) the calves so born will be of high genetic merit and (iii) the offsprings born will be free from diseases.

National Mission on Bovine Productivity has been launched with the aim of enhancing milk production and productivity and thereby making dairying more remunerative to the farmers. The scheme is being implemented with following components
a) Pashu Sanjivni- this component includes identification of animals in milk using UID;
b) Advance reproductive Technique- under the component sex sorted semen production facility is being created and 50 Embryo Transfer Technology Labs with IVF facilities are being created in the country;
c) Creation of E Pashu Haat Portal- linking farmers and breeders of indigenous breeds
d) Establishment of National Bovine Genomic Centre for Indigenous Breeds(NBGC-IB): For enhancing milk production and productivity through genomic selection among indigenous breeds.

Improvisation: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=171403;
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/a-revolution-in-cattle-breeding/article19787960.ece;
For details regarding the Union Government’s initiatives on cattle breed improvement programmes: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=169383;
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Solution: a.
The wind tariff in India touched lowest level of Rs.2.64 per kWh in the second wind auction conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on behalf of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India yesterday. The tariff discovered is much lower than first wind auction concluded at Rs. 3.46 per kWh in February this year.

In 2015, the Cabinet approved the proposal to rename SECI as RECI (Renewable Energy Corporation of India), but this is yet to be done.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=171394;
http://seci.co.in/other_page.php?mmid=1&page=about_us;

Solution: b.
The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was won by a triumvirate of chronobiologists for their work in discovering the mechanisms controlling the internal clocks that keep time in all living organisms, including humans. Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young, three Americans born in the 1940s, made pioneering contributions in helping unravel the genetic coding and protein pathways that regulate the circadian rhythm — that rhythm which tells us when it is time to eat and sleep, or wake up even when we have no bedside alarm. Working with the humble fruit fly, the three scientists isolated a gene named ‘period’ that studies had shown disrupted the fly’s circadian clock. Dr. Hall and Dr. Rosbash then went on to discover that the protein ‘PER’, which acts as a functional communicator for this gene, accumulated at night and then diminished during the day. Independently, Dr. Young made a couple of seminal breakthroughs that helped complete the jigsaw puzzle — first by identifying a second gene ‘timeless’ that through its ‘TIM’ protein, working in conjunction with PER, helped engender the seesawing of cellular protein levels. He then spotted the third gene, ‘doubletime’, which through an encoded protein served as the regulator of the frequency of the oscillations.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-rhythm-of-life/article19803292.ece;
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Solution: c.
Question based on the solution-explanation provided in yesterday’s quiz.

In 2012, Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest founded the Walk Free Foundation (WFF) with the aim of eliminating modern slavery. Its first Global Slavery Index in 2013 ranked countries based on the prevalence of modern slavery. Subsequent reports also evaluated government response to the challenge.
http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-indian-intelligence-is-spooked-by-global-index-of-modern-slavery-4874701/;

Solution: d.
• Sister City and Sister Province Agreements; ex: Chennai – Chongqing;
• Facilitation of visits of foreign dignitaries to India; ex: facilitating the visit of a Governer of one of Japan’s provinces to the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan;
• Humanitarian Operations; ex: Operation Rahat (Yemen) and Operation Maitri (Nepal) – the division acted as a bridge by way of facilitating evacuation of Indians from those countries and sending them to their respective states in a safe and secure manner;

Apart from the three listed above, following activities involved/were carried out by the States Division:
• State and Provincial Leaders Forum (which will help deepen sub-national cooperation between India and associated countries)
• Outreach Programmes (ex: facilitating visits of delegations from Indian states to other countries for specific matters – attracting FDI, for instance)
• Facilitating foreign visits of dignitaries from State Governments

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/states-in-indian-diplomacy/article19803262.ece;
Source: Refer to Annual Report, 2015-16 – http://www.mea.gov.in/annual-reports.htm?57/Annual_Reports;
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Solution: c.
A mains-oriented question.

‘Shinkansen’ refers to the Japanese Bullet Train. The estimates have varied, but the cost of the HSR project at the moment is estimated to roughly be around the rupees 1 lakh crore mark. This year’s budget announced the creation of a Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (National Railways Safety Fund) with a corpus of rupees 1 lakh crore over a period of five years.

Japan’s pioneering Shinkansen, which connects Tokyo to Osaka, passes through the biggest industrial and commercial centres, caters to almost 50% of Japan’s population, and carries more than 150 million passengers annually. France’s fabled Paris-Lyon HSR service has had to periodically receive substantial subsidies. Taiwan’s $14 billion HSR service between Taipei and Tainan virtually became bankrupt after losses of over $1 billion. It realised only 50% of the projected ridership and required government bailout. Even the U.S. is tentatively initiating a San Francisco-Los Angeles corridor, and is still unsure about the densely populated industrial-commercial Philadelphia-Boston-New York-Washington DC corridor.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/does-india-need-a-bullet-train/article19803252.ece;
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