QUIZ – 2019: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 21 December 2019

Solution: c)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin inaugurated the “Power of Siberia” gas pipeline — a massive cross-border undertaking not only central to China’s energy security but also for bolstering special ties between Beijing and Moscow.

Russia has been a primary gas supplier to Europe, but the Power of Siberia is the first cross-border gas pipeline between Russia and China, adding a prominent eastern dimension to Moscow’s energy blueprint.

From Siberia to China’s Yangtze River delta in Shanghai, the massive pipeline will cover 8,000 km, with 5,111 km inside China, passing through nine provinces and municipalities.

Gas is being sourced from Chayandinskoye and Kovytka fields in eastern Siberia, and is then piped to Blagoveshchensk — the last town on the Russian side of the border. From there, it is tunneled under the Amur River, before entering Heihe on the Chinese side.

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Solution: c)

 YuWaah’- Generation Unlimited initiative:

Launched by UNICEF.

The target age group of YuWaah includes adolescent girls and boys and its key mission is to promote access to foundational, transferable and 21^stcentury skills for youth inside and outside formal education systems, which includes defining foundational skills, life skills and flexible learning and identifying and scaling impactful delivery models.

YuWaah intends to create platforms to guide youth to market opportunities (career guidance, mentorship, internships, apprenticeships) and facilitate integration of career guidance in school education.

• It brings young people together with the private sector, governments, international and local organisations.
• The aim is to tackle the urgent challenge of investing in their learning and training so that they are prepared for the complex and fast-changing world of work and can be active and engaged citizens.

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Solution: b)

‘Global Migration Report 2020’ has been released by International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Key findings- India specific:

• India accounts for the highest share with 17.5 million Indians living outside the country.
• India is the leading recipient of remittances. International remittances in 2018 (2020 report) reached $689 billion, out of which India received $78.6 billion from the 17.5 million living abroad.
• Remittances received by India have consistently increased between the 2005 and 2020.
• The top migration corridors for Indians are the United Arab Emirates, the US and Saudi Arabia.
• Highest number of migrants entering India come from Bangladesh.

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Solution: a)

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination. It was passed on 7 July 2017. In order to come into effect, signature and ratification by at least 50 countries is required. For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities. For nuclear armed states joining the treaty, it provides for a time-bound framework for negotiations leading to the verified and irreversible elimination of its nuclear weapons programme.

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Solution: b)

Bharat Bond Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), the country’s first corporate bond exchange-traded fund aimed at retail investors, saw a strong response, with the issue getting subscribed around 1.7 times.

The issue saw wide participation across categories including individuals, non-resident Indians, high networth individuals, top tier corporates and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

The exchange traded fund will invest only in AAA-rated bonds of public sector companies.

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