Daily Current Affairs MCQ - January 21, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

Days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrates the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Indian Railways renamed one of its oldest trains, the Howrah-Kalka Mail, as the ‘Netaji Express’.

• Started in the 19th Century as one of India's early commercial passenger train services, the Kalka mail has always enjoyed a steady patronage and popularity connecting Howrah with Kalka.
• It is said that Bose took this train from Gomoh in Bihar after he escaped from his house in Kolkata in 1941.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has retained State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank as domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) or banks that are considered as “too big to fail”.

• The Reserve Bank had issued the framework for dealing with domestic systemically important banks on July 22, 2014.
• The D-SIB framework requires the Reserve Bank to disclose the names of banks designated as D-SIBs starting from 2015 and place these banks in appropriate buckets depending upon their systemic importance scores (SISs).
• Based on the bucket in which a D-SIB is placed, an additional common equity requirement must be applied.
• According to analysts, too big to fail is a phrase used to describe a bank or company that’s so entwined in the economy that its failure would be catastrophic.
• In case a foreign bank having branch presence in India is a global systemically important bank (G-SIB), it has to maintain additional CET1 capital surcharge in India as applicable to it as a G-SIB, proportionate to its risk weighted assets (RWAs) in India.
   

The Government of India nominated 28 non-official members on the National Startup Advisory Council, including Byju’s CEO Byju Raveendran, Ola Cabs co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, Kalaari Capital Managing Director Vani Kola and SoftBank India country head Manoj Kohli.

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had constituted the council on January 21, 2020, to advise the government on measures required to build a “strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.
• The term of this council's non-official members shall be for two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• The council is chaired by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
• Other members include ZestMoney CEO Lizzie Chapman, Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Kris Gopalakrishnan of Axilor Ventures, Renuka Ramnath from the Indian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Uday Kotak of the CII and Uday Shankar of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

NITI Aayog released a book on faecal sludge and septage management (FSSM) in urban areas.

• Jointly developed with National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance, the book presents 27 case studies across 10 states and various service and business models adopted by Indian cities while implementing FSSM initiatives.
• The report mentions that about 60% of urban households rely on onsite sanitation systems, which require dedicated planning for management of waste collected in these systems’ containment structures.
• Accordingly, FSSM planning prioritizes human excreta management, a waste stream with a high potential for spreading diseases.
• Considering the importance of FSSM solutions, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs came up with the national policy on FSSM in 2017. More than 24 states have adopted it and 12 of them have come up with their own policies.’
• Universal access to toilets was achieved in urban India with the construction of 66 lakh household toilets and more than 6 lakh community and public toilets.
• After achieving the target of ‘Open-Defecation-Free’ (ODF), India has now moved towards becoming ODF+ and ODF++. These targets go beyond the concept of access to sanitation and aim for safely managed sanitation systems, with adequate treatment and safe disposal of toilet waste.

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the investment of Rs.5281.94 crore for 850 MW Ratle Hydro Electric (HE) Project.

• It will be located on river Chenab, in Kishtwar district of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• It will be implemented by a new Joint Venture Company (JVC) to be incorporated between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC) with equity contribution of 51% and 49% respectively.
• The Ratle Hydro Electric Project shall be commissioned within a span of 60 months.
• The Power generated from the Project will help in providing balancing of Grid and will improve the power supply position.
• Further, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be benefitted by getting free power worth Rs. 5289 crore and through levy of Water Usage Charges worth Rs.9581 crore from Ratle Hydro Electric Project, during project life cycle of 40 years.

NITI Aayog, along with the Institute for Competitiveness released the second edition of the India Innovation Index. The first edition of the index was launched in October 2019.

• The India Innovation Index 2020 examines the innovation capabilities and performance of the states and union territories.
• In the ‘Major States’ category, Karnataka continued to occupy the top position, while Maharashtra moved past Tamil Nadu to reach the second place.
• Four southern states—Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala—occupied the top five spots under the ‘Major States’ category this year.
• Overall, Delhi retained its first rank, while Chandigarh made a big leap since 2019 and landed in the second place this year.
• Under the ‘North-Eastern/Hill States’ category, Himachal Pradesh moved up from the second position to emerge as the top ranker this year.
• The innovation inputs were measured through five enabler parameters, and the output through two performance parameters.
• ‘Human Capital’, ‘Investment’, ‘Knowledge Workers’, ‘Business Environment’, ‘Safety and Legal Environment’ were identified as enabler parameters.

• ‘Knowledge Output’ and ‘Knowledge Diffusion’ were chosen as the performance parameters.

• Karnataka’s rank is attributable to its substantive number of venture capital deals, registered geographical indicators and information and communications technology exports.

• Karnataka’s high Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow has also enhanced the innovation capabilities of the state.

The 5th Defence Ministers' Dialogue (DMD) between India and Singapore was successfully held on 20 January 2021 through a video conference.

• At this 5th DMD, both Ministers witnessed the signing of the Implementing Agreement on Submarine Rescue Support and Cooperation between the two Navies.
• The Ministers further welcomed the implementing agreement on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) cooperation in August 2020 for the two Armed Forces to have closer operational collaboration in response to disasters.
• The Ministers were pleased that the Indian Navy and Singapore Navy successfully conducted the 27th edition of Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) and also participated in the second edition of the Singapore-India-Thailand Maritime Exercise (SITMEX); both held in November 2020.
• Rajnath Singh reaffirmed ASEAN centrality in the regional security architecture and pledged India’s support to all endeavours of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.
• The cyber agencies of both armed forces have also stepped up engagements.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has entered into a framework MoU with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) to strengthen collaboration on sustainable Geo-Hazard management.

• DRDO’s Defence Geo-Informatics Research Establishment (DGRE) is working for the development of critical technologies for enhancing combat effectiveness in various kinds of terrains and avalanches.
• MoRTH is responsible for development & maintenance of National Highways across the country.
• It has been agreed that the expertise of DGRE will be utilized in providing sustainable mitigation measures to damages caused by landslides, avalanche and other natural factors on various National Highways in the Country.

To improve telecom connectivity in hilly areas, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), has recently signed an agreement with Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd. (HPSEBL) in Shimla (H.P.) for utilization of 500 Kms of OPGW Telecom network.

• Through this OPGW Network, Telecom Service providers will be able to provide uninterrupted mobile/Internet services to the people of the state.
• An optical ground wire is also known as an OPGW or, in the IEEE standard, an optical fiber composite overhead ground wire.
• It is a type of cable that is used in overhead power lines. Such cable combines the functions of grounding and communications.
• OPGW is optical fiber composite ground wire. This cable contains a tubular structure having one or more optical fiber and surrounded by layers of aluminium and steel wires.
• This layer of aluminium and steel wires serves to connect the tower to the ground. The optical fiber within the cable is used for the high speed data telemetry between the utilities or sold to some third parties for high speed fiber interconnection between the cities.
• POWERGRID, a ‘Maharatna’ CPSE under Ministry of Power, Government of India and Central Transmission Utility (CTU) of India, is India’s principal power transmission company and also one of the largest power transmission utilities in the world.

The Gujarat government has decided to rename the dragon fruit as ‘kamalam’.

• Dragon fruit is the fruit of a species of wild cactus indigenous to South and Central America, where it is called pitaya or pitahaya.
• The fruit’s flesh is usually white or red — although there is a less common yellow pitaya too — and is studded with tiny seeds rather like the kiwifruit.
• The world’s largest producer and exporter of dragon fruit is Vietnam, where the plant was brought by the French in the 19th century. The Vietnamese call it thanh long, which translates to “dragon’s eyes”, believed to be the origin of its common English name.
• Dragon fruit is also cultivated in — apart from its native Latin America — Thailand, Taiwan, China, Australia, Israel, and Sri Lanka.
• It was brought to India in the 1990s, and is grown in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It grows in all kinds of soil, and does not require much water.
• According to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the fruit’s outer shape resembles a lotus, which is also the election symbol of the BJP. The word ‘kamalam’ is a Sanskrit word and the shape of the fruit does resemble the lotus flower.
• “We have applied for a patent of the dragon fruit to be called ‘kamalam’, Mr. Rupani said at the launch of the Chief Minister Horticulture Development Mission, a scheme to promote horticulture in unproductive land parcels.