Current Affairs Quiz Today – 11th Jan 2021

ANS: (B) West Bengal

Explanation:

• The Gangasagar festival is celebrated between 13th – 15th January at the Sagar Island (West Bengal) located at the confluence of river Ganga and the Bay of Bengal.
• This confluence is also called Gangasagar. The Kapil Muni Temple is located near the confluence.
• The globally acclaimed spiritual and cultural event is known as Gangasagar Mela 2020 or Ganga Sagar Yatra or Ganga Snan.
• Gangasagar Mela is famous worldwide and this mela is celebrated with great pomp and grandeur in West Bengal.

ANS: (A) 1 and 2 only

Explanation:

• Vanadium is a hard, silvery-grey, malleable transition metal.
• It is a high-value metal used in strengthening steel and titanium.
• The elemental metal is rarely found in nature.
• It is recovered as a by-product from the slag collected from the processing of vanadiferous magnetite ores (iron ore).
• The largest deposits of vanadium of the world are in China, followed by Russia and South Africa.
• India is a significant consumer of vanadium, but is not a primary producer of the strategic metal.

ANS: (B) 2 and 4 Only

Explanation:

Sarit Sarak – Manipur

Silambam – Tamil Nadu

ANS: (D) Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9^th January every year to mark the contribution of Overseas Indian community in the development of India.
  • 9^th January was chosen as the day to celebrate PBD since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• On the occasion, several events such as PBD Convention, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award and Bharat ko Janiye Quiz are organised.
  • PBD Conventions are held once every two years.
• Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award:
  • It is the highest honour conferred on a Non-Resident Indian, Person of Indian Origin; or an organisation or institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Origin, who have made significant contribution in better understanding of India abroad, support India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way, community work abroad, welfare of local Indian community, philanthropic and charitable work, etc. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • During the PBD convention, select eminent Indian diaspora members are awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards in the presence of the President of India.

ANS: (D) 1, 2 and 3

Explanation

• The Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of the Ecosystem Services (NCAVES) India Forum-2021 is being organised by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in virtual format.
• The MoSPI has taken up several initiatives under the project “Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (NCAVES)” which aims to advance the theory and practice of ecosystem accounting in India.
  • The NCAVES Project, funded by the European Union, has been jointly implemented by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). Hence, option D is correct.
  • India is one of the five countries taking part in this project – the other countries being Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico.
  • In India, the NCAVES project is being implemented by the MoSPI in close collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under the Department of Space.