UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 27th September 2024

·       Network will strengthen cooperation and promote information exchange and co-financing among participating institutions to advance diverse, secure, and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals.

·       Network will drive sustainable investment in global critical mineral supply chains, including by mobilizing private sector capital, in production, extraction, processing, recycling, and recovery projects.

About Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)

·       MSP is a collaboration of 14 countries and European Union to catalyze public and private investment in responsible critical minerals supply chains globally.

·       India joined MSP in 2023.

·       MSP focuses on the minerals and metals supply chains most relevant for clean energy technologies.

·       These include – but are not limited to – lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, rare earth elements, and copper.

·       It was launched by the Lowy Institute in 2018.

·       It is an annual measure of power dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region.

·       It evaluates 27 countries across the Asia-Pacific, examining their ability to shape and respond to the external environment.

·       The Index focuses on both the material capabilities of states and the influence they exert on the international stage.

·       The 2024 edition offers one of the most comprehensive assessments of power distribution in the region to date. Timor-Leste has been included for the first time, reflecting its growing importance in Southeast Asia.

·       It index is divided into resource-based and influence-based determinants

Resource-Based Determinants:

·       Economic Capability: The core economic strength of a country, measured through indicators like GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP), technological sophistication, and global economic connectivity.

·       Military Capability: Evaluates conventional military strength based on defense spending, armed forces, weapon systems, and signature capabilities like long-range power projection.

·       Resilience: The internal capacity to deter threats to state stability, including institutional robustness, geopolitical security, and resource security.

·       Future Resources: Forecasts the future distribution of resources, including economic, military, and demographic factors projected for 2035.

Influence-Based Determinants:

·       Economic Relationships: The capacity to exercise leverage through trade, investment, and economic diplomacy.

·       Defense Networks: The strength of alliances and partnerships, measured through military cooperation and arms transfers.

·       Diplomatic Influence: The extent of a country’s diplomatic reach, participation in multilateral forums, and foreign policy ambition.

·       Cultural Influence: The ability to shape international public opinion through cultural exports, media, and people-to-people ties.

·       A country’s overall power score is derived from a weighted average of these eight measures, encompassing 131 individual indicators.

·       The institute placed the US at the top of its Asia Power Index with a score of 81.7, followed by China with a score of 72.7, and India with a score of 39.1.

Objective:

·       To estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the ‘Current Weekly Status’ (CWS).

·       To estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

·       Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons of age 15 years and above was 60.1%. The same for male and female was 78.8% and 41.7% respectively.

·       Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons of age 15 years and above was 58.2%. The same for male and female was 76.3% and 40.3% respectively.

·       Unemployment Rate (UR) was 3.2% for both male and females of age 15 years and above.

·       Unemployment Rate for male has shown a marginal decline from 3.3% during July 2022 – June 2023 to 3.2% during July 2023 – June 2024, among females it has increased from 2.9% to 3.2% during the same time span.

·       The scheme covers all cities with Municipal Corporations, Municipalities and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

·       Emphasis is on biodiversity, Planting fruit-bearing, medicinal, and native species to attract wildlife and promote ecological balance. Community participation is central, with opportunities for public engagement through tree planting, educational programs, and sustainable management.

·       Presently, the Nagar Van Yojana aims to develop 1000 Nagar Vans by the year 2027 with the financial support of National Fund of National Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (National CAMPA).

·       Nagar Van areas range from a minimum of 10 ha to 50 ha.

·       Each Nagar Van must have at least two-thirds of its area under tree cover and will feature components like Biodiversity Parks, Smriti Vans, Butterfly Conservatories, and Herbal Gardens and now Matri Van created under Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam.

·       It is classified as a nonconcentric complex crater, and could provide invaluable insights into Earth’s geological and biological evolution.

·       It spans an astonishing 600 kilometers across central Australia.

·       The newly discovered structure, named as Massive Australian Precambrian-Cambrian Impact Structure (MAPCIS).

·       The impact is believed to have occurred at the end of the Ediacaran period.

·       It includes massive deposits of pseudotachylite breccia (melt rock) near the crater’s center, presence of shocked minerals, including lonsdaleite (shocked diamond), and impact-level concentrations of iridium.

Key facts about the Ediacaran Period

·       It is an interval of geologic time ranging 635 to 541 million years ago.

·       It is the uppermost division of the Proterozoic Eon of Precambrian time and latest of the three periods of the Neoproterozoic Era.

·       This period produced some of the earliest known evidence of the evolution of multicellular animals.

·       It was a time of immense geological and biological change, and records the transition from a planet largely dominated by microscopic organisms, to a Cambrian world swarming with animals.