UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 7th May 2024

·       It an initiative to support developing countries as they prepare their climate action plans under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

·       This initiative ensures that any country wishing to increase the ambition of their national climate pledge is able to do so.

Under the Climate Promise, the Countries Supported currently are:

·       Belize

·       Dominica

·       Dominican Republic

·       Grenada

·       Jamaica

·       St. Kitts & Nevis

·       Suriname

·       It grows at high altitude with moderate sunshine and good drainage.

·       Amid its economic significance, argeli cultivation preserves Nepal’s rich cultural heritage and promotes environmental conservation.

·       Mitsumata – A plant used in making Japanese yen currency.

·       Mitsumata has become scarce in japan and Argeli being a relative of Mitsumata, has become an alternative to mitsumata.

How is it created?

·       Researchers (Not from India) first sandwiched an atomic monolayer of silicon between layers of titanium carbide.

·       When they deposited gold on top of this sandwich structure, the gold atoms diffused into the material and replaced the silicon atoms, forming a trapped monolayer of gold atoms.

·       Subsequently, scientists etched away the titanium carbide layers to create a free-standing, one atom thick layer of gold.

·       This was done with the help of an age-old Japanese technique used to forge katanas and high-quality knives, using a chemical popularly known as Murakami’s reagent.

·       These sheets of goldene are roughly 100 nano metres thick (a nanometre is a billionth of a metre), approximately 400 times thinner than the thinnest commercially available gold leaf.

Applications

·       It can be used in the electronics industry.

·       It could also be used in carbon dioxide conversion, hydrogen-generating catalysis, selective production of value-added chemicals, hydrogen production, water purification, etc.

·       Significance: It holds promise as a great catalyst because it’s much more economically viable than thicker, three-dimensional gold.

·       It is a mesmerising natural phenomenon that occurs over the Catatumbo River in Venezuela, where lightning strikes almost continuously.

·       This phenomenon primarily happens at the mouth of the Catatumbo River, where it meets Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in Venezuela.

How does it occurs?

·       Warm, moist air from the Caribbean Sea is pushed towards the Andes mountains, where it collides with cooler air descending from the peaks.

·       This collision creates a perfect storm of sorts, as the warmer air is forced to rise rapidly by the shape of the local landscape. And as it does, it cools and condenses, forming towering cumulonimbus clouds.

·       Meanwhile, the combination of strong winds and temperature differentials generates electrical charges within these clouds.

·       The cumulonimbus clouds — sometimes reaching heights of more than 5 km — load up on static electricity.

·       When the electrical potential within the clouds becomes too great, it discharges in the form of lightning.

·       Catatumbo lightning is distinguished by its frequency and duration: the strikes occur for up to 160 nights in a year, with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute at its peak. Thanks to this constant flow of current, the area has earned the title of “the lightning capital of the world”.

·       These are financial instruments used by investors and hedge funds to invest in Indian securities.

·       Investments flowing in through PNs are considered as offshore derivative investments.

·       These are issued by registered foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly.

·       While the FIIs have to report all such investments each quarter to SEBI, they need not disclose the identity of the actual investors.

Foreign Portfolio Investment

·       It refers to the purchase and holding of a wide array of foreign financial assets by investors seeking to invest in a country outside their own.

·       Foreign portfolio investors have access to a range of investment instruments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, derivatives, fixed deposits, etc.

·       FPI generally intends to invest money into the foreign country’s stock market to generate a quick return.

·       In India, foreign portfolio investment is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).