UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 15th July 2024

·       Foxnut, commonly known as Makhana, is an important aquatic crop.

·       It is grown in stagnant perennial water bodies like ponds, land depressions, oxbow lakes, swamps and ditches.

·       It is a plant of tropical and subtropical climate.

·       Makhana plant is considered as native of South-East Asia and China, but distributed to almost every part of the world.

Required climatic conditions

·       Temperature: 200C to 350 C

·       Relative humidity :50% to 90%

·       Annual rainfall: 100 cm to 250 cm

·       Soil: Smooth loamy soil

·       In India it is mainly distributed in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh but commercially produced in few states only.

·       Bihar in India is the leading state in its production and processing. It is estimated that Bihar accounts for more than 80 percent of total Makhana production in the country.

·       Makhana is a product approved under the Union government’s One District One Product scheme, under which subsidies are provided to food processors for branding, marketing, and developing infrastructure.

Benefits of Makhana

·       It is a kind of hydrophyte used both as drug and food which exhibits much application and development prospect in the fields of medicine, food and economy.

·       Makhana is the seed of a cash aquatic crop, which was popularly used as herb and food in China. Makhana possessed high nutritional value and many medical and health protection effects.

·       It is released by NITI Aayog.

·       It measures and tracks national progress of all States and UTs on 113 indicators aligned to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF).

·       The SDG India Index computes goal-wise scores on the 16 SDGs for each State and UT.

·       Overall State and UT scores or Composite Scores are generated from goal-wise scores to measure the aggregate performance of the sub-national unit based on its performance across the 16 SDGs.

·       These scores range between 0–100, and if a State/UT achieves a score of 100, it signifies it has achieved the targets.

·       The higher the score of a State/UT, the greater the distance covered to the target.

·       NITI Aayog has the twin mandate to oversee the adoption and monitoring of the SDGs in the country and promote competitive and cooperative federalism among States and UTs.

·       The Index represents the articulation of the comprehensive nature of the Global Goals under the 2030 Agenda while being attuned to the national priorities.

·       The SDG India Index 2023-24 demonstrates the increase in composite scores across all States, with improvements ranging from 1 to 8 points.

·       The composite score for India has improved from 2018 to 2020-21 to 2023-24.

·       The score on the Income and gender inequality decreased and score on poverty has improved.

·       Not all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are included in the composite score and Goal 14 has been excluded in the calculation of the Composite Score for the Index as it solely pertains to the nine coastal States.

·       The composite score for India improved from 57 in 2018 to 66 in 2020-21 to further to 71 in 2023-24.

·       The score on the Income and gender inequality decreased and score on poverty has improved.

·       Sector-specific, sector-agnostic, and debt Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and

·       Direct equity support to start-ups working in Agriculture and allied sectors.

·       It aims to foster innovation and sustainability in India’s agricultural sector through the establishment of an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).

·       The fund will offer both equity and debt support, specifically targeting high-risk, high- impact activities in the agriculture value chain.

·       The fund will focus on innovation in agriculture, enhancing the farm produce value chain, creating rural infrastructure, generating employment, and supporting Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs).

·       The fund will also encourage IT-based solutions and machinery rental services for farmers.

·       NABVENTURES, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NABARD, will be the Fund manager of AgriSURE.

·       The fund is designed to operate for 10 years, extendable by two or more years.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

·       It works closely with governments and stakeholders to help countries around the world meet their economic, social and environmental goals.

·       It has been helping countries to find common ground on sustainable development, population, social matters, financing for development and many other issues.

·       It supports building national strategies and plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UN DESA also plays a key role in assessing progress towards the SDGs through its analytical products, policy advice and technical assistance.

·       Headquarter: New York (USA)

·       The world’s population is expected to continue growing over the coming 50-60 years, reaching a peak of around 10.3 billion people in the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion in 2024.

·       After peaking, the global population is projected to start declining gradually, falling to 10.2 billion people by the end of the century.

·       Fertility Rate: Currently, the global fertility rate stands at 2.25 live births per woman,1 down from 3.31 births in 1990.

·       More than half of all countries and areas globally have fertility below the replacement level of 2.1 live births per woman.

·       Life expectancy: Globally, life expectancy at birth reached 73.3 years in 2024, an increase of 8.4 years since 1995. Further reductions in mortality are projected to result in an average longevity of around 77.4 years globally in 2054.

·       India’s population in 2024 is projected at 1.45 billion and this will peak to 1.69 billion in 2054.

·       It is a new species of dogfish shark discovered from southwest coast of India.

·       Squalus is a genus of dogfish sharks in the family Squalidae. commonly known asspurdogs and are characterized by smooth dorsal fin spines.

·       They also have an angular short snout, a small mouth almost as wide as the snout, first dorsal fin origin behind the pectoral fins, and body without anyspots.

·       They are exploited for their liver oil, which contains high levels of squalene (or squalane when it is processed for products).

·       It is in high demand for the pharmaceutical industry, particularly for making high-end cosmetic and anti-cancerous products.

·       On the Indian coast, two species of Squalus are found from the southwest coast of India, and the new species, Squalus hima n.sp., very similar to Squalus lalannei, but differs in many characteristics.