UPSC QUIZ 29.02.2024

Explanation:

• United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) participated in the second India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit in New Delhi, India.
• The summit was jointly organized by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), MoD, and the DoD, and coordinated by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) and Society of India Defense Manufacturers (SIDM).
• The summit emphasised the critical role India and the US play as key partners in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
• Discussions centred on co-producing advanced military capabilities, strengthening defence supply chains, and enhancing interoperability to address shared security challenges.

Explanation:

• The 9th edition of the Raisina Dialogue took place in New Delhi, with over 2,500 participants from approximately 115 countries attending the conference in person.Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis joined the inauguration session as the chief guest.
• Participants discussed ongoing geopolitical shifts, including the evolving power dynamics between major players such as the United States, China, Russia, and European countries.
• With the emergence of new challenges and opportunities, discussions revolved around how nations are adapting their strategies and alliances.
• India’s External Affairs Minister called India a “bridging power”, a country seeking common ground through a “multi-vector” policy, and playing the role of a “Vishwamitra” or friend of the world.

Explanation:

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru have created a synthetic human antibody capable of neutralising a powerful neurotoxin produced by Elapidae snakes, such as the cobra, king cobra, krait, and black mamba.
• Elapids, a diverse family of venomous snakes, have hollow, front fangs that deliver venom and include 300 species across various habitats globally.
• The team at IISc adopted a previously successful approach for screening antibodies against HIV and Covid-19 to synthesise a new antibody, marking the first application of this strategy for snakebite treatment.

Explanation:

• Odisha State Cabinet has approved extension of its farmer welfare scheme KALIA (Farmers Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation) for three years from 2024-2025 to 2026-2027.
• The total budget outlay approved for this scheme over the next three years is Rs 6,029.70 crore.
• As per the Cabinet decision, landless agricultural families who have already received all the installments (Rs 12,500) under the KALIA scheme will now be given additional financial assistance of Rs 2,000.
• The move aims to provide further assistance to landless farmer families in the state.

Explanation:

• Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana has completed 5 years. This scheme was launched with the aim of increasing the income of farmers. Under this scheme, financial assistance of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to the farmers.
• This scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 24, 2019 from Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. It is being implemented by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• The central government will provide financial assistance of Rs 6000 per year to small and marginal farmers.
• Rs 75,000 crore will be spent from the government treasury through this scheme.
• The objective of this scheme is to help those farmers who suffer losses due to bad weather or low prices.
• This amount of Rs 6000 will be transferred directly to the accounts of the farmers in three installments of Rs 2000 each.