Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Kurzarbeit is Germany’s existing scheme that provides for partial compensation for a worker’s earnings in adverse situations.
• Kurzarbeit is German for “short-work”. The policy was rolled out during the 2008 economic crisis while its origins date back as far as the early 20th century, before and after World War I.
• Germany’s use of Kurzarbeit during the 2008-2009 economic crisis has been cited as one of the reasons why the country was able to hold its unemployment rate to within 7.5 per cent even during the recession.

Mode of Working

• The policy provides for a short-time work allowance, called kurzarbeitgeld, which partially compensates for lost earnings during uncertain economic situations.
• They can apply for short-term work benefits under the scheme, with the government stepping in to pay employees a part of their lost income.
• This helps the companies retain their employees instead of laying them off, and allows the latter to sustain themselves for a period of up to 12 months.
• Payment under Kurzarbeit is calculated on the basis of net loss of earnings. As per Germany’s Federal Agency for Work, short-time employees generally receive about 60 per cent of the flat-rate net wage, In case there is at least one child in the house of the short-time worker, he/she receives 67 per cent of the flat-rate net wage.

Explanation :

• Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.
• The virus is named after the Hantan River area in South Korea, where one of the early strains of the virus was isolated in the 70s.
• They are also an RNA virus just like SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus).
• These belong to the order called Bunyavirales and have 12 families.
• The virus is transmitted by rodent excreta, saliva and sometimes, infected rodent bites.
• There are different kinds of illnesses caused by different hantaviruses, and they affect either the blood vessels or the lungs.
• Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses and may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).
• Other hantaviruses, known as “Old World” hantaviruses, are found mostly in Europe and Asia and may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
• In HPS, there are muscle aches, fever, fatigue accompanied by breathing difficulties later. The most damage is observed in the lung, spleen and gall bladder.

Explanation :

• Gudhi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the traditional New Year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus celebrated in and near Maharashtra and Goa on the first day of the Chaitra month to mark the beginning of the New year according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar.
• The word Padwa comes from the Sanskrit word pratipada, which refers to the first day of a lunar fortnight.
• The festival is observed with colorful floor decorations called rangoli, a special Gudhi flag (garlanded with flowers, mango and neem leaves, topped with upturned silver or copper vessel), street processions, dancing and festive foods,
• Cheti Chand is a festival that marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year for Sindhi Hindus.
• The date of the festival is based on the lunar cycle of the lunisolar Hindu calendar, falling on the first day of the year, in the Sindhi month of Chet (Chaitra).
• It typically falls in late March or early April in the Gregorian calendar on or about the same day as Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Ugadi in other parts of the Deccan region of India.
• Navreh is a Hindu Festival, which is celebrated by the Kashmiri Pandits as the New Year's Day.

Explanation :

• As per Article 110 of the Constitution of India, the Finance Bill is a Money Bill.
• The Finance Bill is a part of the Union Budget, stipulating all the legal amendments required for the changes in taxation proposed by the Finance Minister.
• This Bill encompasses all amendments required in various laws pertaining to tax, in accordance with the tax proposals made in the Union Budget.
• The Finance Bill, as a Money Bill, needs to be passed by the Lok Sabha — the lower house of the Parliament.
• Post the Lok Sabha’s approval, the Finance Bill becomes Finance Act.

Difference between a Money Bill and the Finance Bill

• A Money Bill has to be introduced in the Lok Sabha as per Section 110 of the Constitution. Then, it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations.
• The Rajya Sabha has to return the Bill with recommendations in 14 days. However, the Lok Sabha can reject all or some of the recommendations.

Explanation :

• In 2018, the Department of Defence Production instituted a new framework titled ‘Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti’ which aims to provide a boost to the IPR culture in indigenous defence industry.
• The Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) has been entrusted with the responsibility of coordinating and implementing the programme.
• The end objective of the programme is to inculcate IP culture in Indian defence manufacturing ecosystem.

Explanation :

• Launched in 2011, National Innovations on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) is a network project of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
• The project aims to enhance resilience of Indian agriculture to climate change and climate vulnerability through strategic research and technology demonstration.
• It consists of four components viz. Strategic Research, Technology Demonstration, Capacity Building and Sponsored/Competitive Grants.
• The four modules of NICRA – natural resource management, improving soil health, crop production and livestock – is aimed making the farmers self-reliant.

Explanation :

• World Water Day is an annual UN observance day -22 March.
• The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
• The theme of focuses on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), which is in line with the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 6.
• The World Water Day has been observed since 1993 and intends to raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water.

Explanation :

• Namda is a type of traditional Kashmiri carpet made from sheep wool.
• The Namda carpets are made by felting sheep wool rather than by weaving. Many layers of sheep wool are flattened over each other using a tool called ‘‘pinjra’ and pressed with application of water.
• They are then embroidered with colored threads by the Kashmiri Aari Embroidery technique.
• The art consists of floral patterns which provide the themes for these masterpieces and flowers, leaves, buds and fruits are the essence of the designs.
• It is practiced as a craft in several cultures especially the countries throughout Asia such as Iran, Afghanistan and several places in Ladakh, Kutch and Kashmir and Rajasthan in India.

Explanation :

• Huntington’s disease, also known as Huntington's chorea, is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.
• It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities usually during their prime working years and has no cure.
• It is known as the quintessential family disease because every child of a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the faulty gene.

Cause

• It is caused by an expansion of a repeating CAG triplet series in the hunting in gene on chromosome 4, which results in a protein with an abnormally long polyglutamine sequence.

Symptoms

• Personality changes, mood swings & depression
• Forgetfulness & impaired judgment
• Unsteady gait & involuntary movements (chorea)
• Slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing & significant weight loss

Treatment

• There is currently no cure for Huntington's disease and no way to slow or stop the brain changes it causes. Treatments focus on managing symptoms.

Explanation :

• Teesta River (or Tista River) is a 315 km long river that rises in the eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal .
• The river originates from the Pahunri (or Teesta Kangse) glacier above 7,068 metres (23,189 ft), and flows southward through gorges and rapids in the Sikkim Himalaya.
• It is joined by the river Rangpo Chu at Rangpo settlement (which is the entrance to East-Sikkim) and then it forms a boundary between Sikkim and West Bengal. The River then flows through Darjeeling district.
• The main tributary of river Teesta, the Rangit River meets it just before the Teesta bridge.
• Teesta joins the Bramhaputra River (Jamuna River) at Fulchhari in Bangladesh.