Daily Current Affairs Quiz – July 13, 2020

The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is the integrated intelligence master database structure for counter-terrorism purpose connecting databases of various core security agencies under Government of India collecting comprehensive patterns procured from 21 different organizations that can be readily accessed by security agencies round the clock. NATGRID came into existence after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on February 5, 2020 announced in Parliament that Project NATGRID with all its required physical infrastructures be completed by the end of March 2020. The whole master database will go live by December 31, 2020. It is accessible to only authorized people from 10 security agencies on a case-to-case basis for investigations into suspected cases of terrorism. Around 70 people have access.

It is a counter-terrorism measure that collects and collates a host of information from government databases including:

• • Tax and Bank account details,
  • Credit card transactions,
  • Visa and Immigration records,
  • Itineraries of Rail and Air travel.

UDAN-RCS, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional airport development and “Regional Connectivity Scheme” (RCS) of Government of India, with the objective of “letting the common citizen of the country fly”, aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and states of India.

Under this scheme:

1. The regional connectivity scheme will be applicable on route length between 200 to 800 km with no lower limit set for hilly, remote, island and security sensitive regions.
2. The Central government will provide concessions to the tune of 2 per cent excise on Value Added Tax (VAT) and service tax at 1/10th the rate and liberal code sharing for regional connectivity scheme airports.
3. A Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) will be created to fund the scheme via a levy on certain flights. States are expected to contribute 20 per cent to the fund.
4. For balanced regional growth, allocations will be spread equitably across 5 regions – North, West, South, East and North East with a cap of 25 percent.
5. Market-based reverse bidding mechanism to determine least VGF to select the airline operator with the right to match to the initial proposer. The government said VGF will be reduced if passenger load factor remains high and will be discontinued after 3 years when route becomes self sustainable.
6. 50 per cent of the seats under UDAN scheme would be cappped at Rs 2,500.

Under RCS plans are to connect these underserved airports to key airports through flights that will cost Rs 2,500 for per hour flight.

first UDAN Flight under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) on Shimla – Delhi sector

The Spinoff prize is a new attempt to reward commercialization of discoveries in university labs.

It is administered by Nature Magazine.

The first edition was launched in November 2019.

The world’s costliest fungus — Ophiocordyceps sinensis — also known as Himalayan Viagra, which sells in international markets for upwards of Rs 20 lakh per kg, has entered the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species. The list which was released on July 9, has placed the fungus, known for its aphrodisiac and rejuvenation properties, in the ‘vulnerable’ category

Citing the reason for placing the fungus in the vulnerable category, IUCN said “its spread has declined by at least 30% over the past 15 years as a result of overharvesting.” The fungus, also known as keeda jadi in Uttarakhand because of its caterpillar-like appearance, is endemic to the Himalayan and Tibetan plateau and is found in China, Bhutan, Nepal and India. In India, it is primarily found in Uttarakhand in the higher reaches of districts like Pithoragarh and Chamoli.