UPSC QUIZ 16.05.2024

Explanation:

• According to a new analysis by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PM-EAC), the percentage of Hindus in India has decreased by 7.82% between 1950 and 2015, while the percentages of Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs have increased.

Key Findings of this PM-EAC Report

Declining Majority Population across the World

• From 1950 to 2015, as per the data collected on the religious demographics of 38 OECD countries, 30 of these countries experienced a significant decrease in the proportion of Roman Catholics, the predominant religious group.
• In 167 surveyed countries, the average reduction of majority populations globally during the period 1950-2015 was 22%.
• The decline of the majority religious population was steeper in OECD countries, with an average decline of 29%.

Explanation:

• At the 2nd Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit held in Kenya, African Heads of State adopted the Nairobi Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health under the theme ‘Listen to the Soil’.

Key points of the Nairobi Declaration

Promotion of domestic fertilizer production

• Emphasis on localism: Under this announcement, a commitment has been made to give priority to domestic fertilizer production and triple it in the next 10 years to boost agricultural production.
• This will be realized through prioritizing local production and blending of mineral fertilizers using locally available raw materials.
• Emphasis on Research and Development: The Heads of State also committed to strengthening research and development on the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers through the revival of the African Fertilizer Development Center in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Explanation:

• India's agricultural exports declined 8.2% in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, due to various restrictions on shipments of grains, sugar and onions.
• India needs to reform its agricultural policy to suit the global agricultural market while balancing imports and exports.

Current status of import and export

• According to Commerce Department data, the total agricultural export value in 2023-24 stood at $48.82 billion, lower than the record $53.15 billion in 2022-23 and $50.24 billion in 2021-22.
• There was a decline in exports between 2013-14 and 2019-20 while imports increased during this period.

Explanation:

• A rocky planet has been finally detected by astronomers with an atmosphere.
• Astronomers have for years been searching for rocky planets beyond the Solar System with atmospheres, which are thought to be essential for any possibility of life.
• But this hellish planet – with a surface of apparently molten rock – offers no hope of being habitable.
• Researchers said the planet is a "super-Earth" – a rocky world that is much larger than our planet but smaller than Neptune.
• It orbits a dim star dangerously close and slightly less massive than our Sun, rapidly completing an orbit every 18 hours.
• Using two instruments aboard the James Webb Space Telescope, infrared observations indicated the presence of a substantial atmosphere, possibly being continuously formed by gases escaping from a vast ocean of magma.
• The atmosphere is probably rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, but it may also contain other gases such as water vapor and sulfur dioxide.
• The planet, known as Janssen or 55 Cancri e, has a diameter that is roughly twice that of Earth and is 8.8 times more massive than Earth.
• It orbits its star at one-twentieth the distance between Mercury, the innermost planet in our solar system, and the Sun.
• As a result, its surface temperature is approximately 3,140 °F (1,725 °C/2,000 °K).

Explanation:

• ISRO Chief Somanath unveils the Zero emission initiative of SFO technologies.
• Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chief Somanath unveiled the carbon reduction initiative of SFO Technologies, the flagship company of the NeST Group.
• The Carbon Reduction initiative of the NeST Group aims to achieve a 50 per cent reduction by 2035 and zero emissions by 2040.
• Around 400 enterprises in the country have benefited from the technologies developed by ISRO for its various missions.
• The Indian space sector is supposed to become a USD 9-10 billion business in the next 5-10 years from the current 2 billion dollars.
• SFO Technologies has worked closely in association with ISRO for many years. Both have worked on multiple programmes, such as the RF sub-systems for Chandrayaan and Aditya Missions.
• SFO Technologies and NeST Group are committed to protecting the environment and reducing carbon emissions.