Daily Current Affairs Quiz 24 May 2023

d) UNEP

A report titled “Turning off the Tap: How the world can end plastic pollution and create a circular economy” was released recently by UNEP.
According to this report, global plastic pollution can be reduced by 80% by 2040 if deep policy and market shifts are achieved using existing technologies and shift to circular economy.

c) 2 and 6

In India, the tropic of cancer passes through States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.

a) Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners –They are sugar substitutes that are used to sweeten foods and beverages with very little to no calories.
· They are also called as non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), non-sugar sweeteners (NSS), low calorie sweeteners and intense sweeteners.

· Common NSS – Acesulfame K (Ace-K), aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, stevia, and stevia derivatives.

What are the recommendations by WHO?

· Lacks long term benefits – Artificial sweeteners do not provide any long term benefits in reducing body fat in adults or children.

· Diseases caused – The use of sugar alternatives has been found to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, depression, cardiovascular diseases, and causes digestive issues.

· It also causes bladder cancer and preterm births when consumed by pregnant women.

· Weight loss – Even though there could be weight loss in short term, in long term it leads to weight gain.

Recently, The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended against using artificial sweeteners to achieve weight loss and prevent lifestyle diseases.

c) UN

World Economic Situation and Prospects report was released recently by the UN. According to this report, the global economic growth is expected to 2.3 percent in 2023.
The report also expected a 2.5 per cent growth in 2024. The growth rate is still well below the average growth rate in the two decades before the pandemic of 3.1%.

d) Both 1 and 2

Yield – In simple terms, yield is the amount of return that an investor will realize on a bond.
· If the investor holds the bond to maturity, s/he will be guaranteed to get the principal amount back plus the interest.

· However, a bond does not necessarily have to be held to maturity by the investors.

· Instead, investors may sell them for a higher or lower price to other investors.

· The bond prices and yields generally move in opposite directions.

· This is because, as a bond’s price increases, its yield to maturity falls. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

How RBI controls bond yield?

· The RBI aims to keep yields lower as that reduces borrowing costs for the government while preventing any upward movement in lending rates in the market.

· Thus it controls bond yields either by buying back government bonds or conduct open market operations to cool yields. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Indian Government bond yields are set to open lower after the Reserve Bank of India’s move to withdraw the country’s highest value currency notes.