QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz – 18 & 19 September, 2016

Solution: d.

The Diplomat: “The warships of the Visakhapatnam-class are based on the older Project 15A Kolkata-class destroyers design, three of which will join the Indian Navy by the end of 2016. The Visakhapatnam-class is the most advanced destroyer class ever to be built in India, according to Indian defense officials. Displacing 7,300 tons, the stealth guided missile destroyer has a crew of 50 officers and 250 sailors. It is powered by four Ukrainian gas turbine engines, and capable of reaching a maximum speed of about 30 knots. The ship’s operational range is around 4,000 nautical miles.”

“Around 65 percent of components of the Vishakhapatnam-class are domestically designed and produced, including 11 of its weapon and associated sensor systems, according to Indian naval officials. The principal armament of the Visakhapatnam-class will be eight BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles” and it “will be equipped with the Barak-8/NG — an Indo-Israeli surface-to-air missile (SAM)”.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/six-things-you-need-to-know-about-mormugao-indias-latest-missile-destroyer/article9118937.ece?photo=1

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http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=150861

Solution: b.

“This judicial innovation, formalised by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Rajiv Gandhi killers’ case in December 2015, helps “get rid of death penalty” and addresses the genuine concerns of the society to see justice done, a three-judge Bench led by Justice J. Chelameswar observed in its recent judgment. The innovation involves substituting death penalty with a “special category” of life imprisonment without the benefit of release on remission for prolonged periods ranging from 25 to 30 years, if not more.

This innovative approach veering away from capital punishment was formalised after the Supreme Court gave itself the authority to tweak the sentencing laws and evolve a special category of sentence in its judgment in Union of India versus Sriharan alias Murugan last year. The special category is to be limited to a “very few cases”. This special category finds its first mention in the Swami Shraddananda versus State of Karnataka judgment of the Supreme Court in 2008.

The innovation, according to Justice S.K. Singh, who authored the Lodhi judgment for Justice Chelameswar’s Bench, is an endeavour by the apex court to make “no party (convict or the society) a loser”. So having saved Lodhi from the hangman’s rope, Justice Singh stripped him of his right to apply for release from prison on remission for the next 25 years. Thus, any hope Lodhi might have had for his release after serving the first 14 years was effectively extinguished.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/judicial-innovation-helps-supreme-court-avoid-awarding-death-penalty/article9121307.ece

Solution: c.

Section 52(1) in the Copyright Act, 1957

Relevant for our purpose: Section 52(1)(i) – The following acts shall not constitute an infringement of copyright, namely:

• by a teacher or a pupil in the course of instruction; or
• as part of the questions to be answered in an examination; or
• in answers, to such questions;

“In its much awaited judgment in the Delhi University photocopying case (The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford v. Rameshwari Photocopy Services), the Delhi High Court has dismissed the copyright infringement petition initiated in August 2012 by three publishers (Oxford, Cambridge and Taylor & Francis) against a photocopy shop located in the premises of Delhi University”

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/judgment-in-the-delhi-university-photocopying-case-a-blow-for-the-right-to-knowledge/article9121260.ece

Solution: c.

The 16^th Summit was held in Iran in 2012. It assumed the chair then from Egypt, and the latest summit – the 17^th NAM Summit – recently concluded in Venezuela, has resulted in Venezuela occupying the chair.

“I congratulate the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for assuming the Chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement. I felicitate His Excellency President Hassan Rouhani for the outstanding leadership that the Islamic Republic of Iran provided to our Movement over the last four years.”

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=150874

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement#Organizational_structure_and_membership

Solution: a.

“Our theme for the next three years – “Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development” – is in congruence with our founding principles.” As a Movement that has stood steadfastly in the forefront by highlighting global economic issues that affect the developing world, we must ensure wholehearted and holistic implementation of the SDGs and remain attentive to any effort to modify or distort Agenda 2030 by laying overemphasis on particular SDGs over others, or by trying to create a standard of measurement that could be intrusive and has no relationship to national contexts.

Sustainable development, Excellency, is both the bedrock and the highest aspiration of our efforts; hence the importance of solidarity that this Movement attaches to achieving it. This is epitomised in the theme of the Summit – Solidarity for Development.

The other two elements of our triad of objectives – Peace and Sovereignty – are a pre-requisite for development. A peaceful global environment is essential for development and for development cooperation; such cooperation must be undertaken in exercise of the sovereign will of each member of the community of nations. The interdependence of the three is thus evident and essential. The impediments to each must also be discerned clearly.”

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=150874

Solution: b.
“American movie star Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled on Thursday, a new, free technology that allows users to spy on global fishing practices, in a bid to curb illegal fishing.”

• “It aims to offer a crowd sourced solution to the problem of illegal fishing, which accounts for up to 35 per cent of the global wild marine catch and causes yearly losses of $23.5 billion, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”
• “Using satellite technology combined with radar aboard boats, the site globalfishingwatch.org allows people to zero in on areas of interest around the world and trace the paths of 35,000 commercial fishing vessels.”

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/leonardo-dicaprio-unveils-free-technology-to-spy-on-illegal-fishing/article9115109.ece

Solution: b.

Hansen’s Disease is Leprosy. Chikungunya has the effect of causing severe joint pain, somewhat similar to arthritis, causing the curling up of fingers and hands and so on – “that which bends up”.

“… “That which bends up” is what the word “Chikungunya” means in Kimakonde, an African language. It’s quite an apt word considering the effect this infection has on those affected by it! …”

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/chikungunya-an-uneasy-buzz/article9119210.ece

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Solution: b.

River Musi is a tributary of River Krishna.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/foam-and-fury/article9119746.ece

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http://www.irrigation.telangana.gov.in/icad/static/projects/musi.html

Solution: d.

All pairs are correctly matched.

Modified question; original question was posted on August 25^th.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/no-decision-on-odishas-next-move/article9122200.ece

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Solution: c.

“Belgium legalised euthanasia in 2002, and two years ago amended the rules to permit doctor-assisted death for minors. It is the only country in the world allowing euthanasia on minors of all ages. In the neighbouring Netherlands the practice is legal for children aged at least 12. The Belgian law allows euthanasia for minors under strict conditions. Minors have to be conscious and able to make rational decisions when they request assisted death. Psychologists or psychiatrists must be consulted and the authorisation of the parents is required. To undergo euthanasia, the minor must also be in a “terminal medical situation with constant and unbearable physical pain which cannot be assuaged and that will cause death in the short term,” the law says.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/first-mercy-killing-of-minor-in-belgium/article9118814.ece

Solution: d.

“A young Iraqi woman, who survived trafficking at the hands of the Islamic State (IS), has been appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking. Nadia Murad Basee Taha (23), a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, is the Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/trafficking-survivor-from-yazidi-community-made-un-ambassador/article9119696.ece

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http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-28686607