QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 7 December 2016

Solution: a.

NITI Aayog has been entrusted with the role to co-ordinate ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (called as SDGs). The task at hand for NITI Aayog is not merely to periodically collect data on SDGs but to act proactively fructify the goals and targets not only quantitatively but also maintaining high standards of quality.

NITI Aayog’s role

—

Improvisation: The Hindu

Solution: a.

A similar question appeared in 2016 preliminaries (Q77, Click HeRE). The four component indicators are (Click HERE):

• Undernourishment: the proportion of undernourished people as a percentage of the population (reflecting the share of the population with insufficient caloric intake);
• Child wasting: the proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from wasting (low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);
• Child stunting: the proportion of children under the age of five who suffer from stunting (low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and
• Child mortality: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (partially reflecting the fatal synergy of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).1

Improvisation: The Hindu

—

Solution: c.

• Overnutrition: Overnutrition is frequent or habitual overconsumption of nutrients by eating too much food to the point that it becomes dangerous to your health. Nutrients are all compounds necessary for bodily function, including minerals, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Although most nutrients can be harmful in excess, the danger of overnutrition relates mostly to carbohydrates and fats.
• Overweight and obesity contribute to the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases in a big way. The scale of the problem is not discussed prominently in the media. Latest data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) show that in most of the States for which data is available, overweight men and women far outnumber underweight ones, in some instances double the number.

This article briefly captures the ongoing ‘health crisis’ in India, and discusses the importance of data collection to inform initiatives by the government.

Solution: d.

“A recent report of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), a leading think tank — “Tracking health and nutrition targets: four recommendations for India” — identifies gaps and makes four recommendations to improve tracking of health and nutrition targets. The report points out that the first definitive report on State-level strength of the health workforce in India, published this year by the World Health Organisation, has very limited policy relevance as it is based on the 2001 Census. There are no plans so far to analyse the 2011 Census data by the government agencies.”

Improvisation of the same article as provided in the earlier questions.

—

About ORF;

—

Solution: c.

Both statements are correct.

• First, there is a need to transform civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems in India. India relies on sample registration and surveys to track mortality-related goals because of inadequate coverage of its Civil Registration System (CRS).
• Overall, birth and death registrations in India stood at 85.5 per cent and 70.7 per cent, respectively, in 2013. Inter-State differences are sharp.
• Ensuring universal registration of births and deaths by the year 2020, promised in the “Vision 2020” plan announced in 2014, is a policy imperative.

Improvisation of the same article – Click HERE;

—

FAQs on CRS;

Solution: a.

Question framed with a mains perspective. Statement 2 is incorrect.

• Assessing existing surveys: The existing sample surveys that collect data at the national level should be assessed for their comprehensiveness and better streamlined. Unit-level data from India’s sample surveys are an underutilised resource, and unfortunately, some data that are collected spending vast amounts of tax money are not available for public use at all. The National Sample Survey’s (NSS) ‘State sample’ data are a case in point. Pooling of Central and State samples will enhance the policy relevance of NSS data, as the data can then be used to arrive at district-level estimates.
• The national HMIS: The national Health Management Information System (HMIS), which serves as the backbone for monitoring results of the National Health Mission, needs reform. Learning from the District Information System for Education (DISE), which seamlessly integrates public and private sectors into a comprehensive management information system, the HMIS needs to be expanded to integrate the vast private healthcare delivery system in order to enhance policy relevance; the HMIS currently captures only 12.7 per cent of the annual estimated infant deaths and 24.8 per cent of the annual estimated maternal deaths in the country.

Source: The same article – Click HERE;

Solution: b.
Improvisation: The Hindu;

Solution: a.

The same question was posted here in August.

“The Advisory Commission is a joint initiative of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counsellor, and the Kofi Annan Foundation. There are eight members in it apart from the UN veteran — two of them international experts, the others from Myanmar. Its mandate is to “propose concrete measures for improving the welfare of all people in Rakhine”..”

August 2016:  Myanmar’s government has set up an advisory panel headed by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to find “lasting solutions” to the conflict in Rakhine state, where human rights groups have documented widespread abuses against the minority Rohingya Muslims. A statement Tuesday by the office of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said an agreement will be signed between her office and the Kofi Annan Foundation to set up a nine-member advisory commission to resolve “protracted issues in the region.”

Source: The Hindu;

Solution: b.

This is a slightly technical question; be aware that metallic superconductors are associated with very low (Here, the word ‘critical’ is used) temperatures.

Superconductivity (Click HERE) is a phenomenon of exactly zero electrical resistance and expulsion of magnetic flux fields occurring in certain materials when cooled below a characteristic critical temperature.

Improvisation: The Hindu;