QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 12 & 13 March 2017

Solution: c.

Of course, there may be cases within other nations mentioned above, of people faced with the threat of famine and starvation. But the most appropriate answer in this instance is option ‘c’. This is because, the UN Secretary General made an appeal last month for funds to deal with the situation in these four nations (Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan and Somalia), and the UN Humanitarian chief very recently made a similar appeal with reference to the same issue.

BBC;

Solution: d.

• Statement 1: It has been named after River Brahmaputra and River Moskva (flows in Western Russia).
• Statement 2: No ramjet engine can move any aircraft/missile from standstill. This is because a ramjet engine is “a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the engine’s forward motion to compress incoming air without an axial compressor”. That is, a ramjet engine “requires an assisted take-off to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust”.
• Learning: BRAHMOS is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine as its first stage which brings it to supersonic speed and then gets separated. The liquid ramjet or the second stage then takes the missile closer to 3 Mach speed in cruise phase.
• Statement 3: The technology upgrade comes after India’s full membership to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which removed caps on range of BRAHMOS cruise missile. With this missile, the Indian Armed Forces will now be able to knock down enemy targets far beyond 400 kms.

TH; BrahMos Extended Range missile successfully test-fired;

About BrahMos;

NASA: Ramjet Propulsion;

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Solution: d.

Statement 1: It is the deepest continental body of water, and it contains around 20% of the world’s total unfrozen freshwater reserve.

• Learning: Known as the ‘Galapagos of Russia’, its age (it is the oldest existing freshwater lake) and isolation have produced one of the world’s richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science. Hence, its status as a UNESCO WHS.
• In the news: A vision document of the Lanzhou Urban and Rural Planning Design Institute has proposed a water pipeline starting from the southwest point of Lake Baikal. It will stretch for around 1,000 km to bring freshwater from the deepest lake in the world to Lanzhou (capital of a province in Northwest China). The proposal, still on paper, is likely to trigger a major controversy, with eco-conservationists in Russia possibly taking the lead. RT, Russia’s news network, has already reported that water levels of the pristine lake have fallen to a critical low of 456 metres, mainly due to the dwindling inflows. Consequently, residents near the lake have been advised to reduce consumption of water and power.

TH: From Siberia to Lanzhou, via pipeline;

Britannica: Lake Baikal;

Solution: d.

NASA’s ‘Europa Clipper’, set for launch in the 2020s, will probe the habitability of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because it holds a salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust.

Th; NASA’s Europa Clipper to probe habitability of Europa;

Solution: a.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching, scientists said Friday, warning many species would struggle to fully recover. The 2,300-km reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April. Importantly, this is the first time ever that the Great Barrier Reef has been seen to bleach two years in sequence.

Th: A mass coral bleaching again;

Solution: b.

• The extent to which rumours about the safety of vaccines can impact the number of children vaccinated was witnessed in Tamil Nadu during the measles-rubella vaccination drive last month. Though the slip in vaccination coverage due to rumour-mongering is unprecedented for the State, patently wrong, misleading and unbalanced information about vaccine safety has been a menace across the world for many years now.
• As is the norm today, parents and caregivers often turn to the Internet for information about vaccine safety. Chances are that many people inadvertently land on websites that contain wrong and alarmingly misleading information. With such websites mushrooming, the World Health Organization launched the Vaccine Safety Net to provide doctors, parents and others access to “accurate and trustworthy information about vaccines.
• Launched in 2003, the Vaccine Safety Net is a global network of vaccine safety websites, evaluated by the WHO. Websites are subjected to severe vetting by the Vaccine Safety Net before being approved to become a member. The Indian Academy of Paediatrics’ Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation Practices (ACVIP) (an independent entity) is one of the members of the network.

TH: Why did WHO launch a website for vaccines;

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Solution: b.

• Despite institutional delivery being as high as nearly 79% nationally, the number of children in India breastfed within one hour of birth is less than 42% — near 43% in urban areas and 41% in rural India, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4) data released a few days ago.
• WHO: Early initiation of breastfeeding: Provision of mother’s breast milk to infants within one hour of birth is referred to as “early initiation of breastfeeding” and ensures that the infant receives the colostrum, or “first milk”, which is rich in protective factors.

Improvisation: TH: On track, but more needed;

Solution: d.

Mission Fingerling will help achieve Blue Revolution.

• When they have developed to the point where they are capable of feeding themselves, the fish are called fry.
• When, in addition, they have developed scales and working fins, the transition to a juvenile fish is complete and it is called a fingerling. Fingerlings are typically about the size of fingers.

PIB;

Solution: c.

• Capital control represents any measure taken by a government, central bank or other regulatory body to limit the flow of foreign capital in and out of the domestic economy. These controls can be economy-wide or specific to either a sector or industry.
• Tight controls are most often found in developing economies, where the capital reserves are lower and more susceptible to volatility.
• Capital controls are often put in place after an economic crisis, to prevent domestic citizens and foreign investors from pulling funds out of a country.

Investopedia: Capital Control;

Improvisation: BBC: Iceland to end capital controls from 2008 financial crisis;

Solution: a.

The Union Cabinet recently approved the acquisition by the State Bank of India of its subsidiary banks namely State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and State Bank of Travancore. No decision regarding the proposal to merge Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI has been taken so far.

15^th February: PIB;

March 5^th: TH: When SBI, associate Banks merge;

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Solution: b.

• India’s current member to the 21-person body, called Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and part of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), said he was “anguished” by India’s decision not to field a candidate for the upcoming election. The Ministry of External Affairs formally nominates Indian Candidates.
• “The Ministry of Earth Sciences is the nodal Ministry of the Government for the Law of the Sea-related issues. However, the MEA went on to nominate a retired Joint Secretary-level officer for International Tribunal for the Law Of the Sea membership, whereas the MoES candidate for CLCS was not agreed to by the MEA,” an official source said. (Also, questions in the Parliament regarding the Continental Shelf, its limits, etc. are addressed to the MoES).

Th: India to lose presence on UN Scientific Panel;

Solution: b.

The description in the statement 1 refers to the purpose of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

• The purpose the CLCS is to facilitate the implementation of the UNCLOS in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured. Under the Convention, the coastal State shall establish the outer limits of its continental shelf where it extends beyond 200 M on the basis of the recommendation of the Commission. The commission’s recommendations and actions shall not prejudice matters relating to the delimitation of boundaries between States with opposite or adjacent coasts.
• Statement 2: Refer to the solution of the next question.
• Learning: Apart from signalling prestige, a membership of the commission allows India to gauge the scientific strength of claims by countries to parts of the seabed that, like territorial waters, are often hard to demarcate. Such information is privy only to participants. India has had disputes with several neighbours over how the continental shelf can be fairly distributed. For instance, India has applied for extending the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 350 nautical miles from the existing 200. India’s submission to the CLCS is numbered 48, whereas Sri Lanka’s submission, numbered 43 and which has claimed a larger area than India, will be examined first, later this year.

UN: Purpose of the CLCS;

Improvisation: Th: India to lose presence on UN Scientific Panel;

Solution: b.

• Balaghat mines in MP is a leading producer of copper.
• Panchpatmali deposits in Koraput district (Odisha) is an important source of bauxite.
• Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru belt in Karnataka has large reserves of iron ore.
• Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt lies in Chattisgarh and Maharashtra, where very high grade hematites are found.

Improvisation: TH: Iron ore output rises;

Pg 53, Class X, Contemporary India II, NCERT;

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Solution: d.

All three are bodies established by the UNCLOS.

Learning: India became a signatory to the UNCLOS in 1982 and has had continuous representation in CLCS, ITLOS and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) since their inception in 1997, 1996 and 1994 respectively.

UN: Oceans and Law of the Sea;

Improvisation: Th: India to lose presence on UN Scientific Panel;