QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 29 June 2017

Solution: c.

• Being aware of the identity of these vessels is imperative to preventing any potential threat from the sea from impinging on the coastal and offshore security of the country. The 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack is a case in point. Indian Navy has thus been working towards achieving complete Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) along with all other concerned agencies like the coast guard, customs, ports, fisheries, etc.
• The seas of the entire world are inter-linked and vessels can sail routinely around the globe in pursuit of cargo. Thus a vessel that is in Indian waters today maybe sailing towards a distant destination and similarly several vessels set sail from ports around the globe could be bound for India. Having advance information of the vessel, its destination and planned itinerary, etc. is thus extremely helpful towards collating an effective MDA as it can then be properly identified when detected. This information is likely to be available with the country from whose port it sails. The information is equally relevant for the destination country and those it passes enroute. Thus mutual exchange of such information, called white shipping information, is extremely useful for all concerned.
• India has signed white shipping agreements with several countries including United States, Singapore, recently Israel, and is seeking similar agreement with more countries as part of its ongoing effort at developing an effective regional MDA.

IDSA: What is a ‘White Shipping Agreement’?;

MEA: Joint Statement – India and U.S.;

Solution: d.

With climate change bringing more incidents of extreme weather, analysts at the Chatham House thinktank warn that the risk of a major disruption is growing but that little is being done to tackle the problem. Food supply interruptions in the past have caused huge spikes in prices which can spark major conflicts.BBC 2016: Shipping routes across the Arctic (which includes the Northeast Passage and the Northwest Passage) are going to open up significantly this century even with a best-case reduction in CO2 emissions, a new study suggests. Researchers have investigated how the decline in sea-ice, driven by warmer temperatures, will make the region more accessible.

• The chokepoints identified are locations through which exceptional amounts of the global food trade pass. More than half of the globe’s staple crop exports – wheat, maize, rice and soybean – have to travel along inland routes to a small number of key ports in the US, Brazil and the Black Sea. On top of this, more than half of these crops – and more than half of fertilisers – transit through at least one of the maritime chokepoints identified.

BBC: World food security risks growing;

The Guardian: Vulnerable ‘chokepoints’ threaten global food supply;

Solution: a.

• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment recently organized a function on the occasion of ‘International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking’.
• The Ministry coordinates and monitors all aspects of drug abuse prevention which include assessment of the extent of the problem, preventive action, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, dissemination of information and public awareness.
• It provides community based services for the identification, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts through Voluntary Organizations. The Ministry provides financial assistance to approximately 400 NGOs across the country for running de-addiction centres. The Ministry has also set up a 24 x 7 National Toll Free drug de-addiction helpline number 1XXX-XX-0031 to help the victims of drug abuse, their family and society at large.

PIB;

Solution: a.

• India has been an active player in the pharmaceutical industry and has contributed globally towards making life saving drugs and low cost pharmaceutical products accessible and affordable for those in need. Be it the Rotavirus vaccine, heart valve prosthesis or affordable insulin, India has been a forerunner in these and many more.
• Despite these advances, the Indian biopharmaceutical industry is still 10-15 years behind their counterparts in the developed countries and faces stiff competition from China, Korea and others. The lacuna primarily exists due to disconnected centres of excellence, less focus on translational research (application of basic sciences) and staggered funding.
• i3, a flagship programme of the GoI in collaboration with the World Bank, is committed to addressing these gaps with a Mission to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions.
• The Mission will be implemented by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a Public Sector Undertaking of the Department of Biotechnology, MoS&T.

PIB: Launch of national biopharma mission;

Solution: d.

“The Minister highlighted that in the context of huge fiscal transfer to Gram Panchayats of about Rs.2,00,292 Crore in five years, by the way of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) award, recent years have seen a significant increase in public expenditure through Panchayats in the areas of sanitation, civic amenities etc. He pointed out the importance of peoples’ participation and advised that Panchayats should take a proactive role in addressing poverty, social issues and needs of vulnerable groups. Through the local leadership of the Gram Panchayats, many villages have been able to successfully resolve difficult problems like availability of water, connectivity, open defecation, education for all and have brought about transformational changes in the lives of poor persons belonging to vulnerable groups”

PIB;

Panchayati Raj, Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth;

Solution: a.

The NCR Planning Board Act, 1985 empowers the Board to select any area outside the NCR having regard to its location, population and potential for growth as a ‘Counter Magnet Area’ in consultation with the State Government concerned. At present the NCR Planning Board has identified the following nine counter magnet areas to NCR:

• Hissar and Ambala in Haryana
• Bareilly and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh
• Kota and Jaipur in Rajasthan
• Patiala in Punjab
• Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh
• Dehradun in Uttarakhand

The Board also decided that these Counter-Magnet Areas shall be an area of about 120 kms radius around above identified towns as zone of influence for migration.  The concerned State Governments shall notify their respective Counter Magnet Areas proposed to be developed in & around these towns and prepare Development Plan and Plan of Action for its implementation.

NCR Constituent Areas;

Improvisation: PIb;