QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 20 July 2017

Solution: b.

The Calling Attention motion, unlike the zero hour, is mentioned in the rules of procedure. But like the zero hour, it also an Indian innovation in parliamentary procedure and has been in existence since 1954.

TH: China plans nuclear attack on India, says Mulayam;

Indian Polity by M Laxmikanth

Solution: a.

• Microbeads is the term given to the little bits of plastic that are sometimes added to products for their abrasive properties.
• Manufacturers use them because the beads can be made with uniform size and hardness.
• As they’re so small, collectively microbeads have a huge surface area. This allows them to absorb large quantities of toxins and other pollutants. Once they’re out in the wild, microbeads can also be easily ingested by marine animals.
• The pieces are small enough to pass through water filtration plants and therefore end up in lakes and rivers. They can even be found in Arctic sea-ice and on the ocean floor.
• Countries such as the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands have already put in place regulations to stop the use of microbeads in personal-care products. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has recently classified the non-biodegradable microbeads as unsafe for use in consumer products.

TH: Plastic realities;

Solution: d.

On July 14, 2015, the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful.

US Department of State: JCPOA;

Improvisation: TH: Target Tehran;

Solution: c.

• The World Investment Report 2017 issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development points out that tax-related concerns are a deterrent for some foreign investors to invest in India.
• Each year´s Report covers the latest trends in foreign direct investment around the World and analyses in depth one selected topic related to foreign direct investment and development.

UNCTAD: WIR;

TH: BITs and pieces of Trade with Israel;

Solution: a.

• The JITSIC brings together 37 of the world’s national tax administrations that have committed to more effective and efficient ways to deal with tax avoidance.
• It offers a platform to enable its members to actively collaborate within the legal framework of effective bilateral and multilateral conventions and tax information exchange agreements – sharing their experience, resources and expertise to tackle the issues they face in common.
• India is a member.

OECD: About JITSIC;

Solution: b.

A mains-oriented question.

• Regarding Statement 1: The Israeli model gives an investor the choice to submit any investment dispute with a state to international arbitration if not resolved within six months through negotiations. The Indian model imposes many procedural and jurisdictional restrictions on an investor’s right to bring an ISDS claim. These include a foreign investor having to litigate in domestic courts for five years before pursuing a claim under international law. These requirements make it very difficult for a foreign investor to make efficient use of the ISDS provision.
• Regarding Statement 2: Israel’s model provides a broad asset-based definition of foreign investment that covers both FDI and portfolio investment. The Indian model of 2016 defines investment narrowly as an enterprise (with its assets) that has to possess certain characteristics of investment including the investment having ‘significance for the development’ — words not defined in the BIT — of the host country.
• Regarding Statement 3: The Israeli model contains a broad most favoured nation (MFN) provision — a cornerstone of non-discrimination in international economic relations — which is missing in the Indian model. The absence of MFN, from Israel’s perspective, would mean that its businesses would have no remedy under international law if India were to discriminate against it, say, by offering greater incentives to another defence manufacturer over an Israeli one.

TH: BITs and pieces of Trade with Israel;