QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 15 NOVEMBER 2017

Solution: d.

All statements are correct. Explanation for statement 3 is given below:

The World Health Assembly target: In 2012, the 194 countries of the World Health Assembly (WHA) committed to a target of increasing the global prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life from the then baseline of 37 percent to at least 50 percent by 2025. But ensuring that at least half of the world’s children are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives should be a starting point, not an endgame. Rapid progress is possible with investments in policies and programs that better support women to breastfeed, and that ensure that more of the world’s children have the opportunity to thrive. The Global Breastfeeding Collective estimates that in order to meet the World Health Assembly target, an additional $5.7 billion is required. This investment translates to just $4.70 per newborn.

Cost of inaction on investment in enabling mothers to breastfeed in India: Despite a reported 55 percent exclusive breastfeeding rate in children below the age of six months, the large population in India and high under five mortality means that an estimated 99,499 children die each year as a result of cases of diarrhoea and pneumonia that could have been prevented through early initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding (to put it in perspective, it is estimated that over 820,000 children under age five and 20,000 women each year die as a result of not breastfeeding and suboptimal breastfeeding practices). The high level of child mortality and growing number of deaths in women from cancers and type II diabetes attributable to inadequate breastfeeding is estimated to drain the Indian economy of $7 billion. Together with another $7 billion in costs related to cognitive losses, India is poised to lose an estimated $14 billion in its economy, or 0.70 percent of its GNI (per year).

https://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_98470.html;

http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/infantfeeding/global-bf-collective-investmentcase.pdf;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/on-maternity-benefits/article20393885.ece;

—

Solution: c.

Using the 2012-13 National Sample Survey-Situation Assessment Survey (schedule 33), it has been found that compared to non-institutional borrowers, institutional borrowers earn a much higher return from farming (17%).

The corrected statements are:

• The share of institutional credit to agricultural gross domestic product has increased from 10% in 1999-2000 to nearly 41% in 2015-16.
• A recent study by the International Food Policy Research Institute reveals that at the national level, 48% of agricultural households do not avail a loan from any source. Among the borrowing households, 36% take credit from informal sources, especially from moneylenders who charge exorbitant rates of interest
• Statistics show that nearly 82% of all indebted farm households (384 lakh) possess less than two hectares of land compared to other land holders numbering 84 lakh households

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/loan-waiver-is-not-the-solution/article20394319.ece;

Solution: a.

“Trump administration’s strategy toward Asia has a heavy emphasis on a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific region.’ Trump should start by supporting Indian membership in APEC. Asia’s third-largest economy remains on the outside of this vital grouping despite a membership request dating back more than twenty years. India in APEC would help offset the now-overwhelming influence of the Chinese economy, while also embedding India in a forum that would nudge it toward further economic reform. It would also send a strong message to the region about increasing free and open trade at a time such a signal from the Trump administration is sorely needed..”

APEC is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific.

• What does APEC do? It ensures that goods, services, investment and people move easily across borders. Members facilitate this trade through faster customs procedures at borders; more favorable business climates behind the border; and aligning regulations and standards across the region.
• Sustainable and Inclusive Pacific-Asia: It works to help all residents of the Asia-Pacific participate in the growing economy. For example, APEC projects provide digital skills training for rural communities and help indigenous women export their products abroad.
• Cooperation and Consensus: It operates as a cooperative, multilateral economic and trade forum. Member economies participate on the basis of open dialogue and respect for views of all participants. In APEC, all economies have an equal say and decision-making is reached by consensus. There are no binding commitments or treaty obligations. Commitments are undertaken on a voluntary basis and capacity building projects help members implement APEC initiatives.

Source/Improvisation: https://www.cfr.org/blog/want-free-and-open-indo-pacific-get-india-apec

https://www.apec.org/About-Us/About-APEC;

—

Solution: b.

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-hariri-mystery/article20445798.ece;

—

Solution: a.

Members negotiating the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) include ten ASEAN member states and India, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and China. Members of EAS include the same countries and two more – Russia and USA.

About the East Asia Summit:

• It is a unique leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity. It has evolved as a forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and economic issues of common regional concern and plays an important role in the regional architecture.
• Established in 2005, EAS allows the principal players in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss issues of common interest and concern, in an open and transparent manner, at the highest level. EAS is an initiative of ASEAN and is based on the premise of the centrality of ASEAN.
• There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS. These are – Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity. India endorses regional collaboration in all six priority areas.

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/eastern-promise/article20417729.ece;

http://www.mea.gov.in/aseanindia/about-eas.htm;

—

Solution: d.

A mains-oriented question.

The term treats India as a regional power, and not just a big, isolated country. “We talk about Indo-Pacific in part because that phrase captures the importance of India’s rise,” an unnamed White House official explicitly told PTI. It (Indo-Pacific) captures the importance of the maritime free commons that allow our security and our prosperity to continue,” said the official.

The term has been has been on the rise in diplomatic and academic circles since the early 2010s. Indo-Pacific” in its geopolitical sense is relatively new to the world. The main theoretical reasoning behind a switch from “Asia-Pacific” is that it is no longer correct to think about South Asia and East Asia separately. While “Asia-Pacific” conventionally focuses on the area from North Korea to the southern tip of China, “Indo-Pacific” includes countries with coasts on the Indian Ocean, southeast Asia, and Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand. At the heart of that area are two oceans: the Indian and Pacific. “Indo-Pacific” blurs the division between those bodies of water—in this sense the “Indo” could mean more “Indian Ocean” and less “India.”

Improvisation: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-41912990/why-trump-keeps-saying-indo-pacific;

Primary Source: https://qz.com/1121336/trump-in-asia-all-about-indo-pacific-the-new-term-trump-is-using-to-refer-to-asia/; http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indo-pacific-over-asia-pacific-reflects-indias-rise-us/1/1082993.html;

—