QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 10 DECEMBER 2017

Solution: c.

Both statements are correct.

About the 2013 guidelines issued by the SC, making the sale of acid tougher:

“The Supreme Court bench of justices R.M. Lodha and F.M.I. Kalifulla imposed strict restrictions on the sale of the chemicals on Thursday, castigated state governments for not providing enough compensation to victims and stipulated the amount of money that should be given to them. Apart from this, suspects can also be arrested without a warrant and bail will be up to the court (a cognizable and non-bailable offence). Anyone buying acid will need to furnish government-approved identity proof and state the reason for the purchase, which has to be recorded by the seller, the court said.”

“The court said compensation by state governments was “grossly inadequate” and set this at Rs.3 lakh to facilitate immediate medical attention and relief. Out of this, Rs.1 lakh will be paid to the victim within 15 days of the incident and the rest will be paid “as expeditiously as possible” and possibly within two months, it added… The bench also banned the sale of acid to those below 18 years of age..”

http://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/differently-abled-welfare/rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-act-2016;

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/bEm133YJFrvCArbM55N4pM/Supreme-Court-ask-states-to-regulate-acid-sales.html;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/crimes-against-women-at-alarming-levels-in-bengal/article21381399.ece;

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Solution: b.

A fact-based, mains-oriented question.

The India State-Level Disease Burden report, a first-of-its-kind assessment of causes for diseases in each State from 1990 to 2016, was released recently. It involved evaluation of the diseases causing the most premature deaths and ill-health in each State.

The report indicated many health inequalities among States, noting that while there was a fall in the under-five mortality in every State there was also a four-fold difference in the rate of improvement among them.

The report was the result of a collaboration between the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Public Health Foundation of India, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and senior experts and stakeholders from about 100 institutions across India.

Additional Information: The report show that non-communicable disease and injuries have together overtaken infectious and childhood diseases in terms of disease burden in every State, but the magnitude of this transition varies markedly between the poor States and the more developed States.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/why-are-there-disparities-between-states-on-diseases/article21381446.ece;

Solution: d.

There are Eight Empowered Action Group States: Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Rajasthan; often, the mention of “EAG States” is followed by a mention of Assam. These nine States, which account for about 48 percent of the total population in the country, are the high focus States in view of their relatively higher fertility and mortality indicators.

In the news: The India State-Level Disease Burden report notes that infectious and childhood diseases continue to be significant problems in the poor Empowered Action Group States of north India which still contributes 37-43% of the total disease burden. These diseases are responsible for the inordinately high burden of premature deaths and morbidity suffered by children under five years of age in these States.

http://censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/AHSBulletins/files/AHSpr.pdf

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/why-are-there-disparities-between-states-on-diseases/article21381446.ece;

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Solution: a.

A clause in the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017, introduced in Parliament in August, has created unease. The clause lays the ground for a ‘bail-in’ of failing financial institutions. Unlike a bail-out, which constitutes the injection of taxpayers’ funds to shore up finances of a financial institution, a bail-in involves the use of depositors’ funds to do the same.

• International practises: The bail-in feature is in line with the best practices adopted around the world. For example, the Financial Stability Board, which has members comprising most G20 countries (including India), has recommended that its members allow the resolution of financial companies using bail-in. Similarly, the European Union has proposed bail-in as a resolution tool. So far, the bail-in has been used rarely, the most recent being in Cyprus in 2013.
• The Resolution Corporation: The Bill proposes to replace the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC), which guarantees deposits up to a value of ₹1 lakh, with a Resolution Corporation which will be empowered to collect the premium that banks pay to the DICGC as an insurance cover for deposits. The Bill, however, does not specify the quantum of deposits that will be insured by the new corporation nor the amount of premium it will collect from banks. The ₹1 lakh limit has not been updated since 1993; even if one assumes a 5% annual average inflation rate since 1993, the equivalent value of a ₹1 lakh deposit would be well over ₹3 lakh in 2017.

http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/the-lowdown-on-the-bail-in-clause/article21381452.ece;

For those who want to read about the FSB: http://www.fsb.org/about/;

Solution: c.

This type of climate is known commonly as the Mediterranean Climate; it is also known as the ‘winter rain climate’; the best developed form of this peculiar climatic type is found in Central Chile.

“California has a long history of fire catastrophes. San Francisco burned to the ground at least four times in the years immediately after the gold rush of the 1800s. The State’s Mediterranean climate with its long, arid summers has made it an attractive destination for sun-seeking migrants from wetter and colder parts of the nation. It is also one of the reasons the State is so vulnerable to fire.”

Ch-19, Certificate Physical and Human Geography

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/a-test-of-strength-for-californias-firefighters/article21383845.ece;

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Solution: c.

The movement of the freshwater mass begins at the end of the summer monsoon and survives for nearly two-and-a half months.

• The southwest monsoon roughly lasts from June to September. During this period, water vapour collected at the ocean surface by the powerful southwesterly winds is flushed over Indian continent and the BoB.
• A large fraction of the monsoon shower reaches the ocean in the form of runoff and contributes to the freshwater flux into the BoB in equal proportion with rainfall over the ocean.
• The large rivers — Ganges, Brahmaputra and the Irrawaddy, and three small others — Mahanadi, Godavari, and Krishna — together contribute approximately 1100 km of continental freshwater into the BoB between July and September.
• This very intense freshwater flux into a relatively small and semi-enclosed basin results in an intense dilution of the salt contained in seawater.
• The over 100 km-wide freshwater mass that is formed from river discharges and runoffs is transported down south by the East Indian Coastal Current, the western boundary current of the BoB. The freshwater signal generally becomes smaller and occurs later while progressing toward the southern tip of India.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/fishermen-discover-river-in-bay-of-bengal/article7278515.ece;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/knowing-our-rivers-better-before-changing-them/article21380137.ece;

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