QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 21 April 2018

Solution: d.

A US-study has estimated that India and China together account for more than half of global deaths due to air pollution.

• The US-based Health Effects Institute’s State of Global Air study has also found that increasing exposure to air pollution combined with an ageing population has led to India rivalling China in health burden from bad air.
• The report states that China’s PM2.5 pollution levels have started stabilising and people’s exposure to particulate pollution has also started declining but it’s on a steep rise in India.
• The death rate (deaths per lakh), however, is seeing a declining trend in both the countries. In 1990, China saw 146 air pollution-related deaths per lakh of its population. This decreased to 80 for 2016. India on the other hand saw a steady decline in death rate between 1990 and 2010, when it fell from 150 to 123. The rate, however, has marginally increased in six years between 2010 and 2016 — the year for which the latest data is available.
• The burden of non-communicable diseases among the ageing population is increasing in developing countries

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/environment/pollution/india-china-account-for-over-half-of-global-deaths-due-to-air-pollution-report/articleshow/63822904.cms;

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Solution: b.

High in the Canadian Arctic, two subglacial bodies of water have been spotted beneath over 500 metres of ice.

• The water has an estimated maximum temperature of -10.5C, and would need to be very salty to avoid freezing.
• Although water systems beneath large ice sheets are being found to be increasingly common, this Canadian region (Devon Island’s ice cap) was thought to be frozen to the bedrock beneath.
• This is a unique lake system. Of the [more than] 400 subglacial lakes in Antarctica, all of them are thought to comprise fresh water. Hence, whatever might be living in it may also be unique. The water in the lakes is estimated to be five times as salty as seawater, allowing its freezing point to be lowered below that of fresh water.
• Other subglacial lakes in Greenland and Antarctica contain fresh water, generated by melting at the base of the ice. Geothermal heat rises from the underlying rock, and is insulated by the thick ice sheet above. The Canadian ice sheet is not thick enough to provide this insulation.
• The study’s authors suggest the lakes may have been sealed off from surrounding environments for up to 120,000 years. They may provide a window to life beyond Earth.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43701375;

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Solution: d.

Key recommendations:

• Simultaneous elections may be restored in the nation by amending the Constitution, Representation of the People Act of 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies.
• Citing no-confidence motion and premature dissolution of House as major roadblocks to simultaneous elections, the commission says the parties which introduce the no-confidence motion should simultaneously give a suggestion for an alternative government.
• It even suggests the relaxation of the “rigours” of the anti-defection law in the Tenth Schedule to prevent a stalemate in the Lok Sabha or Assemblies in case of a hung Parliament or Assembly.
• The commission says the Centre should get the Constitutional amendments, if agreed upon, to be ratified by all the States so as to avoid any challenge to them.
• The panel says that in case of mid-term elections, the new Lok Sabha or Assembly would only serve the remainder of the term of the previous Lok Sabha/Assembly and not a fresh term of five years.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/law-commission-favours-simultaneous-elections/article23578062.ece;

Solution: a.

“Five States (Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Telangana) have not even issued notifications regarding admissions under the RTE. Section 12(1)(c) of the Act mandates private unaided schools to reserve 25% of seats for children from economically weaker sections (EWS), in the age bracket of six to 14 years. This enabled economically marginalised communities to access high quality private schools, at the expense of the State. While Telangana may be excused due to its recent formation, it is unjustifiable that the other States have failed to undertake the most basic steps to implement Section 12(1)(c) of an Act passed eight years ago.”

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/marginalised-from-school/article23608647.ece;

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Solution: c.

While the draft National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) mentions ‘emission reduction targets’, nowhere does it actually quantify these pollution-reduction targets.

• The 20-point programme shifts the onus of fighting air pollution to the state governments, emphasises on collection of authentic data on pollution sources, introduces monitoring of rural air pollution and a new institutional framework at the central and state levels to monitor air quality and take preventive steps.
• The programme, India’s first attempt at working out a coordinated system to curb air pollution, requires all the states to frame their own Clean Air Programmes. While the national programme lays down the time frame for measures such as setting up of additional centres to monitor air quality across 100 cities, it does not have any directives to the states on their action plan.
• The national programme emphasises on the need for authentic data collection and acknowledges uncharted territories such as rural pollution. “Air quality in rural areas remains a neglected issue. The common belief is that rural areas are free from air pollution. On the contrary, air quality in the rural areas all over the world and particularly in the developing countries may be more polluted than some of the urban areas,” says the plan

TH; ET; PIB; DTE;

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