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

Solution: a.
Base editing is an advance on a form of gene-editing known as Crispr, that is already revolutionising science.
• Crispr breaks DNA. When the body tries to repair the break, it deactivates a set of instructions called a gene. This presents an opportunity to insert new genetic information.
• Base editing works on the DNA bases themselves to convert one into another.
• Base editing technique is more efficient and has fewer unwanted side-effects than Crispr. About two-thirds of known human genetic variants associated with disease are point mutations. So base editing has the potential to directly correct, or reproduce for research purposes, many pathogenic [mutations].
• Some scientists questioned as to why they (Chinese researchers) did not do more animal research before jumping to human embryos and said the rules on embryo research in other countries would have been “more exacting”.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41386849;
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Solution: c.
• The Xiamen BRICS declaration earlier this month listed Pakistan-based terror organisations for the first time. It is not surprising, therefore, that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister has had to admit that terrorist Hafiz Saeed and terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) are a “liability” for his country and for the South Asian region.
• India and the United States have launched a Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) aimed at simplifying technology transfer policies and exploring possibilities of co-development and co-production to invest the defence relationship with strategic value.

Source and Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/expanding-the-common-ground/article19771645.ece;
http://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/ForeignRelation/India_US_brief.pdf;

Solution: d.
A mains-oriented question.

For 2017-18, the government has allocated ₹13,948 crore for the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) project; for the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) project, the allocation was merely ₹2,300 crore. This has to be seen in the light of the 2011 Census, according to which 31.16% of the total population lives in urban areas. Also, the growth of population in urban areas is 32% over a decade and rural is 12%. The fact that the urban population is growing at a much more rapid rate has been ignored by the government.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/will-swachh-bharat-abhiyan-be-a-success/article19771542.ece

Solution: b.
• Every private detective agency will require a licence to operate. Licences shall be granted by regulation boards established at the central and state level. In a number of other countries that regulate private detectives, it is the agent that is licensed rather than the agency.
• Any agent violating a person’s right to privacy and freedom shall be punishable with imprisonment and a fine.
• The Bill specifies that a private detective must be an Indian citizen. Such a requirement does not exist in similar legislation in several other countries.
http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Private%20Detective/legis1223890689_The_Private_Detective_Agencies__Regulation__Bill__2007.pdf;
Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/an-eye-on-the-private-eye/article19771623.ece;

Solution: c.
The same question was posted here earlier.
Section 4 deals with voluntary disclosure by public authorities.
Section 8 of the RTI Act lists the matters relating to which information can be exempted from being disclosed.

RTI Act: https://www.iitg.ernet.in/rti/links/rti-act-updated-on-2011.pdf;
In the news: See image.
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