QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 15 March 2018

Solution: d.

Over 40,000 farmers converged in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan early on Monday morning, culminating their six-day long 180-km march that began from the CBS Chowk in Nashik.

TH; IE;

Solution: b.

About the Kochon Prize: The Kochon Prize is awarded annually by Stop TB Partnership to individuals and/or organizations that have made a significant contribution to combating TB.

The Kochon Prize was established in 2006 in honour of the late Chairman Chong-Kun Lee (a South Korean) who was committed throughout his career to improving access to low-cost lifesaving antibiotics and anti-TB drugs. “Kochon” was a pen name that he used.

In the news: The 2017 Kochon Prize was awarded to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently for building a tradition of excellence in TB research and development. TB research by the ICMR has shaped the global DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short Course) strategy.

Solution: b.

A mains-oriented question.

As per data provided by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, India invests about 0.8% of its GDP on research and development, and supports 156 researchers per million of population. The figures for China are 2%, and 1,113, respectively. China’s investment is now comparable to any developed country, with Germany standing at 2.9% and 4,363 researchers and the U.S. at 2.8% and 4,231. In 2000, China had invested only about 0.9% of its GDP on research and development, but this was steadily ramped up and in 2010 stood at 1.71%. India invested 0.74% in 2000, and increased this to 0.82% in 2010. While China took it up to 2.1% in 2016, in India it came down to 0.63% in 2015.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/first-the-basic-sciences/article23229395.ece;

Solution: b.

In practice, the whip is “an official appointed to maintain discipline among, secure attendance of, and give necessary information to, members of his party.” Party whips are persons who are expected to be a channel of communication between the political party and the members of the party in the legislature. They also serve the function of gauging the opinion of the members, and communicating it to party leaders.

The actual whips issued to members can be of three types: one-line, two-line or three-line, depending on the number of times the text is underlined, reflecting the urgency and importance of the whip.

http://www.prsindia.org/media/articles-by-prs-team/the-whip-hand-1044/;

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bjp-blames-congress-for-parliament-logjam/article23230036.ece;

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Solution: c.

• “Climate justice focuses our attention on people, rather than ice-caps and greenhouse gases”
• “No world leader should have to plan for evacuation from the land of their ancestors”
• “The world is unprepared for a situation where adaptation fails & people are displaced due to climate”

Climate Justice is a moral argument in two parts. Firstly it compels us to understand the challenges faced by those people and communities most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Often the people on the front lines of climate change have contributed least to the causes of the climate crisis.

Climate justice also informs how we should act to combat climate change. We must ensure that the transition to a zero carbon economy is just and that it enables all people to realise their right to development.

Principles of Climate Justice:

• Respect and Protect Human Rights
• Support the Right to Development
• Share Benefits and Burdens Equitably
• Ensure that Decisions on Climate Change are Participatory, Transparent and Accountable
• Highlight Gender Equality and Equity
• Harness the Transformative Power of Education for Climate Stewardship
• Use Effective Partnerships to Secure Climate Justice

Improvisation: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/always-a-rule-maker/article23163765.ece;

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