QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 05 September 2019

Solution: b)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who will be above the three Service Chiefs.

The CDS is meant to be a single-point military advisor to the government, and to coordinate long-term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three services.

The CDS, being above the three Service Chiefs, is expected to play this role by optimising procurement, avoiding duplication among the services and streamlining the process. India being a nuclear weapons state, the CDS will also act as the military advisor to the Prime Minister on nuclear issues.

The proposal for a CDS has been there for two decades. It was first made by the K. Subrahmanyam committee appointed after the Kargil conflict of 1999 to recommend higher military reforms. However, lack of consensus and apprehensions among services meant it never moved forward.

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Solution: c)

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems” (GIAHS) are outstanding landscapes of aesthetic beauty that combine agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a valuable cultural heritage. It is designated by FAO.

Located in specific sites around the world, they sustainably provide multiple goods and services, food and livelihood security for millions of small-scale farmers.

Unfortunately, these agricultural systems are threatened by many factors including climate change and increased competition for natural resources. They are also dealing with migration due to low economic viability, which has resulted in traditional farming practices being abandoned and endemic species and breeds being lost.

These ancestral agricultural systems constitute the foundation for contemporary and future agricultural innovations and technologies.

The sites in India designated as GIAHS are: Kuttanad Below Sea Level Farming System, Koraput Traditional Agriculture and Saffron Heritage of Kashmir.

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Solution: a)

The UAPA was first amended in 2004, then in 2008 and again in 2013.

            Solution: c)

Manufacture, sale and distribution of colistin and its formulations for food-producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplements have been prohibited in an order issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Colistin is a valuable, last-resort antibiotic that saves human lives in critical care units.

Indiscriminate use of colistin has led to rise of anti-microbial resistance in the country.

Solution: c)

The BASIC countries (also Basic countries or BASIC) are a bloc of four large newly industrialized countries – Brazil, South Africa, India and China – formed by an agreement on 28 November 2009.

BASIC countries broadly have common position on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and raising the massive funds that are needed to fight climate change.