QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 10 January 2020

Solution: d)

Tamil Nadu has topped the Good Governance Index among 18 big States in the country. The State was ranked among the top five in six parameters, including public infrastructure, judicial and public security and public health, among others. However, it lagged behind its competitors in the ranking for commerce and industries.

The Good Governance Index was released by the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

The Index takes 10 sectors into consideration: agriculture and allied, commerce & industries, human resource development, public health, public infrastructure & utilities, economic governance, social welfare & development, judicial & public security, environment and citizen-centric governance. Performance in these sectors is measured on the basis of 50 indicators.

Tamil Nadu was followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in the overall ranking of 18 big States.

Solution: c)

What are open market operations?

• They are conducted by the RBI by way of sale or purchase of government securities (g-secs)to adjust money supply conditions.
• The central bank sells g-secs to suck out liquidity from the system and buys back g-secs to infuse liquidity into the system.
• These operations are often conducted on a day-to-day basis in a manner that balances inflation while helping banks continue to lend.
• The RBI uses OMO along with other monetary policy tools such as repo rate, cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio to adjust the quantum and price of money in the system.
• When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases the government securities from the market and it sells government securities to suck out liquidity from the system.
• RBI carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal with the public. 

Solution: d)

In a unilateral decision, Pakistan has stopped exchange of postal mails with India since August 27.

What is UPU?

• Established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874.
• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
• Headquarters are located in Bern, Switzerland.
• The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration (CA), the Postal Operations Council (POC) and the International Bureau (IB).
• Universal Postal Union (UPU) frames rules for international mail exchange, and fixes rates for international postal services.
• Under UPU rules, when a country decides to suspend exchange with a country, it must notify the operator of the other country (in India’s case, India Post) and, if possible, the duration for which services are being stopped. The UPU’s International Bureau too has to be notified.

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Solution: c)

The World Organization of Animal Health, commonly known as OIE summarises the One Health concept as “human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist”.

The philosophy of One Health recognises inter-connectivity among human health, the health of animals, and the environment.

Solution: a)

The Supreme Court used extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant divorce in a case of “irretrievable breakdown of marriage”.

Currently, Hindu marriage law does not include “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a ground for divorce. However, the apex court in a number of cases has provided the said relief using its extraordinary powers that allow it to do “complete justice”.

Grounds for divorce under Hindu law

• The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, lays down the law for divorce, which applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.
• Under Section 13 of the Act, the grounds for divorce include: “voluntary sexual intercourse with any person other than his or her spouse”; “cruelty”; desertion “for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition”; “ceas(ing) to be a Hindu by conversion to another religion”; and being “incurably of unsound mind”.
• In addition, Section 13B provides for “divorce by mutual consent”.
• Section 27 of The Special Marriage Act, 1954 provides the grounds for grant of divorce in the case of marriages solemnised under that Act.
• However, neither of the two Acts provide for “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a ground for divorce.

Under Article 142(1), “The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe”.

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