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

Solution: c)

Led by the US’s International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Blue Dot network was jointly launched by the US, Japan (Japanese Bank for International Cooperation) and Australia (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in November 2019 on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Thailand.

It is meant to be a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to bring governments, the private sector and civil society together to promote “high quality, trusted standards for global infrastructure development”.

Observers have referred to it as a means of countering China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

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Solution: c)

 The first Gender Social Norms Index was recently released by the UN Development Programmme (UNDP).

About the index:

This index measures how social beliefs obstruct gender equality in areas like politics, work, and education, and contains data from 75 countries, covering over 80 percent of the world’s population.

The index found new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality – potentially forging a path forward to breaking through the so-called “glass ceiling”.

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Solution: b)

Cord blood banking involves taking the umbilical cord blood, which is a rich source of stem cells, and preserving it for future use.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) does not recommend commercial stem cell banking. It says so far there is no scientific basis for preservation of cord blood for future self use and this practice therefore raises ethical and social concerns. “Private storage of the cord blood is advisable when there is an elder child in the family with a condition treatable with these cells and the mother is expecting the next baby.

“Globally, cord blood banking is recommended as a source of hematopoietic stem cell (derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood) transplantation for haematological cancers and disorders where its use is recommended. For all other conditions, the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells is not yet established,”

Using the stem cells in cord blood to treat a disease has the following benefits compared with using those in bone marrow:

• Stem cells from cord blood can be given to more people than those from bone marrow. More matches are possible when a cord blood transplant is used than when a bone marrow transplant is used. In addition, the stem cells in cord blood are less likely to cause rejectionthan those in bone marrow.
• It is harder to collect bone marrow than it is to collect cord blood. Collecting bone marrow poses some risks and can be painful for the donor.
• Cord blood can be frozen and stored. It is ready for anyone who needs it. Bone marrow must be used soon after it is collected.
• Stem cells in cord blood can be used to strengthen the immune system during cancer treatments. Bone marrow stem cells do not have this capability.

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Solution: d)

What is coral bleaching?

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), when corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light or nutrients, they expel the algae living in their tissue, causing them to turn white, hence bleached.

Coral bleaching does not mean the corals are dead, but make them vulnerable, hence increasing their mortality. Warm ocean temperatures are one condition that could lead to coral bleaching. For instance, in 2005, the US lost half of its coral reefs in the Caribbean in one year due to a massive bleaching event.

Even so, NOAA says that not all bleaching events are due to warmer temperatures. In January 2010, cold water temperatures in the Florida Keys caused a coral bleaching event that resulted in some coral deaths.

List of triggers

• increased water temperature (marine heatwaves, most commonly due to global warming), or reduced water temperatures
• oxygen starvation caused by an increase in zooplankton levels as a result of overfishing
• increased solar irradiance (photosynthetically active radiation and ultraviolet light)
• increased sedimentation (due to silt runoff)
• bacterial infections
• changes in salinity
• herbicides
• extreme low tide and exposure
• cyanide fishing
• elevated sea levels due to global warming (Watson)^[
• mineral dust from African dust storms caused by drought
• pollutants such as oxybenzone, butylparaben, octyl methoxycinnamate, or enzacamene: four common sunscreen ingredients that are nonbiodegradable and can wash off of skin^{[28][29][30][31]}
• ocean acidification due to elevated levels of CO₂caused by air pollution^[32]
• being exposed to Oil or other chemical spills

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Solution: a)

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the Ministers of its Member jurisdictions.  The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

The FATF is therefore a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

The FATF has developed a series of Recommendations that are recognised as the international standard for combating of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

India has become a full-fledged member of Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF membership is very important for India in its quest to become a major player in the International finance. It will help India to build the capacity to fight terrorism and trace terrorist money and to successfully investigate and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing offences. India will benefit in securing a more transparent and stable financial system by ensuring that financial institutions are not vulnerable to infiltration or abuse by organized crime groups.

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