DAY – 60 (InstaTest-60): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2020: Topic – Science & Technology, Previous year UPSC papers – 2002, Textbook based test 29 & 30, April 2020 CA

Solution: C

NITI Aayog will launch the Mentor India Campaign, a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission.

Mentor India is aimed at maximizing the impact of Atal Tinkering Labs, possibly the biggest disruption in formal education globally. The idea is to engage leaders who will nurture and guide students in the Atal Tinkering Labs. These labs are non-prescriptive by nature, and mentors are expected to be enablers rather than instructors.

Solution: C

Bhabha Kavach

• India’s first Lightest and indigenous Bullet Proof Jacket ‘Bhabha Kavach’ from Ordnance Factory Board gets nod of MHA.
• Developed by OFB and MIDHANI this state-of-the-art jacket can withstand 7.62mm hard steel core or bullets fired from an AK-47 rifle, 5.56mm INSAS bullet and even the recently decommissioned 7.65mm bullet of self-loading rifle (SLR).
• It is half KG lesser than the prescribed weight of MHA along with the 360 Degree Protection and has achieved the protection level of NIJ III+.
• Bhabha Kavach only weighs 9.2kg and is a major breakthrough for the Indian armed forces.

Solution: C

Rustom 2 drone

• Rustom 2 drone is a medium-altitude, long- endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by DRDO.
• The objective of this drone is to carry out surveillance for the armed forces with an endurance of 24 hours.
• The drone was developed for use by all three services of the Indian armed forces, primarily for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.
• The medium-altitude prototype can fly at over 22,000 ft and is a long-endurance (MALE) UAV that has an approximate flight time of 20 hours.
• It can fly at around 280 km/h and carry a variety of payloads like Medium Range Electro Optic (MREO), Long Range Electro Optic (LREO), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Electronic Intelligence (ELINT).

Solution: D

Himadri Station is India’s first Arctic research station located at Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It is located at the International Arctic Research base, Ny-Alesund. It was inaugurated on the 1st of July, 2008 by the Minister of Earth Sciences.

It was set up during India’s second Arctic expedition in June 2008. It is located at a distance of 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from the North Pole. India is the 11th country after Britain, Germany, France, Italy, China.

Dakshin Gangotri was the first scientific base station of India situated in Antarctica, part of the Indian Antarctic Programme. It is located at a distance of 2500 kilometres (1,600 mi) from the South Pole. It is currently being used as a supply base and transit camp. The Dakshin Gangotri Glacier is named after the base.

It was established during the third Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1983—84 and decommissioned in25 February 1990. This was the first time an Indian team spent a winter in Antarctica to carry out scientific works.

Solution: C

Who is a Nihang?

Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors.

They are characterised by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.

What does the word ‘Nihang’ mean?

Etymologically the word nihang in Persian means an alligator, sword and pen but the characteristics of Nihangs seem to stem more from the Sanskrit word nihshank which means without fear, unblemished, pure, carefree and indifferent to worldly gains and comfort.

Origin:

Sources trace their origin to Guru Gobind Singh’s younger son, Fateh Singh (1699-1705), who once appeared in the Guru’s presence dressed in a blue chola and blue turban with a dumala (piece of cloth forming a plume).

On seeing his son look so majestic, the Guru remarked that it shall be the dress of Nihangs, the reckless soldiers of the Khalsa.

How were Nihangs different from other Sikhs, and other Sikh warriors?

1. Nihangs observe the Khalsa code of conduct in its strictest sense. They do not profess any allegiance to an earthly master. Instead of saffron they hoist a blue Nishan Sahib (flag) atop their shrines.
2. Nihangs use the slogans ‘chhardi kala’ (forever in high spirits) and ‘tiar bar tiar’ (state of ever preparedness) for unforeseen events.
3. The Nihangs are fond of a popular drink called shardai or sharbatidegh(sacrament drink) which contains grounded almonds, cardamom seeds, poppy seeds, black pepper, rose petals and melon seeds.
4. When a small measure of cannabis is added to it, it is termed sukhnidhan(treasure of comfort).
5. A higher dose of cannabis in it was known as shaheedi deg, sacrament of martyrdom. It was taken

(while) battling enemies.

What is their role in Sikh history?

• Nihangs had a major role in defending the Sikh panth after the fall of the first Sikh rule (1710-15) when Mughal governors were killing Sikhs, and during the onslaught of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Durrani (1748-65).
• Nihangs also took control of the religious affairs of the Sikhs at Akal Bunga (now known as Akal Takht) in Amritsar. They did not consider themselves subordinate to any Sikh chief and thus maintained their independent existence.
• Their clout came to an end after the fall of Sikh Empire in 1849 when the British authorities of Punjab appointed a manager (sarbrah) for the administration of the Golden Temple in 1859.

Solution: D

The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2020) has been released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The centre is a part of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Key findings:

Displacements in India:

• Nearly five million people were displaced in India in 2019 — the highest in the world so far.
• The displacements in India were prompted by increased hazard intensity, high population and social and economic vulnerability.
• More than 2.6 million people suffered displacement due to the southwest monsoon. 2019 was the seventh warmest year since 1901 in India; its monsoon was the wettest in 25 years.
• Eight tropical storms hit in the year fuelling further destruction. These include Maha and Bulbul.
• In addition to displacement due to natural disasters, over 19,000 conflicts and violence also prompted the phenomenon.
• Unrests and communal violence triggered displacement in the second half of the year. For example, political and electoral violence, especially in Tripura and West Bengal, led to the displacement of more than 7,600 people.

Global scenario:

1. Globally, around 33.4 million people faced new internal displacements because of conflicts and disasters in about 145 countries in 2019.
2. Nearly three-quarters of the global displacements, accounting for 24.9 million of the total, were triggered by disasters in 2019. Out of these, about 95 per cent took place due to weather hazards like storms and floods.
3. A majority of conflict displacements took place due to armed conflict; communal violence accounted for significant portion of the global total of 8.5 million displacements.
4. Disaster displacement was recorded in low and high-income countries alike.
5. Most of the disaster displacements were triggered by tropical storms and monsoon rains in South Asia and East Asia and Pacific.
6. Bangladesh, China, India and the Philippines each recorded more than four million displacements in 2019.
7. Conflict continued unabated in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Syria. Violence increased sharply in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
8. Natural disasters in Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen forced many people, already displaced by conflict, to flee for the second time.

Solution: D

Computerized (or computed) tomography, and often formerly referred to as computerized axial tomography (CAT) scan, is an X-ray procedure that combines many X-ray images with the aid of a computer to generate cross-sectional views and, if needed, three-dimensional images of the internal organs and structures of the body.

Computerized tomography is more commonly known by its abbreviated names, CT scan or CAT scan. A CT scan is used to define normal and abnormal structures in the body and/or assist in procedures by helping to accurately guide the placement of instruments or treatments.

The technique is painless and can provide extremely accurate images of body structures in addition to guiding the radiologist in performing certain procedures, such as biopsies of suspected cancers, removal of internal body fluids for various tests, and the draining of abscesses which are deep in the body.

MRI scans are costlier than CT scan

https://www.medicinenet.com/cat_scan/article.htm#what_is_a_ct_scan

Solution: B

Context: The Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU) has been set up by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in Jammu and Kashmir state (Before becoming UT).

Where else has NPPA setup PMRUs?

Kerala, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Mizoram.

What is a Price Monitoring & Resource Unit (PMRU)?

It is a registered society and shall function under the direct control and supervision of State Drug Controller of respective states.

The unit shall be funded by NPPA for its recurring and non-recurring expenses.

Functions:

1. Help NPPA and State Drug Controller in ensuring availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
2. Organise seminars, training programs and other information, education and communication (IEC) activities in the areas of availability and affordability of medicines for all.
3. Collect samples of medicines, collect and analyse data and make reports with respect to availability and over-pricing of medicines for taking action under the provisions of Drug Price Control Order (DPCO).

Solution: B

Human rights body – Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) – has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention alleging that the Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh are facing hunger and starvation as they were not included in the government’s economic package.

What’s the issue?

The state government announced the economic package for vulnerable sections in these difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, among others, to provide 5 kg rice and 1 kg pulses per head to beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Yojana.

• But, Chakmas and Hajongs do not have ration cards as the state government had seized those through an order on October 25, 1991. Hence, the two communities have been forced to buy rice at a higher price.
• About 33% or 22,000 of the 65,875 Chakmas and Hajongs are children. Hunger and starvation have engulfed them because of the violation of the right to food during the pandemic.
• And, the denial of food is being seen as a violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Who are they?

Chakmas and Hajongs were originally residents of Chittagong Hill Tracts in the erstwhile East Pakistan. They left their homeland when it was submerged by the Kaptai dam project in the 1960s.

The Chakmas, who are Buddhists, and the Hajongs, who are Hindus, also allegedly faced religious persecution and entered India through the then Lushai Hills district of Assam (now Mizoram). The Centre moved the majority of them to the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), which is now Arunachal Pradesh.

Their numbers have gone up from about 5,000 in 1964-69 to one lakh. At present, they don’t have citizenship and land rights but are provided basic amenities by the state government.

Solution: D

The primary objective of the Indian Space Programme/Mission is to achieve self-reliance in space technology and to execute programmes/missions for the socio-economic development of the country.

The space research activities were initiated in India during the early 1960’s.

ISRO’s achievement:

The Department of Space (DOS) and the Space Commission were set up in 1972 and subsequently ISRO was brought under DOS on June 1, 1972.

2016 – ISRO’s Scramjet Engine Technology Demonstrator

2000 – INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third generation INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane from Kourou French Guyana.

Solution: A

Context: Of all the possible compounding effects of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel corona virus, the cytokine storm is one of the most feared.

How does our immune systems generally work?

1. The immune systems in our bodies protect us from bacteria, viruses, and parasites by removing them from our systems.
2. The immune system gets activated by things that the body does not recognise as its own. These things are called antigens, and include bacteria, fungi and viruses.
3. An effective immune system response involves inflammation, an important and indispensable part of the process.
4. Inflammation has an important protective function. The release of inflammatory mediators increases the blood flow to the area, which allows larger numbers of immune system cells to be carried to the injured tissue, thereby aiding the repairing process.

If this inflammatory response is not regulated, a ‘cytokine storm’ can be triggered.

So, what is cytokine storm?

A cytokine storm is an overproduction of immune cells and their activating compounds (cytokines), which, in a flu infection, is often associated with a surge of activated immune cells into the lungs.

The resulting lung inflammation and fluid buildup can lead to respiratory distress and can be contaminated by a secondary bacterial pneumonia — often enhancing the mortality in patients.

Occurrence:

A cytokine storm can occur due to an infection, auto-immune condition, or other diseases. Signs and symptoms include high fever, inflammation (redness and swelling), severe fatigue, and nausea.

Cytokine storms are not exclusive to corona virus patients. It is an immune reaction that can occur during other infectious and non-infectious diseases as well.

What then, is the role of cytokines in the immune system?

Cytokines are signaling proteins that are released by cells at local high concentrations — a cytokine storm or CSS is characterized by the overproduction of immune cells and the cytokines themselves because of a dysregulation in the process.

A severe immune reaction, leading to the secretion of too many cytokines in the bloodstream, can be harmful since an excess of immune cells can attack healthy tissue as well.

Solution: D

On April 14, 2020, World Chagas Disease Day is being observed for the first time.

The day is observed to spread awareness about this “silent and silenced disease”.

The 72nd World Health Assembly approved the designation of Chagas Disease Day on May 24, 2019.

Why it is called the “silent and silenced disease”?

The Chagas disease is called silent because it progresses slowly, and silenced because it mainly affects the poor people who often lack political voice and proper health care.

About the disease:

The disease got its name from Dr Carlos Ribeiro Justiniano Chagas, who diagnosed the first patient with the disease in Brazil on April 14, 1909.

It is classified as a neglected tropical disease (NTD), meaning it affects the low-income populations in developing countries across the globe.

Also called the American trypanosomiasis, this vector-borne disease hits the most poverty-stricken communities, especially in Latin America.

How is it transmitted?

• A parasitic protozoan called Trypanosoma cruzithat causes this vector-borne disease is usually transmitted by faeces and urine of triatomine bugs or kissing bugs, which belongs to the family of assassin bugs.
• The disease can also be transmitted by contaminated food, organ transplantations, blood or blood products transfusion, and infected mothers to newborn.
• Lack of awareness and neglecting the symptoms, especially among poor households, results in much severe symptoms and even death.

The symptoms of the disease come in two phases:

Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, difficulty in breathing, abdominal or chest pain and enlarged lymph glands.

Solution: C

GSLV Mk III is a three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle which has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.

It is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice the capability of GSLV Mk II.

The cryogenic upper stage C25 is powered by CE-20 which is India’s largest cryogenic engine indigenously developed in India.

Solution: A

More than 50,000 Civil Defence volunteers are working at the grassroots level in various roles and capacities to assist the local administration in implementing the measures to contain the spread of corona virus (COVID-19).

How they are helping?

• The Civil Defence personnel are supplementing the local administration in conducting surveillance of suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases. They have been working as rapid response teams.
• They have been deployed in all the States and most Union Territories, barring Ladakh, Daman & Diu, and Puducherry.
• Rajasthan, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Assam have taken the lead in using their services.
• The volunteers have been deployed under the command of District Magistrates to assist the local administration in implementing the COVID-19 guidelines and policies effectively.

How civil defence personnel can be employed? Provisions in this regard?

Civil Defence operates under the Civil Defence Act and associated rules and regulations.

The Act was amended in 2009 and a notification was issued in 2010 to include disaster management as an additional role.

Civil Defence is primarily organised on voluntary basis except for a small nucleus of paid staff and establishment which is augmented during emergencies.

Administration:

Although it is a Central law, Section 4 of the Civil Defence Act empowers State governments to raise corps at the local administration level as per their requirement.

The District Magistrate, District Collector or Deputy Commissioner is designated as Controller of the Civil Defence.

Eligibility for becoming a Civil Defence Volunteer:

A person who intends to apply for appointment to a Civil Defence Corps must fulfill the following conditions;

1. s/he shall be a citizen of India, or a subject or Sikkim or of Bhutan or of Nepal.
2. s/he shall have completed the age of 18 years provided that this age limit may be relaxed at the discretion of the competent authority up to a maximum of 3 years for any branch or category of the Corps.
3. s/he shall have passed at least the primary standard, that is to say, the fourth class, and this condition may be relaxed by the Controller at this discretion.

Both men and women shall be eligible for appointment to the Corps.

Solution: B

INS Kiltan (P30), third Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) stealth corvettes built under Project 28 (Kamorta Class) was recently commissioned into the Indian Navy.

Key facts:

• The ship gets her name from old INS Kiltan (P79), a Petya class ASW ship that served the nation for 18 years before being decommissioned in June 1987. It is named after the coral island belonging to the Lakshadweep group of islands.
• Regarded as a very prestigious acquisition, INS Kiltan is one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India.
• More than 80 % of the ship is indigenous with state-of-the-art equipment & systems to fight in Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions. INS Kiltan is the first major warship with superstructure entirely of composite material.

Main features:

• The sleek and magnificent ship is propelled by ‘Combination of Diesel and Diesel (CODAD)’ propulsion system of four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots and has an endurance of around 3,500 Nautical Miles.
• The ship has enhanced stealth features resulting in a reduced Radar Cross Section (RCS) achieved by X-form of hull and superstructure along with optimally sloped surfaces.
• The very low under water acoustic signature makes it a ‘silent killer on the prowl’. The ship’s advanced stealth features make her less susceptible to detection by the enemy and help in effective employment of soft kill measure like the Chaff.

Solution: C

India Child Protection Fund (ICPF):

• The ICPF was set up in January 2020 and aims to support NGOs with funding resources for curbing exploitation of children.
• It is not a initiative by Government
• The fund is managed by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s son, Bhuwan Ribhu.
• ICPF is committed to ending child sexual abuse, both offline and online.
• VISION: Protect all children from exploitation and abuse, and ensure their physical, mental and spiritual development
• It intended to Serve the child protection ecosystem by supporting grassroots action and activists, identifying and scaling out sustainable solutions, investing in bold innovation, leveraging technology, and promoting strategic and coordinated efforts at all levels.
• There is prolonged closure of schools because of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. Access to smart phones and high-speed data has increasingly made children vulnerable to sexual abuse online.

Solution: A

Sounding Rockets

Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research. They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites. With the establishment of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1963 at Thumba, a location close to the magnetic equator, there was a quantum jump in the scope for aeronomy and atmospheric sciences in India. The launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 21 November 1963, marked the beginning of the Indian Space Programme. Sounding rockets made it possible to probe the atmosphere in situ using rocket-borne instrumentation. The first rockets were two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure). While the M-100 could carry a payload of 70 kg to an altitude of 85 km, the Centaure was capable of reaching 150 km with a payload of approximately 30 kg.

ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965 and experience gained was of immense value in the mastering of solid propellant technology. In 1975, all sounding rocket activities were consolidated under the Rohini Sounding Rocket (RSR) Programme. RH-75, with a diameter of 75mm was the first truly Indian sounding rocket, which was followed by RH-100 and RH-125 rockets.  The sounding rocket programme was the bedrock on which the edifice of launch vehicle technology in ISRO could be built. It is possible to conduct coordinated campaigns by simultaneously launching sounding rockets from different locations. It is also possible to launch several sounding rockets in a single day.

Operational sounding Rockets

Currently, three versions are offered as operational sounding rockets, which cover a payload range of 8-100 Kg and an apogee range of 80-475 km.

Solution: A

East Asian Observatory

The EAO (East Asian Observatory) is formed by EACOA (East Asian Core Observatories Association) for the purpose of pursuing joint projects in astronomy within the East Asian region. In the era of very large scale astronomical instruments, East Asia will be competitive internationally by combining their funding resources, their technical expertise, and their manpower. The intention of EAO is to build and operate facilities, which will enhance and leverage existing and planned regional facilities. The intention of EAO is to raise funding and to build an observatory staff, separate from that of the EACOA institutions. As partners of the EAO, the EACOA institutes will help to establish the funding and to oversee the governance of EAO. The communities represented by the partners in EAO would have full access to all EAO facilities.

The EAO is chartered as a non-profit Hawaii corporation. Its first task is to assume the operation of the James Clerk Maxwell Submillimetre Telescope (JCMT) on the summit of Maunakea, Hawai`i. Pursuant to an agreement with the University of Hawaii, the EAO also provides engineering and IT support to the UKIRT Observatory (UKIRT).

India is in preliminary discussions to be a part of the East Asian Observatories Consortium of eight countries committed to build large telescopes and pool resources.

It consists of China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea as full members and Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia as ‘observers’.

Solution: B

SwayamPrabha

• SWAYAM Prabha is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources Development to provide 32 High Quality Educational Channels through DTH (Direct to Home) across the length and breadth of the country on 24X7 basis.
• It has curriculum-based course content covering diverse disciplines.
• This is primarily aimed at making quality learning resources accessible to remote areas where internet availability is still a challenge.
• The DTH channels are using the GSAT-15 satellite for programme telecasts.
• The SWAYAM PRABHA has new content every day for at least (4) hours which would be repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience.
• It will cover diverse disciplines of all levels of education in various languages.
• The SWAYAM Prabha channels are available for free for anyone who has a set top box to receive either DD Free Dish or DishTV.

Solution: B

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft

NASA has managed to fix its Voyager-2 probe remotely, almost 11.5 billion miles away from its location.

Accomplishments so far:

Voyager 2 is the only probe ever to study Neptune and Uranus during planetary  flybys.

It is the second man-made object to leave the heliosphere.

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited all four gas giant planets — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — and discovered 16 moons, as well as phenomena like Neptune’s mysteriously transient Great Dark Spot, the cracks in Europa’s ice shell, and ring features at every planet.

What is Interstellar space?

Scientists use the heliopause to mark where interstellar space begins, although depending on how you define our solar system it can stretch all the way to the Oort Cloud, which begins 1,000 times farther away from the sun than Earth’s orbit.

The Heliosphere:

The heliosphere is a bubble around the sun created by the outward flow of the solar wind from the sun and the opposing inward flow of the interstellar wind. That heliosphere is the region influenced by the dynamic properties of the sun that are carried in the solar wind–such as magnetic fields, energetic particles and solar wind plasma. The heliopause marks the end of the heliosphere and the beginning of interstellar space.

About Voyager mission:

• Launched in the 1970’s, and the probes sent by NASA were only meant to explore the outer planets – but they just kept on going.
• Voyager 1 departed Earth on 5 September 1977, a few days after Voyager 2 and left our solar system in 2013.
• The mission objective of the Voyager Interstellar Mission (VIM) is to extend the NASA exploration of the solar system beyond the neighborhood of the outer planets to the outer limits of the Sun’s sphere of influence, and possibly beyond.
• The Voyager spacecraft are the third and fourth human spacecraft to fly beyond all the planets in our solar system.

Solution: D

‘COVID India Seva’ Platform:

• Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, recently  launched the COVID India Seva, which provided an interactive platform to establish a direct channel of communication with millions of Indians amid the pandemic
• This initiative is aimed at enabling transparent e-governance delivery at large scales especially in crisis situations like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• This platform trained experts will be able to share authoritative public health information swiftly at scale, helping to build a direct channel for communication with citizens.
• According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through this platform people can pose queries @CovidIndiaSeva and get the government response in real time.

Solution: C

National Genomic Grid (NGG)

• The government had announced to set up a National Genomic Grid (NGG).

About NGG:

• It will study genomic data of cancer patients from India.
• It will collect samples from cancer patients, through a network of pan- India collection centres by bringing all cancer treatment institutions on board.
• The grid to be formed will be in line with the National Cancer Tissue Biobank (NCTB) set up at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

NCTB:

• National Cancer Tissue Biobank (NCTB), is a joint initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
• It collects cancer tissue samples with consent from patients diagnosed with cancer.
• The aim is to provide researchers with high quality of cancer tissues and the patient data in order to facilitate cancer research that will lead to improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment.
• This research is carried out through the technique of Genome Sequencing.

Significance:

• Through the National Genomic Grid, the government seeks to boost cancer research and make treatment viable for people of different economic classes.
• NGG will help to study genomic factors influencing cancer and identifying the right treatment modalities for the Indian population.

Solution: A

“6+2+1” group (Six plus Two Group)

• The group includes six neighbouring countries of Afghanistan namely China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• The ‘2’ indicates the two global players – the U.S. and Russia, and ‘1’, Afghanistan itself.
• The objective of the Group was to find a solution to the Afghan problem, to assist in the establishment of a broadly representative and multi-ethnic Afghan government.
• The coalition worked to find a peaceful solution that would have included the participation of the Afghan Northern Alliance. Later it explored the issue of a post-Taliban government for Afghanistan.
• India is not a part of the group.

Solution: A

India has joined the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Development (R&D) Hub as a new member. This was announced today by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology in New Delhi. This expands the global partnership working to address challenges and improve coordination and collaboration in global AMR R&D to 16 countries, the European Commission, two philanthropic foundations and four international organisations (as observers).

Membership is open to G20 and non-G20 countries as well as to nongovernmental donor organisations investing in R&D on AMR (e.g. philanthropic foundations).

The Global AMR R&D Hub was launched in May 2018 in the margins of the 71^st session of the World Health Assembly, following a call from G20 Leaders in 2017. The Global AMR R&D Hub supports global priority setting and evidence-based decision-making on the allocation of resources for AMR R&D through the identification of gaps, overlaps and potential for cross-sectoral collaboration and leveraging in AMR R&D. The operation of the Global AMR R&D Hub is supported through a Secretariat, established in Berlin and currently financed through grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).

Solution: D

Operation Sanjeevani:

• It has been launched by Indian Air Force (IAF)
• An Indian Air Force (IAF) C-130J transport aircraft o delivered 6.2 tonne of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives under Operation Sanjeevani.
• At the request of the govt. of Maldives, the IAF aircraft activated Operation Sanjeevani and lifted these medicines from airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai before flying to the Maldives.
• The medicines include influenza vaccines, antiviral drugs such as lopinavir and ritonavir among others as well as consumables such as catheters, nebulisers, urine bags and infant feeding tubes.

Solution: A

Since Arun does not have any brother or sister, it means Arun’s father’s son is Arun himself. Therefore, the man in the photograph is Arun’s son.

Solution: D

Woman’s daughter-in-law’s father-in-law implies woman’s husband.

Again, the father of the woman’s husband implies woman’s father-in-law.

Hence, the man is woman’s father-in-law

Solution: C

It is better to go from reverse side to solve this kind of problem.

Therefore, it can be translated as she is that man’s only son’s mother-in law’s only daughter.

Thus, she is wife of man’s only son or daughter-in law of that man.

Therefore, “Only daughter of the mother-in-law of one’s son” implies one’s daughter-in-law.

Solution: A

If we write it in reverse order, person is Anupama’s Sister’s brother’s father’s only son.

Therefore, brother’s father’s only son has to be brother himself.

Thus, person is Anumapa’s brother.

Answer. A

The passage states that humanitarian aid is important but other steps are also required for ending hunger. D appears correct but A is the more logical and critical choice because the passage harps on the importance of medium and long term steps required for addressing hunger which is captured by A. Hence A is the correct answer.