QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 7 July 2020

Solution: c)

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) designated nine more individuals as “terrorists” under the amended anti-terror law that was passed by the Parliament in 2019.

The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), enacted in 1967, was first amended in 2004, 2008 and 2013.

The UAPA as amended in August 2019 gave the MHA the power to designate individuals as terrorists.

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Solution: c)

The Kerala government has issued a fresh no-objection certificate (NOC) for the state electricity board to proceed with the implementation of the proposed Athirapally hydro-electric project, which had been shelved several times in the past due to protests by green activists.

The vital elephant corridor between the Parambikulam Sanctuary and the Pooyamkutty forests would also be affected. Apart from being home to hornbills, tigers and leopards, the forests also host the Nilgiri langur, the lion-tailed macaque and the rare Cochin forest cane turtle.

A member of the Kadar tribal community fishing in the Chalakudy river near the Vazhachal forest range in Thrissur district. A primitive hunter-gatherer tribal group, the Kadars feel the Athirappilly hydroelectric project will affect their livelihood.

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Solution: c)

Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of customary international law that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law. In the realm of international law, it has been defined as “freedom of movement for vessels, freedom to enter ports and to make use of plant and docks, to load and unload goods and to transport goods and passengers. This right is now also codified as Article 87(1)a of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Not all UN member states have ratified the convention; notably, the United States has signed, but not ratified the convention.

The UNCLOS introduced a number of legal concepts that allowed freedom of navigation within and outside of the maritime jurisdictions of countries. These are right of innocent passage, right of transit passage, right of archipelagic sea lanes passage and freedom of the high seas. The right of innocent passage allows ships to travel in other countries territorial seas if it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the costal state. However, some countries like China requires warships to attain prior authorization before they enter Chinese national waters.

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Solution: b)

Compulsory licensing is when a government allows someone else to produce a patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner or plans to use the patent-protected invention itself. It is one of the flexibilities in the field of patent protection included in the WTO’s agreement on intellectual property — the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement.

For compulsory licensing, it’s when the generic copy is produced mainly for the domestic market, not for export.

The patent owner still has rights over the patent, including a right to be paid compensation for copies of the products made under the compulsory licence.

The TRIPS Agreement does not specifically list the reasons that might be used to justify compulsory licensing. However, the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health confirms that countries are free to determine the grounds for granting compulsory licences, and to determine what constitutes a national emergency.

In March 2012, India granted its first compulsory license ever. The license was granted to Indian generic drug manufacturer Natco Pharma for Sorafenib tosylate, a cancer drug patented by Bayer.

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Solution: b)

Under the WTO rules, any country can “self-designate” itself as a developing country. In fact, the WTO does not lay down any specific criteria for making a distinction between a developed and a developing country member, unlike in the World Bank where per capita incomes are used to classify countries.

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