DAY – 46 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 3.0, 2020

Solution: D

World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ specialized agency for Health was founded in 1948.

• Its headquarters are situated in Geneva, Switzerland.
• There are 194 Member States, 150 country offices, six regional offices.
• It is an inter-governmental organization and works in collaboration with its member states usually through the Ministries of Health.
• The WHO provides leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

It began functioning on April 7, 1948 – a date now being celebrated every year as World Health Day.

Objectives

• To act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work.
• To establish and maintain effective collaboration with the United Nations, specialized agencies, governmental health administrations, professional groups and such other organizations as may be deemed appropriate.
• To provide assistance to the Governments, upon request, in strengthening health services.
• To promote cooperation among scientific and professional groups which contribute to the advancement of health.

Governance

World Health Assembly

• The Health Assembly is composed of delegates representing Members.
• Each Member is represented by not more than three delegates, one of whom is designated by the Member as chief delegate.
• These delegates are chosen from among persons most qualified by their technical competence in the field of health, preferably representing the national health administration of the Member.
• The Health Assembly meets in regular annual session and sometimes in special sessions as well.

 It is the forum through which WHO is governed by its 194 member states.

Solution: C

World Air Quality Report 2019 was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and Greenpeace. The ranking is based on a comparison of PM 2.5 levels. Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted country for PM 2.5. Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan and India followed behind respectively.

 Background:

PM 2.5 includes pollutants such as sulfate, nitrates and black carbon. Exposure to such particles has been linked to lung and heart disorders and can impair cognitive and immune functions.

Performance of India:

1. Twenty-one of the world’s 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India.
2. Six cities from India are in the top ten.
3. Ghaziabad, an area close to New Delhiin northern Uttar Pradesh state, is ranked as the world’s most polluted city, with an average PM 2.5 concentration measurement of 110.2 in 2019.
4. National air pollution in India decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2019, with 98% of cities experiencing of varying levels of improvement.
5. The report points to economic slowdown, favorable weather conditions, and efforts towards cleaning the air as reasons behind the decrease.
6. The report also points India’s launch of the country’s first National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) which aims to reduce PM 2.5 and the bigger particulate PM 10 air pollution in 102 cities by 20-30% by 2024 compared to 2017 levels.

Solution: D

World Trade Organization, as an institution was established in 1995. It replaced General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) which was in place since 1946. In pursuance of World War II, western countries came out with their version of development, which is moored in promotion of free trade and homogenization of world economy on western lines. This version claims that development will take place only if there is seamless trade among all the countries and there are minimal tariff and non- tariff barriers. That time along with two Bretton wood institutions – IMF and World Bank, an International Trade Organization (ITO) was conceived. ITO was successfully negotiated and agreed upon by almost all countries. It was supposed to work as a specialized arm of United Nation, towards promotion of free trade. However, United States along with many other major countries failed to get this treaty ratified in their respective legislatures and hence it became a dead letter.

The Marrakesh Agreement, manifested by the Marrakesh Declaration, was an agreement signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, marking the culmination of the 8-year-long Uruguay Round and establishing the World Trade Organization, which officially came into being on 1 January 1995.

Consequently, GATT became de-facto platform for issues related to international trade. It has to its credit some major successes in reduction of tariffs (custom duty) among the member countries. Measures against dumping of goods like imposition of Anti-Dumping Duty in victim countries, had also been agreed upon. It was signed in Geneva by only 23 countries and by 1986, when Uruguay round started (which was concluded in 1995 and led to creation of WTO in Marrakesh, Morocco), 123 countries were already its member. India has been member of GATT since 1948; hence it was party to Uruguay Round and a founding member of WTO. China joined WTO only in 2001 and Russia had to wait till 2012.

Solution: A

UN Human Rights Council.

About UNHRC:

Established in 2006 with the aim of promoting and protecting human rights around the globe, as well as investigating alleged human rights violations.

Made up of 47 member states, which are selected by the UN General Assembly on a staggered basis each year for three-year-long terms.

Members meet around three times a year to debate human rights issues and pass non-binding resolutions and recommendations by majority vote.

Members serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

The council also carries out the Universal Periodic Review of all UN member states, which allows civil society groups to bring accusations of human rights violations in member states to the attention of the UN.

Solution: D

Context: 16th Asia Media Summit 2019 was organised in Siem Reap province, Cambodia to deliberate on many issues pertaining to media & broadcasting industry.

About the AMS Summit:

It is an annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Kuala Lumpur.

Scope: The Summit would encourage regional and bilateral dialogue and cooperation to respond to challenges to the broadcasting sector in the region. It would provide a unique opportunity for broadcasters in the Asian region to share their thoughts on software and hardware aspects of Broadcasting. There are also opportunities for networking, facilities for business to business meetings and prospective translation of these meetings into trade and economic relations after the summit.

Participants: Participants would represent organizations like Ministries responsible for Information and Broadcasting in the Asian region, International Organizations UNESCO, FAO, UN; Regulators; Radio and Television broadcasting companies both national/ public and private broadcasters; Television channels and networks, Institutes/Academies of Communication, Media Research; Community Radio groups; Press and Media, and broadcast equipment manufacturers.

About AIBD:

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in 1977 under the auspices of UNESCO. It is hosted by the Government of Malaysia and the secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur.

Founders:

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are founding organisations of the Institute and they are non-voting members of the General Conference.

The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) is a founding organisation of the Institute and is a non-voting member of the General Conference.

Membership:

Full membership of the AIBD is confined to sovereign states and they are invited to designate the broadcasting authority of the country to be the beneficiary. The AIBD currently has 26 Full Members (countries), represented by 34 organisations, and 67 Affiliate Members (organisations) with a total membership of 101 representing 48 countries and regions and over 50 partners in Asia, Pacific, Europe, Africa, Arab States and North America.

Solution: B

The IOD is frequently seen in news before the onslaught on Monsoon in India. IMD bases its Monsoon predictions on both IOD and El-Nino. This was an expected question.

The IOD, also known as the Indian Niño, is an irregular oscillation of sea-surface temperatures in which the western Indian Ocean becomes alternately warmer and then colder than the eastern part of the Indian ocean (not tropical eastern pacific ocean.

IOD has a much more significant effect on the rainfall patterns in south-east Australia than the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific Ocean as shown in several recent studies.

Solution: B

Gharials can be naturally found in National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary. The gharial is one of three crocodilians native to India, the other two being the mugger crocodile and the saltwater crocodile.

Solution: A

The Leader of the Opposition is the politician who leads the official opposition in either House of the Parliament of India. To claim the status of “official opposition” in either house a party has to secure 55 seats (10%) of the seats in the Lok Sabha and likewise 25 (10%) of the seats in the Rajya Sabha.

It received statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 which defines the term “Leader of the Opposition” as that member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha who, for the time being, is the Leader of that House of the Party in Opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised, as such, by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

As per the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 by which the post has got official and statutory status, the majority required is decided by the heads of the houses, that is speaker and chairman as the case may be.

Solution: D

The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing both directional and policy inputs.

While designing strategic and long term policies and programmes for the Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States.

Functions of NITI Ayog

• To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities sectors and strategies with the active involvement of States in the light of national objectives
• To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on a continuous basis, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation.
• To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government
• To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy
• To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefiting adequately from economic progress.
• To design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy. The lessons learnt through monitoring and feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections
• To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded Think tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.
• To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners.
• To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter­ departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.
• To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders
• To actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery
• To focus on technology upgradation and capacity building for implementation of programmes and initiatives.
• To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above

Solution: C

World Heritage Cultural sites in India:

 Agra Fort (1983)

 Ajanta Caves (1983)

 Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara at Nalanda, Bihar (2016)

 Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi (1989)

 Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park (2004)

 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)

 Churches and Convents of Goa (1986)

 Elephanta Caves (1987)

 Ellora Caves (1983)

 Fatehpur Sikri (1986)

 Great Living Chola Temples (1987,2004)

 Group of Monuments at Hampi (1986)

 Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (1984)

 Group of Monuments at Pattadakal (1987)

 Hill Forts of Rajasthan (2013)

 Historic City of Ahmadabad (2017)

 Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi (1993)

 Khajuraho Group of Monuments (1986)

 Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002)

 Mountain Railways of India (1999,2005,2008)

 Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi (1993)

 Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat (2014)

 Red Fort Complex (2007)

 Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka (2003)

 Sun Temple, Konârak (1984)

 Taj Mahal (1983)

 The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to

the Modern Movement (2016)

 The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur (2010)

 Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai (2018

Solution: A

India has contributed USD 5 million in 2019 to UN Palestine refugee agency. The contribution was provided in support of UNRWA’s core programmes and services, including education, health care, and relief and social services.

Background:

India has increased its annual financial contribution fourfold to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) core budget, from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2018.

UNRWA:

• It is a relief and human development agencythat was established in 8 December 1949.
• Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, UNRWA was established by United Nations General Assembly to carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees. The Agency began operations on 1 May 1950.
• UNRWA is the only UN agency dedicated to helping refugees from a specific region or conflict and is separate from UNHCR.
• Funding: UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.
• Aid is provided in five areas of operation:Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; aid for Palestinian refugees outside these five areas is provided by UNHCR.

Functions:

• UNRWA has been providing health, education, relief and social services, as well as emergency humanitarian assistance, across its five fields of operation Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip since 1950.
• The Agency currently serves 5.4 million Palestinian refugees 20% of the world’s refugees.

Challenges before UNRWA:

• The UN agency is going through a difficult financial situation due to voluntary contributions from a limited donor base.
• There is a projected shortfall of more than USD 200 million against a funding requirement of approximately USD 1.2 billion for UNRWA this year.
• The shortfall may impact the agency’s ability to provide essential services to the Palestine refugees, notably in the fields of education, health, and assistance to the most vulnerable refugees.
• Besides, a corruption scandal involving sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation against whistleblowers and lots of business-class travel has gripped the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Solution: D

Government has launched One Nation-One Ration Card scheme on pilot basis in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharastra and Gujarat. Families who have food security cards can buy subsidized rice and wheat from any ration shop in these states but their ration cards should be linked with Aadhar Number to avail this service.

About the scheme:

• One Nation One Ration Card (RC) will ensure all beneficiaries especially migrants can access PDS across the nation from any PDS shop of their own choice.
• Benefits: no poor person is deprived of getting subsidized food grains under the food security scheme when they shift from one place to another. It also aims to remove the chance of anyone holding more than one ration card to avail benefits from different states.
• Significance: This will provide freedom to the beneficiaries as they will not be tied to any one PDS shop and reduce their dependence on shop owners and curtail instances of corruption.
• It is launched by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
• It would integrate the existing PDS systems/portals of States/UTs with the Central systems/portals.

Challenges:

• Prone to corruption: Every state has its own rules for Public Distribution System (PDS). If ‘One Nation, One Ration Card’ is implemented, it will further boost corruption in an already corrupted Public Distribution System.
• The scheme will increase the woes of the common man and, the middlemen and corrupt PDS shop owners will exploit them.
• Tamil Nadu has opposed the proposal of the Centre, saying it would result in undesirable consequences and is against federalism.

Solution: C

About Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES):

• It is an International agreement to regulate worldwide commercial trade in wild animal and plant species.
• It restricts trade in items made from such plants and animals, such as food, clothing, medicine, and souvenirs.
• It was signed on March 3, 1973 (Hence world wildlife day is celebrated on march 3).
• It is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Secretariat— Geneva (Switzerland).
• It is legally binding on the Parties, but it does not take the place of national laws.

Classifications:

It classifies plants and animals according to three categories, or appendices, based on how threatened. They are.

• Appendix I: It lists species that are in danger of extinction. It prohibits commercial trade of these plants and animals except in extraordinary situations for scientific or educational reasons.
• Appendix II species: They are those that are not threatened with extinction but that might suffer a serious decline in number if trade is not restricted. Their trade is regulated by permit.
• Appendix III species: They are protected in at least one country that is a CITES member states and that has petitioned others for help in controlling international trade in that species.

Solution: C

Dadabhai Naoroji:

September 4, 2019 was the 194th birth anniversary of Dadabhai Naoroji, the “Grand Old Man of India”, who was among the first leaders who stirred national consciousness in the country. Born in 1825 at Navsari, in present-day Gujarat.

Key contributions:

• He was closely involved with the Indian National Congress in its early phase.
• He served as the first Indian member of the British parliament.
• His first agitation, in 1859, concerned recruitment to the Indian Civil Service.
• In 1865 and 1866, Naoroji helped found the London Indian Society and the East India Association The two organisations sought to bring nationalist Indians and sympathetic Britons on one platform.
• As the secretary of the East India Association, Naoroji travelled in India to gather funds and raise national awareness.
• In 1885, Naoroji became a vice-president of the Bombay Presidency Association, was nominated to the Bombay legislative council by Governor Lord Reay, and helped form the Indian National Congress.
• He was Congress president thrice, in 1886, 1893, and 1906.
• In 1893, he helped form an Indian parliamentary committee to attend to Indian interests.
• In 1895, he became a member of the royal commission on Indian expenditure.
• Dadabhai Naoroji was among the key proponents of the ‘Drain Theory’, disseminating it in his 1901 book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’.

Solution: C

Context: Kanya Sumangala Yojana to be launched for girl child in UP.

Key features:

• It will provide a fund worth Rs 15000 to every family where a girl child is born. The amount will be released to the family in a phased manner.
• The scheme has been designed in a way that the parents will have to take proper care of the girl child with respect to her health and education and other aspects, in order to get the benefit.

Solution: A

Arctic Ocean, smallest of the world’s oceans, centring approximately on the North Pole.

The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It forms, along with the Bering Strait, the divide between the two largest landmasses on Earth: Eurasia and The Americas.

Solution: A

African swine fever (ASF) is a severe viral disease affecting domestic and wild pigs.

It is responsible for serious production and economic losses; This transboundary animal disease (TAD) can be spread by live or dead pigs, domestic or wild, and pork products;

Furthermore, transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and fomites (non-living objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives, equipment etc., due to the high environmental resistance of ASF virus

ASF is not a threat to human beings since it only spreads from animals to other animals.

Solution: C

The PGS is an internationally applicable organic quality assurance system [like ISO 9000] implemented and controlled by the committed organic farmer-producers through active participation, along with the consumers, in the process based on verifiable trust. It is not an “inspection raj” certification system but, rather, one that is based on personal integrity and peer pressure.

The PGS Organic India Council was set up after a consultation process in 2006. It functioned as an informal coalition of Voluntary Organizations or NGOs committed to the promotion of organic food production for domestic consumption in India, with export not being a priority at all. In April 2011, it was formally registered as a society in Goa as Participatory Guarantee Systems Organic Council (PGSOC).

http://pgsorganic.in/

Solution: C

Botanical Survey of India (BSI)
· BSI is the apex research organization under Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEFCC) for carrying out taxonomic and floristic studies on wild plant resources of country.
· It was established in 1890 with objective to explore plant resources of country and to identify plants species with economic virtues.
· It has nine regional circles situated at different regions of the country.
Primary functions of BSI
· Exploration, inventorying and documentation of phytodiversity in general and protected areas, hotspots and fragile ecosystems in particular
· Publication of National, State and District Floras.
· Identification of threatened and red list species and species rich areas needing conservation.
· Ex-situ conservation of critically threatened species in botanical gardens.
· Survey and documentation of traditional knowledge (ethno-botany) associated with plants.
· Develop National database of Indian plants, including herbarium and live specimens, botanical paintings and illustrations, etc.

Solution: D

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization.

These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).
Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992, but rejoined OPEC in October 2007. Indonesia suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it again in January 2016, but decided to suspend its membership once more at the 171^st Meeting of the OPEC Conference on 30 November 2016. Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the Organization in July 2016. Qatar terminated its membership on 1 January 2019.

Solution: B

It is launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).  It aims to make carry bags by mixing processed and treated plastic waste with cotton fibre rags in the ratio 20:80.

Solution: B

Key Publications of IMF

Publications

1. World economic outlook
2. Global financial stability report
3. Fiscal monitor
4. Regional economic prospects
5. Finance and Development

Solution: D

The Tiger Estimation exercise is believed to be the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage, intensity of sampling and quantum of camera trapping.

India conducts the All India Tiger Estimation every four years.  Three cycles of the estimation have already been completed in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

Madhya Pradesh saw the highest number at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=192351

Solution: A

Two new IT Initiatives – ICEDASH and ATITHI have been launched for improved monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods and facilitating arriving international passengers.

ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping the public see the daily Customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports.

ATITHI app will facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by Customs at the airports and enhance the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports.

http://newsonair.com/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=374026

Solution: C

Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is an Iranian underground uranium enrichment facility located 20 miles northeast of the Iranian city of Qom, near Fordow village, at a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base. The site is under the control of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.