QUIZ – 2020: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 26 December 2020

Solution: b)

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. It is not a court in the traditional sense, but provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member states, international organizations or private parties. 

The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade.

The organization is not a United Nations agency, but the PCA is an official United Nations Observer.

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Solution: d)

Ammonia is stored for industrial use in liquid form under high pressure or in gaseous form at low temperature.

Ammonia, which is highly soluble in water, is found in soil, air, and water; it is naturally present in the body and secreted by the kidneys to neutralise excess acid. However, it is highly diluted when in the environment and does not affect the human body to a noticeable level.

Ammonia is critical in the manufacturing of fertilizers, and is one of the largest-volume synthetic chemicals produced in the world. More than 80 per cent of ammonia made is consumed in the manufacturing of fertilizer, and most of the remainder goes into the production of formaldehyde.

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Solution: a)

A climate emergency declaration or declaring a climate emergency is an action taken by governments and scientists to acknowledge humanity is in a climate emergency. The first such declaration was made in December 2016. Since then over 1,800 local governments in 33 countries have made climate emergency declarations (as of December 2020).

In declaring a climate emergency, a government admits that climate change (or global warming) exists and that the measures taken up to this point are not enough to limit the changes brought by it. The decision stresses the need for the government and administration to devise measures that try and stop human-caused global warming.

There are no UNFCCC guidelines for declaring climate emergency and India has not yet declared climate emergency.

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Solution: c)

Solution: b)

The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) and the Goa University (GU) have successfully synthesized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using psychrotolerant Antarctic bacteria through a non-toxic, low-cost, and eco-friendly way.

These GNPs can be used as a composite therapeutic agent clinical trials, especially in anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-diabetic, and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Nanoparticles (NPs) have wide variety of potential applications in the fields of biomedical, optical and electronics research. Metallic NPs have been efficiently exploited for biomedical applications and among them GNPs are found to be effective in biomedical research.

GNPs also have unique physicochemical properties. Their biocompatibility, high surface area, stability, and nontoxicity make them suitable for various applications in therapeutic use including detection and diagnosis of diseases, bio-labeling, and targeted drug delivery. As nano-carriers, GNPs are capable of transferring various drugs made out of peptides, proteins, plasmid DNAs, small interfering RNAs, and chemotherapeutic agents to target diseased cells of the human body.

GNPs are also found to be useful in the electronics industry. Scientists have constructed a transistor known as NOMFET (Nanoparticle Organic Memory Field-Effect Transistor) by embedding GNPs in a porous manganese oxide as a room temperature catalyst to break down volatile organic compound in air and combining GNPs with organic molecules.

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