[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2021: Insights Current Affairs Quiz , 18 March 2022

Solution: b)

Who is a war criminal?

The term applies to anyone who violates a set of rules adopted by world leaders known as the law of armed conflict. The rules govern how countries behave in times of war.

The so-called “grave breaches” of the conventions that amount to war crimes include willful killing and extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity.

The International Criminal Court also prosecutes crimes against humanity committed in the context of “a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.” These include murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape and sexual slavery.

Source

Solution: b)

Synthetic biology is a field of science that involves redesigning organisms for useful purposes by engineering them to have new abilities.

In some ways, synthetic biology is similar to another approach called “genome editing” because both involve changing an organism’s genetic code; however, some people draw a distinction between these two approaches based on how that change is made. In synthetic biology, scientists typically stitch together long stretches of DNA and insert them into an organism’s genome. These synthesized pieces of DNA could be genes that are found in other organisms or they could be entirely novel. In genome editing, scientists typically use tools to make smaller changes to the organism’s own DNA. Genome editing tools can also be used to delete or add small stretches of DNA in the genome.

As part of the 12th Five-Year Plan, India had set up a task force on systems biology and synthetic biology research in 2011.

Parliament is yet to clear the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill, 2013, that had mooted the creation of an independent regulator to adjudicate research around genetic engineering that could have also encompassed synthetic biology. There’s also a ban on commercial genetically modified brinjal and many States have restrictions on field trials on GM food crops.

Source                  Source

Solution: d)

India is directly impacted by the crisis in Ukraine vis-a-vis its sunflower oil supplies as 90 per cent of its total sunflower oil imports come from Ukraine and Russia.

Palm oil forms more than 60% of total edible oil imports in India followed by soybean oil and sunflower oil.

Source

Solution: a)

Import substitution is a strategy under trade policy that abolishes the import of foreign products and encourages for the production in the domestic market. The purpose of this policy is to change the economic structure of the country by replacing foreign goods with domestic goods. Post-Independence India adopted the policy of import substitution by imposing heavy tariffs on import duty.

Import Cover measures the number of months of imports that can be covered with foreign exchange reserves available with the central bank of the country. Eight to ten months of import cover is essential for the stability of a currency.

Solution: c)

The SARFAESI Act was passed on December 17, 2002, in order to lay down processes to help Indian lenders recover their dues quickly. The SARFAESI Act essentially empowers banks and other financial institutions to directly auction residential or commercial properties that have been pledged with them to recover loans from borrowers.

One of the major drawbacks of the Act is that it is not applicable to unsecured creditors.

Co-operative banks initially were not covered under the definition of banks for which the SARFAESI Act was applicable. In 2003, a notification was issued (without amending the law) to bring co-operative banks within the class of banks entitled to use SARFAESI.

The Supreme Court held that the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act) will be applicable to cooperative banks, and not just commercial banks.