[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 13 September 2022

Solution: d)

ED is mandated to conduct searches at premises of suspects in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED generally approaches the suspect with a search warrant and conducts searches. The recoveries made during the searches are seized in presence of independent witnesses who have to sign the seizure memo.

After ED attaches or seizes any property, including cash, it has 180 days to get a confirmation on the said seizure from the Adjudicating Authority of the agency. Once the attachment has been confirmed, the ED can take possession of the seized property. In case it is an immovable property, the ED can issue eviction notice to the property owner and take possession of it.

The Adjudicating Authority order, however, can be challenged in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Appellate Tribunal and further in the high court which can stay the order, restore the property to the owner or clear the way for ED’s possession of the asset.

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Solution: a)

E-cigarettes, e-hookahs, e-pipes, vapes and vape pens are some examples of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products. They are electric devices that produce an aerosol made by heating a liquid, usually containing nicotine, flavourings and other chemicals. 

In September 2019 the Indian government banned the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of all ENDS.

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Solution: d)

Space Military Initiatives by India:

• IndSpaceEx (first space warfare exercise)
• Mission Shakti (Anti-Satellite (ASAT) Missile Test
• Tri-service Defense Space Agency (DSA)

Related Space programmes by other countries:

• France: conducted its first space military exercise, ASTERX, in 2021.
• China: It is marching ahead to the Cis-Lunar space (region beyond the geosynchronous orbit) to establish a permanent presence on the Moon by 2024.

Solution: c)

History was made on August 26 when the proceedings from the Chief Justice’s Court in the Supreme Court (SC) were live streamed. In the Swapnil Tripathi judgment, in September 2018, the SC had cleared the deck for live streaming of cases of national and constitutional importance.

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Solution: b)

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention.

The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, commonly called the “London Convention”.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, usually known as the Basel Convention, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to prevent transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries (LDCs).