[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 14 October 2022

Solution: b)

India has received the fourth set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals and organisations as part of an annual information exchange, under which Switzerland has shared particulars of nearly 34 lakh financial accounts with 101 countries.

This is the fourth tranche of information that India has received from Switzerland since the two countries entered into an Automatic Exchange Of Information (AEOI) agreement in January 2018.

Some countries which have been added to the Swiss AEOI list for the first time are Turkey, Peru and Nigeria.

The guidelines and parameters for the AEOI are set by the Paris-based international body, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The annual exercise of AEOI exchange, such as the current Swiss bonanza of banking details, is strictly meant for “tax only” purposes and in India, kept in the custody of and for action by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

Under the OECD’s guidelines, no details of the quantum of funds or the names of account holders are to be publicised. In 2014, the OECD developed the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) which allows every country to obtain data from Financial Institutions (FIs) and “automatically” exchange it with countries with which AEOI agreements are in order every year.

Under the OECD umbrella of AEOI, India presently shares bulk financial and banking information with 78 countries and receives the same from 107 countries, with Switzerland known to be sharing some of the most voluminous data.

Due primarily to the large volume of FI data coming in from now a 100 countries, the CBDT last year set up a network of Foreign Asset Investigation Units (FAIUs) in 14 of its investigation wings, to which the information of that region which has reached India via the AEOI route is transmitted in a secure manner.

Source

Solution: c)

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. The primary vectors that transmit the disease are female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus.

There is no specific treatment for dengue/severe dengue. Early detection of disease progression associated with severe dengue, and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates of severe dengue to below 1%.

When a mosquito bites, it not only sucks blood but secretes saliva. This saliva enters the blood. There is an exchange of fluids between the mosquito and the bloodstream.

Solution: b)

Black holes do not emit or radiate anything, even light. So, there is no way their image can be captured. But the area just outside its boundary, called the event horizon, which has vast amounts of gas, clouds and plasma swirling violently, does emit all kinds of radiations, even visible light.

Solution: b)

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is one of the “Three Sisters” recognized by the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Agreement, along with the Codex Alimentarius Commission for food safety standards and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) for animal health standards.

Solution: c)

Salinity is a major factor affects crop growth and productivity at global level. Salt stress in plants is developed due to excess salt in the soil, which reduces the water potential of the soil and making the soil solution unavailable to the plants. This effect is termed as physiological drought.

Salinity: It is caused due to high accumulation of Ca, Mg as well as sodium and then anions such as SO4, NO3, CO3 and HCO3, Cl, etc.

Sodicity: it is due to high accumulation or high concentration of sodium in the soil.

Causes for soil salinity

Salt stress mainly occurs due to two factors:

1. Irrigation water

Continuous usage of underground water for irrigation which brings excess salt from the underground region

2. Types of soil

Under rainfed condition, because of high evapotranspiration, water moves upward through the soil profile and forming salt crusts on the surface of the soil