[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 8 February 2023

Solution: d)

Under the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994, amended in 2011 and 2014, organs can be harvested from deceased donors or from living relatives of the recipient (children, siblings, spouse, or grandparents, and grandchildren). The Act also allows unrelated donors such as relatives other than close ones, long-term friends, or in-laws, but prohibits any financial exchange.

Although livers, pancreas, or lungs can be harvested from living donors, the rackets mainly target the kidney as it is the most in demand.

The kidney can survive longer outside of the body — 24 to 36 hours — than the lungs (4-5 hour) and the liver (8-12).

What causes kidney failure?

The most common cause is hypertension and diabetes. Other causes include certain hereditary diseases, infections, and autoimmune diseases. “High blood pressure and diabetes are the biggest causes of kidney damage in India, leading to 50% of kidney failures. Obesity is also a big risk factor because it increases the risk of diabetes and hypertension.

Solution: a)

Association for Democratic Reforms is a non-partisan, non-governmental organization which works in the area of electoral and political reforms since 1999. 

The National Election Watch (NEW) is a nationwide campaign comprising of more than 1200 NGOs and other citizen led organizations working together on electoral reforms, improving democracy and governance in India. The campaign is active in almost all states of India and has been doing election watches for the State Assembly and Lok Sabha Elections since 2002. 

Solution: d)

On June 12, 2001, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was first tested from a land-based launcher in Chandipur. Since then, BrahMos has been upgraded several times, with versions tested on land, air and sea platforms.

Since the early 1980s, the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, conceived and led by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, started developing a range of missiles including Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash and Nag, with a wide spectrum of capabilities and ranges.

In the early 1990s, India’s strategic leadership felt the need for cruise missiles — guided missiles that traverse the majority of their flight path at almost constant speed and deliver large warheads over long distances with high precision.

This led to the formation of BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM).

Solution: c)

Demographic dividend, as defined by the United Nations Population Fund, is “the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population’s age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population is larger than the non-working-age share of the population”.

Solution: b)