[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 11 February 2023

Solution: b)

France has emerged as a major strategic partner for India with crucial defence deals and increased military to military engagement. A key example of this is the inducting of the French Scorpene conventional submarines, being built in India under technology transfer agreement of 2005, and the Indian Air Force having received 36 Rafale fighter jets.

These relations are further fortified with the robust network of military dialogues and regularly held joint exercises — Varuna (navy), Garuda (air force), and Shakti (army).

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Solution: b)

Comets are frozen rocky or gas-filled objects that are remnants of the formation of the solar system. Due to their composition, characteristics and the path they move in, they tend to leave a light behind them.

Just like other bodies in space, comets also have orbits. They are sometimes pulled in close to the sun because of the sun’s gravity acting on them. NASA explains that as they orbit near the Sun, “They heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet”. The remains of dust following this burning up, from a distance, look like a trail of light to humans on Earth. Comets, therefore, have often been seen giving out blue or whiteish light, or even green.

In this case, the green glow “is thought to arise from the presence of diatomic carbon – pairs of carbon atoms that are bound together – in the head of the comet. The molecule emits green light when excited by the ultraviolet rays in solar radiation.

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Solution: c)

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently auctioned its maiden sovereign green bonds worth ₹8,000 crore. These comprised sovereign green bonds 2028 and sovereign green bonds 2033 with a cut-off yield of 7.10% and 7.29%, respectively, a few basis points lower than the G-sec of the same tenure.

The proceeds will be invested in environment-friendly projects like solar, wind, small hydro power projects, etc. Five percent of the total amount of bonds will be made available to retail investors. 

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Solution: a)

After the Stockholm Declaration on the Global Environment, the Constitution was amended in 1976 to include Protection and Improvement of Environment as a fundamental duty.

Under Article 253, Parliament has the power to make laws for implementing international treaties and agreements and can legislate on the preservation of the natural environment. Parliament used Article 253 to enact the Environment Protection Act to implement the decisions reached at the Stockholm Conference.

Solution: d)

Around one in 500 men could be carrying an extra X or Y chromosome, most of them unaware, according to researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Exeter. This puts them at increased risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis and thrombosis, the researchers report in a study published in Genetics in Medicine.

Sex chromosomes determine our biological sex. Men typically have one X and one Y chromosome, while women have two Xs. However, some men also have XXY or XYY.

Men with either XXY or XYY had higher risks of several other health conditions. They were three times more likely to have type 2 diabetes, six times more likely to develop venous thrombosis, three times as likely to experience pulmonary embolism, and four times more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).