[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 15 May 2023

Solution: c)

Fertilisers are essentially food for crops. They, like humans, need nutrients – primary (N, P, K), secondary (Sulphur, calcium, magnesium) and micro (iron, zinc, copper, manganese, boron, molybdenum) – for plant growth and grain yield.

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Solution: d)

Given the urgency of malaria control and prevention, last year, the WHO gave a historic go-ahead for the first malaria vaccine called RTS,S to be rolled out in high transmission African countries.

Although the RTS,S vaccine has relatively low efficacy, in the range of 30 to 40 per cent, it was granted approval in view of the enormity of the task of malaria control. The vaccine has already been administered to over one million children in pilot trials since 2019, and it has resulted in a significant reduction in severe malaria and hospitalisation in malaria-endemic countries like Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.

Another malaria vaccine called the R21, which like RTS,S works against the liver stage of the parasite, has recently created much excitement in malaria vaccine research circles.

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Solution: c)

Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked mountainous area in the South Caucasus. It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of tension ever since.

The territory is internationally recognised as part of oil-rich Azerbaijan, but its inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians and have their own government which has enjoyed close links to the government in neighbouring Armenia but has not been officially recognised by it or other U.N. member states.

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Solution: d)

Classified as `Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and 90% of the species population is found in India.

Wildlife SOS India, an organisation involved in sloth bear conservation and protection for over two decades.

Sloth bears are identified by their very distinct long, shaggy dark brown or black fur, distinct white V-shaped chest patch and four-inch long ivory-coloured curved claws used for digging out termites and ants from rock-hard mounds. Listed under Schedule I of The (Wildlife Protection) Act of India, 1972 the species has the same level of protection as tigers, rhinos and elephants.

Solution: d)

Key policy interventions and technological advancements have made India the second-largest telecom market in the world. The sector is one of the highest contributors to India’s GDP. In the last few years, the government has allowed 100% FDI in the sector, largely deregulated BPOs and call centres, enabled in-flight Wi-Fi, and allowed deferred payments from telecom operators due to their strained financial conditions.