[Mission 2023] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 10 June 2023

Solution: c)

The largest collection of plastics and microplastics in the ocean is in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Also known as the trash vortex, it is located between California and Japan, and formed due to converging ocean currents.

Every year, as plastics enter water bodies and find their way into the ocean, they show remarkable resiliency, floating around where the current takes them until they get stuck in a gyre or large circular ocean currents. The largest such gyre is in the Pacific and hence results in the collection of plastics in the region.

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Solution: b)

Operation Bluestar was an Indian Army operation carried out in June 1984 in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, to flush out militants.

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Solution: b)

Only statement 1 and 2 are correct.

Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) holders may soon get protection for their money against any fraud or unauthorised payment transactions. A committee set up to review the Customer Service Standards in RBI Regulated Entities has recommended that the central bank should examine the extension of Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) cover to PPIs, which, at present, is available only to bank deposits. If the committee’s recommendation is accepted, it will come as a big relief for PPI holders.

What are PPIs?

PPIs are instruments that facilitate the purchase of goods and services, conduct of financial services and enable remittance facilities, among others, against the money stored in them. PPIs can be issued as cards or wallets.

There are two types of PPIs – small PPIs and full-KYC (know your customer) PPIs. Further, small PPIs are categorized as – PPIs up to Rs 10,000 (with cash loading facility) and PPIs up to Rs 10,000 (with no cash loading facility).

PPIs can be loaded/reloaded by cash, debit to a bank account, or credit and debit cards. The cash loading of PPIs is limited to Rs 50,000 per month subject to the overall limit of the PPI.

Who can issue PPI instruments?

PPIs can be issued by banks and non-banks after obtaining approval from the RBI.

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Solution: b)

The population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time. The crude birth rate is the annual number of live births per 1,000 population.

Births and deaths are the natural causes of population change. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.

Solution: b)

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. To the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez.

The six countries bordering the Red Sea are: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.