[Mission 2032] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 20 November 2023

Solution: c)

Raccoon dogs are neither dogs nor raccoons. They belong to the canid family and are closely related to foxes. They are the only canids that hibernate during the winter.

Raccoon dogs are originally from East Asia and are commonly found in parts of China, Korea and Japan, where they are known as tanuki. They are also found in Europe, where they were first brought in by fur traders in the 1920s. Today, raccoon dogs are considered to be a threat to the local ecosystem in Europe and an EU report declared them “one of the most successful alien carnivores in Europe.”

Solution: c)

Solution: a)

Only Statement 3 is correct.

Surrogacy is defined by law as “a practice whereby one woman bears and gives birth to a child for an intending couple” and intends to hand over the child to them after the birth, as per The Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 (SRA). It further allows for surrogacy to be available only to infertile Indian married couples.

The other legislation on this matter, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) (Regulation) Act, 2021. This is open to married couples, live-in partners, single women, and also foreigners.

ART procedures include gamete donation, intrauterine insemination, and in-vitro fertilisation or IVF.

The SRA Act says the surrogate should be married and have a child of her own. Restricting altruistic surrogacy to legally wedded infertile Indian couples, the Act sets an age limitation for the couple where a husband must be between 26 and 55 years of age and a wife between 23 and 50 years. Further, Indian couples with biological or adopted children are prohibited to undertake surrogacy, save for some exceptions such as mentally or physically challenged children, or those sufferings from a life-threatening disorder or fatal illness.

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

Dengue is transmitted by several species of mosquitoes within the genus Aedes. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. There are four types of dengue strains, and type II and IV are considered to be more severe and normally require hospitalisation. According to experts, the aedes mosquito breeds in clean stagnant water.

These mosquitoes are also vectors of chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses.

Dengue and chikungunya are caused by the bite of Aedes agypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water. The Anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

United Nations Convention on Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 which governs the rights of countries regarding marine resources. Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) lie from the coast of a country to about 200 nautical miles (or 370 km into the sea), till where it has special rights for exploration. Waters beyond that are known as open seas or high seas. Currently, it is estimated high or open seas constitute two-thirds of the world’s oceans, and only one per cent of them are legally protected.