[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 30 November 2023

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) has the power to register a case against an organisation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for alleged foreign exchange violation.

What is the aim of the FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act)?

FEMA came in 1999 as a successor to the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act or FERA of 1973, with changing economic conditions in a post-liberalisation India.

So what changed with the FEMA?

Reflecting the major change in mindset was the decision to make offences or violations under this law a civil offence rather than criminal one, and making transactions that are part of the current account, such as travelling abroad for tourism, education, etc., a matter of right while putting in place restrictions on the capital account.

Solution: c)

Soils help to regulate the planet’s climate by storing carbon and are the second largest carbon sink after the oceans. They help maintain a landscape that is more resilient to the impacts of droughts and floods. As soil is the basis of food systems, it is no surprise that soil health is critical for healthy food production.

The reasons behind soil nutrient loss range from soil erosion, runoff, leaching and the burning of crop residues.

Other pertinent initiatives include the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, to prevent soil erosion, regeneration of natural vegetation, rainwater harvesting and recharging of the groundwater table.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Asteroids are rocky, irregularly shaped remnants both smaller and larger sizes that are leftovers from when the period of the formation of the solar system. The asteroid belt is a circumstellar ring of asteroids located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail that stretches millions of miles. Comets are well spread over the entire solar system.

Solution: a)

Only statement 3 is correct.

• Before the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) act of 1971, abortions were criminalised under the Indian Penal Code. The MTP changed that but still imposed heavy restrictions, especially pertaining to unmarried women. As per the 2021 amendment, the act allows abortion in a number of circumstances, most based on the health and safety of the woman.
• The law allows abortion during the first 20 weeks, with approval from a medical practitioner and from the 20 to 24 weeks with authorisation by two medical practitioners. In cases involving a severe foetal anomaly after the 24-week mark, a three-person medical board must confirm the diagnosis with the final decision resting with a judge.

Solution: c)

Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae (massive stars exploding at the end of their lifetimes), and colliding neutron stars.