UPSC Editorials Quiz : 22 June 2024

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI):

• EPI was launched in 1974 to ensure that all children, in all countries, benefited from life-saving vaccines
• EPI was introduced as the eradication of smallpox virus was on the horizon.
• There are now 13 vaccines (antigens) recommended by WHO for the EPI programme:
  • Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)
  • diphtheria
  • pertussis
  • tetanus
  • Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)
  • Hepatitis B (HepB)
  • polio
  • measles
  • rubella
  • pneumococcal disease (PNC)
  • rotavirus (Rota)
  • human papillomavirus (HPV)
  • COVID-19 (for adults).

India launched the EPI in 1978, which was later renamed as the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) in 1985.

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Solution: d)

The State of the World’s Children is an annual report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It is the flagship publication of the organization.

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Solution: a)

Only Statement 2 is correct.

Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands, a sparsely inhabited 910-sq-km patch of mainly tropical rainforest in southeastern Bay of Bengal. Indira Point on the island, India’s southernmost point, is only 90 nautical miles (less than 170 km) from Sabang at the northern tip of Sumatra, the largest island of the Indonesian archipelago.

Great Nicobar has two national parks, a biosphere reserve, small populations of the Shompen and Nicobarese tribal peoples, and a few thousand non-tribal settlers.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a cluster of 836 islands, split into two groups — the Andaman Islands to the north and the Nicobar Islands to the south — by the 150-km wide Ten Degree Channel.

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Solution: a)

Only option 2 is correct.

The project for the “holistic development” of Great Nicobar Island was implemented after a report by NITI Aayog. A pre-feasibility report flagged the opportunity to leverage the strategic location of the island, which is roughly equidistant from Colombo in Sri Lanka to the southwest and Port Klang (Malaysia) and Singapore to the southeast.

It is close to the Malacca Strait, the main waterway that connects the Indian Ocean to the Pacific.

China’s attempts to expand its footprint in the region includes building a military facility at Coco Islands (Myanmar) lying just 55 km to the north of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Galathea Bay on the southeastern corner of Great Nicobar Island, where there is no human habitation.

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Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

The June-September southwest monsoon brings more than 70% of India’s annual rainfall. Climatologically, the monsoon arrives over the Andaman Sea in the third week of May and advances into the mainland through Kerala, June 1 being the normal date of onset.

An early or timely onset of the monsoon does not guarantee good rainfall or its distribution over the country throughout the four-month season. And a delayed onset does not necessarily mean below-average rainfall for the entire season.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast ‘above normal’ rainfall this season. Quantitatively, it is expected to be 106% of the Long Period Average of 880 mm (1971-2020 data).

The ‘above normal’ rainfall is being attributed mainly to the soon-to-emerge La Niña conditions, which are known to positively influence the Indian monsoon, and a positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD).

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