Test: International - 1 (2019 - 2015) - UPSC MCQ

2017, August theHindu: "CRIPSR/Cas9" is a gene editing scissors.

2018-Dec, Indian Express: So far the US-based LIGO and Europe-based VIRGO gravitational-wave detectors have recorded gravitational waves from a total of 10 black hole mergers and one merger of neutron stars.

2018-Oct Economic Times: India and Russia inked Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field during their 19th Joint summit.

2019-June, Indian Express: From MAY 25 EU's General Data Protection Regulation takes effect. The new rules apply to all users in the 28-nation EU, regardless of where the companies collecting, analyzing and using their data are located.

AIIB: China, India, UK, Switzerland are among the members. And, based on share capital provided. China ~27%, India ~7%. Asian countries control about 75% voting.
So, #2 and #3 are wrong. We are left with answer A.

Statement 1 is not entirely correct. While India is a signatory to the Ramsar Convention and has designated several wetlands as Ramsar Sites, it is not mandatory under the convention for India to protect and conserve all wetlands within its territory. However, the convention does encourage member countries to take measures to conserve wetlands.

Statement 2 is partially correct. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 were framed by the Government of India to regulate activities in wetlands and their catchment areas, but they were not based solely on the recommendations of the Ramsar Convention. The rules were influenced by several other laws and regulations, including the National Biodiversity Act, 2002, and the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 1994. However, the Ramsar Convention did provide some guiding principles for the rules, such as the need to maintain the ecological character of wetlands, the importance of community participation in wetland management, and the need to consider the entire catchment area of a wetland.

Statement 3 is correct. The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010 encompass not only the wetlands but also the drainage area or catchment regions of the wetlands as determined by the authority. This is in line with the Ramsar Convention's emphasis on the importance of considering the entire catchment area when managing wetlands.

2019-Jan, Hindu Businessline: India has been the world's top rice exporter since the beginning of this decade. But this boom has benefited only merchant capitalists, not consumers and producers.

Wannacry ransomware locks user 's devices and prevents them from accessing data and software until a certain ransom is paid to its creator. Like WannaCry, "Petya" worm spreads rapidly through networks that use Microsoft Windows, and demands $300 paid in bitcoin to unlock your infected P(C) EternalBlue is the name given to a software vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows operating system, because of which aforementioned ransomwares sprea(d) So, all these terms are related to cybersecurity.

In May 2016, India and Iran signed the "historic" Chabahar port agreement, which has the potential of becoming India's gateway to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Europe. So, C is the most fitting answer.

Term was coined by EU in 2015, and was in news again in March-2016 because of Brussel Summit.

TFA came into force from February 2017. So, third statement is wrong, by elimination, we are left with answer "A".

IceCube is an enormous particle detector located deep in the ice at the South Pole. IceCube is the world's largest neutrino detector, encompassing a cubic kilometer of ice. The IceCube telescope is a powerful tool to search for dark matter and could reveal the physical processes associated with the enigmatic origin of the highest energy particles in nature. Buried deep within the East Antarctic ice sheet at the South Pole, a giant high-energy neutrino observatory due for completion in 2009 could provide scientists, including from Europe, with an unprecedented window to the Universe, as well as a means to answer some of the most fundamental questions of astrophysics and cosmology.

Description is right. "Goldilocks Zone," is the region around a star that has just the right conditions to find liquid water on a planet's surface. And liquid water is a key ingredient in the search for life.

Golan Heights are located in Syria. However, the two-thirds of the western region are currently occupied by Israel, whereas the one-third of eastern region is controlled by Syria.