Test: November 2022 Weekly Current Affair - 4 - UPSC MCQ

The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular. Its aim was to secure global financial stability by involving middle-income countries. Its prominent members are: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the EU. Spain is invited as a permanent guest.

Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) that was signed by India with the previous Australian administration under Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Symptoms appear around 10 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. The main symptoms are fever, dry cough, running nose, sore throat and rash.
Young children, who don’t receive measles immunization, are at highest risks of being exposed to measles and its complications, including death. The WHO recommends immunization for all children with two doses of measles vaccine, either alone, or in a measles-rubella (MR) or measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) combination. As per the guidance of National Health Mission, in India, measles vaccination is given under the Universal Immunisation Programme at 9-12 months of age and the second dose at 16-24 months of age.

The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with three partner agencies: European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The Artemis program intends to re-establish a human presence on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

The Hornbill Festival is an annual festival celebrated from 1 to 10 of December in the North-eastern Indian state of Nagaland.
The annual festival at Kisama near State capital Kohima showcases the culture and tradition of all the ethnic communities of Nagaland.

November 18, 2022, is the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Rezang La, one of the few bright spots in the War of 1962 with China. On that day, 13 Kumaon’s C Company made their heroic last stand against the Chinese army in the high Himalayas of Ladakh, warding off a very significant threat and, in the process, writing a glorious chapter in India’s military history.

At the 27th Session of Conference of Parties (COP27), this year’s UN climate summit, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) was launched with India as a partner on Tuesday (November 8).
An initiative led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) includes India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan, and Spain. It seeks to educate and spread awareness worldwide on the role of mangroves in curbing global warming and its potential as a solution for climate change.
However, the intergovernmental alliance works on a voluntary basis which means that there are no real checks and balances to hold members accountable. Instead, the parties will decide their own commitments and deadlines regarding planting and restoring mangroves. The members will also share expertise and support each other in researching, managing and protecting coastal areas.

Successive governments, particularly after 2004, have “picked” people whom it knew would “never ever” get close to the full term of six years prescribed under the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act of 1991. Section 4 of the 1991 Act says the term of a CEC and Election Commissioners is six years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Protections under Article 324, like removal through impeachment, available under the Constitution to the CECs.

The US Department of Treasury recently delivered its semi-annual Report to Congress on ‘Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States’. The report reviews the policies of the US’ trading partners during the last four quarters ending in June 2022.
India and four other countries were removed from the Monitoring List as they now only met one of the three criteria for two consecutive reports. India has been on the list for about two years.

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation came into being after World War II as a counter to the Soviet Union’s possible expansion attempts in Europe. Then-US President Harry S Truman signed the 12-member treaty on April 4, 1949. After the collapse of USSR in 1991, several eastern European nations previously members of the Soviet Union joined NATO.
• The NATO works on a collective defense principle and routinely undertakes exercises to strengthen their territorial, naval, and air forces. NATO members also arm themselves to face evolving methods of attacks like cybercrimes, and have participated in military operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosova, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, among others.
• Article 4 of the treaty mandates that the member nations consult each other when faced with threat. “The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened,” it reads.
• Meanwhile, Article 5 spells out the ‘one-for-all, all-for-one’ nature of the treaty. 

The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is a plan from the European Union (EU) to tax carbon-intensive products, such as iron and steel, cement, fertiliser, aluminium and electricity generation, from 2026. The EU came up with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in 2021.

Gilt Funds are mutual funds that invest only in government securities. Since gilt funds invest only in government bonds, investors are protected from credit risk. The instruments where these funds invest have sovereign guarantee. Hence no default risk is associated with these instruments.
These funds can have different maturity profiles. Some may be short term while others are medium term or long term. Like any other bond funds, these funds too have interest rate risk ingrained in them. They are impacted by interest rate movements. 

The Ulgulan movement of 1899 also involved the use of weapons and guerrilla warfare to drive out foreigners. Munda encouraged the tribals to refuse following colonial laws and paying rent. He encouraged changes in the social sphere too, challenging religious practices to fight against superstition, and became known as ‘Bhagwan’ (God) and ‘Dharati Aba’ (Father of the earth) by his followers.
But the British were soon able to halt the movement. On March 3, 1900, Munda was arrested by the British police while he was sleeping with his tribal guerilla army at Jamkopai forest in Chakradharpur.

The Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) is an inter-agency platform to enhance food market transparency and policy response for food security. It was launched in 2011 by the G20 Ministers of Agriculture following the global food price hikes in 2007/08 and 2010. Bringing together the principal trading countries of agricultural commodities, AMIS assesses global food supplies (focusing on wheat, maize, rice and soybeans) and provides a platform to coordinate policy action in times of market uncertainty.

• In a ‘narco’ or narcoanalysis test, a drug called sodium pentothal is injected into the body of the accused, which transports them to a hypnotic or sedated state, in which their imagination is neutralised. In this hypnotic state, the accused is understood as being incapable of lying, and is expected to divulge information that is true.
• A polygraph test is based on the assumption that physiological responses that are triggered when a person is lying are different from what they would be otherwise.
• A polygraph test does not involve injecting drugs into the body; rather instruments like cardio-cuffs or sensitive electrodes are attached to the suspect, and variables such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, change in sweat gland activity, blood flow, etc., are measured as questions are put to them.
• A numerical value is assigned to each response to conclude whether the person is telling the truth, is deceiving, or is uncertain.
• In recent decades, investigating agencies have sought to employ these tests in investigation, which are sometimes seen as being a “softer alternative” to torture or “third degree” to extract the truth from suspects.
• However, neither method has been proven scientifically to have a 100% success rate, and remain contentious in the medical field as well.
• In ‘Selvi & Ors vs State of Karnataka & Anr’ (2010), a Supreme Court Bench ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered “except on the basis of consent of the accused”. It said that the ‘Guidelines for the Administration of Polygraph Test on an Accused’ published by the National Human Rights Commission in 2000, must be strictly followed. The subject’s consent should be recorded before a judicial magistrate, the court said.

• Indira Point on the southern tip of Great Nicobar Island is India’s southernmost point, less than 150 km from the northernmost island of the Indonesian archipelago.
• The Great Nicobar Island has tropical wet evergreen forests, mountain ranges reaching almost 650 m above sea level, and coastal plains. Fourteen species of mammals, 71 species of birds, 26 species of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, and 113 species of fish are found on the island, some of which are endangered. The leatherback sea turtle is the island’s flagship species.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and international human rights standards through the law. Commissioners are known for their experience, knowledge and fundamental commitment to human rights. The composition of the Commission aims to reflect the geographical diversity of the world and its many legal systems.

Mangroves have been the focus of conservationists for years and it is difficult to overstate their importance in the global climate context. Mangrove forests — consisting of trees and shrub that live in intertidal water in coastal areas — host diverse marine life. They also support a rich food web, with molluscs and algae-filled substrate acting as a breeding ground for small fish, mud crabs and shrimps, thus providing a livelihood to local artisanal fishers.
Equally importantly, they act as effective carbon stores, holding up to four times the amount of carbon as other forested ecosystems. Mangrove forests capture vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and their preservation can both aid in removal of carbon from the atmosphere and prevent the release of the same upon their destruction.

E-commerce Rules define fall-back liability as ‘the liability of the marketplace e-commerce entity where a seller registered with such entity fails to deliver the goods or services ordered by a consumer due to negligent conduct, omission or commission of any act by such seller in fulfilling the duties and liabilities in the manner as prescribed by the marketplace e-commerce entity which causes loss to the consumer.

Gujarat, the world’s only abode of Asiatic lions, is also the sole home of Indian wild asses.
Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary is one of the last places on earth where the Indian Wild Ass can be spotted.

• The sustained fall in US bond yields is a positive for emerging markets like India.
• Since inflation in the US is showing a moderating trend, dollar and US bond yields are declining. This means FPIs are likely to buy more in the coming days.
• The pullout by FPIs was a major concern for policy makers and the central bank as the rupee came under pressure, and the RBI was forced to use dollars from its forex kitty to stabilise the currency. If FPIs continue their investments in Indian markets — which is likely if US inflation comes down further and the Fed slows its rate hikes — it will bring more confidence among market players.
• Singapore recently surpassed Mauritius to become the second biggest FPI investor in India. The US continues to be on top. 

India hosted the Third No Money for Terror (NMFT) Conference.
India has proposed a permanent secretariat for “No Money for Terror,” a ministerial body, to sustain the continued global focus on countering the financing of terrorism.
The NMFT started in 2018 as an initiative of the French government which had, in 1989, laid the foundation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body at the forefront of combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

• Reduction in mortality normally leads to a rising population. A drop in fertility, on the other hand, slows down population growth, ultimately resulting in absolute declines. The total fertility rate (TFR) — the number of babies an average woman bears over her lifetime.
• A TFR of 2.1 is considered as “replacement-level fertility”. Simply understood, a woman having two children basically replaces herself and her partner with two new lives. Since all infants may not survive to realise their reproductive potential, the replacement TFR is taken at slightly above two. It ensures that each generation replaces itself.
• Populations can keep growing even with TFRs falling. De-growth requires TFRs to remain below replacement levels for extended periods. The effects of that — fewer children today becoming parents tomorrow and procreating just as much or less — may reflect only after a couple of generations.

Tax revenue is charged on income earned by an individual or an entity (direct tax) and on the value of transaction of goods and services (indirect tax). On the other hand, non-tax revenue is charged against services provided by the government. It also includes interest charged on loans advanced by the government for various purposes.

It is an act to provide for more effective protection of the rights of Women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

• It is the first significant attempt in India to recognise domestic abuse as a punishable offence, to extend its provisions to those in live-in relationships, and to provide for emergency relief for the victims, in addition to legal recourse.
• The Act provides a definition of “domestic violence” for the first time in Indian law, with this definition being broad and including not only physical violence, but also other forms of violence such as emotional/verbal, sexual, and economic abuse.
• It is a civil law meant primarily for protection orders, rather than criminal enforcement.