10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : January 24, 2019

Statement 1 is correct- The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the creation of a National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), which would serve as the forum of second appeals to do with the applicability of GST, and will also be the first common forum of dispute resolution between the Centre and the States.

Statement 2 is correct –The government , was initially planning an appellate tribunal in each State. However, the idea was discarded in favour of one at the national level following the experience with the various state-level advance ruling authorities, which often gave conflicting judgments. “The disputes they would be looking at would be appeals under GST law wherein the taxpayer is contesting the tax demand put by the tax department

The National Bench of the Appellate Tribunal, to be situated in New Delhi, will be presided over by its president. It will consist of a technical member from the Centre and a representative of the States. “This is part and parcel of the GST provisions.

Statement 1 is correct-

• • Functions of WTO
  • Administering WTO trade agreement
  • Forum for trade negotiations
  • Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies
• Technical assistance and training for developing countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations

Statement 2 is correct -Types of intellectual property-The areas covered by the TRIPS Agreement.

• Copyright and related rights
• Trademarks, including service marks
• Geographical indications
• Industrial designs
• Patents
• Layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits
• Undisclosed information, including trade secrets

Statement 1 is correct-Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages. After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch vehicle of India with 39 consecutively successful missions by June 2017. During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.

Statement 2 is incorrect – ISRO’s Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP) envisaged the design and development of the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage to replace the stage procured from Russia and used in GSLV flights.

Statement 1 is correct –The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) is between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles. It is a 1987 key Cold War arms control agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union .

Statement 2 is correct- INF treaty bans missiles with a range above 500 km.

It requires destruction of the Parties’ ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, their launchers and associated support structures and support equipment within three years after the Treaty enters into force.

Statement 1 is correct -One pitfall of embryo gene-editing is that it is not as precise as we need it to be today. Studies have shown that the technology can result in unintended mutations, which in turn can cause cancers. Then there is the danger of mosaicism, in which some cells inherit the target mutation, while others don’t.

Statement 2 is correct-

WHAT IS GENE EDITING

While scientists have long been able to find defective genes, fixing them has been so cumbersome that it’s slowed development of genetic therapies. There are several gene editing methods, but a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has sparked a boom in research as laboratories worldwide adopted it over the past five years because it’s faster, cheaper, simple to use with minimal training and allows manipulation of multiple genes at the same time.

HOW IT WORKS

Pieces of RNA are engineered to be a guide that homes in on the targeted stretch of genetic material. The Cas9 is an enzyme that acts like molecular scissors to snip that spot. That allows scientists to delete, repair, or replace a particular gene

Statement 1 is correct

Constitution bench is the name given to the benches of the Supreme Court of India which consist of at least five judges of the court which sit to decide any case “involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation” of the Constitution of India.

Statement 2 is correct

In Puttaswamy case 2017, Constitution bench of Supreme court has declared Right to privacy as a fundamental right.

Statement 3 is incorrect

It is implicit in the Article 145(3) of the indian constitution. Chief Justice of India constitutes the constitution bench.

Ten years after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, India conducted its largest coastal defence drill, Exercise Sea Vigil, to test its preparedness along the entire 7,516.6 km-long-coastline and exclusive economic zone of the country.

The first coastal defence Exercise Sea Vigil, conducted by the Navy and Coast Guard, in close coordination with State Governments and Union Territories concluded today, 23 Jan 2019. It was the largest such exercise the country had ever witnessed in recent times and saw participation by more than 100 ships, aircraft and patrol boats manned and operated by various security agencies.  

Statement 1 is incorrect

The VVPAT displays the slip for 7 seconds after which it gets automatically collected and stored in the sealed ballot compartment.

Statement 2 is correct

Heat was the primary reason for the malfunctioning of the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) during the polling in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency.

Statement 1 and 2 are correct

• It seeks to establish a Public Health Management Cadre (PHMC) in all states.
• It also proposes rising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP in a time bound manner.

Statement 3 is incorrect

The policy seeks to achieve ’90:90:90′ global target by 2020 – implying that 90% of all people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90% of those diagnosed with HIV infection receive sustained antiretroviral therapy and 90% of those receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

Statement 1 is incorrect – A  new programme called  ‘Insect Allies’ was launched by the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA),which is responsible for developing military technologies in the U.S.

The DARPA is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.

Statement 2 is incorrect– Under this programme researchers have been asked to evolve insects that introduce genetically modified viruses into crops. This is being done ostensibly to address infections. One is yet to come across a more ingenious explanation for a lethal weapon system being developed. Imagine these insects being let loose in fields with their genes deviously modified? Is this agricultural warfare? The journal, Science, acknowledges that the programme may be widely perceived as an effort to develop biological agents for hostile purpose.