10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: June 3, 2020

Statement 1 and 2 are correct. Social Vaccine refers to educational and behavioral measures that can be used to raise public consciousness about unhealthy situations; Social vaccine involves spreading education on how to protect oneself and others.

A social vaccine is a process of social and political mobilization which involves government and other institutions’ efforts to intervene with interventions, applied to populations rather than individuals, aimed at mitigating the structural social and economic conditions that make people and communities vulnerable to disease.

Statement 3 is incorrect. The medical vaccines help develop immunity against disease, while social vaccines develop the ability of communities to resist and change social and economic structures, practices and processes that have a negative impact on health.

Statement 1 is correct. SARS-Cov-2 is an RNA virus, it relies on infiltrating healthy cells to multiply and survive. The sample to be tested is treated with several chemical solutions to remove substances, such as proteins and fats, and extracts the RNA present in the sample. The extracted RNA is a mix of a person’s own genetic material and, if present, the SARS-COV-2 RNA.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The RT-PCR test cannot detect if a person has had the virus in past and then cleared it, i.e. whether a person had the disease, this test only detects whether the active virus is present.

A National Crisis Management Committee ensures the effective coordination and implementation of relief measures and operations in wake of a calamity. It is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. Other members include Secretary to Prime Minister, Secretary (MHA), Secretary (Agri & Coopn.) etc.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is headed by the Prime Minister. 

A National Crisis Management Committee ensures the effective coordination and implementation of relief measures and operations in wake of a calamity. It is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. Other members include Secretary to Prime Minister, Secretary (MHA), Secretary (Agri & Coopn.) etc.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is headed by the Prime Minister. 

Statement 1 is incorrect. The monsoon rainfall has a declining trend with increasing distance from the sea. As the rain bearing winds move over land, the moisture depletes and farther the winds move lesser is the rainfall.

Statement 2 is correct.  Western Ghats receive more rain than the Eastern Ghats as it lies in the rain fed area of Arabian branch of the monsoon. Further the Western Ghats drains the rain-bearing winds which cause rainfall on the western slopes. The Bay of Bengal branch on the hand moves almost parallel to Eastern Ghats.

Statement 3 is correct.  The monsoon rains occur in wet spells of few days duration at a time. The wet spells are interspersed with rainless interval known as ‘breaks’. These breaks in rainfall are related to the cyclonic depressions mainly formed at the head of the Bay of Bengal, and their crossing into the mainland.

Statement 1 is correct. The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime is a non-profit registered and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, working as a network of prominent law enforcement, governance and development practitioners who are dedicated to seeking new and innovative strategies and responses to organized crime.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) acts as custodian of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its protocols.

Statement 1 is correct. The International Health Regulations, (2005), represent an agreement between 196 countries including all WHO Member States (India as well) to work together for global health security.

Statement 2 is correct. PHEIC is defined in the IHR (2005) as “an extraordinary event which is determined to constitute a public health risk to other States through the international spread of disease and to potentially require a coordinated international response”.

The IHR (2005) puts obligations on States Parties to notify WHO of events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern according to defined criteria.

Statement 1 is incorrect. As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have four members to the Rajysabha.

Statement 2 is incorrect. As per the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, a member may be disqualified as a member, if he voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party. A member nominated to the House by the President, however, is allowed to join a political party if he/she does so within the first six months of taking seat in the House.

Statement 1 is correct. Cyclonic Storm Nisarga is a tropical cyclone which started as a deep depression in the Arabian Sea and headed towards the coastline of Indian state of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The word Nisarga literally means nature. This name has been proposed by Bangladesh.

All are termed as public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

As per section 2(h) of the act “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted—(a) by or under the Constitution;

(b) by any other law made by Parliament;

(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;

(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government,

and includes any—(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;

(ii) non-Government organisation substantially financed,

directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Remdesivir is not an antimalarial drug. It is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication developed by the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences.

Statement 2 is correct. Remdesivir was previously tested as an Ebola treatment and is now being tested for COVID-19. It is part of the Solidarity trials initiative of drug efficacy testing for COVID-19 launched by WHO. Other drugs part of the trial are: Lopinavir/Ritonavir, Interferon beta-1a and Hydroxychloroquine.