10 PM Current Affairs Quiz: September 21, 2020

Islands in the South China Sea includes Spratly Islands, Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank; islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast, on the Borneo coast, and the peripheral islands of Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands among Japan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan).

The International Day of Peace is a United Nations-sanctioned holiday observed annually on 21 September.

The International Day of Peace was established in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly. Two decades later, in 2001, the General Assembly unanimously voted to designate the Day as a period of non-violence and cease-fire.

The 2020 theme for the International Day of Peace is “Shaping Peace Together.”

Statement 1 is correct. Any donation, delivery or transfer received from a ‘foreign source’ whether in rupees or in foreign currency is construed as ‘foreign contribution’ under FCRA, 2010. Such transactions even in rupees term are considered as foreign contribution.

Statement 2 is correct. United Nations or any of its specialized agencies, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund or such other agency as the Central Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf are not treated as ‘foreign source’ under the act.

Statement 1 is correct. The Business Advisory Committee of Lok Sabha consists of 15 members including the Speaker who is the ex-officio Chairperson.

The function of the Committee is to recommend the time that should be allotted for the discussion of such government legislative and other business as the Speaker, in consultation with the Leader of the House, may direct to be referred to the Committee.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Almost all sections of the House are represented on the Committee.

The members are nominated by the Speaker. In practice, a new Committee after being nominated by the Speaker is constituted and assumes office in the first week of June every year. Casual vacancies are filled by nomination of new members for the unexpired term of the Committee. The Committee generally meets at the beginning of each Session and thereafter as and when necessary.

The Maghreb is a subregion of North Africa that is effectively a western part of the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia, which are all member states of the Arab Maghreb Union.

The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south.

Statement 1 is correct. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) technology is a tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function.

CRISPRs are specialized stretches of DNA. The protein Cas9 (CRISPR-associated-9) is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA.

Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops.

Statement 2 is correct. The Tata CRISPR test, powered by CSIR-IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) FELUDA, received regulatory approvals recently from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for commercial launch.

The Tata CRISPR test is the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the virus causing Covid-19.

The Tata CRISPR test achieves accuracy levels of traditional RT-PCR tests, with quicker turnaround time, less expensive equipment, and better ease of use.

# CRISPR technology was adapted from the natural defense mechanisms of bacteria and archaea (the domain of single-celled microorganisms). These organisms use CRISPR-derived RNA and various Cas proteins, including Cas9, to foil attacks by viruses and other foreign bodies. They do so primarily by chopping up and destroying the DNA of a foreign invader. When these components are transferred into other, more complex, organisms, it allows for the manipulation of genes, or “editing.”

Statement 1 is correct. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 passed by the Parliament recently provides for a farming agreement between a farmer and a buyer prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce.

Statement 2 is correct. The minimum period of an agreement will be one crop season, or one production cycle of livestock.  The maximum period is five years, unless the production cycle is more than five years.

The price of farming produce should be mentioned in the agreement.  For prices subjected to variation, a guaranteed price for the produce and a clear reference for any additional amount above the guaranteed price must be specified in the agreement. Further, the process of price determination must be mentioned in the agreement.

A farming agreement must provide for a conciliation board as well as a conciliation process for settlement of disputes.

Statement 1 is correct. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 allows intra-state and inter-state trade of farmers’ produce outside: (i) the physical premises of market yards run by market committees formed under the state APMC Acts and (ii) other markets notified under the state APMC Acts.

Such trade can be conducted in an ‘outside trade area’, i.e., any place of production, collection, and aggregation of farmers’ produce including: (i) farm gates, (ii) factory premises, (iii) warehouses, (iv) silos, and (v) cold storages.

It also permits the electronic trading of scheduled farmers’ produce (agricultural produce regulated under any state APMC Act) in the specified trade area.

Statement 2 is correct. The bill prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.

All of the above are determinants of MSP. It is based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The idea behind MSP is to give guaranteed prices and assured market to the farmers and save them from the price fluctuations. It insulates farmers from the unwarranted fluctuation in prices caused by the variation in supply (largely influenced by the monsoon), lack of market integration, information asymmetry and other elements of market imperfection plaguing the agricultural markets.

In formulating the recommendations in respect of the level of minimum support prices and other non-price measures, the Commission takes into account Cost of production, Changes in input prices, Input-output price parity, Trends in market prices, Demand and supply, Inter-crop price parity etc.

The Ezulwini Consensus is a position on international relations and reform of the United Nations, agreed by the African Union. The consensus is named after Ezulwini, a valley in central Swaziland where the agreement was made.

The consensus was then adopted at an Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union, in March 2005, in Addis Ababa.

The Ezulwini Consensus was followed by the Sirte Declaration of July 2005, which required at least two permanent seats and two non-permanent Security Council seats for African states.