10 PM Daily Current Affairs Quiz | May 2 2021

• Statement 1 is correct: ‘Herd immunity’, also known as ‘population immunity’, is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection. WHO supports achieving ‘herd immunity’ through vaccination, not by allowing a disease to spread through any segment of the population, as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths. India needs to vaccinate around 70-75% of its population to achieve herd immunity
• Statement 2 is correct: Mortality does not give a complete picture of the burden of disease borne by individuals in different populations. The overall burden of disease is assessed using the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), a time-based measure that combines years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs) and years of life lost due to time lived in states of less than full health, or years of healthy life lost due to disability (YLDs). One DALY represents the loss of the equivalent of one year of full health. Hence, DALYs saved through vaccination of 18-plus age group would be the highest.

All statements are correct

• An oxygen concentrator is a medical device that concentrates oxygen from ambient air. Atmospheric air has about 78 per cent nitrogen and 21 per cent oxygen, with other gases making up the remaining 1 per cent. The oxygen concentrator takes in this air, filters it through a sieve, releases the nitrogen back into the air, and works on the remaining oxygen. According to a 2015 report by the WHO, concentrators are designed for continuous operation and can produce oxygen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up to 5 years or more.
• While it is not as pure as LMO (99%), experts say it is good enough for mild and moderate Covid-19 patients with oxygen saturation levels of 85% or above. It is, however, not advisable for ICU patients. Concentrators can be attached with multiple tubes to serve two patients at the same time, but experts don’t recommend it since it carries risk of cross-infection.
• Concentrators are portable and unlike LMO that needs to be stored and transported in cryogenic tankers, need no special temperature. And unlike cylinders that require refilling, concentrators only need a power source to draw in ambient air.

• Statement 1 is correct: BEPS refers to “tax planning strategies that exploit gaps and mismatches in tax rules to make profits ‘disappear’ for tax purposes or to shift profits to locations where there is little or no real activity but the taxes are low resulting in little or no overall corporate tax being paid
• Statement 2 is incorrect: As per OECD, in most cases BEPS strategies are not illegal. Largely they just take advantage of current rules that are still grounded in a bricks and mortar economic environment rather than today’s environment of global players which is characterized by the increasing importance of intangibles and risk management. That said, some of the schemes used are illegal and tax administrations are fighting them.

• Statement 1 is correct: Equity means treating people based on their respective circumstances. So, every individual shall be helped as per their need and brought to the same level of development resulting in equality.
• Statement 2 is correct: Under principles of equity, only those individuals are helped who require that help. This means people are treated fairly as per their conditions, but differently.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Everyone in the class will not be in the need of extra classes. So, only those students who are weak shall be given help. This ensures that only those students are given assistance who actually need it. Hence, this is a case of equity, not equality. Under equality, all students would be given extra classes.

• OPCW is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention. This convention is in force since 1997 and 193 members.

• Members: It has 193 members including India.
• Headquarters: The Hague, Netherlands.
• Significance: The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
• Relations with UN: OPCW is not a United Nations (UN) organization. However, by the 2001 Relationship Agreement between the OPCW and the UN, the OPCW reports on its inspections and other activities to the UN through the office of the Secretary-General.
• Relevance: India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) GC Murmu selected as an external auditor to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). His term will be for 3 years, starting in 2021.

Read more: OPCW

Around 30 Countries from across the oceans have joined the GloLitter Partnerships Project to tackle marine plastic litter.

• GloLitter Partnerships Project was launched by the International Maritime Organization(IMO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO). The Government of Norway provided initial funding for the project.
• Aim: The project aims to help the maritime transport and fishing sectors to adapt to a low-plastic future. To achieve this goal, this initiative will assist developing countries to apply best practices for prevention, reduction, and control of marine plastic litter from those sectors.
• Participating Countries: 30 Countries will be participating in the project. India is one of the participating countries.

Read more: GloLitter Partnerships Project

Statement 1 is correct. This zone is a seismically active area, so it falls into the highest Seismic Hazard Zone V.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The Kopili fault zone is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault. It is extending from the western part of Manipur to the tri-junction of Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

Statement 3 is correct. The zone is associated with collisional tectonics because of the Indian Plate subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate.Subduction is a geological process in which one crustal plate is forced below the edge of another.

The Patents Act,1970: The act has two key specific provisions that could be potentially invoked to regulate the pricing of the vaccine. The two provisions are:

• Section 100: It gives the central government the power to authorise anyone (a pharma company) to use the invention for the purposes of the government. Basically, this provision enables the government to license patents of the vaccine to specific companies. This is done to speed up manufacturing and ensuring equitable pricing.
• Section 92: It deals with compulsory licensing. It says that the government without the permission of the patent holder can provide license under the following situations:

• Circumstance of national emergency; or
• Circumstance of extreme urgency; or
• Case of public non-commercial use.

Statement 1 is correct: The debt-to-GDP ratio is the metric comparing a country’s public debt to its gross domestic product (GDP). By comparing what a country owes with what it produces, the debt-to-GDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country’s ability to pay back its debts.

· Statement 2 is correct: The Union government broadly classifies its liabilities into two broad categories. The debt contracted against the Consolidated Fund of India is defined as public debt and includes all other funds received outside Consolidated Fund of India under Article 266 (2) of the Constitution, where the government merely acts as a banker or custodian. The second type of liabilities is called public account.

· Statement 3 is incorrect: As per Reserve Bank of India Act of 1934, the Reserve Bank is both the banker and public debt manager for the Union government. However, of late, there is a demand for creating a specialized agency for managing public debt as exists in some advanced economies. For instance, the NITI Aayog has advocated the creation of a separate public debt management agency (PDMA).

Statement 1 is incorrect: Trachoma is caused by a bacterial infection caused by the Chlamydia Trachomatis

· Statement 2 is correct: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), are a group of diseases that occur under tropical and sub-tropical climate conditions and are intimately linked to poverty. They therefore thrive in areas where access to adequate sanitation, clean water and healthcare is limited, and people live in proximity with animals and infective disease vectors, such as in remote and rural areas, informal settlements or conflict zones. Following diseases are categorised as NTDs by WHO:

1. Buruli ulcer

2. Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis)

3. Dengue and Chikungunya

4. Dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease)

5. Echinococcosis

6. Foodborne trematode infections

7. Human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)

8. Leishmaniasis

9. Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)

10. Lymphatic filariasis (Elephantiasis)

11. Mycetoma, chromoblastomycosis and other deep mycoses

12. Onchocerciasis (river blindness)

13. Rabies

14. Scabies and other ectoparasitoses

15. Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia)

16. Soil-transmitted helminthiases

17. Snakebite envenoming

18. Taeniasis and cysticercosis

19. Trachoma

20. Yaws (Endemic treponematoses)

· Statement 3 is correct: Ghana eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem in 2018