10 PM Current Affairs Quiz : April 22, 2019

US scientists have used HIV to make a gene therapy that cured eight infants of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), or “bubble boy” disease. Results of the research have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

SCID is caused by a genetic flaw that keeps the bone marrow from making effective versions of blood cells that comprise the immune system. It affects 1 in 2, 00,000 new-borns, mostly males. A bone marrow transplant from a genetically matched sibling can cure SCID, but most people lack a suitable donor and the process is also risky.

According to WHO’s preliminary global data on measles, there has been a 300% rise in measles cases worldwide during the first three months of 2019 compared with the same period in 2018.

Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that is spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing. It can be entirely prevented with a two-dose vaccine.

Africa has seen a 700% increase in cases in the first three months of 2019 compared to 2018. Further, Madagascar is the hardest-hit country, reporting more than 69,000 cases in its ongoing measles outbreak.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, US. It consists of 189 countries. It was formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference. It has been established to

(a)foster global monetary cooperation

(b)secure financial stability,

(c)facilitate international trade

(d)promote high employment

(e) sustainable economic growth and

(f) reduce poverty around the world.

The Asian Tea Alliance has been launched in Guizhou in China. It is a union of five tea-growing and consuming countries.

The members of the alliance are the a) Indian Tea Association, b) China Tea Marketing Association, c) Indonesian Tea Marketing Association, d) Sri Lanka Tea Board and e) Japan Tea Association.

The formation of the alliance has come in the backdrop of signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Indian Tea Association and China Tea Marketing Association in 2018. The associations had signed the pact to promote green and black tea consumption in major tea markets of Europe, the U.S., Russia and West Asia, besides India and China.

The alliance seeks to work towards enhancing tea trade, cultural exchanges, technology exchanges as well as globally promoting tea.

Further, it seeks to work towards enhancing global consumption of tea, while creating a sustainability agenda for the future of Asian tea.

World Press Freedom Index for the year 2019 has been released. In this year’s index, Norway has been ranked first for the third year in a row followed by Finland.

India has dropped two places on the index to be ranked at 140th out of 180 countries. India has fared poorly due to (a)violent attacks against journalists leading to at least six journalists being killed (b)alarming rate of coordinated hate campaigns against journalists.

Turkmenistan replaced North Korea at the bottom of the Index

International Fleet Review (IFR) is a parade of naval ships, aircraft and submarines.  It is organized by nations to promote goodwill, strengthen cooperation and showcase their organizational capabilities.

IFR also serves as an ideal platform for the world’s navies to showcase their prowess and indigenous ship designing and shipbuilding capabilities in a global/international arena.

The Indian Navy will participate in the International Fleet Review (IFR) that is scheduled to take place on April 21,2019 in Qingdao, China as part of 70th Anniversary celebrations of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy). The Indian Navy would be represented in the IFR by INS Kolkata and INS Shakti.

The Indian Navy had also held an International Fleet Review in February 2016 in which 50 navies of different countries took part with nearly 100 warships.