Daily Quiz 26 December 2024

Answer: C

Explanation:

• Statement I is correct: Data from NASA’s JSWT confirms the Hubble Space Telescope’s earlier finding that the rate of the universe’s expansion is faster by about 8%. Hubble’s Law says that universe is expanding at a rate of 67-68 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Scientists know the universe is expandingbecause they can track other galaxies as they move away from ours. They define expansion using the rate that other galaxies move away from us.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Dark matter and dark energy are both mysterious substances that affect the universe, but they have different properties and effects. Dark matter invisible substance that holds galaxies and other cosmic structures together. Dark matter seems to outweigh visible matter roughly six to one, making up about 27% of the universe. Dark energy is a mysterious force that causes the universe to expand at an accelerated rate. Dark energy is described as having a negative pressure that pushes space outward.

Answer: D

Explanation: Indian scientists have achieved a major milestone by using gene therapy to treat severe Hemophilia A. Gene therapy can replace a disease-causing gene with a healthy copy, inactivate a disease-causing gene, or introduce a new gene into the body

Option (d) is correct: Hemophilia is a rare, inherited blood disorder that causes your blood to clot less, which results in an increased risk of bleeding or bruising. Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disorder that affects red blood cells, causing them to become rigid and sickle-shaped. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough hemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A hemangioma is a noncancerous tumor that appears as an abnormal cluster of blood vessels in the skin or internal organs. It is not genetic.

Answer: B

Explanation:

• Pair 1 is correctly matched: Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria, the oldest current capital in the world. On December 8, 2024, opposition forces took over the Syrian capital of Damascus and forced out President Bashar Al-Assad.
• Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: The city of Port-Au-Prince, founded in the 18th century, is the capital of Haiti.More than 5,000 people have been reported killed so far this year in Haiti, the majority of them victims by gangs that control 85% of the capital. Political turmoil, civil unrest, violence, crippling poverty and other natural disasters are jeopardizing the well-being and future of Haiti’s children.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: Beqaa is a governorate and  fertile valley in eastern Lebanon, between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains. It’s Lebanon’s most important farming region and is known as the “bread basket of Lebanon. It is a target of Israeli airstrikes, along with the towns of Rachaiya, Hasbaiya, and Khiam.

Answer: C

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite that is spread to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Malaria mostly spreads to people through the bites of some infected female Anophelesmosquitoes. Aedes mosquito spreds Dengue virus. Malaria is caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium. There are six species of Plasmodium that can cause malaria in humans, but the most dangerous are P. falciparum and P. vivax.
• Statement 2 is correct: The infection is caused by a parasite and does not spread from person to person. Blood transfusion and contaminated needles may also transmit malaria. Malaria can be transmitted through organ transplants. Malaria can be passed from a mother to her unborn child before or during delivery
• Statement 3 is incorrect: WHO’s World Malaria Report 2024, India’s Achievements:
• Malaria cases reduced by 69%, from 4 million in 2017 to 2 million in 2023.
• Malaria deaths declined by 69%, from 11,100 to 3,500 during the same period.

Exit from the HBHI Group: India is no longer part of the High-Burden-High-Impact (HBHI) group of endemic countries.

Answer: A

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: A most-favored-nation (MFN) clause requires a country providing a trade concession to one trading partner to extend the same treatment to all. Used in trade treaties for hundreds of years, the MFN clause and its principle of universal equal treatment underpin the World Trade Organization.
• Statement 2 is not correct: In 2023, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the MFN clause does not automatically apply; instead, it requires a formal notification under the Income Tax Act, 1961 to trigger its implementation.
• Statement 3 is not correct: MFN is the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (Article 4). Some exceptions are allowed. For example:
  • Countries can set up a free trade agreement that applies only to goods traded within the group — discriminating against goods from outside.
  • Countries can give developing countries special access to their markets.
  • A country can raise barriers against products that are considered to be traded unfairly from specific countries.

In services, countries are allowed, in limited circumstances, to discriminate. But the agreements only permit these exceptions under strict conditions.