Daily Quiz 30th May 2024

Explanation: The international court of justice (ICJ) and the international criminal court (ICC) have been heavily involved in the politicking surrounding the conflict in Gaza. The primary judicial body of the United Nations (UN) is called the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The United Nations Charter created it in June 1945. International Criminal Court (ICC), permanent judicial body established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) to investigate, prosecute, and try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity

• Statement 1 is correct while Statement 2 is incorrect: The ICJ has been around since 1945 and its primary duty is to resolve disputes between States. If a case is brought under the Genocide Convention, the ICJ cannot consider other questions like the legality of an invasion or whether war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed. The ICC, on the other hand, prosecutes genocide as a crime committed by individuals, and it also has jurisdiction over other crimes that the ICJ cannot consider, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC can therefore investigate a much wider array of crimes than the ICJ. The ICJ resolves disputes between States, while the ICC prosecutes individuals for crimes. The ICC can impose prison sentences, order fines and seizure of assets derived from the crimes committed. It also has the power to issue reparations to victims. It cannot impose the death penalty. The ICJ, meanwhile, is concerned with state responsibility rather than individual culpability.

Explanation: A five-year-old girl undergoing treatment for primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare infection caused by Naegleria fowleri or “brain-eating amoeba”, died recently.
• Statement (d) is correct: Naegleri fowleri is an amoeba that can cause a serious central nervous system infection. The amoeba is found in warm and still fresh water bodies of water. It is a eukaryotic, free-living amoeba named after Malcolm Fowler, who described the initial cases of primary amebic encephalitis (PAM) caused by N fowleri in Australia. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare brain infection that is caused by Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria fowleri enters the body through the nose, usually when people are swimming. It then travels up to the brain, where it destroys the brain tissue and causes swelling. Notably, people cannot get infected with Naegleria fowleri from drinking water contaminated with the amoeba. PAM is also non-communicable.

Explanation: Russia launched missile attacks on Kharkiv resulting in the death of 7 people in a printing house during the strike.
• Option (b) is correct: Also referred to as “Kharkov,” Kharkiv is a large city situated in the northeastern part of Ukraine. It is Ukraine’s second-largest and second-most-populous city. The city of Kharkiv is situated in the northeastern part of Ukraine, at the meeting point of the Kharkiv, Udy, and Lopan rivers, with the watershed of the Seversky Donets River. Dadaab is a semi-arid town in Garissa County, Kenya. It is the site of a UNHCR base hosting 302,805 registered refugees and asylum seekers. Darfur is a region of western Sudan. The region is facing a growing risk of genocide Zaporizhia is a city on the Dnieper River in southeastern Ukraine.

Explanation: Recently, two people were rescued after a group of orcas, also known as killer whales, sank their 15-metre-long sailing yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar.

• Option (a) is correct: The killer whale, also known as orca, is the ocean’s top predator. It is the largest member of the Delphinidae family, or dolphins. Members of this family include all dolphin species, as well as other larger species, such as long-finned pilot whales and short-finned pilot whales, whose common names also contain “whale” instead of “dolphin.” While orcas are not typically aggressive towards humans in the wild, the increased interactions raise concerns about potential harm to both humans and the animals themselves. Orcas are highly social animals, typically living in pods, which are groups of maternally related individuals seen together more than half the time. Mysticeti also known as baleen whale is one of the two extant suborders of the order Cetacea and includes all the toothless whales, which have baleen instead of teeth. Baleen is a filter-feeding system inside the mouths of baleen whales.Sphyrna is a genus of hammerhead sharks with a cosmopolitan distribution in the world’s oceans.

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization that was established on 06 June 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration. Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organisation is now known as BIMSTEC and comprises seven Member States with the admission of Myanmar on 22 December 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004. The main objective of the regional group was the promotion of economic cooperation between countries bordering the Bay of Bengal region. Its primary goals are to foster cooperation on issues of regional importance, accelerate social advancement, and create an atmosphere that is conducive to rapid economic development.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The BIMSTEC Charter was signed and adopted during the Fifth BIMSTEC Summit held in virtual format in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 30 March 2022. This historic first charter of the grouping came into force recently on 20 May. With the charter coming into force, the grouping has acquired a ‘legal personality’ and will be able to enter into structured diplomatic dialogue with other groupings and countries. BIMSTEC was formed in 1997 but for a long time, the organization could not form consensus among its seven member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, Myanmar and India – about a common charter that could sum up the vision of the grouping. Following the pandemic, the leaders of the BIMSTEC nations met virtually on 30 March 2022 under the chairship of Sri Lanka and adopted the charter. The chair of BIMSTEC was taken up by Thailand after the 5th leaders’ summit. Last month, Nepal’s partliament took up the BIMSTEC charter and ratified it which paved the way for the coming into force of charter.