[Mission 2022] Insta– QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 29 January 2022 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

India has come a long way in liberating the capital account transactions in the last three decades and currently has partial capital account convertibility.

Some of the recent moves include increasing the foreign portfolio investment limits in the Indian debt markets, introducing the Fully Accessible Route (FAR) — through which non-residents can invest in specified government securities without any restrictions and the easing of the external commercial borrowing framework by relaxing end-user restrictions. Inward FDI is allowed in most sectors, and outbound FDI by Indian incorporated entities is allowed as a multiple of their net worth.

Solution: d)

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is a treaty for conservation and sustainable use of such sites. It is named after Ramsar, the Iranian city where the treaty was signed in 1971, and places chosen for conservation under it are given the tag ‘Ramsar site.’

The convention, signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, is one of the oldest inter-governmental accord for preserving the ecological character of wetlands.

Also known as the Convention on Wetlands, it aims to develop a global network of wetlands for conservation of biological diversity and for sustaining human life. Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control and climate regulation.

The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as international organization partners (IOPs). These are:

• BirdLife International
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
• Wetlands International
• WWF International
• Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT)

These organizations support the work of the convention by providing expert technical advice, helping implement field studies, and providing financial support. The IOPs also participate regularly as observers in all meetings of the conference of the parties and as full members of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel.

Solution: b)

Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun, much smaller than planets. They are also called minor planets. According to NASA, 994,383 is the count for known asteroids, the remnants from the formation of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago.

Scientists study asteroids to look for information about the formation and history of planets and the sun since asteroids were formed at the same time as other objects in the solar system. Another reason for tracking them is to look for potentially hazardous asteroids.

OSIRIS-REx mission is NASA’s first mission meant to return a sample from the ancient asteroid.

Solution: b)

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.

This sub-regional organization came into being in 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

It is not an FTA. IT is a sector-driven organization focussing on sharing best practices and help each other in agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture etc. A BIMSTEC free trade agreement is under negotiation.

Solution: b)

A registered party is recognised as a national party only if it fulfils any one of the three conditions listed below:

• A party should win 2% of seats in the Lok sabha from at least three different states.
• At a general election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in any four or more states and in addition it wins four Lok Sabha seats.
• A party gets recognition as a state party in four states.

A party gets at least 8% of total valid votes polled in 4 or more states (with or without any seats)