04 December 2021 Current Affairs Quiz

China’s Belt And Road Initiative:
The BRI project was launched in 2013, it broadly aims to facilitate cross-border transportation of goods, access to energy, creating demand for existing excess capacity in Chinese industries.
BRI’s Criticism: BRI project has been heavily criticized by the western world for the following reasons:
China’s Debt Trap Policy: BRI is being seen as a part of China’s debt trap policy, wherein China intentionally extends excessive credit to another country with the intention of extracting economic or political concessions from the debtor country.
The western countries see it as a tool for China to influence poorer countries.
They criticise China for inciting emerging economies to take on too much debt, and allege the secretive tender process is prone to corruption.
New Colonialism: They have attacked the initiative as new colonialism, or the Marshall Plan for the 21st century.

India has repeatedly said it will not join BRI because it’s key component – the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – passes through PoK, which is disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
Further, in order to counter China’s aggressiveness, India has initiated Act East Policy, SAGAR vision and is part of multilateral projects like Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC),and “Free and Open Indo Pacific” initiative.

Recently, the European Commission has announced a plan, called Global Gateway, to mobilise EURO 300 billion by 2027 in public and private infrastructure investment around the world.
Although the plan doesn’t mention China, it is seen as a response to China’s Belt and Road strategy.

Both the statements are correct.

Graded Response Action Plan:
GRAP is a set of measures to be taken to reduce Air Pollution depending on the current level of pollution.
It was notified by the Union Environment Ministry in 2017 to fight air pollution, based on the SC directions.
GRAP works only as an emergency measure. As such, the plan does not include action by various state governments to be taken throughout the year to tackle industrial, vehicular and combustion emissions.

Budapest Convention
The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Cybercrime Convention is also known as the Budapest Convention. It was open for signature in 2001 and came into force in 2004.
The convention is the sole legally binding international multilateral treaty on cybercrime. It coordinates cybercrime investigations between nation-states and criminalizes certain cybercrime conduct. Hence statement 1 is correct.
It serves as a guideline for any country developing comprehensive national legislation against Cybercrime and as a framework for international cooperation between state parties to this treaty. Hence statement 2 is correct.

This Convention has eagerly called for Indian participation since its formation in 2001, but India has decided not to be a party to it. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

Project Elephant:
It was launched in 1992 to provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts by states for their free ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
Objectives:
To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors.
To address issues of man-animal conflict.
Welfare of captive elephants. Hence statement 1 is correct.

Elephant Census:
Elephant census is conducted once in 5 years under the aegis of Project Elephant. Last Elephant Census was conducted in 2017. Hence statement 2 is incorrect.

Protection Status of Asian Elephants:
IUCN Red List: Endangered.
CITES: Appendix I
India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I. Hence statement 3 is incorrect.

All the statements are correct.

Methyl isocyanate :
Methyl isocyanate is a colourless highly flammable liquid that evaporates quickly when exposed to the air. It has a sharp, strong odour.
It is used in the production of pesticides, polyurethane foam, and plastics.
MIC is safe when maintained properly. The chemical is highly reactive to heat. When exposed to water, the compounds in MIC react with each other causing a heat reaction.
Chemical reaction’s impact on health
Immediate health effects include ulcers, photophobia, respiratory issues, anorexia, persistent abdominal pain, genetic issue, neuroses, impaired audio and visual memory, impaired reasoning ability, and a lot more.
Long-term health effects include chronic conjunctivitis, decreased lung function, increased pregnancy loss, increased infant mortality, increased chromosomal abnormalities, impaired associate learning and more.