IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Nov 05, 2015

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
- Financial secrecy index is published by Tax Justice Network (TJN) which is an advocacy group consisting of a coalition of researchers and activists with a shared concern about tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens.
- Besides Switzerland, Hong Kong, the United States, Singapore and Cayman Islands made the top five.
- India ranks.
- India ranked 45 in the list of 92 countries in 2015 in comparison to 32 in 2013

ANSWER: Indonesia

Explanation:
- Mount Rinjani or Gunung Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok.
- On November 3, 2015 Mount Rinjani started erupting again.
- Some flights to and from Bali have been cancelled for a second day due to a drifting ash cloud from Mt Rinjani.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
- SEBI has three functions rolled into one body: quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial and quasi-executive.
- It drafts regulations in its legislative capacity.
- It conducts investigation and enforcement action in its executive function and it passes rulings and orders in its judicial capacity.
- Though this makes it very powerful, there is an appeal process to create accountability.
- There is a Securities Appellate Tribunal which is a three-member tribunal and is headed by Mr. Justice J P Devadhar, a former judge of the Bombay High Court. A second appeal lies directly to the Supreme Court.

The SEBI is managed by its members, which consists of following:
1. The chairman - nominated by Union Government of India.
2. Two members, i.e., Officers from Union Finance Ministry.
3. One member from the Reserve Bank of India.
4. The remaining five members are nominated by Union Government of India, out of them at least three shall be whole-time members.

ANSWER: To control export and re-transfer of nuclear material

Explanation:
- Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body concerned with reducing nuclear proliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials that may be applicable to nuclear weapon development and by improving safeguards and protection on existing materials.
- The NSG was founded in response to the Indian nuclear test in May 1974 

ANSWER: Kyoto Protocol

Explanation:
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the Flexible Mechanisms defined in the Kyoto Protocol (IPCC, 2007) that provides for emissions reduction projects which generate Certified Emission Reduction units which may be traded in emissions trading schemes.

ANSWER: Yemen

Explanation:
Cyclone Chapala earlier wreaked havoc on Socotra, situated 368km (230 miles) south of the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea.
Socotra is home to about 50,000 people and hundreds of exotic plant species found nowhere else, including dragon's blood trees.
Dragon's blood trees are a distinctive and slow-growing species of dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago off the horn of Africa.
It is used in medicine, dyes, varnish and incense.

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- Extratropical cyclones form anywhere within the extratropical regions of the Earth (usually between 30° and 60° latitude from the equator), either through cyclogenesis or extratropical transition.
- They are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to heavy gales and thunderstorms.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:
- It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world's oceans.
- The UN has no direct operational role in the implementation of the Convention.
- There is, however, a role played by organizations such as the International Maritime Organization, the International Whaling Commission, and the International Seabed Authority (ISA). (The ISA was established by the UN Convention.)
- USA has signed the Agreement, but have not ratified.
- Turkey has neither signed nor acceded to both the Convention and Agreement

ANSWER: South Sudan

Explanation:
- The Nuer people are a Nilotic ethnic group primarily inhabiting the Nile Valley. They are concentrated in South Sudan.
- Some representatives also found in southwestern Ethiopia after they pushed off the Anyuak from their land.
- They speak the Nuer language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family.

ANSWER: International Criminal Police Organization

Explanation:
- INTERPOL is an intergovernmental organization facilitating international police cooperation.
- It was established as the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) in 1923.

ANSWER: Only 1

Explanation:
- 190 countries are members of Interpol while UN has 193 members.
- The organization's headquarters is in Lyon, France.
- Work area: Public safety and battling terrorism, crimes against humanity, environmental crime, genocide, war crimes, organized crime, piracy, illicit traffic in works of art, illicit drug production, drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering, child pornography, white-collar crime, computer crime, intellectual property crime and corruption.

ANSWER: None

Explanation:
- Interpol is not a supranational law enforcement agency and has no agents who are able to make arrests.
- Instead, it is an international organization that functions as a network of criminal law enforcement agencies from different countries.
- The organization thus functions as an administrative liaison among the law enforcement agencies of the member countries, providing communications and database assistance, assisted via the central headquarters in Lyon, France.
Non members of Interpol : North Korea, Kiribati, Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

ANSWER: Singapore

Explanation:
- IGCI is also a place of cooperation on digital crimes investigations.
- It was officially opened in April 2015, but had already become active beforehand.
- Most notably, a world-wide take down of the SIMDA botnet infrastructure was co-ordinated and executed from IGCI's Cyber Fusion Centre in the weeks before the opening, as was revealed at the launch event.

ANSWER: Britain & Mysore

Explanation:
- The Battle of Porto Novo was fought on 1 July 1781 between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore and Great Britain in the place called Porto Novo (now known as Parangipettai) during the Second Anglo-Mysore War.
- The British force, numbering more than 8,000 under the command of Sir Eyre Coote defeated a force estimated at 40,000 under the command of Hyder Ali.
- Eyre Coote defeated Hyder Ali in battle of Porto Novo

ANSWER: Both

Explanation:
- Inspector Shakti Devi of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, currently deployed in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has been awarded the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014.
- UNPOL is responsible for:
- Policy and guidance development
- Strategic planning
- Selection and recruitment processes
- Operational support to missions through the Standing Police Capacity
- Response to Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV)
- Global Lead, partnerships and regional cooperation