IAS Prelims GS Questions & Answers - Feb 12, 2016

ANSWER: Protein

Explanation:

• British researchers have identified a key protein that can control how breast cancer cells spread in the body. The study sheds light on how cancer cells leave the blood vessels to travel to a new part of the body.
• When tumour cells spread, they first enter the blood stream and grip onto the inner walls of blood vessels.
• The cancer cells control a receptor protein called EPHA2 in order to push their way out of the vessels. When these cancer cells interact with the walls of the blood vessels, EPHA2 is activated and the tumour cells remain inside the blood vessels. When the EPHA2 is inactive, the tumour cells can push out and spread.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• Article 174(1) - The Governor shall from time to time summon the House or each House of the Legislature of the State to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
• Article 174 is silent on whether the Governor should consult or not the State Cabinet before calling the Assembly session.
• However in the recent case of President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, SC noted that since Article 174 (1) was silent on whether the Governor should consult or not the State Cabinet before advancing dates of the Assembly session, it was presumed that aid and advice of the Chief Minister and Council was required to be taken. If you have a discretionary power, the Constitution will say so said the SC.

ANSWER: Only 2

Explanation:

• Currently the article 174 is silent on whether the Governor should consult or not the State Cabinet before advancing dates of the Assembly session. So as per current provisions the Governor can advance the session as per his/her discretion.
• However the SC also noted that Constitutional discretion can only be used if it is based on and only on a constitutional principle.
• If you have a discretionary power, the Constitution will say so said the SC.
• Current situation – the Bench of SC is reviewing the decisions of Governor and provisions of Article 174. The judgment of the SC will shed more clarity on the articles provisions for future use.

ANSWER: 1 and 2

Explanation:

• For the first time in its history, the India Meteorological Department — best known for its monsoon forecasts — will issue a summer forecast for April, May and June. Those involved say that though such a forecast may not be of much help to farmers — who rely on IMD’s rain forecasts to make sowing decisions and don’t plant their crops in these months — the information would be useful to power companies, several service-sector industries and state planners who’d like a heads-up on possible water shortages.
• In mid-March, the IMD will send out a color-coded map of India, showing how temperatures in different regions of the country are likely to deviate from what’s normal, during summer months. These numbers would be updated every five days
• IMD reports to Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• Businesses that have requested summer forecasts include manufacturers of refrigerators, air conditioners, ice cream and cold drinks.
• The IMD does give warnings about imminent heat waves and dry weather but these are no more than five days ahead. The key factor to forecasting weather a few months ahead is in ensuring that the computerized weather models are consistently able to simulate the weather as it actually plays out.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• IMD provides specialized forecasts for all the above.
• It also has mountain weather bulletin under this category

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:

• Intellectual Property includes Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks and Trade Secrets.
• The U.S. was ranked first in intellectual property index, followed by the UK, Germany, France and Sweden. India’s peers in the BRICS grouping were all ranked ahead with Russia ranked 20th, China (22nd), South Africa (26th) and Brazil (29th). The 38 economies benchmarked in the 2016 Index accounts for nearly 85 per cent of the global GDP.
• The Index - produced by the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) - is based on 30 criteria critical to innovation including patent, copyright and trademark protections, enforcement, and engagement in international treaties, the Chamber said. India remains at the bottom of the Index for the fourth year in a row, the GIPC report said.

ANSWER: Manufacturing, selling or importing a patented invention without the permission of the patent-owner.

Explanation:

• Compulsory licensing (CL) relates to the government allowing entities to manufacture, use, sell or import a patented invention without the permission of the patent-owner.
• Under a compulsory license, an individual or company seeking to use another's intellectual property can do so without seeking the rights holder's consent, and pays the rights holder a set fee for the license. This is an exception to the general rule under intellectual property laws that the intellectual property owner enjoys exclusive rights that it may license – or decline to license – to others.
• Indian patent act ensures that patentee should not be able to enjoy a monopoly for the importation of the patented article.
• Also the Indian patent act provides measure by means of CL to ensure that patents do not impede the protection of public health and nutrition and patent rights are not abused by the patentee.

ANSWER: 1, 2, 3

Explanation:

• India is building underground storages in Visakhapatnam and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil to guard against global price shocks and supply disruptions.
  
• In a first of its kind deal, UAE’s national oil company Adnoc has agreed to store crude oil in India’s maiden strategic storage and give two-thirds of the oil to it for free.
• Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is keen on taking half of the 1.5-million-tonne Mangalore facility. It will stock 0.75 million tonnes or 6 million barrels of oil in one compartment of the Mangalore facility. Of this, 0.5 million tonnes will belong to India and it can use it in emergencies. Adnoc will use the facility as a warehouse for trading its oil.

ANSWER: Albert Einstein

Explanation:

• Gravitational waves are small ripples in space-time that are believed to travel across the universe at the speed of light. They are like tiny waves on a lake — from far away, the lake’s surface looks glassy smooth; only up very close can the details of the surface be seen. They were predicted to exist by Albert Einstein in 1916 as a consequence of his General Theory of Relativity.
• While Sir Isaac Newton visualised gravitational force as a pulling force between objects, Albert Einstein opined it to be a pushing force due to the curvature of four dimensional spacetime fabric. The curvature of spacetime stems from the dent heavy objects produce on spacetime fabric, which can be compared to the dent one could see on a plastic sheet when a massive ball is placed.

ANSWER: 37

Explanation:

• India remains at the bottom of the Index for the fourth year in a row, according to the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) report.
• India was ranked 37 out of 38 countries, with only Venezuela scoring lower, in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-International Intellectual Property Index.
• It said patent protection in India remains outside of international best practices, adding that Indian law does not provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to effectively combat online piracy. India’s score would have increased if the government had not suspended implementation of Final Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions (CRI), according to the report. The GIPC report found that among India’s key areas of weakness was the use of compulsory licensing (CL) for commercial and non-emergency situations, and the expanded use of CL being considered by the Indian government.
• Another area of weakness was poor application and enforcement of civil remedies and criminal penalties.