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1. Consider the following statements with respect to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
1. It was established under Societies Registration Act in 1972.
2. The Council provides fellowships and financial assistance to the young teachers in colleges, universities and registered research organizations, as well as to senior scholars.
3. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
It is an autonomous organization which was established under Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) in 1972.
It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
The composition of the Council is as follows:
An eminent historian nominated by the Government of India who shall be Chairman of the Council;
Eighteen historians nominated by the Government of India;
A Representative of the U.G.C;
Director-General of Archaeology;
Director, National Archives;
Four persons to represent Government who shall be nominated by the Government of India and which shall include one representative each of the Ministry of Education, the Department of Culture and the Ministry of Finance; and Member Secretary.
The objectives of the Indian Council of Historical Research (hereafter referred to as the ‘Council’) as laid down in the Memorandum of Association are as follows:
– To bring historians together and provide a forum for exchange of views between them;
– To give a national direction to an objective and scientific writing of history and to have rational presentation and interpretation of history;
– To promote, accelerate and coordinate research in history with special emphasis on areas which have not received adequate attention so far;
– To promote and coordinated a balanced distribution of research effort over different areas;
– To elicit support and recognition for historical research from all concerned and ensure the necessary dissemination and use of results.
In pursuance of these objectives
(a) The Council provides fellowships and financial assistance to the young teachers in colleges, universities and registered research organizations, as well as to senior scholars who might need financial support,
(b) Brings historians together by providing financial assistance for holding symposia, seminars, workshops, etc for exchanging views related to history,
(c) Provides publication subsidy to the seminars, congress proceedings and journals so that these publications may reach to researchers and scholars,
(d) Publishes a biannual Journal – the Indian Historical Review, and another journal Itihas in Hindi,
(e) Maintains a large and expanding Library-cum-Documentation Centre exclusively for researchers and scholars,
(f) Maintains two regional centres namely ICHR North-East Regional Centre (Guwahati) and ICHR Southern Regional Centre (Bangalore), which provide assistance to researchers / scholars,
(g) Takes such other measures as the Council considers appropriate in order to implement the stated objectives of the Indian Council of Historical Research.
http://ichr.ac.in/about.html
2. Consider the following statements with respect to the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
1. It consists of the combination of at least three antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to maximally suppress the virus and stop the progression of disease.
2. WHO recommends ART for all people with HIV as soon as possible after diagnosis without any restrictions of CD4 counts.
3. HIV is a type of virus called a reovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-b
Explanation-
Antiretroviral Therapy (ART)
HIV is a type of virus called a retrovirus, and the combination of drugs used to treat it is called antiretroviral therapy (ART).
Although a cure for HIV does not yet exist, ART can keep you healthy for many years, ART reduces the amount of virus (or viral load) in your blood and body fluids.
Standard antiretroviral therapy (ART) consists of the combination of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease.
ART also prevents onward transmission of HIV. Huge reductions have been seen in rates of death and infections when use is made of a potent ARV regimen, particularly in early stages of the disease. WHO recommends ART for all people with HIV as soon as possible after diagnosis without any restrictions of CD4 counts.
It also recommends offer of pre-exposure prophylaxis to people at substantial risk of HIV infection as an additional prevention choice as part of comprehensive prevention.
Countries are now following to adapt and implement these recommendations within own epidemiological settings.
https://www.who.int/hiv/topics/treatment/en/
3. Consider the following statements regarding the Ballistic missiles technology.
1. It is a rocket-propelled self-guided strategic weapons system that follows a ballistic trajectory to deliver a payload from its launch site to a predetermined target.
2. This technology, based on Newtonian physics, involves measuring disturbances to the missile in three axes.
3. Ballistic missiles that fly above the atmosphere have a much longer range than would be possible for cruise missiles of the same size.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Ballistic missiles technology
Ballistic missile, a rocket-propelled self-guided strategic-weapons system that follows a ballistic trajectory to deliver a payload from its launch site to a predetermined target.
Ballistic missiles can carry conventional high explosives as well as chemical, biological, or nuclear munitions.
They can be launched from aircraft, ships, and submarines in addition to land-based silos and mobile platforms.
Strategic ballistic missiles can be divided into two general categories according to their basing mode: those that are launched from land and those launched at sea (from submarines beneath the surface).
They also can be divided according to their range into intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). IRBMs have ranges of about 600 to 3,500 miles, while ICBMs have ranges exceeding 3,500 miles. Modern land-based strategic missiles are almost all of ICBM range, whereas all but the most modern submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) have been of intermediate range.
Prelaunch survivability (that is, the ability to survive an enemy attack) has been a long-standing problem with land-based ICBMs. (SLBMs achieve survivability by being based on relatively undetectable submarines.)
In order to increase their range and throw weight, ballistic missiles are usually multistage.
By shedding weight as the flight progresses (that is, by burning the fuel and then discarding the pumps, flight controls, and associated equipment of the previous stage), each successive stage has less mass to accelerate. This permits a missile to fly farther and carry a larger payload.
The flight path of a ballistic missile has three successive phases. In the first, called the boost phase, the rocket engine (or engines, if the missile contains two or three stages) provides the precise amount of propulsion required to place the missile on a specific ballistic trajectory. Then the engine quits, and the final stage of the missile (called the payload) coasts in the midcourse phase, usually beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The payload contains the warhead (or warheads), the guidance system, and such penetration aids as decoys, electronic jammers, and chaff to help elude enemy defenses.
By midcourse the warheads have detached from the remainder of the payload, and all elements are on a ballistic path. The terminal phase of flight occurs when gravity pulls the warheads (now referred to as the reentry vehicles, or RVs) back into the atmosphere and down to the target area.
Most ballistic missiles use inertial guidance to arrive at the vicinity of their targets.
This technology, based on Newtonian physics, involves measuring disturbances to the missile in three axes.
The device used to measure these disturbances is usually composed of three gyroscopically stabilized accelerometers mounted at right angles to one another.
By calculating the acceleration imparted by external forces (including the rocket engine’s thrust), and by comparing these forces to the launch position, the guidance system can determine the missile’s position, velocity, and heading.
Then the guidance computer, predicting the gravitational forces that will act on the reentry vehicle, can calculate the velocity and heading required to reach a predetermined point on the ground. Given these calculations, the guidance system can issue a command to the missile thrust system during boost phase to place the payload at a specific point in space, on a specific heading, and at a specific velocity—at which point thrust is shut off and a purely ballistic flight path begins.
Ballistic missile guidance is complicated by two factors. First, during the latter stages of the powered boost phase, the atmosphere is so thin that aerodynamic flight controls such as fins cannot work and the only corrections that can be made to the flight path must come from the rocket engines themselves.
But, because the engines only provide a force vector roughly parallel to the missile’s fuselage, they cannot be used to provide major course corrections; making major corrections would create large gravitational forces perpendicular to the fuselage that could destroy the missile. Nevertheless, small corrections can be made by slightly gimballing the main engines so that they swivel, by placing deflective surfaces called vanes within the rocket exhaust, or, in some instances, by fitting small rocket engines known as thrust-vector motors or thrusters. This technique of introducing small corrections into a missile’s flight path by slightly altering the force vector of its engines is known as thrust-vector control.
A second complication occurs during reentry to the atmosphere, when the unpowered RV is subject to relatively unpredictable forces such as wind. Guidance systems have had to be designed to accommodate these difficulties.
Errors in accuracy for ballistic missiles (and for cruise missiles as well) are generally expressed as launch-point errors, guidance/en-route errors, or aim-point errors. Both launch- and aim-point errors can be corrected by surveying the launch and target areas more accurately. Guidance/en-route errors, on the other hand, must be corrected by improving the missile’s design—particularly its guidance. Guidance/en-route errors are usually measured by a missile’s circular error of probability (CEP) and bias. CEP uses the mean point of impact of missile test firings, usually taken at maximum range, to calculate the radius of a circle that would take in 50 percent of the impact points. Bias measures the deviation of the mean impact point from the actual aim point. An accurate missile has both a low CEP and low bias.
https://www.britannica.com/technology/rocket-and-missile-system/Strategic-missiles#ref57334
4. Consider the following statements regarding the Deep Fake Technology.
1. It refers to digital representations produced by artificial intelligence that yield fabricated images and sounds that appear to be real.
2. The technology is used to create content that has quickly become accessible to the masses.
3. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) process seeks to detect flaws in the forgery, leading to improvements addressing the flaws.
Which of the following statements is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation-
Deep fake technology
Deep fakes refer to manipulated videos, or other digital representations produced by sophisticated artificial intelligence, that yield fabricated images and sounds that appear to be real.
A deep-learning system can produce a persuasive counterfeit by studying photographs and videos of a target person from multiple angles, and then mimicking its behaviour and speech patterns.
Once a preliminary fake has been produced, a method known as GANs, or generative adversarial networks, makes it more believable. The GANs process seeks to detect flaws in the forgery, leading to improvements addressing the flaws.
And after multiple rounds of detection and improvement, the deep fake video is completed.
A device that enables deepfakes can be “a perfect weapon for purveyors of fake news who want to influence everything from stock prices to elections.
AI tools are already being used to put pictures of other people’s faces on the bodies of porn stars and put words in the mouths of politicians
First Deep fake Detection Challenge kicked off, backed by Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. It will include research teams around the globe competing for supremacy in the deep fake detection game.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/14/what-is-deepfake-and-how-it-might-be-dangerous.html
5. Consider the following statements with reference to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
1. This is a special area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea and not extend beyond 200 nm from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
2. It is prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
3. The EEZ does not include the territorial sea and also does not include the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer-d
Explanation
Exclusive economic zone
An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a concept adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1982), whereby a coastal State assumes jurisdiction over the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in its adjacent section of the continental shelf, taken to be a band extending 200 miles from the shore.
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) comprises an area which extends either from the coast or in federal systems from the seaward boundaries of the constituent states (3 to 12 nautical miles, in most cases) to 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) off the coast. Within this area, nations claim and exercise sovereign rights and exclusive fishery management authority over all fish and all Continental Shelf fishery resources.
The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defined the EEZ as a zone in the sea over which a sovereign nation has certain special rights with respect to the exploration and usage of marine resources, which includes the generation of energy from wind and water, and also oil and natural gas extraction.
The EEZ is an area that is adjacent to and beyond the territorial sea.
The EEZ does not include the territorial sea and also does not include the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
The EEZ includes the contiguous zone.
Within the EEZ, the country has rights over natural resources. The country has jurisdiction over some activities for the reasons of environmental protection, among others.
It also has to respect the rights of other countries in the EEZ such as the freedom of navigation.
The difference between territorial sea and the EEZ is that the former confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the latter is merely a “sovereign right” which refers to the coastal nation’s rights below the surface of the sea. The surface waters are international waters.
Rights of the country in the EEZ
The coastal state has the rights to:
Explore and exploit, conserve and manage the natural resources (living or non-living).
Produce energy from wind, currents and water.
Establish and use artificial islands, structures and installations.
Conduct marine scientific research.
Protect and preserve the marine environment.
http://www.fao.org/3/s5280T/s5280t0p.htm
https://www.geographyandyou.com/exclusive-economic-zone-seas-around-india/