Daily Quiz For IAS Exams - The Ultimate Questions

 Hello and welcome to  IAS presenting to you the daily quiz for 20th June 2021, Sunday Let us begin and have a look at the first question for today question number one   Total fertility rate is: option A- the total number of children born in a country in a given year   divided by its population in that year. option B the average number of children expected to be born   per woman during her entire span of reproductive period option c the average number of children   each woman needs to have to maintain current population levels option d the number of live   births per thousand persons in a population in a given year first let us have a look at the context   this article in the hindu newspaper talks about the population norms in the government schemes   in assam. 

this article also has a reference to the fertility rate now let us discuss the answer the   right answer to this question is total fertility rate is the average number of children expected   to be born per woman during her entire span of reproductive period let me explain a reproductive   age female is one who is between 15 to 49 years of age these are the child bearing years now the   total fertility rate represents the average number of children this woman would potentially have   if she were to fast forward through all her childbearing years to one single year under   all the eight specific fertility rates for that year this total fertility rate is not based on   any real group of women and it is not based on counting up the total number of children actually   born over their lifetime this is an estimate or a forecast it is not a measure of how many children   each woman in a specific area has instead it is based on the average number of children   that a woman could potentially have throughout her lifetime this fertility rate is expressed   as a number of children per woman a tfr of 2.1 per woman is called replacement level fertility   this is the rate at which a given population is able to produce enough offspring to replace itself   considering that there is no immigration moving on to question number two black money is generated in   which of the following ways tax evasion tax avoidance smuggling hawala or tax planning   choose the correct option the right answer to this question is option d 1 2 3 and 4 only tax planning   does not lead to the generation of black money while all these other options that is tax evasion   tax avoidance smuggling and hawala leads to the concealment of money leading to the generation   of black money. 

what is the context there is an article in the hindu newspaper today that has   a reference to black money black money is the one in which ownership of money is completely   or partially illegal why illegal because the money went concealed from the government   thereby violating laws of the country now here there can be two circumstances one in which the   source activity of that money is also illegal and the other where the source activity was legitimate   but the income was concealed from the taxation authorities example for this is hawala and   smuggling hawala and smuggling are illicit activities themselves the money involved in   these activities is also illegal and therefore this leads to the generation of black money now   let us talk about tax evasion tax avoidance and tax planning tax evasion is where a person or an   entity willfully does not pay taxes that are due to the government this is done to avoid tax burden   in part or full it makes use of illegal means and is a result of the taxpayer employing unfair trade   practices like making false statements under reporting the income overstating tax credit   or claiming personal expenses as business expenses coming to tax avoidance under this the entity or   the person takes advantage of the loopholes in the tax laws of the country and avoids paying taxes   here in the case of tax avoidance taxpayers take unfair advantage of the shortcomings in   the tax rules which allows them to find new ways to avoid the payment of taxes that are within the   limits of the law and this generates black money however this is not illegal now coming to tax   planning tax planning is saving upon taxes while simultaneously confirming to the legal obligations   and requirements of the tax laws in your country for example section 80d of the income tax act   allows taxpayers to claim deductions for health insurance premiums paid this is an example of   tax planning as it allows you to pay lowest taxes possible and that too legally. 

so the right answer   to this question is option d one two three and four only and tax planning does not generate black   money moving on to question number three which of the statements with respect to the convention on   mutual administrative assistance in tax matters is or are correct number one it was developed jointly   by the organization for economic cooperation and development and the council of europe   statement number two this convention deals with issues such as exchange of information assistance   in collection of taxes and tax dispute resolution statement number three all the brics countries are   signatories to this convention before we discuss the answer let us have a look at the context   a pip article talks about the media reports of black money held by indians in switzerland   this article mentions about the multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance   in tax matters and states that india and switzerland have both signed this convention   and therefore automatic exchange of information is activated between the two countries for sharing of   financial account information annually that is bulk taxpayer information is exchanged between   both the countries now coming back to the question this multilateral convention was developed jointly   by oecd and the council of europe in the year 1988 and was amended in the year 2010   so statement number one is correct statement number two is correct because this convention   provides for all possible forms of administrative cooperation between the states in the assessment   and collection of taxes this cooperation ranges from exchange of information assistance and   collection of taxes and tax dispute resolution as well we know that india is a signatory besides   india all the brics nations are also signatories to this convention making statement 3 also correct   therefore the answer to this question would be option c one two and three moving on to question   number four consider the following statements article 370 was a part of the constitution at   the time of its commencement on january 26 1950 the cooper alliance is a grouping comprising   various political parties and civil society organizations the first gupga declaration   was signed before the abrogation of article 370. first up let us have a look at the context this   article in the hindu newspaper today states that the central government will meet the leaders of   political parties of jammu and kashmir and this article .

also has the reference to gupgur alliance   coming back to the question statement number one is correct because article 370 that gave a   special status to jammu and kashmir was a part of the constitution at the time of its commencement   on 26th of january 1950. statement number two is incorrect because gupta alliance as we discussed   is a grouping comprising of various political parties alone and not civil society organizations   on the 4th of august 2019 a day before the central government announced the abrogation of   article 370 political parties in kashmir except for bjp met and formed the people's alliance for   gupta declaration and on the same day the first gupga declaration was signed   therefore statement 3 is also correct because the first gupgar declaration was signed   before the abrogation of article 370. therefore option c 1 and 3 only is the correct answer   now let us have a look at a previous year question from prelims 2018 the term sixth mass extinction   or sixth extinction is often mentioned in the news in the context of the discussion of   option a widespread monoculture practices in agriculture and large scale commercial farming   with indiscriminate use of chemicals in many parts of the world that may result in the loss of good   native ecosystems option b fears of a possible collision of meteorite with the earth in the near   future in the manner it happened 65 million years ago that caused mass extinction of many species   including those of dinosaurs option c large scale cultivation of genetically modified crops in many   parts of the world and promoting their cultivation in other parts of the world which may cause the   disappearance of good native crop plants and the loss of food biodiversity or option d mankind's   over exploitation or misuse of natural resources fragmentation or loss of natural habitats   destruction of ecosystems pollution and global climate change the right answer to this question   is option d the sixth mass extinction also called as anthropocene extinction is an ongoing   extinction event of species as a result of human activity the scientists suggest that the sixth   mass extinction is underway this is because the world is already witnessing huge species losses   every year now let us have a look at the fact of the day that is gain or function research   we have taken this topic as there is an article in the hindu newspaper the debate around gain of   function research which talks about the concerns being raised on this form field of research in the   backdrop of the lab leak origin theory of sar cov2 first let us understand what is gain of function   research gain of function research is a field of research that is focused on growing generations   of microorganisms under the conditions that cause mutations in that virus so why is it called gain   of function this is because the pathogens are manipulated in such a way that they gain an   advantage through a function for example say there is an increase in transmittability of the virus   also understand that there is also something called as loss of function research this involves   inactivating mutations resulting in a significant loss of original function and these significant   mutations might weaken the virus as well now coming back to gain of function research   how is this research done what is used in this research may be genetic engineering or serial   passaging this genetic engineering involves editing the genetic code to modify the virus   while serial passaging involves allowing the pathogen to grow under different circumstances   and then observing the changes for example the pathogen may first be grown in one environment and   then a portion of it may be taken and allowed to grow in a different set of controlled environments   and then these will be compared with the original pathogens but these manipulations can make these   viruses more deadly or more transmissible this kind of research may carry inherent risks such as   biosafety and biosecurity risks and therefore they are referred to as dual use research of concern   that is such research may result in the benefits for humanity but there is also a potential to   cause harm if such manipulated pathogens escape from labs they may even cause pandemics the next   question you would have in your mind would be why allow such a pathogen or virus to gain advantage   this is because such experiments allow the scientists to better predict emerging   infectious diseases and also develop vaccines also another reason why this sort of research   is done is because similar to viruses mutating in controlled environments there can also be   mutations outside these controlled environments like how the coronavirus is mutating additionally   there can also be something called as escape mutants that is the drug resistant mutants to   study such mutations and also develop new vaccines this sort of research is necessary how is gain of   function research regulated in india in india such activities are regulated as per the manufacture   use import export and storage of hazardous microorganisms or genetically engineered organisms   or cell rules 1989.

 now coming to the question of whether or not such research should be allowed the   scientists have a divided opinion on this as on one hand it could be fatal while on the other hand   such research is necessary for the development of vaccines therefore the world health organization   is in the process of developing a global guidance framework for its member nations to follow the   world health organization has also developed a guidance document for dual use research of concern   in life sciences that is all for today thank you for being with us keep watching and keep learning