UPSC Quiz – 2024 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 5th June 2024

·       It was the inaugural edition of the forum, which was held from May 21 to 24, 2024, in Barbados.

·       It was hosted by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in collaboration with the Government of Barbados.

·       Over 1,000 participants from around the world convened to tackle the pressing issues of global disruptions, geopolitical tensions, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on global trade.

·       The forum underscored the complexities and opportunities in decarbonizing global shipping, with a particular focus on developing countries rich in renewable energy resources.

·       A significant achievement of the forum was the launch of the UN Trade and Development Trade-and-Transport Dataset, developed in collaboration with the World Bank.

·       One of the major outcomes of the forum was the launch of the “Manifesto for Intermodal, Low-Carbon, Efficient and Resilient Freight Transport and Logistics.”.

·       Digital technologies were highlighted as key to enhancing global supply chain resilience.

·       Ministers from SIDS advocated for international financial support and investment in green and sustainable technologies to enhance energy efficiency and combat marine pollution.

·       The next forum is set to take place in Saudi Arabia in 2026.

·       As sediment layered in shallow water, bacteria grew over it, binding the sedimentary particles and building layer upon millimetre layer until the layers became mounds.

·       These structures are usually characterized by thin, alternating light and dark layers that may be flat, hummocky, or dome-shaped.

·       Stromatolites were common in Precambrian time (i.e., more than 542 million years ago).

·       Living stromatolites are found in only a few salty lagoons or bays on Earth.

·       Western Australia is internationally significant for its variety of stromatolite sites, both living and fossilised.

·       Shark Bay in Western Australia is one of only two places in the world where living marine stromatolites exist.

·       Further, these biotic structures were instrumental in the Great Oxygenation Event over two billion years ago, introducing oxygen into the atmosphere and transforming the planet’s habitability.

·       Being photosynthetic, cyanobacteria produce oxygen as a by-product. Photosynthesis is the only major source of free oxygen gas in the atmosphere.

·       As stromatolites became more common 2.5 billion years ago, they gradually changed the Earth’s atmospherefrom a carbon dioxide-rich mixture to the present-day oxygen-rich atmosphere.

·       This major change paved the way for the next evolutionary step, the appearance of life based on the eukaryotic cell (cell with a nucleus).

·       Objective: The project aims to develop India-specific risk prediction models for cardio-metabolic diseases including diabetes, liver diseases, and cardiac diseases.

·       This is the first-ever pan-India longitudinal health monitoring study focused on cardio-metabolic diseases.

·       Importance: The study is crucial for understanding the risk and incidence of cardio-metabolic disorders in the Indian population which may differ from those in Western populations due to ethnic diversity and varied lifestyle patterns.

·       Precision medicine initiative: Through this project, CSIR is promoting Predictive, Personalised, Participatory, and Preventive (P4) healthcare, tailored specifically to the Indian phenotypic and genetic profiles.

About the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR):

·       Established: In September 1942.

·       Headquarters: Located in New Delhi.

·       Funding: CSIR is funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

·       Autonomous body: It operates as an autonomous body under the Societies Registration Act, of 1860.

·       Objectives:

·       CSIR is primarily focused on scientific research and development in various fields such as aerospace, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, and medical sciences.

·       The Laffer Curve states that if tax rates are increased above a certain level, then tax revenues can actually fall because higher tax rates discourage people from working.

·       The Curve was developed by economist Arthur Laffer to show the relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by governments.

·       The curve is used to illustrate Laffer’s argument that sometimes cutting tax rates can increase total tax revenue.

Rahn Curve

·       The Rahn Curve suggests that there is an optimal level of government spending which maximises the rate of economic growth.

·       Initially, higher government spending helps to improve economic performance.

·       But, after exceeding a certain amount of government spending, government taxes and intervention diminishes economic performance and growth rates.

Preston Curve:

·       It is a graphical representation that shows the relationship between a country’s per capita income (usually measured as GDP per capita) and its average life expectancy.

·       It was first proposed by American sociologist Samuel H. Preston in his 1975 paper, “The changing relation between mortality and level of economic development”.

·       Preston found that people living in richer countries generally had longer life spans when compared with people living in poorer countries.

·       This is likely because people in wealthier countries have better access to healthcare, are better educated, live in cleaner surroundings, enjoy better nutrition etc.

·       However, the positive relationship between per capita income and life expectancy begins to flatten out after a certain point because human life span cannot be increased indefinitely.

·       Despite tensions with Vietnam and concerns about potential military use by China, Cambodia asserts the canal will reduce reliance on Vietnamese ports, lower transportation costs, and benefit millions of people through improved irrigation.