DAY – 8(InstaTest-8): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2020: Topic – Environment,Full length Mock Test and August 2019 CA

Solution: D

Smokestacks of thermal power plants, smelters and other industries release particulate and gaseous air pollutants together with harmless gases, such as nitrogen, oxygen, etc. These pollutants must be separated/ filtered out before releasing the harmless gases into the atmosphere.

There are several ways of removing particulate matter; the most widely used of which is the electrostatic precipitator, which can remove over 99 per cent particulate matter present in the exhaust from a thermal power plant.

A scrubber can remove gases like Sulphur dioxide. In a scrubber, the exhaust is passed through a spray of water or lime.

Catalytic converters, having expensive metals namely platinum-palladium and rhodium as the catalysts, are fitted into automobiles for reducing emission of poisonous gases. As the exhaust passes through the catalytic converter, unburnt hydrocarbons are converted into carbon dioxide and water, and carbon monoxide and nitric oxide are changed to carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas, respectively.

Solution: D

‘bad’ ozone, formed in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) that harms plants and animals. There is ‘good’ ozone also; this ozone is found in the upper part of the atmosphere called the stratosphere, and it acts as a shield absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

UV rays are highly injurious to living organisms since DNA and proteins of living organisms preferentially absorb UV rays, and its high energy breaks the chemical bonds within these molecules. The thickness of the ozone in a column of air from the ground to the top of the atmosphere is measured in terms of Dobson units (DU).

Ozone gas is continuously formed by the action of UV rays on molecular oxygen, and also degraded into molecular oxygen in the stratosphere. There should be a balance between production and degradation of ozone in the stratosphere. Of late, the balance has been disrupted due to enhancement of ozone degradation by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Solution: B

Water Vapour is the biggest overall contributor to the greenhouse effect and humans are not directly responsible for emitting this gas in quantities sufficient to change its concentration in the atmosphere. However, CO2 and other greenhouse gases is increasing the amount of water vapour in the air by boosting the rate of evaporation.

Unlike CO2, which can persist in the air for centuries, water vapour cycles through the atmosphere quickly, evaporating from the oceans and elsewhere before coming back down as rain or snow.

Solution: A

Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research (FEDOR)

Russia has launched an unmanned rocket into space.

• It is carrying a life-size humanoid robot that will spend 10 days learning to assist astronauts on the International Space Station.
• Known as FEDOR, which stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research or the Skybot F-850 is the first humanoid robot to be sent to space by Russia.
• The robot’s main purpose it to be used in operations that are especially dangerous for humans onboard spacecraft and in outer space.
• FEDOR, who is the size an adult and can emulate movements of the human body, has apparently embraced his mission, describing himself as “an assistant to the ISS crew”.

Significance:

• Fedor copies human movements, a key skill that allows it to remotely help astronauts or even people on Earth to carry out tasks while the humans are strapped into an exoskeleton.
• Fedor is described as potentially useful on Earth for working in high radiation environments, demining and tricky rescue missions.

Background:

• Fedor is not the first robot to go into space.
• In 2011, NASA sent up Robonaut 2, a humanoid robot developed with General Motors that had a similar aim of working in high-risk environments.
• In 2013, Japan sent up a small robot called Kirobo along with the ISS’s first Japanese space commander.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/08/23/fedor/

Solution: A

The Global Warming Potential (GWP) for a gas is a measure of the total energy that a gas absorbs over a particular period of time (usually 100 years), compared to carbon dioxide.

Gases with a higher GWP absorb more energy, per pound, than gases with a lower GWP, and thus contribute more to warming Earth.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) has a GWP of 1 and serves as a baseline for other GWP values.

Solution: D

GEO-ENGINEERING:

Geo-engineering primarily aims at modifying and cooling Earth’s environment, defeating the environmental damage and ensuing climate changes to make the planet more inhabitable. Geoengineering, at this point,

is still only a theoretical Concept

Hoisting parasols, placing mirrors in space, whitening the stratosphere with sulfate aerosols, whitewashing building roofs to reflect sunlight or flinging iron filings into the ocean to promote carbon-gulping algae are

some of the modes.

5 Big Plans to Stop Global Warming

1. Copy a Volcano
2. Shoot Mirrors Into Space
3. Seed the Sea with Iron
4. Whiten the Clouds with Wind-Powered Ships
5. Build Fake Trees

Solution: C

English Channel:

• French inventor crosses the English Channel on his hover board.
• The English Channel is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.
• It separates the island of Britain (part of the UK) from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean.
• It’s approximately 350 miles long, and at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/08/05/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-05-august-2019/

Solution: A

The Blue Carbon Initiative is a global program working to mitigate climate change through the restoration and sustainable use of coastal and marine ecosystems. The Initiative currently focuses on mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses. The Blue Carbon Initiative brings together governments, research institutions, non-governmental organizations and communities from around the world.

The Initiative is coordinated by Conservation International (CI), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (IOC-UNESCO).

The Blue Carbon Initiative focuses on mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses, which are found on every continent except Antarctica.

https://www.thebluecarboninitiative.org/

Solution: D

Flexible Market Mechanisms

This leads us to the second, the flexible market mechanisms of the KP, based on the trade of emissions permits. KP countries bound to targets have to meet them largely through domestic action— that is, to reduce their emissions onshore.

But they can meet part of their targets through three “market-based mechanisms” that ideally encourage GHG abatement to start where it is most cost-effective– for example, in the developing world. Quite simply, it does not matter where emissions are reduced, as long as they are removed from the planet’s atmosphere.

The Kyoto Flexible Market Protocol mechanisms:

• Joint Implementation (JI)
• The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
• Emission Trading

Solution: A

European Green Deal

On the sidelines of Madrid Climate talks, the European Union came up with an announcement on additional measures it would take on climate change. It is called as the European Green Deal.

Overview and key features of the European Green Deal:

Climate neutrality: The EU has promised to bring a law, binding on all member countries, to ensure it becomes “climate neutral” by 2050.

What is it?

Climate neutrality, sometimes also expressed as a state of net-zero emissions, is achieved when a country’s emissions are balanced by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Absorption can be increased by creating more carbon sinks like forests, while removal involves technologies like carbon capture and storage.

Solution: D

INS Vikramaditya is the country’s most powerful aircraft carrier. It was built in 1987 and had served the Soviet navy (named as Baku). It was later renamed Admiral Gorshkov under the Russian navy. It is powered by 8 turbo-pressurised boilers, 4 shafts, 4 geared steam turbines, generating 180,000 horsepower diesel engine

The Indian navy purchased the vessel in 2004 and commissioned it in November 2013 at Severodvinsk in Russia. It can carry over 30 aircraft comprising MiG-29Ks, Kamov-28s, Kamov-31s, ALH-Dhruv and Chetak helicopters.

It was retrofitted with a Barak missile system under joint development with Israel. It is based at its home port at Karwar in Karnataka.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INS_Vikramaditya

Solution: C

Krishna temple in Bahrain:

• PM Narendra Modi has announced a renovation project of USD 4.2 million for the iconic Shri Krishna Temple in Bahrain.
• The temple completes 200 years last year
• The temple is estimated to have been established around 1817 and was built by Thathai Bhatia Hindu community, and is still being managed by them.
• It is considered to be the first and the oldest temple in the Gulf countries and has been a place of worship for a host of Hindus since centuries.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/08/26/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-26-august-2019/

Solution: C

Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID):

• India has become the first country in the world to issue Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID), capturing the facial bio-metric data of seafarers.
• Eligibility: Every Indian seafarer who possesses a valid Continuous Discharge Certificate issued by the Govt. of India will be eligible for issue of a BSID.

Key features of BSID:

• It will have a biometric chip embedded in it.
• The card has two optical security features- Micro prints/micro texts and Unique Guilloche pattern.
• The project has been launched by the Ministry of Shipping.

What is Continuous Certificate of Discharge

A Continuous Certificate of Discharge or Continuous Discharge Certificate (C.D.C.) is a seafarer’s identity document issued by his country.

This document certifies that the person holding this is a seaman as per The International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping for Seafarers (STCW), 1978, as amended 2010. Every seafarer must carry this document while on board, which is also an official and legal record of his sea experience. The master of the vessel signs the document each time a seaman is signed off from the vessel certifying his experience on board.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/08/29/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-29-august-2019/

Solution: A

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001:

Enacted by India in 2001 adopting sui generis system. It is in conformity with International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), 1978.

The legislation recognizes the contributions of both commercial plant breeders and farmers in plant breeding activity and also provides to implement TRIPs in a way that supports the specific socio-economic interests of all the stakeholders including private, public sectors and research institutions, as well as resource-constrained farmers.  Rights under the Act:

Breeders’ Rights: Breeders will have exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export the protected variety. Breeder can appoint agent/ licensee and may exercise for civil remedy in case of infringement of rights.

Researchers’ Rights: Researcher can use any of the registered variety under the Act for conducting experiment or research. This includes the use of a variety as an initial source of variety for the purpose of developing another variety but repeated use needs prior permission of the registered breeder.

Farmers’ Rights: 

1. A farmer who has evolved or developed a new variety is entitled for registration and protection in like manner as a breeder of a variety;
2. Farmers variety can also be registered as an extant variety;
3. A farmer can save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell his farm produce including seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001 in the same manner as he was entitled before the coming into force of this Act provided farmer shall not be entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under the PPV&FR Act, 2001;
4. Farmers are eligible for recognition and rewards for the conservation of Plant Genetic Resources of land races and wild relatives of economic plants;
5. There is also a provision for compensation to the farmers for non-performance of variety under Section 39 (2) of the Act, 2001 and
6. Farmer shall not be liable to pay any fee in any proceeding before the Authority or Registrar or the Tribunal or the High Court under the Act.

Solution: B

About Green Climate Fund:

The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt to disruptions arising from a changing climate.

How it helps?

o The Green Climate Fund will support projects, programmes, policies and other activities in developing country Parties using thematic funding windows.

o It is intended to be the centerpiece of efforts to raise Climate Finance of $100 billion a year by 2020.

o The Fund will promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change, taking into account the needs of those developing countries particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

o The Fund will strive to maximize the impact of its funding for adaptation and mitigation, and seek a balance between the two, while promoting environmental, social, economic and development co-benefits and taking a gender-sensitive approach.

Who will govern the Fund?

o The Fund is governed and supervised by a Board that will have full responsibility for funding decisions and that receives the guidance of the Conference of Parties (COP). The Fund is accountable to, and functions under the guidance of, the COP.

Solution: B

Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) Expedition

India’s Vishnu Nandan will be the only Indian aboard the multidisciplinary drifting observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition.

He will be aboard the German research vessel Polarstern, anchored on a large sheet of sea ice in the Central Arctic, drifting along with it during the pitch-black Polar winter.

About MOSAiC:

o Spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

o It is the largest ever Arctic expedition in history.

o It will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.

o The aim of the expedition will be to parameterise the atmospheric, geophysical, oceanographic and all other possible variables in the Arctic, and use it to more accurately forecast the changes in our weather systems.

o The international expedition will involve more than 60 institutions from 19 countries.

Significance:

o MOSAiC will contribute to a quantum leap in our understanding of the coupled Arctic climate system and its representation in global climate models.

o The focus of MOSAiC lies on direct in-situ observations of the climate processes that couple the atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, biogeochemistry, and ecosystem.

Solution: A

Bolivia is a landlocked country bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Paraguay is the only other landlocked country in South America

Brazil shares border with all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador.

Solution: D

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

It is an international non-governmental organization Founded in 1961. Headquarter — Gland (Switzerland).

Aim: wilderness preservation & the reduction of human impact on the environment. It is the world’s largest conservation organization

Reports & Programmes:

o Living Planet Report— published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation Earth hour

o Debt-for-nature swaps–financial transactions in which a portion of a developing nation’s foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation measures.

o Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) — independent non-profit organization which sets a standard for sustainable fishing

o Healthy GrownPotato — eco-brand that provides high-quality, sustainably grown, packaged, and shipped potatoes to consumers by leveraging integrated pest management (IPM) farming practices on large scale farms.

Solution: C

Bold Kurukshetra is the 12th edition of joint military exercise between India and Singapore. It focused on developing interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operations in mechanized warfare.

AUSINDEX – 19 is the third edition of the bilateral Maritime Exercise between Royal Australian and Indian Navies. The maiden edition of the exercise was held in September 2015 at Visakhapatnam and Australia hosted the second edition of the exercise off Freemantle in June 2017.

The eighth edition of the joint India-China military training exercise Hand-in-Hand 2019 has drawn to a close in the Indian state of Meghalaya in the Northeast.

Extra Reading

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exercises_of_the_Indian_Army

Solution: C

Blue flag programme:

The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental Education).

It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001, when South Africa joined.

Definition:

The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.

Key Facts:

Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and south-eastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches.

Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively.

Chandrabhaga beach of Odisha’s Konark coast has completed the Blue Flag certification process.

Solution: C

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) member states recently adopted the “Colombo Declaration” which calls for tackling global nitrogen challenge.

How Nitrogen turned into pollutant from nutrient how it is affecting health and environment?

1. Nitrogen is an inert gas that’s necessary for life. But we’re changing it into forms that are harmful, overloading the environment with it, and throwing the natural nitrogen cycle out of whack.
2. Nitrogen compounds running off farmland have led to water pollution problems around the world, while nitrogen emissions from industry, agriculture and vehicles make a big contribution to air pollution.
3. Over 80% of the nitrogen in soil is not utilised by humans. While over four-fifths of the nitrogen is used to feed livestock, only about six per cent reaches humans in case of non-vegetarian diet, as compared to the 20% that reaches the plate of a vegetarian.
4. Nitrogen becomes a pollutant when it escapes into the environment and reacts with other organic compounds. It is either released into the atmosphere, gets dissolved in water sources such as rivers, lakes or groundwater, or remains in the soil. While it might lead to favourable growth of species that can utilise this nutrient, nitrogen as a pollutant is often detrimental to the environment and health.
5. According to the World Health Organization, nitrate-contaminated drinking water can cause reduced blood function, cancer and endemic goiters. Surplus inputs of nitrogen compounds have been found to cause soil acidification.

Solution: D

About GAZA:

The Gaza Strip is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north. Gaza and the West Bank are claimed by the State of Palestine.

Solution: B

The Spratly Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed of islands, islets and cays and more than 100 reefs, sometimes grouped in submerged old atolls,  the archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam.

Named after the 19th-century British whaling captain Richard Spratly who sighted Spratly Island in 1843, the islands contain less than 2 km2 (490 acres) of naturally occurring land area spread over an area of more than 425,000 km2 (164,000 sq mi).

The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. On the north coast lies Iran, and on the south coast the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman.

It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world’s most strategically important choke points

Socotra also called Soqotra, located between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, is the largest of four islands in the Socotra archipelago. The territory is located near major shipping routes and is officially part of Yemen, and had long been a subdivision of the Aden Governorate.

In 2004, it became attached to the Hadhramaut Governorate, which is much closer to the island than Aden (although the nearest governorate was the Al Mahrah Governorate). In 2013, the archipelago became its own governorate, the Socotra Governorate.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/navy-sends-ship-to-socotra-island-in-yemen-to-rescue-38-stranded-indians/article24069098.ece

Solution: B

The Health Ministry has drawn an ambitious plan under the 100 days agenda of the newly elected government, wherein it has been decided to provide Rotavirus vaccine to every child across all States and Union Territories by September, 2019.

The vaccine has been developed indigenously under a public-private partnership by the ministries of science and technology and health and family welfare.

Rotavirus:

• Rotavirus is a leading cause of severe diarrhoea and death among children less than five years of age.
• It is responsible for around 10% of total child mortality every year.

Rotavirus-Signs and Symptoms:

• Kids with a rotavirus infection have fever, nausea, and vomiting, often followed by abdominal cramps and frequent, watery diarrhea.
• Kids may also have a cough and runny nose.
• Sometimes the diarrhea that accompanies a rotavirus infection is so severe that it can quickly lead to dehydration.
• As with all viruses, though, some rotavirus infections cause few or no symptoms, especially in adults.

Transmission:

• Rotavirus is transmitted by the faecal-oral route, via contact with contaminated hands, surfaces and objects, and possibly by the respiratory route. Viral diarrhea is highly contagious.

Background:

Out of all the causes of diarrhoea, rotavirus is a leading cause of diarrhoea in children less than 5 years of age. Rotavirus diarrhoea presents in similar manner like any other diarrhoea but can mainly be prevented through rotavirus vaccination. Other diarrhoea can be prevented through general measures like good hygiene, frequent hand washing, safe water and safe food consumption, exclusive breastfeeding and vitamin A supplementation.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/08/10/rotavirus/

Solution: B

Geologic Sequestration Trapping Mechanisms

• Hydrodynamic Trapping: Carbon dioxide can be trapped as a gas under low-permeability cap rock (much like natural gas is stored in gas reservoirs).
• Solubility Trapping: Carbon dioxide can be dissolved into a liquid, such as water or oil.

• Mineral Carbonation: Carbon dioxide can react with the minerals, fluids, and organic matter in a geologic formation to form stable compounds/minerals; largely calcium, iron, and magnesium carbonates.

Solution: B

Standard Formula: If two objects A and B begin their journey at the same time from two points P and Q towards each other and after crossing each other they take a and b hours in reaching Q and P respectively, then

A’s speed/ B’s Speed = (√b/√a)

By looking at the above problem, we can say that, a=9 hours, b=16 hours.

Therefore, Ratio of speeds of two trains = √16/√9  = 4/3 or 4:3

Solution: C

Standard Formula: If a certain distance is covered at x km/hr and the same distance is covered at y km/hr, then

Average speed =[2xy/(x+y)] km/hr

By looking at the above problem, we can say that, x= 60 km/hr and

y= 80km/hr.

Therefore, average speed = [(2 * 60 * 80)/(60+80)] km/hr

9600/140 = 68. 57 km/hr

Solution: A

Standard Formula:

Suppose A and B are two objects with lengths L1 and L2 respectively, and their speeds are S1 and S2 respectively and moving in opposite direction, then

Crossing Time (Ct)= (Length of the objects)/(Relative speed of the objects)

Thus, Ct= (L1+L2)/(S1 +S2)

By looking at the above problem, we can say that,

L1= 150 m,

L2= 180 m,

S1= 50 km/hr

S2= 58 km/hr

Relative speed= (S1+S2)= 108 km/hr or (108 * 5/18) m/s = 30 m/s.

Therefore, crossing time Ct= (L1+L2)/ Relative speed

• Ct= (150 m+180 m)/ 30 m/s
• Ct= 330 m / 30 m/s = 11 seconds

Solution: A

Average speed = Total Distance/Total Time

Let the total distance = D Km

Therefore, Time taken to complete first D/4 distance = t1 =(D/4)km/20kmph

Time taken to complete second D/4 distance = t2 = (D/4)/10kmph

Time taken to complete remaining distance (that is D/2) = t3 = (D/2)/80kmph

Therefore, Average speed = Total Distance/Total Time = (D)/(t1+t2+3)

= D/(D/80 + D/40 + D/160)

= D/(2D + 4D + D)/160

= 160 D / 7D

Therefore, Average Speed =  22. 85 kmph

Answer: B.

The passage mentions that major intervention by international agencies in managing migration occurred during the neo-liberal era, where short-term mobility of labour is important for global capital to thrive. This suggests that option B is correct.