DAY – 38 (InstaTest-38): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2020: Topic – Science & Technology, Textbook based test 28, July 2019 CA

Solution: D

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

• Established in 1994.
• It is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
• It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
• To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of Deserts and Desertification”.
• Focus areas: The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.
• Aim: Its 197 Parties aim, through partnerships, to implement the Convention and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The end goal is to protect land from over-use and drought, so it can continue to provide food, water and energy.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal Ministry for this Convention.

Solution: C

STRIDE scheme

Context: UGC announces new Initiative – Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) to boost research culture in India.

Key features:

• STRIDE will provide support to research projects that are socially relevant, locally need-based, nationally important and globally significant.
• STRIDE shall support research capacity building as well as basic, applied and transformational action research that can contribute to national prioritiers with focus on inclusive human development.
• STRIDE shall support creation, development and integration of new ideas, concepts and practices for public good and strengthening civil society.

STRIDE Objectives: 

1. To identify young talent, strengthen research culture, build capacity, promote innovation and support trans-disciplinary research for India’s developing economy and national development.
2. To fund multi institutional network high-impact research projects in humanities and human sciences.

Significance:

STRIDE scheme will strengthen research culture and innovation in colleges and Universities and help students and faculty to contribute towards India’s developing economy with help of collaborative research. Focus on Humanities and Human Sciences will boost quality research on Indian languages and knowledge systems.

Solution: B

Ramanujan Machine

Context: Scientists from Technion — Israel Institute of Technology have developed a concept they have named the Ramanujan Machine, after the Indian mathematician.

What is it?

It is not really a machine but an algorithm, and performs a very unconventional function.

What it does?

The Ramanujan machine is more of a concept than an actual machine—it exists as a network of computers running algorithms dedicated to finding conjectures about fundamental constants in the form of continued fractions—these are defined as fractions of infinite length where the denominator is a certain quantity plus a fraction, where a latter fraction has a similar denominator, etc.)

The purpose of the machine is to come up with conjectures (in the form of mathematical formulas) that humans can analyze, and hopefully prove to be true mathematically.

Why Ramanujan?

The algorithm reflects the way Srinivasa Ramanujan worked during his brief life (1887-1920). With very little formal training, he engaged with the most celebrated mathematicians of the time, particularly during his stay in England (1914-19), where he eventually became a Fellow of the Royal Society and earned a research degree from Cambridge.

Throughout his life, Ramanujan came up with novel equations and identities —including equations leading to the value of pi — and it was usually left to formally trained mathematicians to prove these.

What’s the point?

Conjectures are a major step in the process of making new discoveries in any branch of science, particularly mathematics. Equations defining the fundamental mathematical constants, including pi, are invariably elegant. New conjectures in mathematics, however, have been scarce and sporadic, the researchers note in their paper, which is currently on a pre-print server. The idea is to enhance and accelerate the process of discovery.

How good is it?

The paper gives examples for previously unknown equations produced by the algorithm, including for values of the constants pi and e. The Ramanujan Machine proposed these conjecture formulas by matching numerical values, without providing proofs. It has to be remembered, however, that these are infinite series, and a human can only enter a finite number of terms to test the value of the series. The question is, therefore, whether the series will fail after a point. The researchers feel this is unlikely, because they tested hundreds of digits.

Until proven, it remains a conjecture. By the same token, until proven wrong, a conjecture remains one. It is quite possible that the algorithm will come up with conjectures that may take years to prove.

Solution: A

The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) is an intergovernmental organization which brings together five member states : the Union of the Comoros, France in respect of La Réunion, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Created by the Port-Louis Declaration in 1982, the IOC was institutionalized in Seychelles in 1984 by the General Agreement for Cooperation, better known as the “Victoria Agreement ”.

The only regional organization in Africa composed exclusively of islands, it defends the specificities of its member states on the continental and international scenes. Benefiting from the active support of a dozen international partners , the IOC embodies regional solidarity through cooperation projects covering a wide range of sectors: preservation of ecosystems, sustainable management of natural resources, maritime security, entrepreneurship, public health , renewable energies or culture.

In 2016, an observer member status with the IOC was created. IOC observer members are invited to major organizational meetings and maintain a sustained dialogue on subjects of common interest.

IOC has seven observers – India, China, Malta, European Union, International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), Japan and United Nations

https://www.commissionoceanindien.org/presentation-coi/

Solution: B

International Cooperation Scheme:

• The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) is implementing International Cooperation (IC) Scheme.
• Objective: enhance competency of MSMEs, capturing new markets for their products, exploring new technologies for improving manufacturing capacity, etc.
• Financial assistance is provided under the Scheme on reimbursement basis to the eligible State /Central Government Organisations, Registered Industry Associations and Societies/Trusts associated with the promotion and development of MSME sector to visit/participate in international exhibitions /trade fairs/buyer-seller meet etc. abroad and also for holding International conferences/seminars/workshops in India which are in the interest of MSME sector.

Solution: B

Sagar Maitri Mission-2:

Context: DRDO Research Ship INS Sagardhwani Embarks on Sagar Maitri Mission-2.

SAGAR MAITRI is a unique initiative of DRDO which aligns with the broad objective of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s policy declaration “Safety And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)” to promote closer co-operation in socio-economic aspects as well as greater scientific interaction especially in ocean research among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.

1. Under the aegis of PM’s policy, specific scientific component of DRDO is “MAITRI (Marine & Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative)”.
2. SAGAR MAITRI Mission-2 commemorates the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India’s lone research ship INS Kistna’s missions as part of the historic International Indian Ocean Expeditions (IIOE), which took place during 1962-65.
3. As part of the mission, INS Sagardhwani will revisit the selected tracks of INS Kistna and provide NPOL scientists ample opportunities to collaborate and garner a close working relationship with the oceanographic counterparts of the IOR countries.
4. The prime objectives of the SAGAR MAITRI Mission are data collection from the entire North Indian Ocean, focussing on the the Andaman Sea and adjoining seas and establishing long-term collaboration with eight IOR countries in the field of ocean research and development.
5. The programme also aims at establishing long term scientific collaboration with these countries in the field of ‘Ocean Research & Development’ and data collection with a focus in the Andaman Sea.

Solution: C

Context: The Danube-Oder-Elbe Canal intends to connect the Black, Baltic and North seas for navigation.

The North Sea is a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean located between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

The Dogger Bank, a vast moraine, or accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris, rises to a mere 15 to 30 m (50 to 100 ft) below the surface. This feature has produced the finest fishing location of the North Sea.

River Thames, ancient Tamesis or Tamesa, also called (in Oxford, England) River Isis, chief river of southern England. Rising in the Cotswold Hills, its basin covers an area of approximately 5,500 square miles (14,250 square km). Starting as a small trickle in the Cotswolds the River Thames travels over 210 miles through the heart of some of England’s most picturesque towns, right into the centre of London and eventually, out into the North Sea.

Grand Banks, portion of the North American continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean, lying southeast of Newfoundland island, Canada. Noted as an international fishing ground, the banks extend for 350 miles (560 km) north to south and for 420 miles (675 km) east to west.

Note: Questions have already asked in previous quiz about Baltic Sea and Black Sea.

Solution: C

Russia Launches Spektr-RG

Context: Spektr-RG is a Russian–German high-energy astrophysics space observatory launched recently. It follows on from the Spektr-R satellite telescope launched in 2011.

About Spektr- RG:

The Spektrum-Röntgen-Gamma mission, also known as Spektr-RG, is a joint project between the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and the German space agency, DLR.

Position: Spektr-RG will be placed in a stable orbit in space called a Lagrange point (specifically, L2), where the gravitational forces of two large objects — in this case, the sun and the Earth — balance each other out.

This location will allow Spektr-RG to perform its observations while using a minimal amount of fuel.

Objectives: The spacecraft is expected to detect 100,000 galaxy clusters, 3 million supermassive black holes, tens of thousands of star-forming galaxies, the presence of plasma (superheated gas) and many more types of objects.

The observatory includes two X-ray mirror telescopes, called ART-XC and eROSITA.

A key goal of Spektr-RG will be to investigate the mysterious cosmic components referred to as “dark matter” and “dark energy”.

Solution: D

LaQshya 

Context: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched “LaQshya” (Labour room Quality improvement Initiative) to improve quality of care in labour room and maternity operation theatres in public health facilities.

About LaQshya:

It’s a multipronged approach focused at Intrapartum and immediate postpartum period.

Aim: To reduce preventable maternal and newborn mortality, morbidity and stillbirths associated with the care around delivery in Labour room and Maternity Operation Theatre and ensure respectful maternity care.

Objectives:

1. To reduce maternal and newborn mortality & morbidity due to hemorrhage, retained placenta, preterm, preeclampsia and eclampsia, obstructed labour, puerperal sepsis, newborn asphyxia, and newborn sepsis, etc.
2. To improve Quality of care during the delivery and immediate post-partum care, stabilization of complications and ensure timely referrals, and enable an effective two-way follow-up system.
3. To enhance satisfaction of beneficiaries visiting the health facilities and provide Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) to all pregnant women attending the public health facilities.

Following types of healthcare facilities have been identified for implementation of LaQshya program:

1. Government medical college hospitals.
2. District Hospitals & equivalent health facilities.
3. Designated FRUs and high case load CHCs with over 100 deliveries/month (60 in hills and desert areas)

Solution: B

Context: U.S. authorities put out tsunami warnings after an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck off Russia’s Kuril Islands, but meteorological officials in Japan issued no alerts, although they said there might be slight tidal changes

The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands is a volcanic archipelago in Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast that stretches approximately 1,300 km northeast from Hokkaido, Japan to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the north Pacific Ocean.

The Kuril Islands is a chain of islands that stretch between the Japanese island of Hokkaido at the southern end and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula at the northern end.

Four islands – which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories – are the subject of a 60-year-old dispute between the two nations.

They are Kunashir (known in Japanese as Kunashiri), Iturup (Etorofu), Shikotan and the rocky Habomai islets.

The southernmost islet in the Habomai group lies only a few kilometres off Nemuro on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Because of the dispute, Russia and Japan have not yet signed a peace treaty to end World War II.

Japanese people migrated north to the islands in the 18th and 19th century, including members of Hokkaido’s minority Ainu community.

The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are thought to have offshore reserves of oil and gas. Rare rhenium deposits have been found on the Kudriavy volcano on Iturup.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/tsunami-warnings-after-magnitude-78-quake-strikes-near-russias-kuril-islands/article31159658.ece

Solution: B

Kartarpur Sahib pilgrim corridor

Context: The second round of talks with Pakistan on the modalities for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor was recently held at Wagah, Pakistan.

Pakistan has agreed in principle to allow visa-free, year-long travel to the Sikh shrine.

Concerns raised by India:

India conveyed its concerns to Pakistan on the possible attempts by individuals and groups to disrupt the Kartarpur Sahib pilgrimage and the possible flooding of the Dera Baba Nanak due to earth-filled embankment road or a causeway proposed by Islamabad.

What is the “Kartarpur Corridor” project?

The corridor – often dubbed as the “Road to Peace” – will connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district. The construction of the corridor will allow visa-free access to pilgrims from India. The proposal for the corridor has been on the table since 1988, but tense relations between the two countries led to the delay.

The shrine:

The gurdwara in Kartarpur stands on the bank of the Ravi, about 120 km northeast of Lahore.

    It was here that Guru Nanak assembled a Sikh community and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.

The shrine is visible from the Indian side, as Pakistani authorities generally trim the elephant grass that would otherwise obstruct the view.

Indian Sikhs gather in large numbers for darshan from the Indian side, and binoculars are installed at Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak.

Solution: D

Broadband Readiness Index for states

Context: DoT and Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a Broadband Readiness Index (BRI) for Indian states and Union Territories (UT).

The index will include indicators such as percentage of households using computers/ laptops with internet connection, percentage of households with fixed broadband connection, internet users as a percentage of the population, smartphones density, percentage of households with at least one digitally literate member, etc.

Objectives:

Appraise the condition of the underlying digital infrastructure and related factors at state/UT levels.

Provide useful insights into strategic choices made by states for investment allocations in ICT programmes, the statement said.

Encourage states to cross learn and jointly participate in achieving the overall objective of digital inclusion and development in India.

Background:

The National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP) 2018 acknowledged the need for building a robust digital communications infrastructure leveraging existing assets of the broadcasting and power sectors including collaborative models involving state, local bodies and the private sector. The policy recommended that an index for states and UTs be developed to attract investments and address Right of Way (RoW) challenges across India.

Solution:  B

National Translation Mission is a scheme launched in 2008 which is being implemented through the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Mysore. It aims to establish translation as an industry in general and to facilitate higher education by making knowledge texts accessible to students and academics in Indian languages.

Under the scheme, the books of knowledge texts mostly text books of various subjects prescribed in Universities and Colleges are being translated in all Languages of the 8^th Schedule of the Constitution of India.

Solution: B

Edge computing

Context: According to a research, By 2025, companies will generate and process more than 75% of their data outside of traditional centralised data centres — that is, at the “edge” of the cloud.

As the use of Internet of Things (IoT) devices expands and the need to process IoT data quickly increases, many IT leaders are considering or beginning to employ edge computing options.

What is edge computing?

Edge computing enables data to be analysed, processed, and transferred at the edge of a network. Meaning , the data is analysed locally, closer to where it is stored, in real-time without latency, rather than send it far away to a centralised data centre.

It allows for quicker data processing and content delivery.

How is edge computing different from cloud computing?

The basic difference between edge computing and cloud computing lies in where the data processing takes place.

Internet of Things (IoT) systems perform all of their computations in the cloud using data centres.

In Edge computing, massive amounts of data generated by IoT devices are stored and processed locally. That data doesn’t need to be sent over a network as soon as it processed; only important data is sent — therefore, an edge computing network reduces the amount of data that travels over the network.

Benefits:

Edge computing may offer some protection against a catastrophic attack where a single incident can compromise large amounts of a company’s data.

In some ways, it’s more resilient, because instead of one or two or even three data centers, you have distributed data and compute on the edge, which makes it much more resilient to malicious and nonmalicious events.

Solution: C

High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) technology

Context: India’s first indigenously developed high-temperature based Fuel Cell System was recently introduced. It is a 5.0 kW fuel cell system that generates power in a green manner.

The developed fuel cells are based on High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) technology.

Key facts:

Developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Indian industries.

    Built under India’s flagship programme named ‘New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI)’.

How it works?

It takes methanol or bio-methane as the input and produces heat and water as its bi-products, which can be further used. This helps to attain an efficiency that is greater than 70%, which is difficult to achieve by other energy sources.

Applications:

Suitable for distributed stationary power applications like; for small offices, commercial units, data centers etc.; where highly reliable power is essential with simultaneous requirement for air-conditioning.

It will also meet the requirement of efficient, clean and reliable backup power generator for telecom towers, remote locations and strategic applications as well.

Replace Diesel Generating (DG) sets and help reduce India’s dependence on crude oil.

What is HTPEM technology?

High Temperature Proton-Exchange-Membrane (HTPEM) is the core of the fuel cells running above 150 °C. As in classical PEM fuel cells technology, Hydrogen is electrochemically split to proton and electron on anode. Proton is transported through membrane to cathode while electricity is yielded in external circuit. At cathode protons recombine with electron and reacts further with Oxygen to water and heat.

The technology can achieve efficiency approaching 90% calculated as combined yield of electricity and heat.

Significance of HTPEM technology:

HT-PEM Technology enables simple and cost effective fuel cell systems that can operate on fuel sources available today, such as natural gas, propane, and methanol.

When compared to low temperature PEM fuel cells, subsystems for membrane humidification and carbon monoxide clean up from reformate can be eliminated.

The operation of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells at temperatures above 150°C offers very significant advantages compared to the conventional PEM fuel cells which are listed below:

• High CO tolerance
• No need for humidified gases
• High power-to-volume ratio
• Reduced complexity
• Low cost

Solution: C

The physical, chemical and biological properties exhibited by a material changes at nano scale level in unique and peculiar way, i.e. it follows the laws of quantum physics which is very different from the laws of Newtonian physics like gravity, law of motion etc.,

As nanotechnology allows manipulation of properties of a material at a very small scale, scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced properties such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts. As a result, it has many applications which is not normally found through conventional material science.

Solution: B

Rare diseases

Context: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has published a national policy for the treatment of 450 ‘rare diseases’.

The Centre first prepared such a policy in 2017 and appointed a committee in 2018 to review it.

Overview of the policy:

Among other measures, the policy intends to kickstart a registry of rare diseases, which will be maintained by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

According to the policy, rare diseases include genetic diseases, rare cancers, infectious tropical diseases, and degenerative diseases.

Under the policy, there are three categories of rare diseases — requiring one-time curative treatment, diseases that require long-term treatment but where the cost is low, and those needing long-term treatments with high cost. Some of the diseases in the first category include osteopetrosis and immune deficiency disorders, among others.

As per the policy, the assistance of Rs 15 lakh will be provided to patients suffering from rare diseases that require a one-time curative treatment under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme. The treatment will be limited to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

What is a rare disease?

A rare disease, also referred to as an orphan disease, is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population.

Most rare diseases are genetic, and are present throughout a person’s entire life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear.

Characteristics:

Rare diseases are characterised by a wide diversity of symptoms and signs that vary not only from disease to disease but also from patient to patient suffering from the same disease. Relatively common symptoms can hide underlying rare diseases, leading to misdiagnosis.

The most common rare diseases recorded in India are Haemophilia, Thalassemia, sickle-cell anaemia and primary immuno deficiency in children, auto-immune diseases, Lysosomal storage disorders such as Pompe disease, Hirschsprung disease, Gaucher’s disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Hemangiomas and certain forms of muscular dystrophies.

Definition:

While there is no universally accepted definition of rare diseases, countries typically arrive at their own descriptions, taking into consideration disease prevalence, its severity and the existence of alternative therapeutic options.

In the US, for instance, a rare disease is defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people.

The same definition is used by the National Organisation for Rare Disorders (NORD).

Solution: D

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a not-for-profit Section 8, Schedule B, Public Sector Enterprise, set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India as an Interface Agency to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprise to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs.

BIRAC is a industry-academia interface and implements its mandate through a wide range of impact initiatives, be it providing access to risk capital through targeted funding, technology transfer, IP management and handholding schemes that help bring innovation excellence to the biotech firms and make them globally competitive. In its Eight years of existence, BIRAC has initiated several schemes, networks and platforms that help to bridge the existing gaps in the industry-academia Innovation research and facilitate novel, high quality affordable products development through cutting edge technologies. BIRAC has initiated partnerships with several national and global partners to collaborate and deliver the salient features of its mandate.

BIRAC’s aim is to play a transformative and catalytic role in building a US$ 100 billion Indian bioeconomy. We believe that the agents of change for building the Indian bioeconomy would be biotech start-ups & SMEs & hence our focus is on raising their capabilities

Solution: D

Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. Graphene is considered to be the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – to both electricity and heat. All this properties are exciting researchers and businesses around the world – as graphene has the potential the revolutionize entire industries – in the fields of electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.

Graphene is the world’s strongest material, and so can be used to enhance the strength of other materials. Dozens of researches have demonstrated that adding even a trade amount of graphene to plastics, metals or other materials can make these materials much stronger

Graphene is the world’s most conductive material to heat. As graphene is also strong and light, it means that it is a great material to make heat-spreading solutions, such as heat sinks. This could be useful in both microelectronics (for example to make LED lighting more efficient and longer lasting) and also in larger applications – for example thermal foils for mobile devices.

Because graphene is the world’s thinnest material, it is also the material with the highest surface-area to volume ratio. This makes graphene a very promising material to be used in batteries and supercapacitors. Graphene may enable devices that can store more energy – and charge faster, too. Graphene can also be used to enhance fuel-cells.

Graphene has a lot of other promising applications: anti-corrosion coatings and paints, efficient and precise sensors, faster and efficient electronics, flexible displays, efficient solar panels, faster DNA sequencing, drug delivery, and more.

Solution: B

Earth System Science Organization (ESSO)

The Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) , New Delhi, operates as an executive arm of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) for its policies and programmes.  The ESSO provides overall direction for the centres/units and review the implementation of the programs. The ESSO was established in October, 2007 as a virtual organization, bringing all meteorological and ocean development activities under one umbrella, recognizing the importance of strong coupling among various components of the earth viz. atmosphere, oceans, cryo-sphere and geo-sphere.  It has four major branches of earth sciences, viz. (i) Ocean Science & Technology (ii) Atmospheric and Climate Science and (iii) Geoscience and Technology and (iv) Polar Science and Cryosphere.  The sole purpose of the endeavour was to address holistically various aspects relating to earth processes for understanding the variability of earth system.

The ESSO is primarily aimed to develop and improve capability to forecast, weather, climate and hazard related phenomena for social, economic and environmental benefits including addressing aspects relating to climate change science, and climate services.  ESSO is also responsible for development of technology towards the exploration and exploitation of marine resources in a sustainable way for the socio-economic benefit of the society by taking into account the global developments in the field of marine environment.  One of the mandates of ESSO is also to promote research in polar science of both Antarctic and Arctic Regions to understand the various phenomenon and processes of these regions on global climate and weather, in particularly on the Indian Ocean.

The overall vision of the ESSO is to excel in knowledge and technology enterprise for the earth system science realm towards socio-economic benefit of the Indian sub-continent and in the Indian Ocean region.  It has three major components :

Provide scientific and technical support for both academic and applied research in Earth System sciences as a whole comprising the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the geosphere, with particular reference to the Indian sub-continent and the surrounding oceans as well as the Polar Regions.

Provide the Nation with the best possible services in forecasting the monsoons and other weather/climate parameters, ocean state including early warnings to natural disasters like storm surge, earthquakes, tsunamis and other phenomena through well integrated programs.

Support science and technology development for exploration and exploitation of ocean resources (living and non-living), ensuring their sustainable utilization.

Solution: C

REN21 is the global renewable energy policy multi-stakeholder network that connects a wide range of key actors. REN21 brings together governments, nongovernmental organisations, research and academic institutions, international organisations and industry to learn from one another and build on successes that advance renewable energy.

REN21 is an international non-profit association and is based at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Paris, France.

REN21’s goal is to facilitate knowledge exchange, policy development and joint action towards a rapid global transition to renewable energy.

It assists in policy decision making, REN21 provides high quality information, catalyses discussion and debate and supports the development of thematic networks.

Solution: C

Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE) Scheme was put in place by MeitY in 2008 to promote innovation by nurturing startups in Information Technology, Communications & Electronics (ICTE) domain. Under the TIDE Scheme, financial assistance is provided to Institutions of Higher Learning to strengthen their Technology Incubation Centres for enabling young entrepreneurs to create technology startup companies for commercial exploitation of technologies developed by them. Enhanced version Technology Incubation and Development of Entrepreneurs (TIDE 2.0) Scheme is to promote tech entrepreneurship through financial and technical support to incubators engaged in supporting ICT startups using emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Block-chain, Robotics etc.

Solution: A

A national nuclear doctrine represents, the collective set of beliefs or principles held by the nation with regard to the utility of its nuclear weapons. Post 1998 nuclear test, India came up with a comprehensive nuclear doctrine to clear doubts and misunderstandings prevailing around world regarding India’s Nuclear weapon policy.

Features of Nuclear Doctrine

1. Building and maintaining a credible minimum deterrent.
2. A posture of “No First Use” – nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere.
3. Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.
4. Nuclear retaliatory attacks can only be authorised by the civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority.
5. Non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.
6. However, in the event of a major attack against India, or Indian forces anywhere, by biological or chemical weapons, India will retain the option of retaliating with nuclear weapons.
7. A continuance of strict controls on export of nuclear and missile related materials and technologies, participation in the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty negotiations, and continued observance of the moratorium on nuclear tests.
8. Continued commitment to the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world, through global, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament.

Solution: A

One of the most notable developments in the S&T sector in the XI Plan has been the setting up of the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) through an Act of Parliament, viz. the Science and Engineering Research Board Act, 2008. Promoting basic research in Science and Engineering and to provide financial assistance to persons engaged in such research, academic institutions, research and development laboratories, industrial concerns and other agencies for such research and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto are the primary and distinctive mandate of the Board.

SERB aims to build up best management systems which would match the best global practices in the area of promotion and funding of basic research.

The Board is chaired by the Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Science and Technology and shall have other senior government officials and eminent scientists as members.

Solution: D

Neutrinos are abundantly found in nature. The Sun, the stars and the atmosphere produce millions of neutrinos every second. Most of these neutrinos pass through our body and we do not realize it. They can even pass through the earth and come out on the other side.

Neutrinos are similar to the more familiar electron, with one crucial difference: neutrinos do not carry electric charge. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral, they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces which act on electrons.  Neutrino belongs to Lepton category.

Neutrinos are affected only by a “weak” sub-atomic force of much shorter range than electromagnetism, and are therefore able to pass through great distances in matter without being affected by it.

Solution: A

Principal Amount , P = Rs. 1075,
Rate of interest, R = 7%,
Time period, T=7 years
Simple interest, SI = PTR/100
SI = (1075 x 7 x 7)/100
SI = 526.75
Amount = Principal + S.I
= 1075 + 526.75
= 1601.75
Amount paid by Ramya to her friend = Rs 1601.75

Solution: B

Principal  Amount, P = Rs. 12,500
Rate of interes, r = 20% compounded per annum.
Total Amount at the rate of compound interest = P[1+ (r/100)]ⁿ

Where P = Principal Amount

r= rate of interest

n= Time period

Amount after first year = 12500*(120/100) = Rs. 15,000
Principal for second year = 15000 – 2000 = Rs. 13,000
Amount after second year = 13000*(120/100) = Rs. 15,600
Principal for third year = 15600 – 2000 = Rs. 13,600
Amount after third year = 13600*(120/100) = Rs. 16,320
Remaining amount = 16320 – 2000 = Rs. 14,320.

Solution: C

Let the rate of interest for two different sources is r₁ and r₂ respectively.

((1500×r1×3)/100)−((1500×r2×3)/100)=13.50

=4500r1−4500r2=1350

= (r1−r2)=1350/4500

Hence required difference in rates = 0.3%

Solution: D

Let the rate of interest per annum be r%.

Then,

Simple Interest = Rs ( 5000 * r * 2/100) = Rs 100r

Compound Interest = Rs (5000 (1 +r/100)² -5000)

= 5000((1 +r/100)² – 1)

= Rs (r²/2 + 100r)

It is given that difference between compound interest and simple interest at the same rate on Rs 5000 for 2 years is Rs 72

Therefore, (r²/2 + 100r) – 100r = Rs 72

Thus,  r²/2 = 72

Or r² = 144 or r= 12 percent per annum

Answer. B.

The passage talks about the goal of universal health coverage and goes ahead and talks about the Ayushman Bharat Scheme which aims to take India closer to universal health coverage. The passage however goes on to mention the issues with Ayushman Bharat which highlight that for the objective of universal health coverage to be attained, we need to iron out the glitches in Ayushman Bharat and hence B is the most accurate option.