DAY – 11(InstaTest-11): Insta 70 Days Revision Plan-2021: Topic – SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Subject-wise Test 16 , Textbook-wise Tests 9 , August 2020 CA

Solution: C

Hayabusa 2 is a Japanese mission launched in December 2014 on a six-year mission to study the asteroid Ryugu and to collect samples to bring to Earth for analysis.

• The Hayabusa 2 spacecraft arrived at the asteroid in June 2018.
• The spacecraft deployed two rovers and a small lander onto the surface.
• Hayabusa 2 fired an impactor into the asteroid in February 2019 to create an artificial crater. This allowed the spacecraft to collect a sample from beneath the surface of the asteroid.
• Hayabusa 2 delivered the asteroid sample to Earth on Dec. 6, 2020.
• The spacecraft is now on an extended mission to the small asteroid 1998 KY26.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/hayabusa-2/in-depth/

Solution: C

The James Webb Space Telescope will not be in orbit around the Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope is – it will actually orbit the Sun, 1.5 million kilometers (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.

https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

Solution: B

Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. Einstein’s mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that ‘waves’ of undulating space-time would propagate in all directions away from the source. These cosmic ripples would travel at the speed of light, carrying with them information about their origins, as well as clues to the nature of gravity itself.

The strongest gravitational waves are produced by cataclysmic events such as colliding black holes, supernovae (massive stars exploding at the end of their lifetimes), and colliding neutron stars. Other waves are predicted to be caused by the rotation of neutron stars that are not perfect spheres, and possibly even the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the Big Bang.

The animation below illustrates how gravitational waves are emitted by two neutron stars as they orbit each other and then coalesce (credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center). Note that gravitational waves themselves are invisible. They are made visible here to illustrate their propagation away from the source.

Gravitational waves are not electromagnetic radiation.

Solution: A

Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), Bengaluru is a wholly owned Government of India Company under the administrative control of the Department of Space. Antrix Corporation Limited was incorporated as a private limited company owned by Government of India in September 1992 as a Marketing arm of ISRO for promotion and commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and transfer of technologies developed by ISRO. Another major objective is to facilitate development of space related industrial capabilities in India.

As the commercial and marketing arm of ISRO, Antrix is engaged in providing Space products and  services to international customers worldwide. With fully equipped state-of-the-art facilities, Antrix provides end-to-end solution for many of the space products, ranging from supply of hardware and software including simple subsystems to a complex spacecraft, for varied applications covering communications, earth observation and scientific missions; space related services including remote sensing data service, Transponder lease service; Launch services through the operational launch vehicles (PSLV and GSLV); Mission support services; and a host of consultancy and training services.

Space commission of India is headed by ISRO Chairmen. Hence Statement 3 is incorrect.

Solution: C

Both the statements are correct.

Sagittarius A* (pronounced “Sagittarius A-Star”, abbreviated Sgr A*) is a bright and very compact astronomical radio source at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. It is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6° south of the ecliptic. Sagittarius A* is the location of a supermassive black hole, similar to those at the centers of most, if not all, spiral and elliptical galaxies.

The Kuiper belt (/ˈkaɪpər, ˈkʊɪ-/) is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger – 20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive.

Solution: B

Hope is the UAE’s fourth space mission and first interplanetary one. The previous three were all Earth-observation satellites. Once it is successfully able to reach the planet, it will start orbiting the planet. Its overall mission life is one Martian year, which is about 687 days on Earth. Hence Statement 1 is incorrect.

RemoveDEBRIS is a satellite research project intending to demonstrate various space debris removal technologies. The mission is led by the Surrey Space Centre from the University of Surrey with the satellite’s platform manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). Partners on the project include Airbus, ArianeGroup, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, Inria, Innovative Solutions In Space, Surrey Space Centre, and Stellenbosch University.

Solution: C

Both the statements are correct.

Stem cells are special human cells that are able to develop into many different cell types. This can range from muscle cells to brain cells. In some cases, they can also fix damaged tissues. Researchers believe that stem cell-based therapies may one day be used to treat serious illnesses such as paralysis and Alzheimer disease.

Types of stem cells

Stem cells are divided into 2 main forms. They are embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells. The embryonic stem cells used in research today come from unused embryos. These result from an in vitro fertilization procedure. They are donated to science. These embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. This means that they can turn into more than one type of cell.

Adult stem cells. There are 2 types of adult stem cells. One type comes from fully developed tissues such as the brain, skin, and bone marrow. There are only small numbers of stem cells in these tissues. They are more likely to generate only certain types of cells. For example, a stem cell that comes from the liver will only make more liver cells.

The second type is induced pluripotent stem cells. These are adult stem cells that have been changed in a lab to be more like embryonic stem cells. Scientists first reported that human stem cells could be changed in this way in 2006. Induced pluripotent stem cells don’t seem to be different from embryonic stem cells, but scientists have not yet found one that can develop every kind of cell and tissue.

Solution: A

The Genome Project – Write (also known as GP-Write) is a large-scale collaborative research project (an extension of Genome Projects, aimed at reading genomes since 1984) that focuses on the development of technologies for the synthesis and testing of genomes of many different species of microbes, plants, and animals, including the human genome in a sub-project known as Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write).

Formally announced on 2 June 2016, the project leverages two decades of work on synthetic biology and artificial gene synthesis. India has not substantially funded Human Genome Project-Write (HGP-Write). Hence Statement 2 is incorrect.

Solution: C
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Government of India is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India.
Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approval of New Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs, control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country and coordination of the activities of State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a view of bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Further CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for grant of licenses of certain specialized categories of critical Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. V. Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.

Solution: D

About Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act (PPV&FR Act) seeks to address the rights of plant breeders and farmers on an equal footing. It affirms the necessity of recognizing and protecting the rights of farmers with respect to the contribution they make in conserving, improving and making Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) available for the development of new plant varieties.

Right 1: Access to seed [Section 39(1)(iv)]

Farmers are entitled to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share or sell their farm produce, including seed of protected varieties, in the same manner as they were entitles to before the coming into force to the PPV&FR Act. However, farmers are not entitled to sell branded seed of a variety protected under this Act. Farmers can use farm saved seed from a crop cultivated in their own.

Right 2: Benefit sharing [Section 26]

Plant breeders and legal entities including farmers who provide Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) to breeders for developing new varieties shall receive a fair share of benefit from the commercial gains of the registered varieties. Out of all the national plant variety protection laws enacted since 2001, the PPV&FR Act is the first that integrates a provision for access and benefit-sharing (ABS) along with Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBRs). Accession of the genetic resource used in breeding is permitted under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. However, the PPV&FR Act requires a breeder to make a sworn declaration on the geographical origin of the genetic resources used in the pedigree of the new variety, and its accession.

Right 3: Compensation [Section 39(2)]

Registered seed must be sold with the full disclosure of their agronomic performance under  recommended  management conditions. When such seed is sold to farmers but fails  to  provide  the expected  performance  under recommended  management conditions, the farmer is eligible to claim compensation from the breeder through the intervention of the PPV&FR Authority.

Solution: C

The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States (collectively referred to as the “Plus Countries”), to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region. The Inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Ha Noi, Viet Nam, on 12 October 2010.

Since 2017, the ADMM-Plus meets annually, to allow enhanced dialogue and cooperation among ASEAN and the Plus Countries in the midst of an increasingly challenging regional security environment.

Objectives

The objectives of the ADMM-Plus, are:

• To benefit ASEAN Member States in building capacity to address shared security challenges, while cognisant of the differing capacities of various ASEAN Member States;
• To promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency;
• To enhance regional peace and stability through cooperation in defence and security, in view of the transnational security challenges the region faces;
• To contribute to the realisation of an ASEAN Security Community which, as stipulated in the Bali Concord II, embodies ASEAN’s aspiration to achieve peace, stability, democracy and prosperity in the region where ASEAN Member States live at peace with one another and with the world at large;
• To facilitate the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme, which calls for ASEAN to build a peaceful, secure and prosperous ASEAN, and to adopt greater outward-looking external relation strategies with our friends and Dialogue Partners.

Source: Yojana, October, 2020

Solution: D

In 2017, India and Singapore signed a bilateral agreement that will allow Indian Navy ships logistical support, including refuelling, at Singapore’s Changi naval base located near the disputed South China Sea.
Recently, India has secured access to the key Port of Duqm in Oman for military use and logistical support.

Chabahar port is located on the Gulf of Oman and is the only oceanic port of Iran.

Source: Yojana, October, 2020

Solution: B

The idea of Asia Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) emerged in the joint declaration issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November 2016. The AAGC will envisage people centric sustainable growth strategy, details of which would be evolved through a process of detailed consultations across Asia and Africa, engaging various stakeholders.

The AAGC will be raised on four pillars of Development and Cooperation Projects, Quality Infrastructure and Institutional Connectivity, Enhancing Capacities and Skills and People-to-People partnership. The centrality of people to people partnership would be the unique feature of this initiative. The strengths of AAGC will be aligned with the development priorities of different countries and sub-regions of Africa, taking advantage of simultaneous homogeneity and heterogeneity among them. This would be undertaken to improve growth and interconnectedness between and within Asia and Africa for realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

https://aagc.ris.org.in/about-aagc

Source: Yojana, October, 2020

Solution: A

The Nairobi Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in December 2015 reaffirmed, with consensus, the Interim Peace Clause decided during the Bali Ministerial Conference in 2013 and the General Council Decision of 2014 providing perpetual protection to public stockholding programmes of a developing Member for food security purposes from being challenged in relation to certain obligations under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture until a permanent solution is agreed and adopted.

Solution: A

Four Indian states share the border with Myanmar: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

Solution: D

The IMF was established in 1944 in the aftermath of the Great Depression of the 1930s. 44 founding member countries sought to build a framework for international economic cooperation. Today, its membership embraces 190 countries, with staff drawn from 150 nations

Primary aims:

• • Promote international monetary cooperation;
  • Facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade;
  • Promote exchange stability;
  • Assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments; and
  • Make resources available (with adequate safeguards) to members experiencing balance-of-payments difficulties.

Solution: A

India had the most favourable trade balance with USA followed by Bangladesh and Nepal. The highest trade deficit is with China followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia during April-November, 2020-21 and April November, 2019-20. Table 3: India’s Merchandise Trade B

Solution: A

The Logistics Performance Index is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance. It has been released by the World Bank.

India Nepal water Resources

Solution: C

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.

The Paracel Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea.

Solution: C

The INSTC project was originally decided between India, Iran and Russia in 2000 in St Petersburg, and subsequently included 10 other central Asian and west Asian countries: Azerbaijan Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman, Syria and Bulgaria as an observer.

It envisions a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail and road route for transporting freight, aimed at reducing the carriage cost between India and Russia by about 30% and bringing down the transit time from 40 days by more than half.

Solution: D

A debt instrument is a paper or electronic obligation that enables the issuing party to raise funds by promising to repay a lender in accordance with the terms of a contract. It is a method by which finance companies normally source funds.

Examples for different debt instruments:

• Bonds,
• Non-convertible debentures (NCDs),
• Certificates of deposits,
• Commercial papers(CPs),
• Mortgages and leases
• Promissory notes

Solution: C

Priority Sector means those sectors which the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India consider as important for the development of the basic needs of the country and are to be given priority over other sectors. The banks are mandated to encourage the growth of such sectors with adequate and timely credit.

The following are the categories listed by RBI under Priority Sector Lending

• Agriculture
• Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
• Export Credit
• Education
• Housing
• Social Infrastructure
• Renewable Energy

Solution: B

National Institute of Social Defence

• The National Institute of Social Defence (NISD) is an Autonomous Body and is registered under Societies Act XXI of 1860 with the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT), Delhi.
• It is a central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• It is the nodal training and research institute in the field of social defence.
• The institute currently focuses on human resource development in the areas of drug abuse prevention, welfare of senior citizens, beggary prevention, transgender and other social defence issues.
• The mandate of the institute is to provide inputs for the social defence programmes of the Government of India through training, research & documentation.

Solution: D

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013:

• As passed by the Parliament, Government has notified the National Food Security Act, 2013 on 10th September, 2013.
• The objective is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

Key features:

• The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.
• The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
• The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
• The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Besides meal to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, such women will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.
• Children upto 14 years of age will be entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards.
• In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance.
• The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.
• Separate provisions have also been made in the Act for ensuring transparency and accountability.
• The eldest woman of the household of age 18 years or above is mandated to be the head of the household for the purpose of issuing of ration cards under the Act.
  • The National Food Security Act, (NFSA) 2013 is being implemented in all the States/UTs, on an all-India basis.

Solution: C

The six countries bordering the Red Sea proper are:

• Eastern shore: Saudi Arabia. Yemen.
• Western shore: Egypt. Sudan. Eritrea. Djibouti.

Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan – all bordering the Caspian Sea

North Sea: The sea is bordered by the island of Great Britain to the southwest and west, the Orkney and Shetland islands to the northwest, Norway to the northeast, Denmark to the east, Germany and the Netherlands to the southeast, and Belgium and France to the south.

Aral Sea: It straddles the boundary between Kazakhstan to the north and Uzbekistan to the south.

Solution: B

Given, the ratio of two numbers = 4 : 3
Let the two numbers be 4x and 3x
Given, their sum = 91
=> 4x + 3x = 91
=> x = 13
Smaller number = 3x = 39

Solution: D

Given, ratio of two numbers is 4:7

Original numbers are 4x and 7x

Thus, their sum = 11x

It is given that, (4x+40)/(7x+40) = 2/3

= 12 x + 120 = 14 x + 80

= 2x =40

0r x = 20

Therefore, their sum = 20 * 11 = 220

Solution: B

The given solution has 75% milk.
Milk to be added has 100% milk.
Milk should be added to the given mixture in the ratio (90-75) : (100 – 90) =

15 : 10 or 3 : 2
Thus, Quantity of milk to be added = (3 / 2) × 6 = 9 liters.

Solution: B

Let the present age of Ramya and her mother be X and 2X respectively.
After 6 years, the ratio of their ages will be 11 : 20
= (X + 6)/(2X + 6) = 11/20
= 20X + 120 = 22X + 66
= 2X = 54 or X = 27
So, present age of Ramya = 27 yrs
Present age of her mother = 54 yrs
Therefore, before 9 years, ratio of Ramya and her mother
= (27 – 9)/(54 – 9)
= 18/45
= 2 : 5.

Ans. A.

The passage states that coastal cities built on reclaimed land need to worry. However the last line also says that sea levels could rise much more than 30cm. This means that the logical corollary is for all coastal cities to safeguard themselves against rising sea level.