DAY – 19 ( INSTA REVISION TEST – 19)INSTA REVISION PLAN 3.0, 2021

Solution: A

Red algae are able to grow in depth of seas as compared to green algae because of the presence of more quantity of pigment phycoerythrin in red algae growing at depth. Phycoerythrin can absorb blue- green wavelength of visible spectrum of light that can reach the maximum depth of water and help in photosynthesizing those red algae.

Solution: C

The state of inactivity and a low metabolic process performed by the animals during the winters is known as Hibernation. It is also known as winter sleep. It may be performed by both the warm and cold-blooded animals. Examples include bats, birds, mammals, insects, etc

On the contrary, when animals take rest in shady and moist place during summer, it is called Aestivation or Estivation. Aestivation is also known as summer sleep. It is performed by cold-blooded animals. Examples include bees, snails, earthworms, salamanders, frogs, earthworms, crocodiles, tortoise, etc

Solution: C

Thermoregulation is energetically expensive for many organisms. This is particularly true for small animals like shrews and humming birds. Heat loss or heat gain is a function of surface area. Since small animals have a larger surface area relative to their volume, they tend to lose body heat very fast when it is cold outside. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct.

They have to expend much energy to generate body heat through metabolism.

This is the main reason why very small animals are rarely found in polar regions.

Solution: B

Altitude sickness means the physical distress from difficulty adjusting to lower oxygen pressure at high altitude. Its symptoms include nausea, fatigue and
heart palpitations.

But, gradually you get acclimatized and stop experiencing altitude sickness. The body compensates low oxygen availability by increasing red blood cell production, decreasing the binding capacity of hemoglobin and by increasing breathing rate.

Solution: C

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health. It was adopted on 29 January 2000 as a supplementary agreement to the Convention on Biological Diversity and entered into force on 11 September 2003.

Totally, there are 171 parties to the protocol including India.

Solution: C

Brood parasitism in birds is a fascinating example of parasitism in which the parasitic bird lays its eggs in the nest of its host and lets the host incubate them. During the course of evolution, the eggs of the parasitic bird have evolved to resemble the host’s egg in size and colour to reduce the chances of the host bird detecting the foreign eggs and ejecting them from the nest.

Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. Example: Sea anemone and clown fish.

Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit. Mutualism is thought to be the most common type of ecological interaction, and it is often dominant in most communities worldwide. Example: Fig tree and the pollinator species of wasp.

Solution: D

In an aquatic ecosystem, Grazing food chain is the major conduit for energy flow.

As against this, in a terrestrial ecosystem, a much larger fraction of energy
flows through the detritus food chain than through the grazing food chain.

Detritus food chain may be connected with the grazing food chain at some levels: some of the organisms of DFC are prey to the GFC animals, and in a natural ecosystem, some animals like cockroaches, crows, etc., are omnivores.
These natural interconnection of food chains make it a food web.

Solution: C

Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a particular
time called as the standing crop. The standing crop is measured as the
mass of living organisms (biomass) or the number in a unit area.

The biomass of a species is expressed in terms of fresh or dry weight.
Measurement of biomass in terms of dry weight is more accurate.

Solution: B

In the pyramid of energy flow, there is always loss of energy during the flow from one lower trophic level to higher trophic levels. Hence they will always be upright.

Solution: B

Ecological Succession is the gradual process by which ecosystems change and
develop over time

Based on the nature of the habitat – whether it is water (or very wet areas)
or it is on very dry areas – succession of plants is called hydrach or xerarch,
respectively.

Hydrarch succession takes place in wetter areas and the successional series progress from hydric to the mesic conditions.

As against this, xerarch succession takes place in dry areas and the series progress from xeric to mesic conditions. Hence, both hydrarch and xerach
successions lead to medium water conditions (mesic) – neither too dry
(xeric) nor too wet (hydric).

The species that invade a bare area are called pioneer species. In primary succession on rocks these are usually lichens which are able to secrete acids to dissolve rock, helping in weathering and soil formation.

A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. Without keystone species, the ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist altogether. Some keystone species, such as the wolf, tiger, lion etc, are also apex predators.

Solution: C

Megadiversity Countries is a term used to refer to the world’s top biodiversity-rich countries.

To qualify as a Megadiverse Country, a country must: 

1. Have at least 5000 of the world’s plants as endemics
2. Have marine ecosystems within its borders.

The focus on endemism is in line with the IUCN’s “doctrine of ultimate responsibility”, which holds that a country with the only populations of an endangered species has ultimate responsibility for ensuring the survival of that particular species. Other secondary criteria have also been taken into consideration, such as animal and invertebrate endemism, species diversity, higher-level diversity, ecosystem diversity and presence of tropical rainforest ecosystems. Despite endemism being the main criterion, thresholds for the criteria are flexible and countries have been considered individually based on all criteria.

The identified Megadiverse Countries are: United States of America, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, China, and Australia.

Solution: B

The concept of a biodiversity hotspot was put forward by Norman Myers in 1988.

The criteria which are necessary for a region to be categorized as a
biodiversity hotspot include:

• Species endemism – it must contain at least 1500 species of vascular plants, which is more than 0.5 percent of the world’s total plant population, as endemic species.
• Degree of threat – it must have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat
  due to human interventions.

There are 3 such hotspots in India. They include:

• The Eastern Himalayas
• Indo-Burma
• The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

Solution: D

Asiatic Lion also known as the Indian lions are listed as endangered and only found in and around Gir Forest National Park of Gujarat. Gujarat Lion is one of five big cats inhabit India others being the Bengal Tiger and Indian Leopards.

Lion Tailed Macaque is India’s endangered primate species and also ranks among the rarest and most threatened monkey, endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.

Sangai also called as brow antlered deer is endemic and endangered species of deer, found only in Keibul Lamjao National Park of Manipur. The Keibul Lamjao park is a marshy wetland located at the south parts of the Loktak Lake.

Solution: C

Compressed natural gas, or CNG, is natural gas under pressure which remains clear, odourless, and non-corrosive – and can be used as a cheaper, greener, and more efficient alternative to the traditional petrol and diesel fuels for vehicles.

CNG is comprised mostly of methane gas which, like gasoline, produces engine power when mixed with air and fed into your engine’s combustion chamber.

CNG engines run more quietly due to the higher octane rating of CNG over gasoline and they produce less exhaust emissions. Harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) can be reduced by as much as 95% when compared to gasoline powered vehicles.

Solution: A

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. It has electrode wires that are maintained at several
thousand volts, which produce a corona that releases electrons. These
electrons attach to dust particles giving them a net negative charge. The
collecting plates are grounded and attract the charged dust particles.
The velocity of air between the plates must be low enough to allow the
dust to fall.

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. Motor vehicles equipped with catalytic converter should use unleaded petrol because lead in the petrol inactivates the catalyst.

Solution: B

The IISS Shangri-La Dialogue is Asia’s premier defence summit, a unique
meeting of ministers and delegates. Each year’s agenda is intentionally wideranging, reflecting the many defence and security challenges facing a large and diverse region.

Solution: C

It is used for the welfare of the members of the Armed Forces (including Para Military Forces) and their dependents

The Fund is administered by an Executive Committee, with PM as Chairperson, and Defence, Finance and Home Ministers as Members.

Finance Minister is the Treasurer of the Fund. Accounts of the Fund are kept with the Reserve Bank of India.

The fund is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions from the public and does not get any budgetary support.

Solution: D
BEE star labelling is currently invoked for equipments/appliances Room Air Conditioner (Fixed Speed), Ceiling Fan, Colour Television, Computer, Direct Cool Refrigerator, Distribution Transformer, Domestic Gas Stove, Frost Free Refrigerator, General Purpose Industrial Motor, Monoset Pump, Openwell Submersible Pump Set, Stationary Type Water Heater, Submersible Pump Set, Tfl, Washing Machine, Ballast, Solid State Inverter, Office Automation Products, Diesel Engine Driven Monosetpumps For Agricultural Purposes, Diesel Generator Set, Led Lamps, Room Air Conditioner (Variable Speed), Chillers, Agricultural Pumpset.

Solution: C

The Mahalwari tenure was introduced in1822 in major portions of the UP, the Central Provinces the Punjab and covered nearly 30% of the area.

The Mahalwari system of land revenue worked under the scheme of 1833 was completed under the administration of James Thompson. The 66% rental demanded proved very harsh, too. In the Saharanpur Rules of 1855, it was revised to 50% by Lord Dalhousie.

Solution: D

Factories Act of I881 was the first legislation directly affecting industrial labourers in the country. It applied to all manufacturing establishments using power driven machinery, employing 100 or more labours and working for more than 120 days in a year. It ruled that no children below the age of 7 could be employed in a factory and nobody before attaining the age of 12 could be made to work for more than 9 hours a day.

Full time factory inspectors were appointed under the Factory Act, 1911 to see whether the provisions were being enforced.

The Royal Commission on Labour or the Whitley Commission on Labour was set up in 1929 to inquire into the existing conditions of labour in industrial undertakings and plantations in India. The Commission recommended the adoption of suitable legislation enabling the Competent Authority to collect and collate information regarding the living, working and socio-economic conditions of industrial labour.

Solution: A

Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report:

• It is a biennial report of the World Bank.

• It provides a global audience with the latest and most accurate estimates on trends in global poverty and shared prosperity.
• Global extreme poverty is expected to rise for the first time in 20 years because of the disruption caused by COVID-19.
• This will exacerbate the impact of conflict and climate change, which were already slowing down poverty reduction.
• The pandemic may push another 88 million to 115 million into extreme poverty or having to live on less than $1.50 per day, resulting in a total of 150 million such individuals.

Solution: D

Aditya- L1 mission:

• It is India’s first solar mission.
• It will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in XL configuration. The space-based observatory will have seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.

Objectives:

• Study the sun’s outer most layers, the corona and the chromospheres.
• Collect data about coronal mass ejection, which will also yield information for space weather prediction.

Significance of the mission: The data from Aditya mission will be immensely helpful in discriminating between different models for the origin of solar storms and also for constraining how the storms evolve and what path they take through the interplanetary space from the Sun to the Earth.

Position of the satellite: In order to get the best science from the sun, continuous viewing of the sun is preferred without any occultation/ eclipses and hence, Aditya- L1 satellite will be placed in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) of the sun-earth systems.

Solution: C

The Golden Triangle is the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers. The name “Golden Triangle”—coined by the CIA—is commonly used more broadly to refer to an area of approximately 950,000 square kilometres (367,000 sq mi) that overlaps the mountains of the three adjacent countries.

Solution: D

Oraon, Munda, Chero, Parchaiya, Santhal, Asuras tribes are found in Odisha.

Solution: A

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was the first biosphere reserve in India established in the year 1986. It is located in the Western Ghats and includes 2 of the 10 biogeographical provinces of India. Wide ranges of ecosystems and species diversity are found in this region. Thus, it was a natural choice for the premier biosphere reserve of the country.

• The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was established mainly to fulfill the following objectives:
• To conserve insitu genetic diversity of species
• To restore degraded ecosystems to their natural conditions
• To provide baseline data for ecological and environmental research and education
• To function as an alternate model for sustainable development

Protected Areas under biosphere

• Silent Valley National Park
• Mukurthi National Park
• Bandipur-Nagarhole Tiger Reserve
• Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary
• Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary
• Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary
• Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and Tiger Reserve

Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary is nestled in the western slope of southern region of Western Ghats in Thiruvananthapuram district. It forms part of Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.

Answer : C

Answer Justification :

Ans. C. A is wrong as the passage never states that the native people were ignorant about their  history. Statement B is unrelated to the message being conveyed by the passage. Statement D is  partially correct when it says that history was manipulated. However, the myth of benevolent despotism is extra from what it being talked about in the passage. Hence C

Answer : B

Answer Justification :

Statement 1 is against the conclusion of the passage. Statement 2 does not go against the conclusion as elections  can be influenced through fake news etc.

Answer : B

Answer Justification :

Ans. B. A and C are wrong as they move away from the central focus of the passage which is on  FRA. D is wrong as the statement is making a definite prediction, the basis of which has not been  given in the passage. B is the most accurate answer.

Answer : A

Answer Justification :

Explanation:

Nowhere in the passage reason for casualization of workforce has been specifically allocated to economic meltdowns. It might be a by-product but a causal relationship between the two has not been established in the passage.

Answer : B

Answer Justification:

Statement a is incomplete. It doesn’t talk about the reason that has caused a change in the lifestyle     of people. Statement D is wrong as the latter part of the statement is nowhere mentioned in the passage. Statement c is completely unrelated to the context in which the passage mention great speedup. Statement b is correct as great speedup refers to the change in lifestyle that people have     to make in order to be professionally relevant.