[MISSION 2023] RTM(Revision through MCQs)- 26 Oct 2022

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Exchange rate of a currency may be fixed by a central bank or left to the market forces of demand and supply. When the value is changed by the central bank it is changed devaluation if it is made cheaper and revaluation if it is made stronger. Cheaper means more of rupees for a dollar and stronger means less of rupees for a dollar. If market forces bring down the value due to demand falling behind supply of the currency, it leads to depreciation.
• In the Balance of Payments, the movements of money without exchange for goods or services called ‘remittances’ and charities are part of Current account.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/currency-depreciation/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The country’s first Government-owned Waste-to-Energy Plant was commissioned at the Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop in Odisha sometime back. The plant, a patented technology called Polycrack, is first-of-its-kind in the Indian Railways and fourth in the country. It converts multiple feed stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water.
• Polycrack is the world’s very first patented heterogeneous catalytic process which converts multiple feedstocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon as well as water. The waste generated will become the feeder material for the waste to energy plant. The energy which will be produced at the plant, will be in the form of light diesel oil and this oil will be used to light furnaces.
• The plant, having a capacity of 500 kg per batch can be fed with the following: All kinds of existing plastic; Petroleum sludge; Un segregated MSW with moisture up to 50 per cent; E-waste; Automobile fluff; Organic waste including bamboo, garden waste etc

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/a-renewable-energy-revolution-rooted-in-agriculture/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/a-crisis-is-brewing-in-the-coffee-industry/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The Coffee Board is a statutory organization constituted under Section (4) of the Coffee Act, 1942 and functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. The Board comprises 33 Members including the Chairperson.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/a-crisis-is-brewing-in-the-coffee-industry/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The North Sea is bounded by the Orkney Islands and east coast of Great Britain to the west and the northern and central European mainland to the east and south, including Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-26-october-2022/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The state of Eritrea is bordered by Sudan in west, by Ethiopia in south and by Djibouti in south east. The country shares also maritime borders with Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The former Italian colony became part of a federation with Ethiopia in 1947, in 1952 Eritrea was annexed by Ethiopia.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/10/26/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-26-october-2022/

Ans: (d)

Explanation: There are several distinguishing features of an ecotone.

• First, an ecotone can have a sharp vegetation transition, with a distinct line between two communities. For example, a change in colors of grasses or plant life can indicate an ecotone.
• Second, a change in physiognomy (physical appearance of a plant species) can be a key indicator. Water bodies, such as estuaries, can also have a region of transition, and the boundary is characterized by the differences in heights of the macrophytes or plant species present in the areas because this distinguishes the two areas’ accessibility to light. Scientists look at color variations and changes in plant height.
• Third, a change of species can signal an ecotone. There will be specific organisms on one side of an ecotone or the other.
• Other factors can illustrate or obscure an ecotone, for example, migration and the establishment of new plants. These are known as spatial mass effects, which are noticeable because some organisms will not be able to form self-sustaining populations if they cross the ecotone. If different species can survive in both communities of the two biomes, then the ecotone is considered to have species richness; ecologists measure this when studying the food chain and success of organisms.
• Lastly, the abundance of introduced species in an ecotone can reveal the type of biome or efficiency of the two communities sharing space. Because an ecotone is the zone in which two communities integrate, many different forms of life have to live together and compete for space. Therefore, an ecotone can create a diverse ecosystem.

Refer: https://www.britannica.com/science/ecotone

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• About Formalin: Formalin is a toxic, colourless solution that is derived by dissolving formaldehyde gas in water.
• It is a cancer-inducing chemical used to preserve fish and is used as a disinfectant. It is used in the manufacture of pesticides, fertilisers, glue, paper and paint, among other products.
• Formalin causes irritation in the eyes, throat, skin and stomach. In the long run continued exposure causes harm to the kidneys, liver and can even cause cancers.
• Formaldehyde is a highly reactive, flammable gas, which means it can become a fire hazard when exposed to flame or heat.
• Why is fish laced with formalin?
  • Fish is a highly perishable commodity. If it isn’t maintained at the proper temperature of 5 degree Celsius, it gets spoilt. To avoid that and increase its shelf life, the sellers now use chemicals such as formalin and ammonia.
  • If the point of sale is far from the place of catch, formalin is used as a preservative. Meanwhile, ammonia is mixed with the water that is frozen to keep fish fresh.
• Operation Sagar Rani: In June 2018, Kerala food safety department officials seized nearly 9,600 kg of fish preserved in formalin at a border check post in Kollam district. The seized fish included 7,000 kg of prawns and 2,600 kg of other species. The seizure was part of ‘Operation Sagar Rani’ launched by the state.
• Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol found in fruits and plants with diuretic, laxative and cathartic property. Unabsorbed sorbitol retains water in the large intestine through osmotic pressure thereby stimulating peristalsis of the intestine and exerting its diuretic, laxative and cathartic effect.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/01/15/formalin-in-fish/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Option 1: Gharial prefers deep fast flowing rivers, however adult gharial have also been observed in still water branches (jheel) of rivers and in comparatively velocity-free aquatic environments of deepholes (kunds) at river bends and confluences. Smaller animals seem to conserve energy by resting out of the mainstream in sheltered backwaters, particularly during the monsoon (July-September). Sand and rock outcrops are preferred basking sites and these animals show considerable site fidelity. Historically, gharial were found in the river system of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and southern part of Bhutan and Nepal. Today they survive only in the waters of India and Nepal. The surviving population can be found within the tributaries of the Ganges river system: Girwa (Uttar Pradesh), Son (Madhya Pradesh), Ramganga (Uttarakhand), Gandak (Bihar), Chambal (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and Mahanadi (Orissa).
• Option2: In India, leatherback turtles nest mainly in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. But where they go from there is not known. Leatherback turtles are the largest of living sea turtles, growing up to two metres and weighing as much as 900 kg
• Option3: in the 1960s, the total population was estimated at 1,600 to less than 2,150 individuals in India and about 1,600 in Nepal. Today, the distribution is much reduced and fragmented due to major losses in the 1930s–1960s following unregulated hunting and conversion of large tracts of grassland to cropland. Swamp deer occur in the Kanha National Park of Madhya Pradesh, in two localities in Assam, and in only 6 localities in Uttar Pradesh. They are regionally extinct in West Bengal. They are also probably extinct in Arunachal Pradesh. A few survive in Assam’s Kaziranga and Manas National Parks.In 2005, a small population of about 320 individuals was discovered in the Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve in Haridwar district in Uttarakhand on the east bank of the Ganges. This represents the northern limit of the species.

Refer: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant.
• The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant’s rhizosphere, its root system. Mycorrhizae play important roles in plant nutrition, soil biology and soil chemistry.

• Disease, drought and salinity resistance and its correlation to mycorrhizae: Mycorrhizal plants are often more resistant to diseases, such as those caused by microbial soil-borne pathogens. These associations have been found to assist in plant defense both above and belowground. Mycorrhizas have been found to excrete enzymes that are toxic to soil borne organisms such as nematodes. More recent studies have shown that mycorrhizal associations result in a priming effect of plants that essentially acts as a primary immune response. When this association is formed a defense response is activated similarly to the response that occurs when the plant is under attack. As a result of this inoculation, defense responses are stronger in plants with mycorrhizal associations.
• Resistance to insects: Research has shown that plants connected by mycorrhizal fungi can use these underground connections to produce and receive warning signals. Specifically, when a host plant is attacked by an aphid, the plant signals surrounding connected plants of its condition. The host plant releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that attract the insect’s predators. The plants connected by mycorrhizal fungi are also prompted to produce identical VOCs that protect the uninfected plants from being targeted by the insect. Additionally, this assists the mycorrhizal fungi by preventing the plant’s carbon relocation which negatively affects the fungi’s growth and occurs when the plant is attacked by herbivores.
• Colonization of barren soil: Plants grown in sterile soils and growth media often perform poorly without the addition of spores or hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi to colonise the plant roots and aid in the uptake of soil mineral nutrients. The absence of mycorrhizal fungi can also slow plant growth in early succession or on degraded landscapes. The introduction of alien mycorrhizal plants to nutrient-deficient ecosystems puts indigenous non-mycorrhizal plants at a competitive disadvantage. This aptitude to colonize barren soil is defined by the category Oligotroph.
• Resistance to toxicity: Fungi have been found to have a protective role for plants rooted in soils with high metal concentrations, such as acidic and contaminated soils. Pine trees inoculated with Pisolithus tinctorius planted in several contaminated sites displayed high tolerance to the prevailing contaminant, survivorship and growth. One study discovered the existence of Suillus luteus strains with varying tolerance of zinc. Another study discovered that zinc-tolerant strains of Suillus bovinus conferred resistance to plants of Pinus sylvestris. This was probably due to binding of the metal to the extramatricial mycelium of the fungus, without affecting the exchange of beneficial substances.

Refer: Toxic air is causing malnutrition in trees: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2018/06/27/insights-daily-current-affairs-27-june-2018/