[MISSION 2023] RTM(Revision through MCQs)- 07 Feb 2023

Ans: (c )

Explanation:

• All natural earthquakes take place in the lithosphere.
• Earthquake waves are basically of two types — body waves and surface waves. Body waves are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and move in all directions traveling through the body of the earth. The body waves interact with the surface rocks and generate new sets of waves called surface waves. These waves move along the surface. The velocity of waves changes as
• They travel through materials with different densities. The denser the material, the higher is the velocity.
• The surface waves are the last to report on seismographs. These waves are more destructive. They cause displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse of structures occurs.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/why-turkey-is-prone-to-devastating-earthquakes/

Ans: (c )

Explanation:

• Seismic waves are the vibrations from earthquakes that travel through the Earth; they are recorded on instruments called seismographs. Seismographs record a zig-zag trace that shows the varying amplitude of ground oscillations beneath the instrument. Sensitive seismographs, which greatly magnify these ground motions, can detect strong earthquakes from sources anywhere in the world. The time, location, and magnitude of an earthquake can be determined from the data recorded by seismograph stations.
• S waves shadow zone extends from 105⁰. The P wave shadow zone extends between 105⁰ to 145⁰. Beyond 145⁰ only P waves are received
• At the seismic station the first waves to arrive are P waves. Then S waves and in the end the surface waves.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/why-turkey-is-prone-to-devastating-earthquakes/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Earthquake waves are basically of two types — body waves and surface waves. Body waves are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and move in all directions travelling through the body of the earth.
• There are two types of body waves. They are called P and S-waves. P-waves move faster and are the first to arrive at the surface.
• The P-waves are similar to sound waves. They travel through gaseous, liquid and solid materials. S-waves arrive at the surface with some time lag. These are called secondary waves. An important fact about S-waves is that they can travel only through solid materials.
• The velocity of waves changes as they travel through materials with different densities. The denser the material, the higher is the velocity. Their direction also changes as they reflect or refract when coming across materials with different densities.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/why-turkey-is-prone-to-devastating-earthquakes/

• The number of judges: The original Constitution envisaged a Supreme Courtwith a Chief Justice and 7 puisne judges – leaving it to Parliament to increase this number.
• Currently, there are 32 judges(including the Chief Justice) (maximum possible strength is 34)
• Sittings: In the early years, all the judges of the Supreme Court sat together to hear the cases presented before them.
• As the number of cases has increased, the SC sit in smaller benches of two and three– coming together in larger benches of 5 and more only when required to do so.
• Expansion of its jurisdiction: Over the years, the Supreme Court has expanded its jurisdiction, taking on an increasingly active role in public interest litigation and providing judicial remedies for a wide range of social and economic issues.

Refer:https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/06/the-supreme-court-celebrates-the-73rd-anniversary-of-its-establishment/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes(NCST) is a constitutional body established through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
• NCST was established by amending Article 338 and inserting a new Article 338A in the Constitution through the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
• By this amendment, the erstwhile National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was replaced by two separate Commissions namely- (i) the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and (ii) the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
• The commission submits its report to the President annually on the working of safeguards and measures required for effective implementation of Programmers/ Schemes relating to welfare and socio-economic development of STs.
• The Union and every State Government shall consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/ncst-functioning-with-less-than-50-of-sanctioned-strength/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• It prohibits a person from producing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, storing, and/or consuming any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.
• The NDPS Act has since been amended thrice – in 1988, 2001 and 2014.
• The Act extends to the whole of India and it applies also to all Indian citizens outside India and to all persons on ships and aircraft registered in India.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/kerala-has-a-drug-problem-300-jump-in-cases-over-six-years-arrests-increased-by-90/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• S1: About 29% are such, not 26%. Out of the 5723 assessment units assessed jointly by State Ground Water Departments and CGWB in the country, 4078 are safe (71%), 550 are semi critical (10%), 226 are critical (4%) and 839 are over exploited (15%). See https://niti.gov.in/planningcommission.gov.in/docs/reports/genrep/rep_grndwat.pdf
• S2: Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) constituted under Section 3(3) of ‘The Environment (Protection) Act, (1986)’ regulates extraction of ground water through guidelines which are updated regularly.
• S3: At 39 million hectares (67% of its total irrigation), India has the world’s largest groundwater well equipped irrigation system (China with 19 mha is second, USA with 17 mha is third).

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/long-term-groundwater-storage-in-ganga-basin-declining-at-2-6-cm-per-year-study/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• The International Organization of Securities Commissions (Est. 1983, HQ: Madrid (Spain)) is an association of organizations that regulate the world’s securities and futures markets. SEBI is a member of it.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-6-february-2023-2/

Ans: (c )

Explanation:

• The inclusive circular economy is an approach to the circular economy that incorporates social equity and environmental sustainability into the system. This means that the circular economy is designed to consider the needs of all stakeholders, including workers, communities, and the environment, as well as to reduce waste and pollution and promote sustainable production and consumption.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-6-february-2023-2/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Jointly developed by NASA and the ISRO, an Earth-observation satellite, called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), got a send-off ceremony at the American space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
• What is NISAR?
  • The satellite consists of both L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
  • While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO has provided the S-band radar, the GSLV launch system, and spacecraft.
  • It has a large 39-foot stationary antenna reflector made of a gold-plated wire mesh, the reflector will be used to focus “the radar signals emitted and received by the upward-facing feed on the instrument structure”.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-6-february-2023-2/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Mission Sahbhagita: Launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2022, it aims to effectively manage the network of 75 wetlands of national and international significance.

Refer: facts for prelims: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/02/07/mission-2023-insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-summary-6-february-2023-2/

• The ability of stratospheric sulfate aerosols to create a global dimming effect has made them a possible candidate for use in solar radiation management climate engineering projects to limit the effect and impact of climate change due to rising levels of greenhouse gases. Delivery of precursor sulfide gases such as sulfuric acid, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or sulfur dioxide (SO2) by artillery, aircraft and balloons has been proposed.
• Cirrus cloud thinning is a proposed form of climate engineering. Cirrus clouds are high cold ice that, like other clouds, both reflect sunlight and absorb warming infrared radiation. However, they differ from other types of clouds in that, on average, infrared absorption outweighs sunlight reflection, resulting in a net warming effect on the climate. Therefore, thinning or removing these clouds would reduce their heat trapping capacity, resulting in a cooling effect on Earth’s climate.
• See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_cloud_thinning and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratospheric_aerosol_injection

Refer: UPSC 2019