[MISSION 2023] RTM(Revision through MCQs)- 6 June 2023

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Groundwater is India’s most used water resource, accounting for a quarter of total global groundwater extraction.
• According to the 2021 CAG report, groundwater extraction in India has exceeded the recharge rate, threatening 80% of potable water over the next two decades.
• About 95% of India’s groundwater was depleted between 2002 and 2022, mostly in north India due to increased groundwater pumping to meet crop irrigation needs.
• Groundwater contamination is indeed a significant issue in India. Industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, and inadequate sanitation practices contribute to the contamination of groundwater sources, leading to adverse health effects for communities reliant on groundwater for drinking and irrigation.
• While the Indian government has taken various measures to address the groundwater crisis, reversing the declining trend of groundwater levels nationwide remains a complex and ongoing challenge. Efforts such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater regulation, and awareness campaigns have been implemented, but the situation requires sustained efforts and long-term solutions.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/groundwater-conservation-in-india/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The correct answer is (D). Groundwater levels in India are declining at an alarming rate. India is the largest user of groundwater in the world. Groundwater is a major source of drinking water for millions of Indians.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/groundwater-conservation-in-india/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S5: the Higgs boson is not the heaviest known elementary particle. The top quark is the heaviest known elementary particle, with a mass of 173.2 GeV/c^2. The Higgs boson has a mass of 125 GeV/c^2.
• S4: The Higgs boson is an elementary particle with no electric charge. It has zero spin, even (positive) parity, no electric charge, and no color charge. It couples to (interacts with) mass. It is also very unstable, decaying into other particles almost immediately upon generation.
• S3: According to the Higgs mechanism, particles acquire mass by interacting with the Higgs field, which is associated with the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is responsible for imparting mass to other elementary particles.
• S2: On July 4, 2012, scientists announced the observation of the Higgs boson, the elusive particle that gives almost all other particles their mass—and thus lays the foundation for the matter that forms us and everything we see around us in the universe. The news thrilled the world and made international headlines.
• S1: The Higgs boson is a subatomic particle that gives other particles mass. The strength of a particle’s interaction with the Higgs boson determines its mass.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/higgs-boson-decay/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• S1: Protons have a positive charge and are located in the nucleus of an atom. Protons are one of the fundamental particles found in the nucleus of an atom, and they carry a positive charge. They contribute to the overall positive charge of the nucleus.
• S2: Electrons have a negative charge and are located outside the nucleus of an atom. Electrons are negatively charged particles that orbit around the nucleus of an atom in specific energy levels or electron shells. They are much smaller and lighter than protons and neutrons.
• S3: Neutrons have no charge and are located in the nucleus of an atom. Neutrons are also fundamental particles found in the nucleus of an atom, but unlike protons and electrons, they carry no charge. Neutrons contribute to the mass of the nucleus without affecting its overall charge.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/higgs-boson-decay/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect because the Standard Model does not include gravity. Gravity is described by the theory of general relativity, which is not part of the Standard Model.
• Statement 2 is incorrect because the Standard Model of Particle Physics includes six types of quarks (up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom) and six types of leptons (electron, electron neutrino, muon, muon neutrino, tau, and tau neutrino). This gives a total of 12 fundamental particles.
• Statement 3 is correct. The Standard Model incorporates the Higgs boson, which was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. The Higgs boson interacts with other particles, giving them mass. This mechanism is crucial in the Standard Model to explain why particles have different masses.
• Statement 4 is incorrect. The Standard Model does not provide an explanation for dark matter. Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation but is inferred to exist from its gravitational effects on visible matter.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/higgs-boson-decay/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Photons are particles of light that have mass.
  • This is incorrect. Photons are massless particles of light. They have no rest mass, but they do have energy and momentum. The energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency, and its momentum is proportional to its wavelength.
• Photons can be both electrically charged and neutral.
  • This is also incorrect. Photons are electrically neutral particles. They have no electric charge.
• Photons are always in motion.
  • This is correct. Photons travel at the speed of light in a vacuum.
• Photons have a fixed wavelength and frequency.
  • This is also correct. The wavelength and frequency of a photon are inversely proportional to each other. The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency, and vice versa.
• Additional information about photons:
  • Photons are the force carriers for the electromagnetic force.
  • Photons are bosons, which means they obey Bose-Einstein statistics.
  • Photons can interact with matter through the electromagnetic force.
  • Photons can be used to transmit energy, information, and momentum.
  • Photons are essential for many processes in nature, such as vision, photosynthesis, and nuclear fusion.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/higgs-boson-decay/

Ans: (c)

Explanation:  The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA):

• It is an intergovernmental organization (an official UN observer, founded in 2009, HQ – Masdar City, Abu Dhabi) mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy.
• It is the first international organization to focus exclusively on renewable energy, addressing needs in both industrialized and developing countries.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/low-cost-finance-for-the-energy-transition-report/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:  Data Security Council of India (DSCI):

• It is a not-for-profit, industry body on data protection setup by NASSCOM in 2008.
• It is committed to making cyberspace safe, secure and trusted by establishing best practices, standards and initiatives in cyber security and privacy.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/cybersecurity-challenges-in-india/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The ‘Indian Opinion’ newspaper was started by Mahatma Gandhi (in 1903) during his time in South Africa as a young lawyer. It served as a mass communication mechanism for the Natal Indian Congress, fighting against oppressive laws of the government at the time. The newspaper was published in Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil and English. The ‘Indian Opinion’ continued to be published by Gandhi’s son and wife after his return to India until its final edition in 1962 (banned due to censorship laws and the banning of political organizations by the apartheid government in South Africa)

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/indian-opinion-newspaper/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• S3: An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber and find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at higher bandwidths (data transfer rates) than electrical cables.
  • An optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide (nonconducting waveguide) that transmits light along its axis through the process of total internal reflection. The fiber consists of a core surrounded by a cladding layer, both of which are made of dielectric materials. To confine the optical signal in the core, the refractive index of the core must be greater than that of the cladding. The boundary between the core and cladding may either be abrupt, in step-index fiber, or gradual, in graded-index fiber.
• S1: Optic fiber is a type of wired communication technology, not wireless.
• S2: Optic fiber uses light signals to transmit data, not electrical signals.
• S4: Optic fiber is used in both short-distance and long-distance communication.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2023/06/06/kerala-fibre-optic-network-kfon/