[Mission 2024] Current Affairs Quiz , 27 July 2023

Solution: b)

Statement 1 is incorrect.

2G bioethanol technology produces bioethanol from waste feedstock such as crop residues and municipal solid waste that would otherwise have no value. Additionally, India has also made it mandatory for coal-burning thermal power plants to use a 5% blend of biomass pellets along with coal.

The Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR) Dhan scheme was launched by the Government of India to convert cattle dung and other organic waste into compost, biogas, and biofuels to promote sustainable agriculture and reduce pollution. With over 500 functional biogas plants, the scheme has also helped create rural livelihoods and ensured improved sanitation.

The Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) Scheme, launched in 2018 to promote the use of Compressed BioGas (CBG) as an alternative green transportation fuel, has aided the bioenergy sector by accelerating the development of infrastructure for the production, storage and distribution of CBG.

Source

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Corals are very sensitive to the temperature of the water in which they live. When water gets too warm, they expel the algae known as zooxanthellae, living in their tissues, causing them to turn entirely white. This is called coral bleaching.

When a coral bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event, but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.

Coral bleaching has severe consequences as it reduces the reproductivity of corals and makes them more vulnerable to fatal diseases. Not only this, thousands of marine animals depend on coral reefs for survival and damage to corals could, in turn, threaten their existence.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

MHWs also fuel the growth of invasive alien species, which can be destructive to marine food webs. Additionally, they force species to change their behaviour in a way that puts wildlife at increased risk of harm — MHWs have been linked to whale entanglements in fishing gear, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Higher ocean temperatures, which are associated with MHWs, can make storms like hurricanes and tropical cyclones stronger. With warmer temperatures, the rate of evaporation escalates and so does the transfer of heat from the oceans to the air. When storms travel across hot oceans, they gather more water vapour and heat. This results in more powerful winds, heavier rainfall and more flooding when storms reach the land — meaning heightened devastation for humans.

Solution: b)

Paddy is procured by the Union government on MSP for distribution under the Public Distribution System. Basmati is neither procured by the government nor has any fixed price. It is procured by traders and exporters as Indian Basmati has large demand abroad.

Experts say that 4,000 litres of water are required to grow a kilo of paddy. Basmati cultivation, on the other hand, is largely dependent on rainwater as it takes place during the main monsoon season. Even if some early varieties are sown in June, they are harvested at least a month before the main basmati and paddy varieties, thus saving water. Basmati cultivation can also reduce stubble burning — farmers use its stubble for fodder.

Punjab is among the states and Union Territories (Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are the others) that have a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Basmati.

Solution: c)

In the Menaka case (1978), the Supreme Court overruled its judgement in the Gopalan case by taking a wider interpretation of the Article 21. Therefore, it ruled that the right to life and personal liberty of a person can be deprived by a law provided the procedure prescribed by that law is reasonable, fair and just.

In other words, it has introduced the American expression ‘due process of law’. In effect, the protection under Article 21 should be available not only against arbitrary executive action but also against arbitrary legislative action.

Further, the court held that the ‘right to life’ as embodied in Article 21 is not merely confined to animal existence or survival but it includes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity and all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.

It also ruled that the expression ‘Personal Liberty’ in Article 21 is of the widest amplitude and it covers a variety of rights that go to constitute the personal liberties of a man.