[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 06 October 2023

Solution: d)

In a departure from global trends, India has recorded a substantial 76 per cent drop in solar module imports from China during the first half of 2023 which reflects New Delhi’s resolute shift towards self-sufficiency in solar manufacturing, a new report.

Year-on-year, India’s solar module imports from China plummeted from 9.8 GW in the first half of 2022 to a mere 2.3 GW during the corresponding period in 2023.

India started levying a customs duty of 40 per cent on solar modules and 25 per cent on solar cells from April 2022 in a bid to cut imports and boost local manufacturing.

Source

Solution: c)

India has become an OIML certificate-issuing authority.

The OIML stands for International Organisation of Legal Metrology. Established in 1955 and headquartered in Paris, the OIML is an international standard-setting body. It develops model regulations, standards and related documents for use by legal metrology authorities and industry.

It plays a crucial role in harmonising national laws and regulations on the performance of measuring instruments like clinical thermometers, alcohol breath analysers, radar speed measuring instruments, ship tanks found at ports, and petrol dispensing units.

India became a member of the OIML in 1956. In the same year, India signed the metric convention.

Source

Solution: d)

The Hoysala temples at Belur, Halebid, and Somanathapur in Karnataka were declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The Chennakeshava temple at Belur and Hoysaleshwara temple at Halebid — both in Hassan district have been on the UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014. The Keshava temple at Somanathapur in Mysuru district was appended to the other two monuments under the tentative list and all the three were officially nominated by the Centre as India’s entry for 2022-23 in February in 2022.

An expert from the International Commission on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) concluded the site visits covering all three temples in September last year and the monuments were officially inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

All three temples are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the nominations were entered as ‘The Sacred Ensembles of Hoysalas’.

The Hoysala temples are known for evolving a distinct style that is ornate with temple architecture following a stellate plan built on a raised platform. The material used in temple construction is choloritic schist which is also known as soapstone that are soft and amiable to carving.

Source

Solution: a)

Biogas contains about 55-65 per cent methane, 35-44 per cent of carbon dioxide and traces of other gases such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and nitrogen.

In its raw form, biogas can be used as a clean cooking fuel like LPG for lighting, motive power and electricity generation.

Further, biogas can be purified and upgraded up to 98 per cent of purity to make it suitable to be used as a green fuel for transportation or filling of cylinders. The process relies on a high pressure of circa 250 bar and hence is called compressed biogas (CBG).

The Sustainable Alternatives Towards Affordable Transporation (SATAT) scheme by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) encourages entrepreneurs to set up CBG plants, produce and supply CBG to oil and gas marketing companies (OGC/OMC) for selling it as automotive and industrial fuels.

Solution: d)

Anamorphic projection essentially involves projecting on a large surface a distorted image which, with the use of optical transformation devices such as mirrors or lenses, gives the illusion of reality.