[Mission 2024] QUED ( Questions from Editorials ) 21 October 2023

Solution: c)

Introduced on April 1, 2016, MCLR is the minimum interest rate below which banks cannot lend. Banks calculate all operating costs as a percentage of marginal cost of funds for computing MCLR. Under the MCLR regime, banks decide on the interest rate at which they will offer to borrowers on the basis of the marginal cost at which they get funds and borrowing from the RBI.

Any change in the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — impacts the interest rate for borrowers. Banks review their MCLR of different maturities every month on a pre-announced date with approval from their boards.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Earlier 14 pilot whales were stranded near the shore of Kalpitiya, a town located on Sri Lanka’s west coast.

Apart from Sri Lanka, Australia’s Tasmania has also seen mass beaching of whales.

Whale stranding is a phenomenon in which whales are stuck on land, usually on a beach. Other aquatic animals like dolphins and porpoises are also known to beach. Most of the stranding events involve single animals but sometimes, mass strandings, consisting of hundreds of marine animals at a time, can happen.

The reasons for mass strandings are several, including the topography of the region, illness, human activities and increasing noise pollution in the oceans.

Among the major hotspots for the beaching of aquatic animals are Tasmania, New Zealand‘s Golden Bay and Massachusetts’s Cape Cod in the United States.

Solution: c)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the largest research and development organisation in India.

Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

The research and development activities of CSIR include aerospace engineering, structural engineering, ocean sciences, life sciences and healthcare including diagnostics, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environmental science.

Prime Minister of India is the President of CSIR.

Solution: b)

While hydrogen generated through renewable energy sources is green, it is blue when the carbon generated from the process is captured and stored without dispersing it in the atmosphere. When the carbon is not captured, the generated hydrogen is labelled grey.

The major challenge in the usage of green hydrogen will be its storage. Given the very low density of hydrogen, it will require large volumes for its storage.

Alternatively, if one chooses to store it in the liquid form, reducing the storage space requires the maintenance of temperatures as low as minus 253° C. This will entail huge costs.

The ‘production cost’ of ‘Green hydrogen’ has been considered to be a prime obstacle to the usage of green hydrogen.

Solution: b)

Each of the 193 member states of the UN has an equal vote in the General Assembly, where key decisions for the body are made, such as appointing the UN Secretary-General, approving the UN budget, electing non-permanent members to the Security Council and making recommendations through resolutions. However, it has no power to enforce these resolutions.