UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 16 January 2024

Solution: c)

Mixed Cropping: When two or more crops are grown on an equivalent land simultaneously, it’s referred to as mixed cropping. For example, growing wheat and gram on an equivalent land at an equivalent time is mixed cropping.

The practice of this method helps to minimize the risk of the failure of one of the crops and provides insurance against the crop failure due to abnormal weather conditions. The crops that are grown together should have a different maturation time and different water requirements.

Solution: d)

• The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members.
• Before the 91st Amendment Act (2003), the convention of appointing a lot of ministers on the council due to political reasons led to widespread abuse of the system.
• It led to very large size of the Council of Ministers. Besides, when no party had a clear majority, there was a temptation to win over the support of the members of the Parliament by giving them ministerial positions as there was no restriction on the number of the members of the Council of Ministers.

This was happening in many States also. Therefore, an amendment was made that the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 percent of total number of members of the House of People (or Assembly, in the case of the States).

Solution: a)

Natural gas is an odorless, gaseous mixture of hydrocarbons—predominantly made up of methane (CH4).

Natural gas is a fossil fuel energy source. Natural gas contains many different compounds. The largest component of natural gas is methane, a compound with one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4). Natural gas also contains smaller amounts of natural gas liquids (NGLs, which are also hydrocarbon gas liquids), and nonhydrocarbon gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor. We use natural gas as a fuel and to make materials and chemicals.

Solution: c)

A startling increase in the speed and intensity of global deforestation has derailed efforts to protect and restore forests by 2030, according to two new reports analyzing progress toward global forest conservation goals.

WWF’s Forest Pathways 2023 report and the Forest Declaration Assessment detail the immense scale of forest loss just two years after more than 130 countries representing 85% of the planet’s forests pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade. The lack of progress on commitments leaves the world in clear danger of missing vital targets.

Solution: a)

Only Statement 1 is correct.

“Phytoremediation”, a remediation method that uses living organisms like plants, microalgae, and seaweeds. One particular way to remove toxic heavy metals from the soil includes the use of “hyperaccumulator” plants that absorb these substances from the soil.

Phytoremediation refers to the usage of “hyperaccumulator” plants to absorb the toxic materials present in the soil and accumulate in their living tissue. Even though most plants do sometimes accumulate toxic substances, hyperaccumulators have the unusual ability to absorb hundreds or thousands of times greater amounts of these substances than is normal for most plants.

This process can be used to remove metals like silver, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc; metalloids such as arsenic and selenium; some radionuclides; and non-metallic components such as boron. But it cannot be used to remove organic pollutants from the ground due to metabolic breakdown.