UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 28 February 2024

Solution: d)

The two countries signed a Friendship Treaty in 1955, and India’s support to Egypt, including during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956, eventually led to the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, with both as founder members. They were also instrumental in the G-77 grouping and “South-South Cooperation” initiatives. 

Solution: b)

Article 348 of the Constitution states that the authoritative texts of all Acts passed by Parliament or State legislatures shall be in the English Language.

The legal regime in place provides that English shall remain an official language until resolutions for the discontinuance of English as an official language are adopted by State Legislatures and by Parliament. 

Solution: a)

Only statement 2 is correct.

Is heat good for any animals in the Mediterranean?

Jellyfish, on the other hand, are thriving because of higher temperatures, as well as nutrient run-off from farms and sewage. Overfishing and loss of fish habitat mean the jellyfish have few or no predators.

The sea also hosts around 1,000 invasive species — the highest number in the world.

Alien species can have a major impact on ecosystems. For instance, invasive Rabbitfish native to the Indo-Pacific and Rea Sea feed on seaweed and have reshaped the habitat of the eastern Mediterranean. Underwater deserts have replaced dense seaweed forests.

“The species that normally live in the algal forests — and the species that usually feed on them — can no longer live there.

Warming seas are already affecting fishing activities in the area. Rabbitfish and lionfish are edible, but other invasive fish aren’t. Some are even poisonous, like the puffer fish.

Solution: a)

Only statement 2 is correct.

LNG is natural gas reduced to a liquid state (liquefaction) through intense cooling to around -161 degrees Celsius (-259 Fahrenheit). This liquid gas is 600 times smaller than the original volume and is half the weight of water.

The compressed fossil fuel, which is constituted almost wholly of methane— a potent greenhouse gas —, can be transported around the world by ship. After arriving at its destination, the cargo is regasified in a floating terminal and redistributed through pipelines.

But despite LNG’s export potential, the high cost of liquefaction and producing LNG has limited its market.

The cooling, liquefying and transport processes, as well as the post-transport regasification procedures, also require a lot of energy.

Because of LNG’s much more complex production and transport process, the risks of methane leakages along the production, transport and regasification chain are simply much higher and therefore much more emissions-intensive.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

• The United Nations Conference on the Environment 1972 is also known as the Stockholm Conference.
• It was the first world conference to make the environment a major issue.
• The conference aimed at creating a common governance framework for the planetary environment and natural resources.
• The countries agreed to not harm each other’s environment or the areas beyond national jurisdiction.
• One of the major results of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• The participants adopted a series of principles for sound management of the environment including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment and several resolutions.

Stockholm Declaration:

• Placed environmental issues at the forefront of international concerns.
• Marked the start of a dialogue between industrialized and developing countries on the link between economic growth, the pollution of the air, water, and oceans and the well-being of people around the world.