UPSC Editorials Quiz : 16 March 2024

Solution: d)

A hawkish stance indicates that the central bank’s top priority is to keep the inflation low. During such a phase, the central bank is willing to hike interest rates to curb money supply and thus reduce the demand. A hawkish policy also indicates tight monetary policy.

Solution: d)

Climate engineering (or geoengineering) has been used as an umbrella term for both carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management (or solar geoengineering), when applied at a planetary scale.

Specific technologies that fall into the “climate engineering” umbrella term include:

Carbon dioxide removal

• Biochar – Biochar is a high-carbon, fine-grained residue that is produced via pyrolysis
• Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) – the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere.
• Direct air capture and carbon storage – a process of capturing carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air (as opposed to capturing from point sources, such as a cement factory or biomass power plant) and generating a concentrated stream of CO2 for sequestration or utilization or production of carbon-neutral fuel and windgas.

Solar Radiation Management

• Marine cloud brightening– a proposed technique that would make clouds brighter, reflecting a small fraction of incoming sunlight back into space in order to offset anthropogenic global warming.
• Mirrors in space (MIS) – satellites that are designed to change the amount of solar radiation that impacts the Earth as a form of climate engineering.
• Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) – a proposed method to introduce aerosols into the stratosphere to create a cooling effect via global dimming and increased albedo, which occurs naturally from volcanic eruptions.

Solution: a)

Only Statement 1 is correct.

Normally, when water freezes, it crystallizes and its molecules are arranged into the familiar hexagonal, solid structure that we call ice. Ice is less dense than its liquid form — an unusual property for a crystal. Depending on conditions such as pressure and the speed of freezing, water can also solidify in any of two dozen other regular arrangements. Amorphous ice is different: it has no such order.

Solution: b)

Statement 3 is incorrect.

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) received 3801 project proposals to study the impact of various Centrally sponsored schemes and 514 among them — from collaborative and individual categories.

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established in the year of 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country.

ICSSR provide grants for projects, fellowships, international collaboration, capacity building, survey, publications etc. to promote research in social sciences in India.

Solution: b)

Statement 2 is incorrect.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) are bright explosions that release gamma-ray light. They are the most energetic form of light, a million times brighter than the sun. But they typically last for only seconds. And so much energy is put out in such a little time.

GRB also happens when two neutron stars merge. It can occur when a neutron star joins with the black hole also.