UPSC Editorials Quiz : 18 April 2025

Solution: a)

All three statements are incorrect.

• Dust storms are most frequent during the pre-monsoon season (April–June), not winter, when rising temperatures and dry surface conditions prevail.
• The Thar Desert is actually a major source of dust due to its loose sandy soils and sparse vegetation.
• Furthermore, dust storms usually occur during daytime when surface heating leads to convection and wind turbulence, not during night inversions which suppress vertical air movement.

Solution: c)

• The primary reason for the proposed ban by the Punjab government on certain hybrid paddy varieties like Sava 127, Sava 134, etc., is their low milling efficiency, technically referred to as the Out Turn Ratio (OTR).
• These varieties yield an OTR of about 60–63%, which is below the 67% benchmark set by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for procurement.
• A lower OTR means more broken grains and less head rice after milling, making it commercially unviable for millers and causing losses in procurement quality.
• Contrary to the perception, these hybrids use less water, mature faster (125–130 days), and produce less stubble, which could have been environmentally advantageous.
• The issue is not genetic modification either—these are not transgenic but hybridized through conventional breeding. Thus, the milling inefficiency is the key policy driver.

Solution: b)

• Statement 1 wrongly claims the Honolulu Commitment is legally binding. In reality, it is a voluntary declaration adopted in 2011 during the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference. It emphasizes multi-stakeholder collaboration and integrated approaches to tackle marine litter but lacks legal enforceability or penalties for non-compliance.
• Statement 2 is correct. The UNEP Clean Seas Campaign, launched in 2017, is a global initiative aimed at influencing both government policies and private sector behavior to reduce plastic consumption. It advocates eliminating single-use plastics, promoting sustainable alternatives, and spreading public awareness to shift consumption patterns.
• Statement 3 is correct. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.1 explicitly sets the target year as 2025 for preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution, especially from land-based sources, such as agricultural runoff and wastewater.

Solution: d)

The Cruise Bharat Mission aims to boost cruise tourism by increasing cruise passenger traffic to 1 million by 2029, creating 400,000 jobs, and enhancing India’s maritime trade. The mission’s goal includes expanding India’s position as a global cruise destination and creating a sustainable infrastructure for the industry.

Solution: a)

• Dust storms can carry mineral-rich particles, particularly phosphorus and iron, which when deposited can improve soil fertility, especially in nutrient-poor regions (Statement 1 is correct).
• They also reduce the amount of incoming solar radiation, leading to lowered surface temperatures and reduced photosynthetic rates (Statement 2 is correct).
• When dust settles on Himalayan glaciers, it decreases the albedo of the snow surface, leading to faster melting (Statement 3 is correct).
• However, Statement 4 is incorrect—dust aerosols can sometimes aid in cloud condensation nuclei formation under the right moisture conditions, though excessive dryness may limit this.