Practice Test: Full Length - 3 - UPSC MCQ

• Statement 1 is incorrect. National Mission for a Green India is one of the eight Missions outlined under India’s action plan for addressing the challenge of climate change -the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC). It is aimed at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s diminishing forest cover and responding to climate change by a combination of adaptation and mitigation measures.

• Statement 2 is correct. The mission has the broad objective of both increasing the forest and tree cover by 5 million hectares, as well as increasing the quality of the existing forest and tree cover in another 5 million hectares of forest/ non-forest lands in 10 years.

• Statement 3 is correct. The Mission proposes a holistic view of greening and focuses not on carbon sequestration targets alone, but also, on multiple ecosystem services, especially, biodiversity, water, biomass etc., along with provisioning services like fuel, fodder, timber and non-timber forest produce. It seeks improvement in the quality of forest cover and ecosystem services of forests /non-forests, including moderately dense, open forests, degraded grassland and wetlands.

• Statement 4 is correct. It will also increase options of forest based livelihood income for about 3 million households living in and around those landscapes where the mission is implemented.

Pair 1 is correctly matched.

Paramarsh Scheme: To mentor National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) accreditation aspirant institutions for promoting quality assurance in higher education the Union Minister for Human Resource Development launched the University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme ‘Paramarsh’.

The scheme will target 1000 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for mentoring with a specific focus on quality as enumerated in the UGC ―Quality Mandate”.

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched. Nirvik: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) launches the Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called NIRVIK to enhance loan availability and ease the lending process. The Scheme is being prepared by the Commerce and Industry Ministry. It is an insurance cover guarantee that will cover up to 90% of the principal and interest. The cover will include both pre and post-shipment credit.

Pair 3 is correctly matched. Nishtha: The Union Human Resource Development Minister launched ‘National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement (NISHTHA)’, a national mission to improve learning outcomes at the elementary level. NISHTHA is the largest teachers’ training programme of its kind in the world. Training will be conducted directly by 33120 Key Resource Persons (KRPs) and State Resource Persons (SRP) identified by the State and UTs, who will in turn be trained by 120 National Resource Persons identified from National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), etc.

Statement 2 is correct. Managed under UNESCO's Ecological and Earth Sciences Division, the GGN seeks the promotion and conservation of the planet’s geological heritage, as well as encourages sustainable research and development by the concerned communities.

Statement 3 is correct. At present, there are 147 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 41 countries. India does not have any site in the Global Geoparks Network. Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and St. Mary’s Island and Malpe beach in coastal Karnataka are the Geological Survey of India (GSI) candidates for UNESCO Global Geopark Network status.

Option (a) is incorrect. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) is a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Union, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan and the World Bank.

Option (b) is correct. It aims to empower civil society in developing countries and transitional economies to protect the world’s biodiversity hotspots, which are some of Earth's most biologically rich yet threatened terrestrial ecosystems.

Option (c) is incorrect. CEPF provides funding and technical assistance to civil groups, such as nongovernmental organizations, community groups and private sector partners. It acts as a catalyst to create strategic working alliances among diverse groups, combining unique capacities and eliminating duplication of efforts for a comprehensive, coordinated approach to conservation challenges.

Statement 1 is correct. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology: Hydrogen + Oxygen = Electricity + Water Vapor

A fuel cell is a device that converts chemical potential energy (energy stored in molecular bonds) into electrical energy. A PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cell uses hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2) as fuel. The products of the reaction in the cell are water, electricity, and heat. This is a big improvement over internal combustion engines, coal burning power plants, and nuclear power plants, all of which produce harmful by-products.

Statement 2 is correct. Current produced using Fuel Cell Technology is Direct Current(DC).

Statement 3 is incorrect. While the fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process, unlike a battery-electricity vehicle, it does not store energy and, instead, relies on a constant supply of fuel and oxygen — in the same way that an internal combustion engine relies on a constant supply of petrol or diesel, and oxygen. In that sense, it may be seen as being similar to a conventional internal combustion engine.

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched. Dihang Dibang Biosphere Reserve constitutes an area of 5112 Sq. Km in the district of West Siang, Upper Siang and Dibang valley of Arunachal Pradesh. An area of 4095 Sq.Km constitutes the core zone of the Biosphere Reserve and 1017 Sq.Km makes the buffer zone. Due to the steep terrain combined with difficult weather as well as the lack of communication, the area has a very sparse human population.

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched. Blue Mountain is the highest peak in Mizoram. It is situated near the state’s south-eastern border overlooking the bend of the mighty Chhimtuipui river and the hill ranges of Myanmar. With a height of 2157 metres at the peak, the ridge stretches nearly 10 kms in north-south direction near the southern end.

Statement 1 is correct. The Indian Sundarban was accorded the status of ‘Wetland of International Importance’ in 2019 under the Ramsar Convention. The Sundarbans comprises hundreds of islands and a network of rivers, tributaries and creeks in the delta of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal in India and Bangladesh. Located on the southwestern part of the delta, the Indian Sundarban constitutes over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area. It is the 27th Ramsar Site in India, and with an area of 4,23,000 hectares is now the largest protected wetland in the country.

Statement 2 is correct. Ramsar Convention is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands. It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem. The convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The groupings were formed in a UNFCCC meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. In 2019, the meeting took place in Brazil.

KB:

In the 2019 meeting, the grouping countries agreed with IPCC 2018 report regarding devastating consequences that can happen if world countries fail to contain the temperature rise by 1.5 degree by 2100. The groupings remind developed countries of its responsibility regarding Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility.

New standards of measurement:

1) A global resolution to redefine four of the seven base units was accepted in a conference in Paris.

2) Seven main units of measurement are in use at present, including the metre for length, the kilogram for mass, the second for time, the ampere for electric current, the kelvin for temperature, the mole for the amount of a substance, and the candela for luminous intensity.

3) The definition of the kilogram, ampere, kelvin and mole will formally change from the 20th May 2019.

4) The definition of the Kelvin will be defined in terms of the Boltzmann constant rather than the water triple point. Whilst there is a fundamental change in the definition of the kelvin and there will be no noticeable change in the magnitude of the kelvin or °C.

5) The kilogram will no longer be defined as the cylinder of platinum alloy kept in a vault at BIPM, but will be defined in terms of the Plank constant.

6) The ampere, symbol A, is the SI unit of electric current. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the elementary charge e to be 1.602176634 x 10⁻¹⁹.

7) The mole, symbol mol, is the SI unit of amount of substance. One mole contains exactly 6.02214076 x 10²³ elementary entities. This number is the fixed numerical value of the Avogadro constant, NA, when expressed in the unit mol⁻¹ and is called the Avogadro number. The amount of substance, symbol n, of a system is a measure of the number of specified elementary entities. An elementary entity may be an atom, a molecule, an ion, an electron, any other particle or specified group of particles.

Mass Movements: Mass movements (also called mass-wasting) is the down-slope movement of Regolith (loose uncemented mixture of soil and rock particles that covers the Earth's surface) by the force of gravity without the aid of a transporting medium such as water, ice, or wind.

Statement 2 is correct:

Diastrophism: Diastrophism, also called tectonism, large-scale deformation of Earth’s crust by natural processes, which leads to the formation of continents and ocean basins, mountain systems, plateaus, rift valleys, and other features by mechanisms such as lithospheric plate movement (that is, plate tectonics), volcanic loading, or folding.

Option 1 is correct. The reasons cheetahs became extinct in India can be traced to man’s interference. Problems like human-wildlife conflict and illegal trafficking have decimated their numbers.

Option 2 is incorrect. Widespread diseases are not related to the extinction of cheetahs in India.

Option 3 is correct. Researchers at the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) have blamed desertification to be one of the reasons for the extinction of cheetahs in India.

Option 4 is correct. The advent of climate change, loss of habitat and loss of prey were also responsible for the extinction of cheetahs in India.

Statement 1 is correct: Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body's response to an infection. The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight an infection. Sepsis occurs when the body's response to these chemicals is out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems.

Statement 2 is correct: The causes of sepsis are usually pneumonia, wound infections, urinary tract infections or infections in the abdominal cavity. Viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites — sepsis can be triggered by a variety of pathogens.

Option 1 is correct: Butterflies are increasingly being recognised as valuable environmental indicators, both for their rapid and sensitive responses to subtle habitat or climatic changes and as representatives for the diversity and responses of other wildlife.

Option 2 is correct: Lichens are sensitive to atmospheric pollution such as nitrogen (N) because they receive all their nutrients and water from wet and dry atmospheric deposition (fall out). Nitrogen deposition can increase the load of nutrients. Too much N can harm and kill the algae’s chlorophyll which is used to produce sugars feeding it and the fungi.

Option 3 is correct: Algal communities possess many attributes as biological indicators of spatial and temporal environmental changes. Algal parameters, especially the community structural and functional variables that have been used in biological monitoring programs, are highlighted in this document. Biological indicators like algae have been included in water quality assessments in some areas of Malaysia. The use of algal parameters in identifying various types of water degradation is essential and complementary to other environmental indicators.

Option b is correct. Article 32 of the Constitution provides the supreme court the power to issue writs to protect the fundamental rights of the citizens. The writ jurisdiction of supreme court is Original in nature. It means one can approach the supreme court directly in case of violation of any of the rights provided in Part III of the constitution.

Option c is correct. The Supreme court is considered as custodian of the Constitution. The institution is empowered to review any of the provisions of the Constitution and that too by suo motu.

Option d is correct. The Supreme court is empowered to make judgements on any matters, be it executive matters or legislative matters under Article 142. The supreme court can pass orders to ensure complete justice.

Option 2 is correct. Lichen growing on a mangrove tree is an example of mutualistic relationship. Lichen is made up of fungus and algae. The fungus gets food from the photosynthesising algae and the algae gets a place to live.

Option 3 is correct. Crabs play a significant role in the mangrove forests. At some sites, crabs can consume more than a quarter of the leaf litter fall, producing faecal material that has high nutritional content. They also help in promoting recycling of the detrital matter.

The Northern dry deciduous forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion of east-central India. It covers an area of 58,300 square kilometers (22,500 sq mi), extending across portions of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Jharkhand states. The region extends north and south in the dry western rain shadow of the Eastern Ghats range, which block the moisture-laden monsoon winds from the Bay of Bengal to the east.

Tendu, palas, amaltas, bel, khair, axlewood, etc. are the major trees of dry deciduous forests.

Ebony trees grow on fertile, moist soil, in tropical rainforests, usually on the lower altitudes.

Chinar trees are found in foothills of Himalayas where it is part of Montane forest under moist deciduous forests.

Option 1 is correct. Asphalt Concrete (AC) is one of the most common pavement surfacing materials. It absorbs and stores more heat than natural vegetation, leading to the Urban. Heat Island (UHI) effect.

Densely graded asphalt concrete has low albedo, which results in surface temperatures reaching upwards of 60 °C on hot summer days.

Option 2 is incorrect. Pervious pavements play an important role in mitigating the Urban. Heat Island (UHI) effect. It is a specific type of pavement with a high porosity that allows rainwater to pass through it into the ground below. Other UHI mitigation strategies include use of high albedo materials, green vegetation and green roofs, urban planning, shade trees and existence of water bodies in city areas.

Option 3 is correct. Encroachment of water bodies alters the landscape pattern and disrupts the heat flow in the urban areas. It has resulted in significant reduction in cool surfaces due to which the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has become more frequent.

Option 4 is correct. Increasing air pollution has changed the chemical composition of the urban air, which in turn has led to erratic nature of urban climate. This also includes extreme heat waves during summer. Apart from climatic issues, it has also given rise to respiratory diseases in humans.

Kalpa Sutra (Rituals) and Nirukta (Etymology), both are associated with vedic literature. Kalpa means proper. It focuses on the procedure and ceremonies associated with vedic rituals practise. Nirukta explains the reason why a particular word has been used. The only work surviving of Nirukta is Nirukta of Yaska. It is the collection of difficult vedic words and is the oldest dictionary in the world. Other Vedangas include Shiksha (Phonetics),Vyakarana (Grammar), Chhanda (Metrics) and Jyotisha( Astronomy). Narada Smriti and Parashara Smriti are two of the Smritis. Other Smritis include Manu Smriti, Yajnvalkya Smriti, Brihaspati Smriti, Katyayana Smriti. Smriti is a Sanskrit word which means remembrance or memory.

Lui Ngai Ni is the seed sowing festival celebrated by the Naga tribes (Mao, Zeme, Maram, Tarao etc.) of Manipur. Other Naga tribes from Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are invited in this festival. The festival appeases and honors the gods of crop and to pray for the well-being of the people.

Hornbill festival is celebrated in Nagaland to encourage interactions among tribals. It is organised by the state government of Nagaland to promote tourism in the state. It is celebrated in the first week of December to revive Naga heritage.

Nagoba Jatra is a tribal festival in the Adilabad district of Telangana. It is celebrated by Mesram clan of the indigenous Gond Tribes. Bhogali Bihu is one of the three Bihu festivals celebrated in Assam. It marks the end of harvest season.

Formalization of the informal economy can take different forms: registration, taxation, organization and representation, legal frameworks, social protection, business incentives/support, and more. And formalization means different things to different categories of the informal workforce. Government of India making efforts to formalize the economy by introducing GST, digitization of payments, direct benefit transfer of subsidies/ scholarships/wages & salaries to bank accounts, opening of Jan Dhan accounts, extending social security coverage to more workers.

For portability of Provident Fund accounts, EPFO launched a ―Universal Account Number” service for contributing members, this was done to formalize the labour market in India.

The idea was proposed by Hungarian economist Nicholas Kaldor. This refers to a phenomenon where the prices of certain goods witness fluctuations that are cyclical in nature. It happens due to faulty producer expectations. The producers of agricultural goods, for instance, might decide to increase their output one year because their product commanded a very high price the previous year. This, however, might lead to overproduction and cause prices to slump that year, thus leading to losses. Such cyclical price fluctuations are more severe in markets where speculators are banned from hoarding goods to sell them later at a higher price.

India must focus on a group of industries, referred to as ―network products”, where production processes are globally fragmented and controlled by leading Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) within their “producer driven” global production networks. Examples of network products include computers, electronic and electrical, road vehicles etc. China’s remarkable export performance vis-a-vis India is driven primarily by deliberate specialization at large scale in labour-intensive activities, especially “network products, where production occurs across GVCs operated by multinational companies.

The Essential Commodity Act (ECA), 1955 control the productions, supply and distribution of, and trade and commerce in, certain goods such as vegetables, pulses, edible oils, sugars etc., The ECA, however, affects the efficient development of agricultural markets by creating market distortions.

Statement 1 is correct: As agriculture is a seasonal activity, it is essential to store produce for the off-season to ensure smoothened availability of a product at stable price throughout the year. Under the ECA, stock holding limits apply to entries in the agriculture supply chain, including wholesalers, food processing industries and retail food chains.

Statement 2 is correct: under the act price of essassintal goods are regulated by the government (for specific time period) that way reduce producer profit

Statement 3 is correct: When the price of any of these essential commodities rises, the regulator can impose stock holding limits on the commodity, restrict movement of goods, and mandate compulsory purchases under the system of levy. Consequently, all wholesalers, distributors, and retailers dealing in the product must reduce their inventories to comply with the holding limit. The purported aim of this act is to ensure affordability of essential commodities for the poor by restricting hoarding. It is an overarching legislation regulating agricultural marketing and production. It is a reason to Inhabit development of vibrant commodity derivative markets and Increases price volatility and leads to reduced consumer welfare.

Statement 4 is correct: The ECA clearly shows that stock limits and price controls under the Act lead to suboptimal outcomes which are actually opposite to what the Act is mandated to achieve. The Act interferes with the functioning of the markets and provides incentives which are detrimental to wealth creation thereby adversely affecting both social welfare and economic development.