UPSC CSE Prelims Paper 1 Practice Test - 30 - UPSC MCQ

SAMARTH stands for Sustainable Agrarian Mission on use of Agro Residue in Thermal Power Plants. It is emerging that the efforts of the Government in transforming the problem of stubble burning into a solution of power production with lower carbon footprints, would continue to bear fruit with the active participation of Farmers, Pellet manufacturers and power plants in the country. This would yield additional income for farmers. It is going to play a big role towards clean energy transition of the country.

24th National e-Governance conference unanimously adopted the Hyderabad declaration. The Conference was jointly held by Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, in collaboration with Telangana Government.

The Report is released annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF). It is based on Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) and highlights key risks emanating across five categories: Economic, Environmental, Geopolitical, Societal, and Technological.

The Border Security Force (BSF) launched “Operation Sard Hawa” on the western international border of Rajasthan. The Operations aims to check the instances of infiltration due to the dense fog cover in the region and increase security on the border areas in Jaisalmer.

Union Social Justice and Empowerment said it had formulated an umbrella scheme, SMILE (Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise), that included two sub-schemes for the welfare of transgender persons and persons engaged in begging. The  scheme will cover rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counselling, education, skill development and economic linkages.

Covovax is produced by the Serum Institute of India under license from Novovax, a US based biotechnology company. The vaccine has been approved by the World Health Organization(WHO) under its Emergency Use Listing.

They are invasive alien species found in India.

This list is maintained by the 1988 Committee, a committee established by the UN Security Council Resolution 1988 (2011). This list contains information on individuals and groups involved with Taliban.

• Selective catalytic reduction (SCR)-It is currently the most widely applied technology in which Ammonia is used as a reducing agent to convert NOx to nitrogen in the presence of a catalyst in a converter.
• The catalyst is usually a mixture of titanium dioxide, vanadium pentoxide, and tungsten trioxide. Hence option (a) is the correct answer. SCR can remove 60–90% of NOx from flue gases.
• The process is very expensive and the associated ammonia injection results in an ammonia slipstream in the exhaust.

• Black carbon is not a gas but a particulate — a component of soot emitted by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• Along with methane, black carbon is one of the two greenhouse contributors the global community has targeted for immediate reduction to curb global warming before the Arctic melts.

• It stays in the atmosphere for shorter period of time and descends along with precipitation after some time. Because of black carbon’s short atmospheric life span, decreasing its presence offers an opportunity to mitigate the effects of global warming quickly — within weeks. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Control of black carbon, according to many scientists — particularly from fossil-fuel sources— could be  the fastest method of slowing global warming in the near future

• Here on Earth, the albedo effect has a significant impact on our climate. correct. The albedo of a surface is the fraction of the incident sunlight that the surface reflects. The lower the albedo, the more radiation from the Sun that gets absorbed by the planet, and temperatures will rise. If the albedo is higher, and the Earth is more reflective, more of the radiation is returned to space, and the planet cools.

• Black carbon is generally thought to have both a direct warming effect (by absorbing incoming solar radiation in the atmosphere and converting it to heat radiation) and an indirect warming effect (by reducing the reflectivity (albedo) of snow and ice). Hence statement 3 is correct.

• Recent context: Over the past few months, Turkey's Marmara Sea has been facing a new challenge. The Marmara sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea has been blanketed with 'sea snot' causing new environmental concerns.
• Sea Snot was first discovered in Turkey in 2007. Also known as ‘marine mucilage’, it is a thick, slimy grey-brown sheet that is formed by dead and living organic material. The sludge forms when algae overloaded with nutrients feast on warm weather. This warm weather is caused due to global warming. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.
• Environmental experts have said that the overproduction of phytoplankton caused by climate change and the uncontrolled dumping of household and industrial waste into the seas has led to the present crisis.
• The growth of the Sea Snot, which floats upon the surface of the sea like brown phlegm, is posing a severe threat to the marine ecosystem of the country. It has caused mass deaths among the fish population, and also killed other aquatic organisms such as corals and sponges. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Ecologists said that the brown mucilage floating in the seas of Turkey is a sign of how the marine ecosystem can be damaged and the effect it can have on the environment as a whole if serious steps are not taken to tackle the twin crisis of pollution and global warming.

• Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) is a test that measures the amount of oxygen required to chemically oxidize the organic material and inorganic nutrients, such as Ammonia or Nitrate, present in water. Hence statement 1 is not correct.

• The most commonly used oxidant is potassium dichromate, which is used in combination with boiling sulphuric acid. It is important to note that the chemical oxidant is not specific to organic or inorganic compounds, hence both these sources of oxygen demand are measured in a COD assay.

• COD is an important water quality parameter and is used in a wide range of applications, including:-to confirming wastewater discharge and the waste treatment procedure meets criteria set by regulators;-to quantify the biodegradable fraction of wastewater effluent - the ratio between BOD and COD;-COD or BOD measurements are also used as an indicator of the size of a wastewater treatment plant required for a specific location. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Challenges associated with COD monitoring-o Despite the test being entrenched in legislation there are numerous problems and challenges associated with the use of the test:-There is a lag until results are available (transportation to lab + 2h for the test), hence environmental damage can occur before the data is available;-the test is time-consuming and expensive;-the test involves dangerous chemicals that need careful disposal and are
  potentially harmful to operators;-it fails to recreate natural processes (i.e. the test involves an artificial incubation with a strong oxidizing agent);-it is imprecise and has a high minimum detection limit thus is not applicable to clean/uncontaminated river samples;

  • It is clear that a move from traditional laboratory testing to in-situ (real-time) monitoring would help to alleviate some of the problems outlined above. This is because COD is an ex situ method since the sample is tested in labs.

  • It would immediately address points I - III and would help to improve the spatial-temporal resolution of monitoring that would be directly beneficial to basin managers, water companies, and legislators alike.

• Arsenic is a natural component of the earth’s crust and is widely distributed throughout the environment in the air, water and land. It is highly toxic in its inorganic form.
• People are exposed to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic through drinking contaminated water, using contaminated water in food preparation and irrigation of food crops, industrial processes, eating contaminated food and smoking tobacco.
• Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly through drinking water and food, can lead to chronic arsenic poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects.
• Arsenic doesn’t have a taste or odor and one can be exposed to it without knowing.
• Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Health effects
  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified arsenic and arsenic compounds as carcinogenic to humans.
• Hence, statement 2 is correct
• The immediate symptoms of acute arsenic poisoning include vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
• These are followed by numbness and tingling of the extremities, muscle cramping and death, in extreme cases.
  • The first symptoms of long-term exposure to high levels of inorganic arsenic (for example, through drinking water and food) are usually observed in the skin and include pigmentation changes, skin lesions and hard patches on the palms and soles of the feet (hyperkeratosis). These occur after a minimum exposure of approximately five years.
• As per Central Water Commission (CWC), the most common heavy metal pollutant found in India's rivers is iron.
• Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

• Carbon Pricing is an instrument that captures the external costs of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions - the costs of emissions that the public pays for, such as damage to crops, health care costs from heatwaves and droughts, and loss of property from flooding and sea-level rise - and ties them to their sources through a price, usually in the form of a price on the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted.
• A price on carbon helps shift the burden for the damage from GHG emissions back to those who are responsible for it and who can avoid it. Instead of dictating who should reduce emissions where and how, a carbon price provides an economic signal to emitters, and allows them to decide to either transform their activities and lower their emissions or continue emitting and paying for their emissions. Hence option (d) is the correct answer.

Other concepts:

• Carbon leakage refers to the situation that may occur if, for reasons of costs related to climate policies, businesses were to transfer production to other countries with laxer emission constraints. This could lead to an increase in their total emissions
• Carbon Tax - A carbon tax is a fee imposed on businesses and individuals that works as a sort of "pollution tax." The tax is a fee imposed on companies that burn carbon-based fuels, including coal, oil, gasoline, and natural gas.
• Carbon Trading is the buying and selling of credits that permit a company or other entity to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Carbon trade agreements allow for the sale of credits to emit carbon dioxide between nations as part of an international agreement aimed at gradually reducing total emissions.
• Carbon trading began under the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 (which came into force in 2005). Under this, ‘certified emission reductions’ or CERs, were issued to entities that put up projects that reduced emissions — such as wind, solar, or energy efficiency.
• It allows nations which are unable to meet their reduction targets to purchase carbon credits. Paris Agreement also allows voluntary trading between countries to meet their NDC goals. If a country reduces more GHG emissions than its target, it can sell the emission reduction to another country as an “internationally traded mitigation outcome”.
• Zero Carbon Law by New Zealand - The Zero Carbon Act puts in place targets to reduce all greenhouse gases: Carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide have to reduce to net zero by 2050.

• Geocycle, the global waste management arm of building solutions provider LafargeHolcim, is implementing innovative bubble curtain technology for the first time in India to stop plastic from entering the river Yamuna. The bubble barrier has been established on the Mantola canal of Agra city which carries 40 percent of its storm and wastewater.
• A bubble curtain is a non-invasive solution to stop plastic from entering the oceans. Ships and fish can pass through the air bubbles, but plastics will be stopped. The bubble screen is created by a specially designed air tube which is placed diagonally on the bed of the canal or river. It brings waste to the surface, channels the plastic onto the banks where it can be extracted. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
• The bubble barrier is generated using compressed air passing through tubes that are placed at the bottom of the canal. These tubes are connected with a compressor which is powered by renewable solar energy.

Further, aeration in the canal will increase dissolved oxygen levels in the wastewater/storm water leading to an overall improvement in the water quality.

• The coastal ecosystems of mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrass meadows provide numerous benefits and services that are essential for climate change adaptation along coasts globally, including protection from storms and sea-level rise, prevention of shoreline erosion, regulation of coastal water quality, provision of habitat for commercially important fisheries and endangered marine species, and food security for many coastal communities. Additionally, these ecosystems sequester and store significant amounts of coastal blue carbon from the atmosphere and ocean and hence are now recognized for their role in mitigating climate change.
• Coastal blue carbon ecosystems are found along the coasts of every continent except Antarctica. Mangroves grow in the intertidal zone of tropical and subtropical shores. Countries with the highest areas of mangroves include Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Cuba, India, Bangladesh, and Mozambique.
• The Coastal Blue Carbon Ecosystems are very efficient at sequestering and storing carbon- each square mile of these systems can remove carbon from the atmosphere and oceans at a rate higher than each square mile of a tropical forest. Hence statement 1 is correct
• The Blue Carbon Initiative is the first integrated program focused on mitigating climate change by conserving, restoring, and promoting sustainable use of coastal marine ecosystems globally. The Initiative currently focuses on mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses. It is an international collaborative effort of the Conservation International, International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Intergovernmental Oceanic Commission of the UNESCO. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• The International Standards for drinking water are given below and they must be followed.
• Fluoride: For drinking purposes, water should be tested for fluoride ion concentration. Its deficiency in drinking water is harmful to man and causes diseases such as tooth decay etc.
• Soluble fluoride is often added to drinking water to bring its concentration up to 1 ppm or 1 mg dm–3. Hence statement 2 is correct.
• The F– ions make the enamel on teeth much harder by converting hydroxyapatite, [3(Ca₃(PO₄)₂.Ca(OH)₂], the enamel on the surface of the teeth, into much harder fluorapatite, [3(Ca₃(PO₄)₂.CaF₂]. Hence statement 1 is correct.
• However, F– ion concentration above 2 ppm causes brown mottling of teeth. At the same time, excess fluoride (over 10 ppm) causes harmful effects to bones and teeth, as reported from some parts of Rajasthan.
• Nitrate: The maximum limit of nitrate in drinking water is 50 ppm. Excess nitrate in drinking water can cause diseases such as methemoglobinemia (‘blue baby’ syndrome). Hence statement 3 is not correct.
• Lead: Drinking water gets contaminated with lead when lead pipes are used for the transportation of water. The prescribed upper limit concentration of lead in drinking water is about 50 ppb. Lead can damage kidney, liver, reproductive system etc.
• Sulphate: Excessive sulphate (>500 ppm) in drinking water causes the laxative effect, otherwise at moderate levels it is harmless.

• Virtual Water (VW) is the water involved in the production and trade of food and non-food commodities and services. It is that “invisible” water that has been consumed throughout the lifecycle of the product or service. Hence option (a) is the correct answer.
• For ex: On an average, 3000 liters of water is required for producing 1 kg of rice. • Owing to its sizable agricultural exports, India has been losing water thereby putting its water sustainability at risk.
• VW analysis could help India in defining its trade characteristics. As per estimates, between 2006 and 2016 India exported 26,000 million litres of VW on an average every year.

Significance of the VW analysis-

• Optimizing domestic water use through imports of water intensive agriculture products.
• Reducing pressure on freshwater resources in water arid states by diversifying the production areas.
• Help in framing evidence-based water policies and in establishing the link between the hydrological economic-institutional aspects of water scarcity.
• Will provide alternative to mega project such as Interlinking of Rivers to alleviate regional water scarcity.