UPSC Essentials — Daily subject-wise quiz : Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 14)

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UPSC Essentials brings to you its initiative of subject-wise quizzes. UPSC Daily Subject Quiz covers all topics under the UPSC Civil Services syllabus, including Polity, History, Geography, Economics, Environment, Science and Technology, International Relations, and more. These quizzes are designed to help you revise some of the most important topics from the static part of the syllabus.

Each day, we will cover one new subject. Attempt today’s subject quiz on Environment, Geography, Science and Technology to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the Economy Quiz.

QUESTION 1

With reference to green hydrogen bunkering, consider the following statements:

1. India has set a deadline of 2030 to establish green hydrogen bunkering and refuelling facilities at major ports in the drive to cut its carbon footprint.

2. It will cover all the major ports of India.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 2

“C40” was recently in the news. Which of the following is correct about C40?

(a) Short-range air-to-air missile launched by Israel.

(b) It is a Spyware.

(c) Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) designed for high altitude.

(d) Network of global megacities.

QUESTION 3

Consider the following statements about Qubits:

1. It represents the information in the quantum form.

2. It can be either a 1 or 0.

3. It is hard to build and requires huge cryogenic refrigerators to operate correctly.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 4

Which of the following interlinking of the river will provide water to the drought-prone region of Bundelkhand?

(a) Krishna-Godavari

(b) Par-Tapi-Narmada

(c) Ken-Betwa

(d) Mahanadi-Godawari

QUESTION 5

Consider the following:

1. Meteoroids

2. Dead satellite

3. Defunct spacecraft

4. Left over after the collision

How many of the above are included in space debris?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

ANSWER TO MCQs

1. (b)

FYI:

— According to the guidelines released by the Ministry of Shipping, India has set a deadline of 2035 to establish green hydrogen bunkering and refuelling facilities at major ports in the drive to cut its carbon footprint. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

— The target is to cover all 12 major parts with a green hydrogen bunkering facility by 2035. The initial ports in the effort are to be Paradip in the east, Kandla in the west, and Tuticorin in the south. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— More than 200 ports dot India’s coastline, which stretches 7,500 km (4,660 miles), in addition to the 12 major ones, altogether accounting for 95 per cent of its trade by volume and 65 per cent by value.

— One of the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, India aims to cut emissions to net zero by 2070 and to meet the net-zero goal, at least 40 per cent of India’s electricity will have to come from renewables.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

2. (d)

FYI:

— C40 is a network of 97 global megacities that have come together to confront the climate crisis.

— It is a network driven by the cities, for the cities and it is led by the cities. These 97 cities are members and our chair is on a rotational basis. The mayor of one of the member cities becomes the chair.

— Cities are the centre of climate change and climate action. They are the epicentre of bringing people together for economic opportunities or livelihood and they also end up being the largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

3. (b)

FYI:

— International Business Machines (IBM) has designed a new quantum computing chip, “Eagle” has 127 so-called “qubits,” which can represent information in quantum form. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

— The classical computers work using “bits” that must be either a 1 or 0, but qubits can be both a 1 and a 0 simultaneously. Quantum computers are much faster than classical computers. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

— The qubits are exceedingly hard to build and require huge cryogenic refrigerators to operate correctly. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

4. (c)

FYI:

— The Ken-Betwa link project is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for the interlinking of rivers.

— It envisages transferring water from the Ken River to the Betwa River, both tributaries of the Yamuna.

— The Ken-Betwa Link Canal will be 221 km long, including a 2 km long tunnel.

— The project will cover Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

— The project has two phases, with mainly four components.

Phase-I will involve one of the components — the Daudhan Dam complex and its subsidiary units such as Low-Level Tunnel, High-Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa Link Canal and powerhouses.

Phase II will involve three components — Lower Orr Dam, Bina Complex Project and Kotha Barrage.

— According to the Jal Shakti Ministry, the project is expected to provide annual irrigation of 10.62 lakh hectares, supply drinking water to about 62 lakh people, and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.

BTW

If you know where the rivers flow, you know your answer!

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

5. (d)

FYI:

— Space debris can include natural space debris such as meteoroids, or man-made ones which can include defunct spacecrafts and satellites, stages of rockets which have launched payloads, dead satellites, satellite explosions and collisions.

— According to NASA, “more than 25,000 objects larger than 10 cm are known to exist” as space debris and the estimated population of particles between 1 and 10 cm in diameter is approximately 500,000.

— According to NASA’s estimates, as of January 2022, the amount of material orbiting the Earth exceeded 9,000 metric tons.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

UPSC CSE Mains 2023 season has begun. Are you ready for it? UPSC Essentials brings to you its new initiative for the practice of Mains answer writing. Mains Answer Writing will cover essential topics of static and dynamic parts of the UPSC Civil Services syllabus covered under various GS papers. This answer-writing practice is designed to help you as a value addition to your UPSC CSE Mains. Try it out!

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 1)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 2)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 3)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 4)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 6)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 1)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 2)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 3)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 7)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 2)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 3)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 4)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 5)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 6)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 7)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 4 (Week 2)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 4 (Week 3)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 4 (Week 5)

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