UPSC Essentials | Daily subject-wise quiz — Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 20)

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QUESTION 1

Consider the following applications:

1. Coating material for food and beverage.

2. Cans in the packaging industry.

3. Electronics and automobile components.

How many of the above are the applications of Bisphenol-A?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 2

With reference to the Neutrinos, consider the following statements:

1. They are the building blocks of the nuclear process.

2. There are produced by the same sources as cosmic rays.

3. These are electrically charged particles.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

QUESTION 3

Iriomote Island was in the news recently. It is located in:

(a) China

(b) Russia

(c) Japan

(d) South Korea

QUESTION 4

It is a perennial shrub that grows in saline, arid to semi-arid environments. This species belongs to the family of Amaranthaceae. It was earlier known from Italy, Northern Africa, Palestine, Spain and Western Sahara, but it has been reported for the first time from India based on the collection made from Khadir Bet, Kutch, Gujarat. The new plant species, according to the paper, is a perennial, succulent shrub that can grow one to two metres tall and have a smooth, cylindrical, woody base.

The above-mentioned lines refer to:

(a) Victoria boliviana

(b) Hydnum reginae

(c) Carpotroche caceresiae

(d) Salsola oppositifolia Desfontania

QUESTION 5

It is a first-of-its-kind floating nuclear power station built in St Petersburg, the Russian port city on the Gulf of Finland. It contains two nuclear reactors of 35 MW each. It is a small plant compared to conventional land-based nuclear projects.

The above-mentioned lines refer to:

(a) Akademik Lomonosov

(b) Balakovo

(c) Beloyarsk

(d) Kaliningrad

ANSWERS TO THE MCQs

1. (c)

FYI:

— The CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune has successfully demonstrated the operations of a pilot plant capable of manufacturing Bisphenol-A, a key raw material with high demand for manufacturing engineering plastics globally.

— The material has wide-scale applications as coating material for food and beverage cans in the packaging industry, in electronics and automobile components, and for the overall manufacture of engineering plastics.

— However, higher traces of Bisphenol-A have been found in milk bottles for babies and cases of it leaching through food cans have also been reported.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

2. (a)

FYI:

— The neutrinos were detected over a span of a decade at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at a U.S. scientific research station at the South Pole, using more than 5,000 sensors covering an area the size of a small mountain.

— Neutrinos are electrically neutral, undisturbed by even the strongest magnetic field, and rarely interact with matter, earning the nickname “ghost particle.” Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

— As neutrinos travel through space, they pass unimpeded through matter – stars, planets and, for that matter, people.

— Neutrinos are produced by the same sources as cosmic rays. Cosmic rays, as electrically charged particles, cannot be traced straight back to their source because strong magnetic fields in space alter their trajectory. The direction from which neutrinos arrive points directly back to their original source. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

— The neutrino is an elementary particle, meaning they are not made up of anything smaller. They are not the building blocks of ‘stuff,’ like electrons and quarks are, but they are created in nuclear processes.  Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

3. (c)

FYI:

— Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, the Northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island encompass 42,698 hectares of subtropical rainforests on four islands on a chain located in the southwest of Japan.

— The serial site forms an arc on the boundary of the East China Sea and Philippine Sea whose highest point, Mount Yuwandake on Amami-Oshima Island, rises 694 metres above sea level.

— These islands are influenced by the Kuroshio Current and a subtropical high-pressure system, the property has a warm and humid subtropical climate and is covered mainly with evergreen broadleaved subtropical rainforests.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

(Source: whc.unesco.org)

4. (d)

FYI:

— A team of researchers from the Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation has discovered a new species of saltwort called Salsola Oppositifolia Desfontania.

— The species belongs to the family of Amaranthaceae.

— This species, earlier known from Italy, Northern Africa, Palestine, Spain and Western Sahara, has been reported for the first time from India based on the collection made from Khadir Bet, Kutch, Gujarat at 15.5-m altitude.

— According to the research paper, the GEER Foundation, the new plant species is a perennial, succulent shrub that can grow one to two metres tall and have a smooth, cylindrical, woody base. It is rarely prostrate and unlike other species of Salsola, does not have any hairs.

— Salsola oppositifolia Desfontania is the sixth species of Salsola genus to be discovered in India. Previously, Salsola kali, Salsola hatmanii, Salsola monoptera, Caroxylon imbricatum (Salsola baryosma) and Halogeton glomeratus (Salsola glomerata) were recorded in India.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

5. (a)

FYI:

— The Russian-built floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov completed its 5,000-km journey along the Northern Sea Route, causing excitement in the energy sector.

— The Akademik Lomonosov is a first-of-its-kind floating nuclear power station built in St Petersburg, the Russian port city on the Gulf of Finland.

— It was named after the 18th-century Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, the 21,000-tonne floating plant is 144 m long and 30 m wide, and contains two nuclear reactors of 35 MW each.

— It is a small plant compared to conventional land-based nuclear projects.

— It is run by the state-owned nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, the Akademik Lomonosov is expected to have a working life of 40 years.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

Previous Daily Subject-Wise-Quiz

Daily subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 20)

Daily Subject-wise quiz — History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 20)

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Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 18)

Daily subject-wise quiz – International Relations (Week 19)