UPSC 2016 Prelims Questions with Answers

Explanation

UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana), launched in November 2015, aims to address the financial and operational inefficiencies of power distribution companies (DIS-COMs). It seeks to improve their financial health by allowing state governments to take over 75% of their debt and service the remaining through bonds. The scheme focuses on reducing Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to 15% by 2019, lowering power generation costs through energy efficiency, and enhancing service delivery with uninterrupted power supply and timely billing for consumers.

Explanation

Through the amendment in Mines & Minerals (Devel-opment & Regulation) (MMDR) Act, in 2015, Government of India has made provision for establishment of District Mineral Foundation in all the districts affected by mining.

Statement 1 is incorrect: DMFs are not directly involved in promoting mineral exploration activities. Their focus is on the welfare of affected communities and areas, not on exploration or mining activities.

Statement 2 is correct: The main purpose of DMFs is to protect the interests of persons and areas affected by mining operations. They use funds collected from miners to implement various developmental and welfare projects, such as healthcare, education, sanitation, and infrastructure, in mining-affected areas.

Statement 3 is incorrect: DMFs do not have any role in authorizing State Governments to issue licenses for mineral exploration. Licensing and regulation of mining activities are handled by the respective State Governments and the Central Government under the provisions of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: LiFi (Light Fidelity) uses visible light, ultraviolet, or infrared light to transmit data. This technology works through light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which modulate light signals at extremely high speeds to carry information. Unlike traditional radio frequency-based wireless systems, LiFi leverages the light spectrum for communication.

Statement 2 is correct: LiFi is a wireless communication technology that does not require cables for data transmission. In laboratory conditions, it has demonstrated speeds significantly faster than WiFi, reaching up to 224 Gbps. However, its performance depends on line-of-sight and is more suitable for indoor environments.

Explanation

Green India Mission is one of the eight missions launched under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) with the aim to maintain, restore, and improve India’s dwindling forest cover and combating climate change through a combination of adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Statement 1 and 2 are incorrect: Green accounting is an approach that incorporates environmental costs into financial assessments. The primary goal of green accounting is to help businesses balance economic objectives with environmental considerations. It is not part of the Green India Mission. Facing serious challenges like overproduction of crops like rice and wheat, soil degradation, and food price volatility, the country would need the Second green revolution to focus on the interconnectedness of agriculture, water, and energy to make farming more climate-resilient and environmentally sustainable. Both the statements are irrelevant to the Green India Mission.

Statement 3 is correct: The mission intends to increase forest/ tree cover; improve/enhance ecosystem services and increase the forest-based livelihood income of about 3 million households.

Explanation

There are six AQI categories, namely Good + Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. Each of these categories is decided based on ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). AQ sub-index and health breakpoints are evolved for eight pollutants, namely:

Ground-level Ozone or O₃ Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM 2.5) Carbon Monoxide or CO Sulphur Dioxide or SO₂ and Nitrogen Dioxide or NO₂ Ammonia (NH₃) Lead (Pb)

Explanation

During the Indian, banjaras were generally merchants. They referred to their caravans as tanda.

Option (d) is correct: During the reign of Alauddin Khalji, banjaras had a significant impact. For the purpose of transporting grain to the markets in the cities, Alauddin Khalji used the Banjaras. They were responsible for moving goods from one location to another. According to the Emperor Jahangir’s chronicles, the Banjaras transported grain from various regions on their bullocks and sold it in towns.

Explanation

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (IN-DCs) are planned reductions in greenhouse gas emissions outlined by countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The UNFCCC, in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report, has called for more ambitious climate action plans by the countries in order to achieve the Paris Agreement target of containing global temperature rise to 2°C by the end of the century (ideally it is 1.5°C).

Explanation

GHG Protocol is developing standards, tools and online training that helps countries to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions. The GHG Protocol arose when the World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) recognized the need for an international standard for corporate GHG accounting and reporting in the late 1990s.

Explanation

AstroSat is the first dedicated Indian astronomy mission aimed to study celestial sources in X-ray, optical and UV spectral bands. The payloads cover the energy bands of Ultraviolet (Near and Far), limited optical and X-ray regime (0.3 keV to 100keV). The ability to simultaneously observe multiple celestial objects at multiple wavelengths with a single satellite is one of the special aspects of the AstroSat project.

Statement 1 is incorrect: India has joined the exclusive club of nations with its own space observatory with the successful launch of ASTROSAT, joining the US, Japan, Russia, and Europe. ASTROSAT, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, will aid in the knowledge of the cosmos.

Statement 2 is incorrect: AstroSat with a lift-off mass of 1515 kg was launched into a 650 km orbit inclined at an angle of 6 deg to the equator by PSLV-C30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

Explanation

Mangalyaan/Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the maiden interplanetary mission of ISRO, was launched on PSLV-C25. It entered into Martian orbit in its first attempt. MOM had completed 1000 Earth days in its orbit well beyond its designed mission life of six months.

Statement 1 and 3 are correct: The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission. With this India became the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit, and the first nation in the world to do so in its first attempt.

Statement 2 is incorrect: It is India’s first interplanetary mission and ISRO has become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space Programme, NASA and the EuropeanSpace Agency.