IAS Prelims GS Questions and Answers - Sep 13 & 14, 2016

ANSWER: He won a medal at Rio

Explanation:

• Javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia became the first Indian to clinch two gold medals at the Paralympics after he broke his own world record to clinch the top honours at the Rio Games 2016.
• Devendra, who won his previous gold in the 2004 Athens Games, bettered his own world record to finish on top in the men’s F46 event.

ANSWER: Avian Influenza

Explanation:

• The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers welfare has declared India free from Avian Influenza (H5N1) from 5th September, 2016.
• India had notified outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) on 09.05.2016 at Humnabad, Bidar district, Karnataka. There has been no further outbreak reported in the country thereafter.
• The control measures adopted in the radius of one Km around outbreak location included following:
• 1- Stamping out of entire poultry population including destruction of eggs, feed, litter and other infected materials, restriction on movement of poultry and poultry products to and from the area of outbreak, disinfection and cleaning up of infected premises and the Post Operation Surveillance Plan (POSP) from 6th June, 2016
• 2- Surveillance was carried out throughout the country. Surveillance around the areas of the outbreaks since completion of the operation (including culling, disinfection and clean -up)
• Post the surveillance the state has shown no evidence of presence of Avian Influenza. India has declared itself free from Avian Influenza (H5N1) from 5th September, 2016 and notified the same to OIE.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• LNG achieves a higher reduction in volume than compressed natural gas (CNG) so that the (volumetric) energy density of LNG is 2.4 times greater than that of CNG or 60 percent that of diesel fuel.
• This makes LNG cost efficient to transport over long distances where pipelines do not exist. Specially designed cryogenic sea vessels (LNG carriers) or cryogenic road tankers are used for its transport. LNG is principally used for transporting natural gas to markets, where it is regasified and distributed as pipeline natural gas.
• It can be used in natural gas vehicles, although it is more common to design vehicles to use compressed natural gas.
• LNG has the potential to replace LPG, Naphtha, and HFO fuel. It would serve a variety of industries such as metal, ceramic and glass, food processing, refractory’s etc. as well as heavy mining machineries. LNG could even fuel the road transport sector.

ANSWER: PM

Explanation:

• National Council for Tribal Welfare is chaired by the Prime Minister.
• In addition to the Council, a Standing Committee has also been constituted. This will be chaired by the Minister of Tribal Affairs.
• The States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan are covered under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and have been entrusted with special responsibilities on matter pertaining to the welfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribes.

ANSWER: 2, 3

Explanation:
The National Council for Tribal Welfare set up objectives are

• provide broad policy guidelines to bring about improvement in the lives of the Scheduled Tribes community in the country
• review the implementation of the Forest Rights Act
• review the implementation of Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution
• monitor the implementation of Tribal Sub Plan
• monitor programmes aimed at protecting particularly vulnerable Tribal Groups.

No meeting of National Council for Tribal Welfare has been held so far.

ANSWER: Both 1 and 2

Explanation:

• Bio-Glass can be made in a biodegradable ink form, enabling the researchers to 3D print it into structures that are tiny, biodegradable scaffolds.
• It also displays self-healing properties when it gets damaged, which could make it a more resilient and reliable implant.
• When implanted, the combination of the structure, stiffness and chemistry of the bio-glass would encourage cartilage cells to grow through microscopic pores.
• Thus it has the potential to encourage cartilage cells to grow in the knees, which was not possible till now.
• Over time the scaffold would degrade safely in the body, leaving new cartilage in its place that has similar mechanical properties to the original cartilage.
• Bioglass also finds application in drug delivery, as antibacterial agent, as remineralization element and in bone tissue engineering.

ANSWER: Gas with no or very low Hydrogen Sulphide

Explanation:

• Sweet Gas is a Natural gas that does not contain hydrogen sulfide [H2S].
• The gas may also not contain any quantities of carbon dioxide.
• The composition of the gas determines whether it is sweet or sour.
• Sweet Gas in its purest form can be used with very little refining. It is not corrosive in nature; hence it is relatively easy to use as compared to sour gas.
• Coal Bed Methane is Sweet Gas

ANSWER: Gas with high amount of hydrogen sulphide

Explanation:

• Sour gas is natural gas or any other gas containing significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S).
• When natural gas contains high levels of acidic gases such as hydrogen sulfide, it is referred to as acid gas. If it contains high levels of sulfur, it is referred as sour gas.
• Although the terms acid gas and sour gas are sometimes used interchangeably, strictly speaking, a sour gas is any gas that specifically contains hydrogen sulfide in significant amounts, whereas an acid gas is any gas that contains significant amounts of acidic gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) or hydrogen sulfide.
• Thus, carbon dioxide by itself is an acid gas, not a sour gas.

ANSWER: Satellite Launch

Explanation:

• A Hohmann Transfer is an orbital manoeuvre that transfers a satellite or spacecraft from one circular orbit to another. It was invented by a German scientist in 1925 and is the most fuel efficient way to get from one circular orbit to another circular orbit.
• Because the Hohmann Transfer is the most fuel efficient way to move a spacecraft, it is a fairly slow process and is used mostly for transferring spacecraft shorter distances.
• In orbital mechanics, the Hohmann transfer orbit is an elliptical orbit used to transfer between two circular orbits of different radii in the same plane.
• The orbital manoeuvre to perform the Hohmann transfer, the satellite uses two engine impulses, one to move a spacecraft onto the transfer orbit and a second to move off it.

ANSWER: Neither 1 nor 2

Explanation:

• A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a Hohmann transfer orbit used to reach geosynchronous or geostationary orbit using high thrust chemical engines.
• It is a highly elliptical Earth orbit with an apogee of 42,164 km (26,199 mi), or 35,786 km (22,236 mi) above sea level, which corresponds to the geostationary (GEO) altitude.
• The period of a standard geosynchronous transfer orbit is about 10.5 hours.
• It is not a geostationary orbit but is used in Hohmann transfer to reach the geostationary orbit.
• Only the apogee point of GTO lies at the Geostationary Altitude.