Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – January 11, 2019

Mercury vapor is absorbed by the lungs if it is at or slightly below body temperature. In case of mercury vapor temperature is higher than that of the human body, mercury is not fully absorbed by the lungs. In that event part of the mercury vapor is retained by the upper respiratory tract, partly absorbed there and partly entering the gastrointestinal tract.

Metallic mercury enters the hair follicles, sebaceous and sweat glands as a result of reactions with fatty acids yielding soluble compounds which can be absorbed.

Statement 1 is incorrect:

Equator Prize is an initiative of UNDP and not UNEP(United Nation Environment Programme)

It is organized by the Equator Initiative within the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), is awarded biennially to recognize outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Statement 2 is correct:

Swayam Shikshan Prayog is one of the 15 winners of Equator Prize 2017 by UNDP. SSP has been selected from 806 nominations from 120 countries for its women led climate resilient agro-ecological farming model and entrepreneurship and has empowered more than 72,000 women in the Marathwada region of India.

Important Learning:

As sustainable community initiatives take root throughout the tropics, Equator Prize is laying the foundation for a global movement of local successes that are collectively making a contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

As local and indigenous groups across the tropics demonstrate and exemplify sustainable development, the Equator Prize shines a spotlight on their efforts by celebrating them on an international stage.

Equator Prize winners are selected by an independent Technical Advisory Committee, which assesses nominations based on the following criteria:

Impact: The extent to which the nominated initiative has resulted in measurable and positive environmental, social and economic impacts, related to two or more Sustainable Development Goals;

Innovation: The extent to which the nominated initiative demonstrates new approaches and models that overcome prevailing constraints, and could offer fundamentally new approaches to attaining sustainable development;

Scalability and/or replicability: The extent to which the nominated initiative could be scaled up sub-nationally or nationally and/or, the extent to which the initiative can be replicated within the country and beyond;

Resilience, Adaptability, and Self-Sufficiency: The extent to which the nominated initiative demonstrates adaptability to environmental, social and economic change, resilience in the face of external pressures, and improved capacity for local self-sufficiency;

Reduced inequalities: The extent to which the initiative reduces inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status, particular for the poor;

Social Inclusion: The extent to which the nominated initiative includes youth, elders, indigenous members and other diverse groups in the decision-making processes and the actions that affect them;

Gender Equality:The extent to which the nominated Initiative promotes the equality and empowerment of women and girls;

Photochemical smog is the chemical reaction of sunlight, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere, which leaves airborne particles and ground-level ozone. It may include the following:

• Aldehydes
• Nitrogen oxides, particularly nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide
• Peroxyacyl nitrates
• Tropospheric ozone
• Volatile organic compounds

All of these harsh chemicals are usually highly reactive and oxidizing. Photochemical smog is therefore considered to be a problem of modern industrialization.  It is present in all modern cities, but it is more common in cities with sunny, warm, dry climates and a large number of motor vehicles like in Delhi.

All the statements are correct

• When coal is burnt (e.g. in coal fed power plants), two types of ash is produced. One that falls in the bottom of the boiler is called bottom ash. Another is made of fine particles that are driven out along with the flue gases. These fine particles are captured using the electrostatic precipitators or some other filtration equipments when the flue gases reach at Chimney of the plant. This is called Fly Ash
• All fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminium oxide (Al2O3) and calcium oxide (CaO).
• Fly Ash was once discarded as a waste but today, it is increasingly emerging as a major input material in several industries including cement, agriculture, construction, Paints etc.

Probable uses of fly ash:

• Concrete production, as a substitute material for Portland cement and sand
• Embankments and other structural fills (usually for road construction)
• Waste stabilization and solidification
• Cement clinkers production – (as a substitute material for clay)
• Mine reclamation
• Stabilization of soft soils
• Road sub-base construction
• As Aggregate substitute material (e.g. for brick production)
• Mineral filler in asphaltic concrete
• Agricultural uses: soil amendment, fertilizer, cattle feeders, soil stabilization in stock feed yards, and agricultural stakes
• Loose application on rivers to melt ice
• Loose application on roads and parking lots for ice control

• Refrigerators in the late 1800s and early 1900s used the toxic gases, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. After a series of fatal accidents in the 1920s when methyl chloride leaked out of refrigerators, a search for a less toxic replacement begun as a collaborative effort of three American corporations- Frigidaire, General Motors, and Du Pont. CFCs were first synthesized in 1928 by Thomas Midgley, Jr. of General Motors, as safer chemicals for refrigerators used in large commercial appilications.
• CFCs are safe to use in most applications and are inert in the lower atmosphere, they do undergo significant reaction in the upper atmosphere or stratosphere.

Hot Winds

• Sirocco – Sahara Desert
• Leveche -Spain
• Khamsin -Egypt
• Harmattan -Sahara Desert
• Santa Ana – USA
• Zonda –  Argentina
• Brick fielder –Australia

Cold Winds

• Mistral – Spain and France
• Bora – Adriatic coast
• Pampero – Argentina
• Buran –  Siberia

Statement 1 is incorrect:

Kimberly Plateau lies in the northern part of Australia

Statement 2 and 3 is correct:

• This plateau is made of volcanic eruption.
• Minerals like iron, gold, lead, zinc, silver and diamond are found here.