Daily Quiz #21 UPSC Prelims Marathon – October 26, 2019

Explanation: The CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) is a research institute created and funded by Government of India. It was established in Nagpur in 1958 with focus on water supply, sewage disposal, and communicable diseases and to some extent on industrial pollution and occupational diseases found common in post-independent India. NEERI is a pioneer laboratory in the field of environmental science and engineering and part of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). NEERI has five zonal laboratories at Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. NEERI falls under the Ministry of Science and Technology (India) of central government. The NEERI is an important partner organization in India’s POPs national implementation plan (NIP).

Explanation: Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the district of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj. It is near the Hadgarh reservoir of Salandi Dam. This region is rich in mixed deciduous forest and play home to variety of wildlife. The wide range of fauna that can be seen at Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha, India includes leopard, tiger, fishing cat, jungle cat, langur, pangolin and hyena. Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is also abode of several species of birds and reptiles. The conservation area of Hadgarh Wildlife Sanctuary is very popular with the tourists who wish to relish the wild and un spoilt natural environment.

Explanation: The National Energy Conservation Day is being celebrated every year on December 14 since 1991. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power spearheads the celebrations every year. The objective to celebrate the National Energy Conservation Day is to drive mass awareness about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation.

Explanation: The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is the landmark multilateral environmental agreement that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 man-made chemicals referred to as ozone depleting substances (ODS). When released to the atmosphere, those chemicals damage the stratospheric ozone layer, Earth’s protective shield that protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Adopted on 15 September 1987, the Protocol is to date the only UN treaty ever that has been ratified every country on Earth – all 197 UN Member States.

ANS: The Dobson Unit is the most common unit for measuring ozone concentration. One Dobson Unit is the number of molecules of ozone that would be required to create a layer of pure ozone 0.01 millimeters thick at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 1 atmosphere (the air pressure at the surface of the Earth). Expressed another way, a column of air with an ozone concentration of 1 Dobson Unit would contain about 2.69x1016ozone molecules for every square centimeter of area at the base of the column. Over the Earth’s surface, the ozone layer’s average thickness is about 300 Dobson Units or a layer that is 3 millimeters thick.