UPSC Quiz – 2021 : IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs Quiz 16th JULY 2021

Solution (a)

Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutional in emergence. In other words, they are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the Rules of Business provide for their establishment.

They are set up by the Prime Minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation. Hence, their number, nomenclature, and composition varies from time to time.

All committees except Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs are headed by Prime Minister.

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs looks after the progress of government business in the Parliament. It is headed by the Union Home Minister.

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs directs and coordinates the governmental activities in the economic sphere. It is headed by the Prime Minister.

Article Link: PM Modi reconstitues Cabinet committees, brings in new faces

Solution (d)

Any object travelling slower than 28,000 km/hr must eventually return to Earth. These are suborbital flights, because they will not be travelling fast enough to orbit Earth once they reach there. Such a trip allows space travellers to experience a few minutes of “weightlessness”.

If a spacecraft reaches a speed of 17,500 mph (28,000 km/h) or more, instead of falling back to the ground, it will continuously fall around the Earth. That continuous falling is what it means to be in orbit and is how satellites and the Moon stay above Earth.

Satellites need to reach that threshold speed in order to orbit Earth. Such a satellite would be accelerating towards the Earth due to gravity, but its horizontal movement is fast enough to offset the downward motion so that it moves along a circular path.

Article Link: Suborbital flight: Fast enough to reach space, not stay there

Solution (c)

International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was established under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019. It is headquartered at GIFT City, Gandhinagar.

IFSCA is a unified authority for the development and regulation of financial products, financial services and financial institutions at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in India.

 Currently, GIFT IFSC is the maiden international financial services centre in India.

Prior to the establishment of IFSCA, the domestic financial regulators RBI, Sebi, PFRDA and IRDAI regulated the business in IFSC.

The main objective of IFSCA is to develop a strong global connect and focus on the needs of the Indian economy as well as to serve as an international financial platform for the entire region and the global economy as a whole.

Article Link: IFSCA issues norms for setting up, operating ITFS to provide trade finance

Solution (c)

Amrita Sher-Gil is India’s most famous woman artist and recognised by the Indian government as a “National Treasure”, an honour which makes it illegal to take her art out of the country.

Sher-Gil was encouraged to study art in Paris where she learned the academic style of painting. She returned to India in 1934, marking the beginning of an evolution in her style and a deeper connection with her Indian roots.

Her Famous paintings include:

• Three Girls
• Ancient Storyteller
• In the Ladies’ Enclosure
• Village Scene
• Bride’s Toilet
• Mother India

Article Link: Amrita Sher-Gil work fetches Rs 37.8 cr

Solution (b)

Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces only water. Hydrogen can be produced from a variety of domestic resources, such as natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for transportation and electricity generation applications. It can be used in cars, in houses, for portable power, and in many more applications.

Grey Hydrogen: Most hydrogen nowadays comes from natural gas. It is bonded with carbon and can be separated from it via a process involving water called “steam reforming”, but the excess carbon generates CO2. This hydrogen is called grey whenever the excess CO2 is not captured. Grey hydrogen accounts for most of the production today and emits about 9.3kg of CO2 per kg of hydrogen production.

Blue Hydrogen: Hydrogen is considered blue whenever the emission generated from the steam reforming process are captured and stored underground via industrial carbon capture and storage (CSS), so that it is not dispersed in the atmosphere.

Pink Hydrogen: The colour pink is often used for hydrogen obtained from electrolysis through nuclear energy.  

Green Hydrogen: Green hydrogen, often also called “clean hydrogen” is produced using electricity generated from renewable sources and currently accounting for around 1% of the overall hydrogen production. Today, green hydrogen is two to three times more expensive than blue hydrogen.

Article Link: NTPC REL to set up India’s first green Hydrogen Mobility project in Ladakh