22 February 2024

Q1. Consider the following statements regarding the National Green Hydrogen (NGH) mission:

1. It aims to facilitate the production of hydrogen from renewable energy.
2. It aims to create an enabling environment for the Indian industry to develop the infrastructure to produce and transport green hydrogen from certain nerve centres to production hubs where they can be used in various industrial applications.
3. It has committed to finance the manufacturing of electrolysers, which use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Ans: (c)

Explanation:

• The Union Cabinet has cleared a ₹17,490-crore National Green Hydrogen (NGH) mission that aims to facilitate the production of hydrogen from renewable energy. Hydrogen is an essential industrial fuel that has a range of uses from producing ammonia, making steel and cement, to powering fuel cells that can run buses and cars. However, the cheapest way to manufacture this is to rely on fossil fuel such as coal and natural gas and this produces carbon emissions. The concerns over global warming and the gradual but steady embrace of alternative fuels have stoked the world’s interest in producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy.
• The NGH mission aims to create an enabling environment for the Indian industry to develop the infrastructure to produce and transport green hydrogen from certain nerve centres to production hubs where they can be used in various industrial applications. The NGH mission has committed to finance — the details are not yet available — the manufacturing of electrolysers, which use electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
• Green hydrogen, because of the entailed expenses, currently accounts for less than 1% of global hydrogen production and India’s aim is to become a global, industrial hub and exporter of such hydrogen.

Q2. Consider the following statements regarding Green Hydrogen:

1. Green Hydrogen is the hydrogen generated through renewable energy sources and the carbon generated from the process is captured and stored without dispersing it in the atmosphere.
2. The major challenge in the usage of green hydrogen will be its storage, because it requires large volumes for its storage.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• While hydrogen generated through renewable energy sources is green, it is blue when the carbon generated from the process is captured and stored without dispersing it in the atmosphere. When the carbon is not captured, the generated hydrogen is labelled grey.
• The major challenge in the usage of green hydrogen will be its storage. Given the very low density of hydrogen, it will require large volumes for its storage.
• Alternatively, if one chooses to store it in the liquid form, reducing the storage space requires the maintenance of temperatures as low as minus 253° C. This will entail huge costs.
• The ‘production cost’ of ‘Green hydrogen’ has been considered to be a prime obstacle to the usage of green hydrogen.

Q3. Consider the following statements regarding the Mesolithic age:

1. It is the transitional phase between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic age.
2. The Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing, and food gathering and did not domesticate animals.
3. Bagor in Rajasthan had a distinctive microlithic industry.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• In 9000 BC began an intermediate stage in Stone-Age culture, which is called the Mesolithic age. It intervened as a transitional phase between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic or New Stone ages. The Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing, and food gathering; at a later stage they also domesticated animals.
• The first three occupations continued the Palaeolithic practice, whereas the last developed in the Neolithic culture. Thus, the Mesolithic age marked a transitional phase in the mode of subsistence leading to animal husbandry. The characteristic tools of the Mesolithic age are microliths or tiny tools. Mesolithic sites abound in Rajasthan, southern UP, central and eastern India, and also south of the river Krishna. Of them, Bagor in Rajasthan is very well excavated. It had a distinctive microlithic industry, and its inhabitants subsisted on hunting and pastoralism. The site remained occupied for 5000 years from the fifth millennium BC onwards. Adamgarh in MP and Bagor in Rajasthan provide the earliest evidence for the domestication of animals in the Indian part of the subcontinent; this could be around 5000 BC.

Q4. Consider the following statements regarding Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures:

1. Hunting-gathering pattern of life was prevalent both in Mesolithic and Neolithic period.
2. Evidence of pottery is absent from Neolithic culture but is markedly found in Mesolithic culture.
3. Mesolithic cultures did not practice domestication of animals unlike Neolithic people.

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Hunting-gathering pattern of life was prevalent since Old stone age to Mesolithic and Neolithic.
• However, there seems to have been a shift from big animal hunting to small animal hunting and fishing. This is how bows and arrows were used in this period.
• Domestication of animals, horticulture and primitive cultivation started during the Mesolithic period itself.
• However, during the Neolithic period, domestication of sheep, goats and cattle was widely prevalent. Cattle were used for cultivation and for transport.
• During the Neolithic age, wheels were used to make pottery. Pottery was used for cooking as well as storage of food grains.

Q5. With reference to Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021, consider the following statements:

1. It removed the distinction between captive and merchant mines.
2. It empowered the State Governments to issue directions regarding composition and utilization of funds under District Mineral Foundation (DMF).

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• S1: Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowered central to reserve any mine for the particular end-use. These were the captive mines.Now, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021 removed the distinction. Now captive mines will also be able to sell their stock.
• S2: District Mineral Foundation (“DMF”) was first bought into the picture in 2015, by way of the Mine and Minerals Development Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (“2015 Amendment Act”). DMF is a non-profit body established to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining or mining-related operations. Vide, the said amendment, the State Governments were vested with the responsibility of setting up DMFs in every mining district of the respective States and to prescribe the composition and functioning of DMFs including utilization of the funds.The new Amendment Act, 2021 now empowers the Central Government to direct the utilization of the DMF’s.