[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2021: Insights Current Affairs Quiz , 27 May 2022 – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

Phytoremediation refers to the usage of “hyperaccumulator” plants to absorb the toxic materials present in the soil and accumulate in their living tissue. Even though most plants do sometimes accumulate toxic substances, hyperaccumulators have the unusual ability to absorb hundreds or thousands of times greater amounts of these substances than is normal for most plants.

What are the advantages of phytoremediation with hyperaccumulators?

One of the primary advantages of phytoremediation is the fact that it is quite cost-effective in comparison with other remediation methods. The only major costs attached are related to crop management (planting, weed control, watering, fertilisation, pruning, fencing, harvesting etc.). This method is also relatively simple and doesn’t require any new kinds of specialised technology. Also, no external energy source is required since the plants grow with the help of sunlight.

Another important advantage of this method is that it enriches the soil with organic substances and microorganisms which can protect its chemical and biological qualities. Also, while the plants are growing and accumulating toxic heavy metals, they protect the soil from erosion due to wind and water.

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Solution: b)

India is the biggest producer of sugar and the second largest exporter after Brazil.

The government has moved export of sugar from the ‘open category’, which requires no government intervention, to ‘restricted’ category. This means that export of sugar is allowed only with specific permission from the Directorate of Sugar, Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.

Thanks to the bumper crops over the last four seasons, exports too boomed. The Centre also extended subsidies to millers to push sales abroad. Before the start of the sugar season (October to September every year), the central government would announce both the quota for export and the subsidy to achieve the target.

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Solution: d)

In January 2014, an expert committee of the RBI submitted its report on the ways to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework in India, it chose to target retail inflation.

Here’s why.

Firstly, the committee pointed out that wholesale inflation “does not capture price movements in non-commodity producing sectors like services, which constitute close to two-thirds of economic activity in India”. This corresponds to the point made earlier about how WPI and CPI are different.

Secondly, it pointed out that wholesale inflation “does not generally reflect price movements in all wholesale markets”. This happens because price quotations for some important commodities such as milk, LPG etc. are taken from retail markets.

Thirdly, movements in WPI often reflect large external shocks and as such, the wholesale inflation rate is often subject to large revisions.

Solution: b)

While there is an argument in literature that inequalities are a manifestation of the average level of income, as explained by the Kuznets’ theory.

Kuznets believed that inequality would follow an inverted “U” shape as it rises and then falls again with the increase of income per-capita.

Solution: c)