1. India's largest floating solar power plant was inaugurated at Kerala in 2017. Which of the following statement is true regarding the power plant?

(1) It has a capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW).

(2) It is situated at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad district.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c)

Explanation: The largest floating solar plant of India was inaugurated on December 4, 2017, by Kerala Electricity Minister M M Mani at the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad district, Kerala. It has a capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW). The plant consists of 1,938 solar panels, with a capacity of 260 watts, a 500-kilovolt ampere (KVA) transformer, and 17 inverters. The unique feature of this plant is the anchoring mechanism used by the overwhelming technology to maintain the plant with the alteration of the water level. The plant has been constructed by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Ad Tech Systems. It will generate seven lakh units of power in a year. The total cost of the project is Rs 9.25 crore. The power produced will be transmitted to the 11-kV line of the KSEB and the Board will further consider installing two windmills with a capacity of 500 KW each on the dam top.

2. Recently the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) under Ministry of Communication launched its innovation “WiDHWAN”. What is the role of WiDHWAN?

(a) To provide cheap wireless internet services in rural areas under BharatNet Project.

(b) To cater to the recurring call-drop issues in no-signal and low-signal network scenarios.

(c) To provide tele-education services to the remote Northern-Eastern Regions.

(d) To check the theft of money in mobile wallet application.

Answer: (b)

Explanation: The Minister of Communications Shri Manoj Sinha has called upon C-DOT, Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) to innovate and develop Telecom products at reasonable costs for exporting to SAARC countries and other developing regions of the world. In a message on the occasion for 34th Foundation Day celebrations of C-DOT, he said that the premier Telecom R&D centre of the Government of India, can develop products having far reaching impact in the areas of Agriculture, Education and Health care. The Minister said that in an era of M2M communications, Internet of Things, 5G, Cognitive learning and hyper speed networks, C-DOT has to play an important role in developing state of the art telecom infrastructure at affordable rate for the common man. Referring to the launch of C-DOT’s latest innovation, “WiDHWAN”, Shri Sinha said that, it has been exclusively designed to cater to the recurring call drop issues in no-signal and low-signal network scenarios in places such as offices and homes. He also congratulated C-DOT for regularly organizing lecture series on its foundation day, attracting national and international talents from the fields of IT and Engineering to brainstorm on the future challenges facing the sector.

3. The term “Synlight” is seen in news recently. It is related to which of the following?

(a) It is the name of the spaceship being developed by Elon Musk’s SpaceX to ferry humans to space.

(b) It is the world’s largest artificial Sun made up of a honeycomb of several spotlights.

(c) It is world’s fastest wireless internet service started by Google using LiFi technology.

(d) It is world’s biggest solar power plant being established by China.

Answer: (b)

Explanation: On March 23,2017, the world’s largest artificial sun started emitting light in German town Julich. The artificial sun, which is powered by 149 industrial-grade film projector spotlights, is designed to create an alternate source of energy which can in-turn be used to generate climate-friendly fuel. The experiment has been officially named Synlight. The project has been designed by German Aerospace Center (DLR) scientists. The project has been set-up in a three storey building and each projector emits light which is 4,000 times the average bulb. For Synlight to remain operational for four hours, it uses electricity equivalent to that used by a four-person household in a year. The project is designed in a way that it has three separate radiation chambers. These generate solar radiation of up to 380 kilowatts and two times up to 240 kilowatts with a maximum flux density of more than 11 megawatts per square meter.

Synlight comes with a multi-focus capability, which means it can be used for one large application or it can also be split into smaller areas. Sunlight in central Europe is unreliable and irregular, so an artificial Sun is the preferred choice for developing production processes.

4. Consider the following statements ith reference to Carbon Markets :

(1) Carbon markets allow buying and selling of carbon emission reductions, or carbon credits.

(2) It is being set up for the first time through the Paris Agreement.

Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (b) Explanation: Carbon markets are one of the tools to tackle the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, i.e. the climate change problem. Carbon markets allow buying and selling of carbon emission reductions, or carbon credits to reduce global emissions. For e.g. It took about a tonne of steel to build a car, and for producing a tonne of steel, it emits two tonnes of carbon dioxide. At current prices, this will cost a steel producer in India roughly 1 lakh. Other companies that can avoid CO2 emissions at little cost (below 1 lakh) will sell their rights to those companies that have higher emission reduction costs. Another example, if a country has committed to reducing its emissions by 100 tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent), but reduces 110 tCO2e, it would be able to sell the extra 10tCO2e reduced to another country, which has not managed to meet its target. So, statement (1) is correct. Carbon markets also existed under the Kyoto Protocol, which is being replaced by the Paris Agreement. The provisions relating to setting up a new carbon market are described in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement. So, statement (2) is not correct. Therefore, the answer is (b).

5. IBM GRAF , sometimes in the news, is related to which of the following applications?

(a) Temperature Forecasting

(b) Weather Forecasting

(c) Weed Control

(d) Soil Testing

Answer: (b) Explanation: International technology company IBM plans to make a high-resolution weather forecasting model that will also rely on user-generated data to improve the accuracy of forecasts available in India. IBM GRAF (Global High-Resolution Atmospheric Forecasting System), is a forecasting system, which can generate forecasts at a resolution of 3 kilometres. This is a significantly higher resolution than the 12-kilometre models used by the India Meteorological Department to generate forecasts. These weather forecast techniques rely on dynamic modelling and collect a trove of atmospheric and ocean data, crunch it in supercomputers and generate forecasts over desired time-frames- three days, weekly or fortnightly. For its forecasts, IBM relies on a global network of sensors - automatic weather station, data buoys and barometric pressure data from cellphones of users who have downloaded the application. Weather forecasts will be available to individuals for free download and can be used by farmers. The forecast engine will also be used to provide custom forecasts for energy companies, consumer brands, insurance businesses, and satellite imagery analysts. Therefore, the correct answer is option (b).