Question 13: Consider the following statements:

1. Digi Yatra envisages that travelers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features.
2. The project Digi Yatra is being implemented by the Digi Yatra Foundation a joint- venture company whose maximum shareholder is the Airports Authority of India.
3. For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the Digi Yatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 3
4. 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: C

Explanation

• Digi Yatra envisages that Travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.
• With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
• For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the Digi Yatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture.
• In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.
• The project is being implemented by the Digi Yatra Foundation — a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India (26% stake) and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International These five shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares.

Question 14: Consider the following statements:

1. The Kirit Parikh committee was set up to review the current gas pricing formula.
2. The Mahajan Commission was set up by the Government of India to look into the border dispute between Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 2 only
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

• The Centre has begun a review of the pricing formula for domestically produced gas amid rising concerns over skyrocketing global natural gas prices jacking up energy and industrial costs and derailing the efforts to contain inflation. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up a committee under noted energy expert Kirit Parikh to review the current gas pricing formula.
• Due to a dispute over the means of distributing the Narmada water among Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, a committee was set up to decide the fate of the Sardar Sarovar dam project under the Chairmanship of Dr AN Khosla.
• The Khosla committee, in 1965, recommended a higher dam with a Full Reservoir Level of 500 ft (152.44m). However, the MP government did not agree to this and so the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal (NWDT) was constituted by the Government of India in October 1969.
• The Mahajan Commission was set up by the Government of India in October 1966 to look into the border dispute. In its report submitted in August 1967, the Commission, led by former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, recommended that 264 villages should be transferred to Maharashtra, and that Belgaum and 247 villages should remain with karnataka.

Question 15: The hashtag “A4Revolution”- a reference to the size of the paper- began trending on Twitter, is related with:

1. USA
2. France
3. China
4. Russia

Correct Answer: C

Explanation

• Cities across China have been witnessing waves of protests against the country’s tough zero-Covid policy in recent weeks. The movement, which is no longer limited to China alone, is widely being dubbed the ‘white paper revolution’.
• The hashtag “A4Revolution” — a reference to the size of the paper — began trending on Twitter after the protests started spreading across the nation.
• Soon, Instagram and Facebook users around the world started changing their profile photos to blank sheets of paper in support of the Chinese protesters, The New York Times reported.
• On China’s state-controlled social media, WeChat and Weibo, users are showing solidarity by posting blank white squares or photos of themselves holding blank sheets of paper. The movement has spread to an extent where the hashtag “white paper exercise” was blocked on Weibo prompting users to lament the censorship.

Question 16: Consider the following statements:

1. Mauna Loa is the world’s largest active volcano.
2. The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) is a scale, having a range of 1 to 10 with a higher VEI indicating more explosivity.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 2 only
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: A

Explanation

• Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted after 38 years on Sunday (November 27), spewing ash and debris, and covering the night sky of Hawaii’s Big Island in an incandescent red hue.
• The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) is a scale used to measure the explosivity of a It has a range of 1 to 8 with a higher VEI indicating more explosivity. While the VEI of the current eruption at Mauna Loa is not known yet, the previous eruption in 1984 was deemed to have a VEI of 0. The highest VEI ever recorded in Mauna Loa has been 2 (in 1854 and 1868). One of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions ever occurred in Krakatoa in 1883 (VEI 6).

Question 17: Find the correct match:

1. Krakatoa volcano: Indonesia
2. Eyjafjallajökull volcano: Iceland
3. Shiveluch volcano: Russia

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1. 1 and 2
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 3
4. 1, 2 and 3

Correct Answer: D

Explanation

Some famous volcanoes:

• Krakatoa, Indonesia
• Mount Vesuvius, Italy: In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted (VEI 5), in one of the deadliest eruptions in European history, killing as many as 16,000 and destroying the town of Pompeii. The explosion was described by Greek writer Pliny the Younger, who was present nearby, as being “sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted… more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.”
• Mount Fuji, Japan
• Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland:
• The Shiveluch volcano in Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula 

Question 18: Consider the following statements:

1. The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in Spain.
2. The baguette was inscribed into the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage.

Which of the following statements is/are true?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. 1 and 2 only
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Correct Answer: B

Explanation

• The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in Baguette — the staple French bread — was inscribed into the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) on November 30.