11th January, 2022 – Static Quiz

Explanation:
You should not be intimidated by strange sounding options. You can get the answer by common sense.
Quartz and Basalt both can be associated with sedimentary rocks, even though Quartz may occur in felsic igneous rocks or granite. Option D is also about sedimentary rocks, so all can be eliminated except B. Bulk of the valuable minerals in India are products of pre- Palaeozoic age spanning from nearly 540-250 million years ago. Hadean age refers to the one right after formation of earth. So, D can be anyways eliminated.
These minerals are mostly associated with metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsular India, and not sedimentary rocks.
The vast alluvial plain tract of north India is devoid of minerals of economic use.

Explanation:
This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala. This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite.India is the largest producer of kyanite in the world. The USA, the UK and Japan depend heavily on imports from India. Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka produce practically the whole of kyanite of India.
Kyanite in the form of mullite is widely used in the manufacture of glass, burner tips, spark plugs, heating elements and high voltage electrical insulations and in the ceramic industry.The belt also contains high grade iron ore, manganese and limestone. This belt packs in coal deposits except Neyveli lignite.

Explanation:
Statement 1: It facilitates transfer of the coal reserves to more cost efficient State/Centre owned or Private sector generating stations. The portal allows coal swapping between PSUs and the Private Sector in transparent manner and also helps to reduce operational and logistic costs, bringing power tariffs down for the consumers.
Statement 2: It facilitates state/Central Gencos to display information about normative fixed and variable charges of electricity for the previous month. They can also display margin available for additional generation so as to enable the utilities identify stations for transfer of coal. It will host data on Quantity and source of supply coal to the power plant, Operational and financial parameters of each coal based station and Distance of Power plant form the Coal mine

Explanation:
This is the largest project and first one run by any foreign company in Russia having 100 percent equity.ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas arm of ONGC, entered Sakhalin-1, a large oil and gas field in Far East offshore in Russia, in 2001.India invested over $2.5 billion in Sakhalin-1.As per ONGC Videsh, “Sakhalin-1 project has opened doors for other India’s investments around the world, and today India has 37 projects in 16 countries.”Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.

Explanation:
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation including products like coal and oil accounted for 16.92% of the total percentage share of India’s exports. These are date for FY 2010-11.
Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semiprecious stones, and jewellery clad with precious metals and also coins accounted for 15.95% of total exports
Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and their parts and accessories accounted for 4.5%.
Electrical machinery and their equipment and parts including products like televisions and sound recorders had a total share of 4.31% of the export basket.

Explanation:
Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is a term used in the Hydrocarbon industry and refers to an agreement between Contractor and Government whereby Contractor bears all exploration risks, production and development costs in return for its stipulated share of (profit from) production resulting from this effort.
Production Sharing Contracts became widely adopted as part of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) launched by the Government in 1997 for enhanced exploration of oil and gas resources in the country.
The Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) under NELP are based on the principle of „profit sharing. When a contractor discovers oil or gas, he is expected to share with the Government the profit from his venture, as per the percentage given in his bid. Until a profit is made, no share is given to Government, other than royalties and cesses.
PSC allows the contractor to recover his cost, before giving Government its share in the contractor’s revenues, in case there is commercial discovery leading to production (Not all drilling leads to discovery of oil/gas). Thus, a certain proportion of the balance revenues of the contractor are shared with the Government.
The PSC regime has been changed with a revenue sharing contract model in 2016 through a Cabinet decision of the Government dated 10.03.2016. However, the new regime is applicable only for future contracts that would be awarded by the Government.

Explanation:
All the envisaged UMPPs are coal based both the coal pitheads and coastal locations (imported coal).
UMPPs are based on supercritical technology. It provides for higher fuel efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Power Finance Corporation is the nodal agency for all the UMPPs. Central Electricity Authority (CEA) is the Technical partner.
The first UMPP was launched in Mundra by Tata Power. Reliance Power commissioned UMPP in Sasan, Madhya Pradesh.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is not correct: Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) gives an option to a company looking for exploring hydrocarbons to select the exploration blocks on its own, without waiting for the formal bid round from the Government.
Both Statement 2 and 3 are correct:
OALP was introduced vide a Cabinet decision of the Government dated 10.03.2016, as part of the new fiscal regime in exploration sector called HELP, so as to enable a faster survey and coverage of the available geographical area which has potential for oil and gas discovery.
What distinguishes OALP from New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) of 1997 is that under OALP, oil and gas acreages will be available round the year instead of cyclic bidding rounds as in NELP. Potential investors need not have to wait for the bidding rounds to claim acreages.
Successful implementation of OALP requires building of National Data Repository on geo-scientific data.

Explanation:
Four main facets of HELP policy are:
The uniform licence will enable the contractor to explore conventional as well as unconventional oil and gas resources including Coal Bed Methane, shale gas/oil, tight gas and gas hydrates under a single license.Open Acreage Policy will enable exploration and production companies choose the blocks from the designated area.Profit sharing model of NELP is replaced by easy to administer Revenue sharing model. Government will not be concerned with the cost incurred and will receive a share of the gross revenue from the sale of oil, gas etc. in tune with Ease of Doing Business (statement 3 is incorrect) On the lines of NELP, cess and import duty will not be applicable on blocks awarded under the new policy.This policy also provides for marketing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced from these blocks. This is in tune with Government’s policy of “Minimum Government-Maximum Governance”.Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

Explanation:
The Integrated Energy Policy of India approved by the Cabinet in 2008 states that “A reserve equivalent to 90 days of oil imports should be maintained for strategic cum buffer stock purposes to address short term price volatility”.
Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), under the administrative jurisdiction of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has built strategic storages at three locations- at
Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) Mangalore (Karnataka) andPadur (Kerala)