Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, the CEO of NITI Aayog pointed out that India should reconsider becoming a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

•  Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a mega-regional economic agreement between ASEAN and their FTA partners, aiming to boost trade and investment in the region. 
• Members: RCEP is a 15-member grouping.

• ASEAN Nations: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Option (a) is correct
• Five FTA partners: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea.

•  It is the world’s largest free trade agreement by members’ GDP.

• It is estimated that through its trade liberalizing provisions RCEP could lead to income gains of over $200 billion by 2030 and add $500 billion to world trade.

Ans: C

Exp:

Pelicans started arriving from Siberia in the first week of November and will stay on till the end of March next year.

• Pelicans are a type of large waterbird with a long throat and a bag of skin under its long beak for storing food.
• It is a social species, living and traveling mainly in flocks.
• It breeds in Southern Asia and across India.
• Statement 1 is correct: It is listed in Schedule IV of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Statement 2 is correct: The species is found to breed only in peninsular India, Sri Lanka and in Cambodia.
• Statement 3 is correct: The species is listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List.

Ans: D

Exp:

The Supreme Court on Monday observed that religion does not encourage polluting activities like bursting firecrackers which affect the fundamental right to health of Citizens.

• Right to live in a pollution-free atmosphere is a fundamental right of every citizen under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.Option (d) is correct.
• In the 1980s, the Supreme Court  read the right to a clean environment as part of Article 21.
• Indian Constitution is the first in the world conferring constitutional status to the environment protection

• Through the Constitutional (forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976 two articles were incorporated viz. Article 48-A and 51A (g) 
  • Article 48-A: State shall endeavor to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
  • Article 51A(g):  It is a duty of every citizen to protect and preserve the environment.

Ans: C

Exp:

The WMO report, titled ‘Statement of Climate 2024’, was released at the UN Climate Change Conference. 

• The primary cause for the warming, according to global experts, was the strong El Nino event that kept the global temperatures above average for 16 consecutive months between June 2023 and September 2024. (COP29).
• El Niño is a loose translation of “little boy” or even “Christ child” in Spanish.
• Statement 1 is correct: El Niño  is the warming of sea waters in the Central-east Equatorial Pacific that occurs every few years.
• Statement 2  is correct: In India, El Niño causes weak rainfall and more heat, while La Niña intensifies rainfall across South Asia , particularly in India’s northwest and Bangladesh during the monsoon.
• During El Niño, surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise, and trade winds — east-west winds that blow near the Equator — weaken.

Ans: C

Exp:

• Reserve Bank of India is looking to collaborate with the US and the European Union for its digital rupee before a full scale roll-out. The country is also set to extend its partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the cross-border pilot of CBDC.
• Statement 2  is correct:CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank in digital form.
• Statement 1 is correct:CBDC can be transacted using wallets backed by blockchain.
  • Unlike Private Cryptocurrencies,  CBDCs are backed by the central bank, ensuring stability and trust.
• Statement 3 is correct:CBDC can be converted to other forms of money, like deposits with banks.

Significance of Central Bank Digital Currency

• Countries will be able to directly exchange digital currencies in a bilateral way and without going through SWIFT or similar settlement systems
• Reduce the cost of currency management while enabling real-time payments without any inter-bank settlement.