Ans: C

Exp: 

Recently, the Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR 2023).

• The report contains information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in India’s forests, instances of forest fire, Agroforestry, etc.

Major Findings:

• The Forest and Tree cover of the country is 8,27,357 sq km which is 25.17 percent of the geographical area of the country, consisting of 7,15,343 sq km (21.76%) as forest cover and 1,12,014 sq km (3.41%) as tree cover. 
• As compared to assessment of 2021, there is an increase of 1445 sq km in the forest and tree cover of the country which includes 156 sq km increase in the forest cover and 1289 sq km increase in tree cover.

• Top four states showing maximum increase in forest and tree cover are Chhattisgarh (684 sq km) followed by Uttar Pradesh (559 sq km), Odisha (559 sq km) and Rajasthan (394 sq km).
• Top three states showing maximum increase in forest cover are Mizoram (242 sq km) followed by Gujarat (180 sq km) and Odisha (152 sq km).
• Area wise top three states having largest forest and tree cover are Madhya Pradesh (85,724 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (67,083 sq km) and Maharashtra (65,383 sq km).
• Area wise top three states having largest forest cover are Madhya Pradesh (77,073 sq km) followed by Arunachal Pradesh (65,882 sq km) and Chhattisgarh (55,812 sq km).
• In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to total geographical area, Lakshadweep (91.33 percent) has the highest forest cover followed by Mizoram (85.34 percent) and Andaman & Nicobar Island (81.62 percent); Hence Option 3 is Correct.
• The present assessment also reveals that 19 states/UTs have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these, eight states/UTs namely Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A & N Island, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur have forest cover above 75 percent. 
• The total mangrove cover is 4,992 sq km in the country.

Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR 2023)’ 

• The report contains information on forest cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in India’s forests, instances of forest fire, Agroforestry, etc.

• India has lost 1,488 square kilometres (sq km) of ‘unclassed forests’, an analysis of data from the State of Forest Report (SOFR) 2023 has revealed.

• Unclassed forests are government-owned but are not notified under the Forest Act, hence statement 1 is  correct.

• They belong to departments such as revenue and railways, hence Statement  2 is Correct.
• However, unclassed forests are not part of the Recorded Forest Area as per the SOFR 2023, hence, statement 3 is  incorrect.

Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, 150 dignitaries were invited for the celebrations marking the centenary of the Congress session in Belgaum (now Belagavi) in 1924, which was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi. 

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The first woman president of INC was Annie Besant (In 1917, the Calcutta Session). 
  • However, the first Indian woman president of INC was Sarojini Naidu (In 1925, the Kanpur Session).
• Statement 2 is correct: The first Muslim President of the Indian National Congress was Badruddin Tyabji (In 1887, the Madras Session).
• Statement 3 is correct: The 39th session of the Congress held in Belgaum (now Belagavi) in 1924 was the only session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.
  • The venue was named “Vijayanagara,” though the entrance gate was designed like the Gopura of the Virupaksha temple at Hampi.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, a study shows that three sites spread along the Denali Fault located in the southern half of Alaska were once a smaller united geologic feature indicative of the final joining of two land masses. That feature was then torn apart by millions of years of tectonic activity. Hence, option B is correct.

Additional Information:

• Fault → Planar fracture (crack) in a volume of earth’s crust, across which there has been significant displacement of a block/blocks of crust.

• Occur due to tensile and compressive forces acting on parts of the crust.
• Energy release associated with rapid movement on active faults is the cause of most earthquakes.

Ans: D

Exp:

Speed guns are devices widely used by law enforcement officials to monitor traffic speed, by coaches to gauge the performance of their athletes, and in various other industries in need of accurate motion tracking.

What is a Speed Gun?

• A speed gun measures the speed of moving objects using electromagnetic waves. They use radio waves, not sound waves, to detect the Doppler effect. Hence, Statement 2 is correct. 

Mechanism:

• It emits electromagnetic radiation and captures the reflected waves from the object.
• Speed guns rely on the Doppler effect to calculate the speed of moving objects by measuring frequency changes between the emitted and reflected waves. Hence Statement 1 is correct.

Limitations of Traditional Radar Speed Guns

• Radio waves diverge as they travel, creating broad beams that may strike multiple objects.
  • Multiple reflections can result in inaccurate readings.

• LIDAR speed guns, which use laser light, are more accurate due to the low divergence of laser beams, hence Statement 3 is correct.