Option (d) is correct

Explanation

• Recently, the Supreme Court agrees to list pleas to criminalise marital rape before three-judge Bench
• Statement 1 is correct:India, is one of the 34 countries that have decriminalised marital rape.
• Statement 2 is correct:Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) defines the acts that constitute rape by a man
• The provision, however, lays down two exceptions as well.
  • Apart from decriminalising marital rape, it mentions that medical procedures or interventions shall not constitute rape.
  • Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code states that “sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, and if the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape”

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is correct: ‘Collegium System’ is a system under which appointments and transfers of judges are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. It has no place in the Indian Constitution.
• Article 124 deals with the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
• Statement 2 is correct: It has its genesis in a series of three judgments that is now clubbed together as the Three Judges Cases namely: First Judges Case (1982), Second Judges Case (1993) and Third Judges Case (1998).
• These three cases established that the collegium headed by the Chief Justice of India will have primacy in the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Universal Postal Union (UPU) is a United Nations specialised agency and the postal sector’s primary forum for international cooperation.
• Statement 1 is not correct:It was established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874.
• Mandate: To ensure universal access to postal services.
• Statement 2  is correct: Its Headquarters is located in Bern, Switzerland.

Option (c) is correct

Explanation:

• Rudragiri hillock, unveils a fascinating combination of prehistoric rock paintings from the Mesolithic period and exquisite artwork from the Kakatiya dynasty.
• The Mesolithic Age, also known as the Middle Stone Age, was the second part of the Stone Age.
• Spread: Rajasthan, south of the river Krishna, central and eastern parts of India, and also in southern Uttar Pradesh. 
• Statement 1 is correct: In India, it spanned from 9,000 B.C. to 4,000 B.C. 
• Statement 2 is correct:This age is characterised by the appearance of Microliths (small bladed stone tools). 
• The Mesolithic Age was a transitional phase between the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age. 
  • The people of this age lived on hunting, fishing, and food gathering; later on they also domesticated animals.

Option (c) is correct

• Recently, the forest department has identified 12 illegal, unauthorized or unrecognized resorts in  Srivilliputhur Megamalai Tiger Reserve, Megamalai division in Theni, Tamil Nadu.

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

• The Henley Passport Index is the ranking of all the world’s passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. 
• It includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations. 
• Statement 1 is correct: It is brought out by Henley and Partners.
• Statement 2 is not correct: India secures 80th rank on Henley Passport Index.
• The index gathers data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) which manages inter-airline cooperation globally.