Ans: D

Exp:

Statement 1 is correct: A benami deal is a transaction or an arrangement where a property or assets like stocks is “transferred” to or is “held” by a person but the consideration of such property has been provided or paid by another person. In other words, the holder of the asset (the front) is not it’s true beneficial owner.

Statement 2 is correct: The Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 (PBPT Act) defines benami transactions, prohibits them and further provides that violation of the PBPT Act is punishable with imprisonment and fine. The PBPT Act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamidar by the real owner. Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the Government without payment of compensation.

Ans: C

Exp:

Statement 1 is correct: The SKAO is not a single telescope but an array of thousands of antennas, to be installed in remote radio-quiet locations in South Africa and Australia, that will operate as one large unit meant to observe and study celestial phenomena. The SKA project is spread across different sites in South Africa and Australia and is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

India, through the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) and some other institutions, has been involved in the development of SKA since its inception in the 1990s.

Statement 2 is correct: Considering the multinational collaboration, SKAO was established as an intergovernmental organisation in 2021 following years of negotiation in which India, too, participated.

Countries have to sign, and ratify, the SKAO convention to formally become members. The Government’s approval for joining the project, with a financial sanction of Rs 1,250 crore, is the first step towards the ratification.

Statement 3 is correct: India’s main contribution to the SKA is in the development, and operation, of the Telescope Manager element, the “neural network” or the software that will make the telescope work.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, the PM  inaugurated the Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection (KLI – SOFC) project in a move to resolve the challenge of slow internet speed in the Union Territory.

Statement 1 is correct: The Project envisages the provision of a direct communication link through a dedicated submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Kochi and 11 Islands of Lakshadweep viz. Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Agati, Amini, Androth, Minicoy, Bangaram, Bitra, Chetlat, Kiltan and Kadmat.

High bandwidth communication facility to the Lakshadweep Islands is in consonance with realising the national objective of strengthening e-governance services and achieving the vision of Digital India.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Project would be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund was established with the fundamental objective of providing access to “Basic” telegraph services to people in remote and rural areas at affordable and reasonable prices.

Ans: A

Exp:

Jyotirao ‘Jyotiba’ Govindrao Phule was a prominent social reformer and thinker of nineteenth-century India. He led the movement against the prevailing caste restrictions in India. He revolted against the domination of the Brahmins and struggled for the rights of peasants and other low-caste people. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule was also a pioneer for women’s education in India and fought for the education of girls throughout his life. After reading Thomas Paine’s famous book ‘The Rights of Man’, Jyotirao was greatly influenced by his ideas.

• He believed that the enlightenment of the women and lower caste people was the only solution to combat social evils.
• In 1873, Jyotiba Phule formed the Satya Shodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth). The purpose of the Satya Shodhak Samaj was to decontaminate society from caste discrimination and liberate the oppressed lower-caste people from the stigmas inflicted by the Brahmins. 
• Jyotirao Phule was the first person to coin the term ‘Dalits’ to apply to all people considered lower caste and untouchables by the Brahmins. 
• To publicize his ideas, Phule wrote books, essays, poems, and plays. His best-known work is the book Gulamagiri (Slavery), published in 1873.

Ans: C

Exp:

Snow leopard remains one of the most mysterious cats in the world. Highly adapted to life on the cold, rocky slopes of High Asia the snow leopard is a master of stealth and camouflage. Very rarely seen by humans, it has come to be known as the ‘ghost of the mountains. It is Listed as

• Vulnerable on the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species
• Schedule I species as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• The Government of India has identified the snow leopard as a flagship species for the high-altitude Himalayas. It has developed a centrally-supported program called Project Snow Leopard to conserve the species and habitats.
• Currently, the Snow Leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) is being undertaken by the MoEFCC, Govt of India. WWF India is working with the MoEFCC and the state forest departments of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim for this assessment.