Option (b) is correct.

Explanation:

Recently, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) asked Karnataka to release 2600 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for a certain period.

• The Kaveri River is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka in Brahmagiri Range of hills in the Western ghats and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
• The Kaveri river’s catchment area lies in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
• The Harangi and Hemavati rivers are tributaries of the rivers Kaveri. The Kabini Reservoir in Karnataka is constructed on the Kabini River, a tributary of the Kaveri River, which joins the Krishna Sagar Reservoir.
• The Krishna Raja Sagar Dam has been constructed downstream on the Kaveri River in Karnataka.
• The Mettur Dam has been constructed across the main stream of Kaveri in Tamil Nadu.

Option (a) is correct.

Explanation:

The nation paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birth anniversary and remembered his visionary statesmanship and extraordinary dedication with which he shaped the destiny of India.

• After India gained independence, he was appointed as the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
• Patel played a pivotal role in integrating over 560 princely states into the Indian Union, using diplomacy, negotiations, and, when necessary, coercion to unite these regions into a single nation. This earned him the title “Iron Man of India.”
• Statement 1 is correct: Vallabhbhai Patel was born on 31st October 1875 in Nadiad, Gujarat. A successful lawyer by profession, his life encountered a turning point when Mahatma Gandhi chose him as his deputy to lead the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918.
• Statement 2 is not correct: In 1931, he was elected President of the Indian Nation Congress at its Karachi Session. At a time, the nation was in turmoil over the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.

Option (c) is correct.

Explanation:

• With several state elections in coming months, it is apparent that the central government is making efforts to curb food inflation to prevent inflation from becoming a focal point in election campaigns.
• Statement 1 is correct: Consumer Food Price Inflation is a measure of inflation which focuses exclusively on the price changes of food items in a consumer’s basket of goods and services.
• Consumer Food Price Index: It is a measure of change in retail prices of food products consumed by a defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year.
  • CFPI (Rural/ Urban/ Combined) is compiled as the weighted average of the Cereals and Products sub group of CPI for each of those categories – Rural/ Urban/ Combined.
• Statement 2 is correct: Like Consumer Price Index (CPI), the CFPI is also calculated on a monthly basis and methodology remains the same as CPI. The base year presently used is 2012.
  • CPI is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households.Presently the consumer price indices compiled in India are CPI for Industrial workers CPI(IW), CPI for Agricultural Labourers CPI(AL) and; Rural Labourers CPI(RL) and (Urban) and CPI(Rural).

Option (b) is correct.

Explanation:

• NTCA, in collaboration with the Sankala Foundation, organized an art exhibition to pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger’s successful completion.
• National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is a statutory body under the Ministry for Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) and was established in 2006.
• Statement 1 is not correct: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under section 38 L (1) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• Statement 2 is correct: The Minister for Environment and Forest acts as its Chairperson while its Vice-Chairperson was the Minister of Environment and Forests.
• It supervises the administrative issues related to protecting tigers as well as their environmental concerns.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• The merchant discount rate (MDR), which has been the most debated aspect in Unified Payments Interface (UPI), continued to get divided opinion from industry players.
• The merchant discount rate (MDR) is a fee charged to a business by the company that processes its debit and credit card transactions. Before they can accept debit and credit cards, merchants must set up this service and agree to the rate.
• Statement 1 is not correct:  MDR is a charge that merchants pay every time a debit card or credit card is swiped at their end for a transaction by a customer.
• Statement 2 is correct This charge, typically 1% of the transaction, goes to the company that has installed the Point of Sale (PoS) machine, the network provider such as MasterCard, Visa or RuPay, and the card-issuing bank.