Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

International Criminal Court:

• • It is a permanent judicial body created by the 1998 Rome Statute which began functioning on 1st July 2002.
  • It is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.

• 123 nations are States Parties to the Rome Statute and recognise the ICC’s authority, while the USA, China, Russia, and India are not the members.

• Jurisdictions:

• • The forum was established as a court of last resort to prosecute offences that would otherwise go unpunished.
  • It has jurisdiction over four main crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• • The fourth edition of the G20 TechSprint was unveiled.
  • Cross border payments have been at the forefront of initiatives by G-20 and other organisations for the last few years.

• It is a global technology competition to promote innovative solutions for improving cross-border payments.  

• It was jointly organised by the RBI and the Bank for International Settlements’ BIS Innovation Hub (BISIH). 
• This Hackathon will give it a fillip in taking this initiative forward.

Option (d) is correct

Explanation:

Central Bank Digital Currencies:

• • These are the digital form of a government-issued currency that isn’t pegged to a physical commodity.
  • These are issued by central banks, whose role is to support financial services for a nation’s government and its commercial-banking system, set monetary policy, and issue currency.

• Unlike cryptocurrencies that operate in a regulatory vacuum, these are legal tenders issued and backed by a central bank.

• It is same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency.

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

• LIGO is the world’s largest gravitational wave observatory.
• The United States National Science Foundation is partnering with top U.S. universities and India’s Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, or RRCAT (a unit of Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India) to launch LIGO-India.
• LIGO uses lasers to detect ripples in space-time through a method called interferometry: as gravitational waves pass by, they cause space itself to stretch and squeeze, which scientists can measure through changes in the beams of the LIGO lasers.
• The data LIGO collects have far-reaching implications in many areas of physics. 

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

Option (c) is correct

Explanation:

• • Recently, the Indian Defence Minister laid the foundation stone for the Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF) Coast Guard ‘Ekatha Harbour’.
  • Maldives is an island nation situated in north central Indian Ocean.

• The Eight Degree Channel separates Maldives from Minicoy island of India.