Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, the government unveiled a major policy for cargo promotion, ‘Jalvahak’, to boost long haul cargo movement via inland waterways across National Waterways (NW) on rivers Ganga, Brahmaputra and Barak.

• Statement 1 is incorrect: The Jalvahak scheme is a joint initiative between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Inland and Coastal Shipping Ltd (ICSL), which is a subsidiary of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCIL).
  • Aim: To unlock the trade potential of inland waterways & encourages to reduce logistics costs, decongest road and railways, and adapt to a sustainable mode of transportation.
  • Scheme is initially valid for 3 years
• Statement 2 is incorrect: The scheme provides a reimbursement of up to 35%, not 50%, for the operating costs incurred while transporting goods via inland waterways.
  • Cargo owners transporting goods over distances exceeding 300 km via waterways will receive up to 35 per cent reimbursement on operating costs → Incurred while transporting cargo via waterways on NW 1 (Ganga river), NW 2 (Brahmaputra river) & NW 16 (Barak river) via  Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.
• Statement 3 is correct: The scheme covers the waterways on NW 1 (Ganga river), NW 2 (Brahmaputra river), and NW 16 (Barak river) under the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route.

Ans: D

Exp:

The report, titled The Global Status of Salt-Affected Soils, was released on December 11, 2024 and is FAO’s first major global assessment of salt-affected soils in 50 years. 

• The report was launched during the International Soil and Water Forum 2024 in Bangkok, co-organised by FAO and Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, to discuss an action plan for halting and reversing soil degradation and water scarcity.
• Statement 2 is correct: Sodic soils are those which have an exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of more than 15.Salt-affected soils are a specific group of soils that have elevated amounts of soluble salts (saline soils) or exchangeable sodium (sodic soils) that adversely affect the growth of most plants.
• As per the report, India had a salt-affected area of approximately 6.72 million ha, or 2.1 per cent of its total geographic area, of which 2.95 million ha were saline and the remaining 3.77 million ha were sodic. 
• Statement 1 is correct: Gujarat (2.23 mha), Uttar Pradesh (1.37 mha), Maharashtra (0.61 mha), West Bengal (0.44 mha) and Rajasthan (0.38 mha) made up about 75 per cent of the country’s salt-affected soils. 
  • Out of the total affected area, 20 per cent of India’s agricultural land was harmed by salt or sodicity, specifically in Jaisalmer, the coastline in Gujarat and the Ganges basin. The most cultivated crops grown on saline and sodic soils in India were rice, cotton, barley, sorghum and millets.
• Almost 17 per cent of the country’s irrigated agriculture had experienced secondary salinisation as a result of the use of brackish irrigation water. 

Ans: C

Exp:

Recently, a Russian tanker split in a storm, spilling oil into the Kerch Strait.

• Pair 1 is correct: Kerch Strait is a Strait in Eastern Europe that connects Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and separates the  Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai in the east. 
  • Its name is derived from the Crimean city of Kerch.
• Pair 2 is correct: Bosporus Strait connects Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.
• Pair 3 is correct: Dardanelles Strait connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean Sea.

Ans: A

Exp:

In a successful conservation initiative, the white-winged wood duck (deo hanh in Assamese), the state bird of Assam, has been spotted in an artificial pond, “Neelmoni Beel,” at Nameri Tiger Reserve (NTR).

• Statement 1 is incorrect: White-Winged Wood Duck is found in India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (not in all Himalayan countries).
• Statement 2 is correct: In India, its habitat is restricted to the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Statement 3 is correct: The bird is crepuscular i.e., active at dusk and dawn.
  • Habitat → Mostly resides in dense tropical evergreen forest and is known to prefer inaccessible swampy areas formed by numerous rivers, streams, etc. 
  • Features → Black body, a white head that is thickly spotted with black, conspicuous white patches on the wings, and red or orange eyes.
• Statement 4 is incorrect: It is listed as Critically Endangered (not Vulnerable) on the IUCN Red List.

Ans: C

Expl: 

Context: Carbon markets have gained significant attention during the ongoing COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

• The conference emphasized the establishment of international standards for carbon markets, which is expected to aid their implementation globally by next year.

What is a carbon market?

• A carbon market is a system where the right to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere can be bought and sold.
•  Governments aiming to limit carbon emissions can issue certificates known as carbon credits, each granting the holder the right to emit a specified amount of carbon dioxide—One carbon credit is equivalent to 1,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Hence statement 1 is Correct.
• By capping the total number of carbon credits, authorities can regulate the overall carbon emissions released into the environment.

Statement 2 is Incorrect: While the Kyoto Protocol formalized carbon trading mechanisms at a global scaleCarbon credits were first used in the 1990s in the U.S., which introduced the cap-and-trade model to control the emission of sulphur dioxide.

Statement 3 is Correct: Carbon offsets allow firms to compensate for their emissions by funding projects that reduce or remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Common examples include afforestation, renewable energy projects, and carbon capture initiatives.