Ans: a

Exp:

Statement 1 is correct: A windfall tax is a tax levied by governments against certain industries when economic conditions allow those industries to experience above-average profits. 

• Windfall taxes are primarily levied on companies in the targeted industry that have benefited the most from the economic windfall, most often commodity-based businesses.

Statement 2 is incorrect. The windfall tax is imposed on the above average profit made by the industry. Hence, the price of the commodity will not have any effect.

Ans: d

Exp:

Post-liberalisation in 1991, the per capita income of the southern States surged significantly and they emerged as “leading performers”, shows an analysis released by the EAC-PM.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Among the northern States, Delhi and Haryana performed exceptionally well.

• Punjab had a head start due to the Green Revolution in the 1960s and ‘70s, but its performance has consistently declined thereafter. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: The report does not consider Goa, Himachal Pradesh, north-eastern States other than Assam, and Union Territories other than Delhi as major States.

Ans: c

Exp:

Statement 1 is incorrect: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act can be imposed by the Centre or the Governor of a state, on the state or parts of it, after these areas are declared “disturbed’’ under Section 3.

• The Act was amended in 1972 and the powers to declare an area as “disturbed” were conferred concurrently upon the Central government along with the States.

Statement 2 is incorrect: Currently, it is in effect in parts of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh.

• Also, AFSPA remains in force in Jammu and Kashmir through the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990.
• However, it was lifted from Tripura in 2015, Meghalaya in 2018 and Mizoram in the 1980s.

Ans: b

Exp:

Statement 1 is Incorrect: Coelacanths are elusive, deep-sea creatures, living in depths up to 2,300 feet below the surface.

• Euphotic zone: The ocean is divided into three zones based on depth and light level. The upper 200 meters of the ocean is called the euphotic, or “sunlight,” zone. 

• This zone contains the vast majority of commercial fisheries and is home to many protected marine mammals and sea turtles.

Statement 2 is Correct: 

• Coelacanths are deep-sea fish that live off the coasts of southern Africa and Indonesia and can reach up to two metres in length
• For a long time, scientists believed they were extinct. The coelacanth had been found first off South Africa in 1938 and then off the Comoro Island group northwest of Madagascar in 1952.

Ans: a

Exp:

The main agenda will be an agreement on climate finance in the upcoming  COP29 in  Azerbaijan.

• Azerbaijan is a landlocked country of eastern Transcaucasia. 
• It is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. 
• It is bounded on the north by Russia, on the east by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Iran, on the west by Armenia, and on the northwest by Georgia.