Ans: A

Exp:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Rajasthan government to grant legal protection to sacred groves or Orans in Rajasthan as “forests” and carry out a district-wise mapping of such lands not based on their size but on their ecological and cultural significance.

About Sacred groves:

• Sacred Groves are small patches of trees traditionally protected by the local community for religious and cultural significance.
• They are also important for protecting local biodiversity. They also serve as sanctuaries for both nature and spirituality.

Different Names for Sacred Groves

• Pair 1 is correctly matched: Oran: Rajasthan
• Pair 2 is incorrectly matched: Kovil Kadu: Tamil Nadu
• Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: Mawphlang: Meghalaya

Ans: D

Exp: 

Recently, it was found that the Ethiopian wolf, the first large carnivorous predator, is also a pollinator.

About Pollination:

• When a pollen grain moves from the anther (male part) of a flower to the stigma (female part), pollination happens and it is the first step in a process that produces seeds, fruits, and the next generation of plants. 
• Pollinators are Vectors that move pollen within the flower and from flower to flower are called pollinators. 
• There are two categories of pollinators:
  • Invertebrate pollinators: Include bees, moths, flies, wasps, beetles and butterflies.
  • Vertebrate pollinators: Include monkeys, rodents, lemurs, tree squirrels, bats and birds. 
    • Pollinators( Bat, Bee, Birds, Wolf)
• Ethiopian wolf is the first large carnivorous predator documented consuming nectar and being a pollinator.

Hence, Option D is correct.

Ans: B

Exp: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to Kuwait, in what will be the first trip to the Gulf nation by an Indian Prime Minister in 43 years.

About Kuwait:

• It is situated on the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the tip of the Persian Gulf.
• It is bordering Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south.
• It also shares a maritime border with the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Hence, Option B is correct.

Ans: A

Exp:

In 2017, NASA discovered and later confirmed the first interstellar object to enter our Solar System. Its speed and path around the Sun don’t match a typical asteroid, but it also has no bright tail or nucleus (icy core) we normally associate with comets.

About Dark comets:

• Dark comets are a new class of near-Earth objects (NEOs) that are similar to asteroids in appearance but behave more like comets. Dark comets look like asteroids, without the bright tails that traditional comets have. Statement I is correct.
• Dark comets are unable to form bright tails when they approach the sun for mainly 3  reasons, including: 
  • Size: Dark comets are often small, only a few meters to a few hundred meters wide. This means that there is less surface area for material to escape and form a tail. Statement II is correct and correctly explains Statement I.
  • Spin: Dark comets often spin rapidly, which disperses escaping gas and dust in all directions, making them less visible.
  • Composition and age: Dark comets may have weaker or no gas loss due to their composition and age. Over time, the materials that go into the tails of bright comets are depleted.

Ans: A

Exp: 

In a first, Indian oceanographers have captured the image of an active hydrothermal vent located 4,500 metres below the surface of the Indian Ocean. 

What are Hydrothermal Vents?

• Statement 1 is correct: Hydrothermal vents are underwater hot springs located in tectonically active regions.
• Statement 2 is correct and 3 is incorrect: Cold seawater interacts with magma, becoming superheated (up to 370°C) and emerging as mineral-rich plumes and gases through chimneys or vents.
• These vents support unique ecosystems with chemosynthetic microbes as primary producers.

Significance for Deep Ocean Mission:

• Mineral Resource Exploration: Deposits around vents contain valuable metals like copper, zinc, gold, silver, cobalt, and nickel, essential for economic growth.
• Biological Insights: Unique microbial life forms offer clues to extremophile ecosystems, with potential applications in biotechnology and medicine.
• Samudrayaan Mission: Enhances India’s capabilities in manned deep-sea exploration for both inactive and active vent systems.