Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) was granted ‘Navratna’ status by the Department of Public Enterprises. 

Statement 1 is incorrect: Maha Ratna status can be granted to a Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) having less than 100 percent government stake. Criteria for grant of Maharatna status to CPSEs

The CPSEs meeting the following criteria are eligible to be considered for grant of Maharatna status.

• Having Navratna status
• Listed on Indian stock exchange with minimum prescribed public shareholding under SEBI regulations
• An average annual turnover of more than Rs. 25,000 crore during the last 3 years
• An average annual net worth of more than Rs. 15,000 crore during the last 3 years
• An average annual net profit after tax of more than Rs. 5,000 crore during the last 3 years
• Should have significant global presence/international operations.

Statement 2 is correct: Navratna companies in India can invest up to ₹1,000 crore or 15% of their net worth in a single project without needing government approval. 

• These companies have the liberty to invest up to 30% of their net worth within a year as long as it stays below ₹1,000 crores.

Statement 3 is incorrect: The CPSEs which have made a profit in the last three years continuously, pre-tax profit is Rs.30 crores or more in at least one of the three years and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-I status.

• The CPSEs which have made profit for the last three years continuously and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-II status.

Ans: A

Exp: 

Recently due to Wealth redistribution gaining traction in the Election discourse Universal basic Income is becoming an agenda yet to be fulfilled.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Universal Basic income (UBI) by its very name, is universal i.e. for all. Everyone irrespective of their financial condition is entitled to UBI and thus it isn’t only for the poorest. 

• Universal basic income (UBI) is a socio-political financial transfer policy proposal in which all citizens of a given country receive a legally stipulated and equally set financial grant paid by the government.
•  A Universal Basic Income is unconditional. It requires that every person should have a right to a basic income to cover their needs, just by virtue of being citizens.

Statement 2 is correct: A basic income is a regular, periodic cash payment delivered unconditionally to all citizens on an individual basis, without the requirement of work or willingness to work.

• UBI has three components: Universality (all citizens included), unconditionality (no prior condition), and agency (by providing support in the form of cash transfers to respect, not dictate, recipients’ choices).

Statement 3 is incorrect:  UBI has been tried in India by Ahmedabad-based non-profit Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) between 2011 and 2013 in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district on a pilot basis.

• The study showed positive and promising results. The impact showed that the majority of the beneficiaries (over 66 per cent) used the ready cash for constructive purposes. While some used the money to improve farm production, others invested in livestock. Education also became a priority and many families sent their children to better schools.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Kazakhstan endorses ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’

Statement 1 is correct:  Shanghai Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental political, economic, and security alliance founded in 2001 by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The first summit was held in Shanghai, China, in 2001.

• The organization focuses on security-related concerns, including terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

Statement 2 is correct: The organization focuses on security-related concerns, including terrorism, separatism, and extremism. 

• It addresses regional issues like human trafficking, weapons trafficking, and terrorism through initiatives like the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).

Statement 3 is incorrect: The Chairmanship of SCO is by rotation for a year by Member States.

• India assumed the rotating Chairmanship of SCO at the Samarkand Summit on 16 September 2022. Under India’s first-ever Chairmanship, the 23rd Summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State took place. 
• Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) from July 2023 to July 2024.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, researchers exploring Earth’s driest hot desert, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, have uncovered a hidden microbial world 13 feet beneath the surface

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Atacama Desert is a 600-mile-long (1,000 kilometers) plateau in the north of Chile, near the borders of Peru, Bolivia and Argentina in South America.

•  It is the driest non-polar desert in the world, receiving very little precipitation and experiences extreme aridity. 

Statement 2 is correct:Llano de Chajnantor Observatory is the name for a group of astronomical observatories  located at an altitude of over 4,800 m (15,700 ft) in the Atacama Desert  of northern Chile.

•  The exceptionally arid climate of the area is inhospitable to humans, but creates an excellent location for millimetre, submillimeter , and mid-infrared astronomy.

Statement 3 is correct: The discovery of a rich microbial biosphere buried deep beneath the Atacama Desert’s surface sheds light on the resilience of life in extreme environments and has implications for the search for life on Mars.

•  The researchers propose that these microbes survive at depth by extracting water from gypsum, a mineral present in the Atacama Desert’s soils. The reaction between gypsum and water can release water under certain conditions, providing a potential source of hydration for the microbes.

Ans: C

Exp:

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986, at the No. 4 reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in Ukrain in erstwhile USSR.

Pair 1 is incorrect: The Chernobyl disaster is the worst nuclear power plant accident ever in terms of death toll and cost in Ukraine. 

• The accident happened in 1986 when a steam explosion destroyed reactor number four at the Ukrainian plant. 

Pair 2 is incorrect: The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pennsylvania, suffered a partial melt down on March 28, 1979.

Pair 3 is correct: In March 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, caused a 15-metre tsunami that disabled the power supply and prompted three reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. 

Pair 4 is incorrect: One of the most serious nuclear accident in history happened at the secretive Mayak plant, near the Russian town of Kyshtym – part of the Soviet Union’s attempt to match the US for weapons-grade plutonium production. 

• After a faulty cooling system was left to disrepair, rising temperatures resulted in an explosion with the equivalent force of 70-100 tons of TNT.