Ans: C

Exp: 

The Indian Men’s cricket team remains stranded in Barbados following the T20 World Cup win due to a tropical cyclone, Hurricane Beryl, currently surging through the Windward Islands.

About Tropical cyclones:

• Statement 1 is correct: Tropical cyclones are intense low-pressure areas confined to the area lying between 30°N and 30° S latitudes, in the atmosphere around which high-velocity winds blow. Horizontally, it extends up to 500-1,000 km and vertically from the surface to 12-14 km. 
• It is energised by the release of latent heat on account of the condensation of moisture that the wind gathers after moving over the oceans and seas.

Favourable Conditions for the Formation of Tropical Cyclone

• Large sea surface with temperature> 27° C;
• Presence of the Coriolis force;
• Small variations in the vertical wind speed;
• A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation and  
• Upper divergence above the sea level system.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Tropical cyclones do not form over the equator because the Coriolis force is zero at the equator. Even though the equator is a zone of wind convergence, it has nothing to do with tropical cyclone as such.
• Statement 3 is correct: In the South Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclones do not originate because of low sea surface temperatures.

Ans: C

Exp: 

A new study has revealed more spiral galaxies in the universe’s youth than astronomers had expected.

About galaxies:

• • Statement 1 is correct: Galaxy is a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction. They are the major building blocks of the universe.

• Types:

• Regular Galaxies:

• Spiral Galaxies: 

• • • • • Characteristics: Disc-shaped, greater concentration of stars near the center, nonuniform star distribution, old stars in the center, young stars in the arms, well supplied with interstellar gas for new star formation. 
        • Statement 2 is incorrect: The Milky Way is not an elliptical galaxy; it is a spiral galaxy.

• Elliptical Galaxies: 

• • • • • Characteristics: Most member stars are very old, no new star formation, smaller and less bright.

• Irregular Galaxies:
• • • Characteristics: Make up 1/10th of all galaxies, contain very old stars.
• Size Range: Smallest galaxies contain about 100,000 stars; largest contain up to 3,000 billion stars.

About Milky Way:

• The Milky Way is estimated to contain 100-400 billion stars. 
• The inner stars travel faster than those further out. 
• Statement 3 is correct: A supermassive black hole called Sagittarius A* is at the centre.
• The Solar System is located in the Orion Arm, 26,000 light years from the centre (about one-third from the centre) of the Milky Way

Ans: C

Exp:

Physicists have reported the most precise estimate yet of the top quark’s mass, which is closely connected to the universe’s existence. An important source for all elementary particles is the Higgs field, which pervades the entire universe.

About Higgs Boson:

• The Higgs boson is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics.
• It was predicted by the physicist Peter Higgs and others in 1964.
• The discovery of the Higgs boson was announced on July 4, 2012, by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
• The Higgs boson, a type of boson, is a force-carrying subatomic particle.
• It carries the force that a particle experiences when traversing the Higgs field (a universal energy field),which is responsible for granting fundamental particles their mass. Hence, option C is correct.
• A particle’s mass is directly correlated with its interaction strength with the Higgs boson.
• Therefore, Electrons possess a specific mass, while protons have more, and neutrons slightly surpass protons.
• A Higgs boson can also interact with another Higgs boson — this is how we know that its mass is greater than that of protons or neutrons.

Ans: A

Exp: 

The World Bank has approved a $1.5-billion loan to help India accelerate its low-carbon energy development. The financing for the operation includes a $1.46-billion loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a $31.5-million credit from the International Development Association (IDA).

Different Institutions under World Bank group:

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD):

• • • Statement 1 is correct: IBRD provides commercial or concessional loan to only sovereign states or projects backed by sovereign states.
    • Its loans are aimed to improve transportation and infrastructure, education, domestic policy, environmental consciousness, energy investments, healthcare, access to food and potable water, and access to improved sanitation.

• International Development Association (IDA):

• • • Statement 2 is incorrect: International Development Association (IDA) helps the world’s poorest countries and aims to reduce poverty by providing interest-free loans (called IDA Credits) and grants for programs that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions.

• International Finance Corporation (IFC):

• • • IFC was created in 1956 to foster private sector investment in developing nations.
    • It finances the private sector investment, mobilizing capital in the international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments.

• Multilateral Investment Guarantee (MIGA):

• • • MIGA promotes foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries to help support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives.

• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID):

• • Facilitates arbitration and conciliation of investment disputes between governments and foreign investors.

Ans: A

Exp: 

Recently, five soldiers died after a tank was swept away by strong water currents in the Shyok river during a military training in Ladakh.

About Shyok River:

• Statement 1 is correct: It originates from the Rimo Glacier; one of the tongues of the Siachen Glacier, and gets its name from a Ladakhi word meaning ‘the river of death’.
• It is a river that flows through northern Ladakh.
• Statements 2 is incorrect: It enters the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit-Baltistan, where it joins the Indus River. It is a left bank tributary of the Indus River.
• Its main right-bank tributary is the Nubra River.
• The total length of the river is around 550 km.