Ans: C

Exp:

The Supreme Court commenced its week-long special Lok Adalat drive to amicably settle long-pending disputes as a part of its 75th anniversary celebrations.

About Lok Adalat:

• • Lok Adalat, which means “People’s Court“, is a unique alternative dispute resolution mechanism in India aimed at providing speedy and inexpensive justice to litigants.
  •  It operates on the principles of conciliation, mediation, and compromise to settle disputes outside the formal judicial system.
  • Composition
    • Consists of such number of serving or retired judicial officers and other persons of the area as may be specified by the agency. 
    • Generally, a Lok Adalat consists of a judicial officer as the chairman and a lawyer (advocate) and a social worker as members. 

• Dispute

• • • Lok Adalat has the power to determine and to arrive at a compromise or settlement between parties in:
      • Any case pending before any court
      • Any matter that falls within the jurisdiction of any court and is not brought before such court.

• Jurisdiction

• • • Statement 1 is incorrect: No jurisdiction for non-compoundable offences.
    • Statement 2 is correct: The Lok Adalat has jurisdiction not only over cases already pending before a court but also over disputes at the pre-litigation stage

• Award of Lok Adalat

• • Decree of civil court/order of any court. 
  • Statement 3 is correct: Lok Adalat awards are final and binding on all parties involved in the dispute. They are considered equivalent to a civil court decree, meaning they hold the same legal weight. Generally, Lok Adalat awards are not appealable to any court of law. 

Ans: D

Exp: 

Scientists from the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi, have developed an enhanced genome-editing system that can modify DNA more precisely and more efficiently than existing CRISPR-based technologies.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR-Cas9)

• It is a Gene Editing tool and is a precise way of altering DNA. It cuts out specific strands of DNA, and replaces them with new strands.
• Statement 1 is incorrect: CRISPR: It is the DNA-targeting part of the system which consists of an RNA molecule, or ‘guide’, designed to bind to specific DNA bases through complementary base-pairing.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: Cas9: It stands for CRISPR-associated protein 9, & is the nuclease part that cuts the DNA.
• The CRISPR-Cas9 system: The technology was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system used by bacteria as an immune defense. 
• It helps the organisms recognise and fight off similar viruses in the future by acting  like an immune system. 

Ans: C

Exp:

Since the inception of India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), the path to cleaner air in 131 cities has been marked by evolving metrics and methodologies for evaluating performance. 

About National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

• It was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in January 2019.
• Statement 1 is correct: NCAP is a mid-term, five-year action plan launched in 2019. 
  • However, international experiences and national studies indicate that significant outcomes in terms of air pollution initiatives are visible only in the long-term, and hence the programme may be further extended to 20–25 years in the long-term after a mid-term review of the outcomes.
• Aim: To achieve reductions up to 40% or achievement of National Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter10 (PM 10) concentrations by 2025-26.
• Target:
  • Statement 2 is correct: Tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) concentration by 2024 is proposed under NCAP.
  •  These interim targets are in line with global experiences which highlight that city specific actions led to 35%–40% PM2.5 reduction in five years for cities, such as Beijing and Seoul, whereas cities, such as Santiago and Mexico City have shown 73% and 61% reduction in 22 to 25 years with regard to PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, respectively.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: It is a comprehensive initiative in partnership with various Ministries and States to improve air quality at city, regional and national level.

Ans: A

Exp: 

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh reviewed and approved amendments to the deal for 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) from General Atomics of the US, according to defence sources. 

About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

• • Statement 1 is correct: The Defence Acquisition Council is the highest decision-making body of the Defence Ministry on procurement.
  • Statement 2 is correct: Formation: It was formed after the Group of Ministers’ recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’ in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).

• Composition: 

• • Statement 3 is incorrect: The Defence minister is the chairman of Defence Acquisition Council. 
  • Its members include the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Army, Navy, and Air Force chiefs.

Ans: D

Exp:

Azerbaijan has announced the Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF) to invest in climate action in the developing world.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):

• Statement 1 is Incorrect: The UNFCCC is a multilateral treaty adopted in 1992 – shortly after the first assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1990 – to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations “at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”

About Climate Finance Action Fund (CFAF):

• Statement 2 is Incorrect: Azerbaijan, ahead of COP 29, announced a new fund on July 19 to help developing countries fight climate change. The fund is called the ‘Climate Finance Action Fund’.
  • CFAF will become operational at the conclusion of the initial fundraising round, which seeks to capitalise the fund with $1 billion, and when 10 contributing countries committed as shareholders.
  • Fifty percent of the capital will be directed towards climate projects in developing countries that rely on support, across mitigation, adaptation, and research and development.
  • Fifty percent of the contributions will be allocated to helping meeting members’ the next generation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to keep the 1.5C temperature target within reach.
  • Twenty percent of the revenues generated from investments will be deposited in a Rapid Response Funding Facility (2R2F) providing highly concessional and grant-based support.
  • The fund will be headquartered with its secretariat in Baku, Azerbaijan