Ans: A

Exp:

Recently, India has shortlisted two astronauts Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, designated for the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station. 

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Artemis II is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Artemis program, is a crewed lunar mission set to orbit the Moon, marking humanity’s return since 1972.

Pair 2 is correctly matched: The Axiom Mission 4 is a private spaceflight to the International Space Station. It marks NASA’s fourth private astronaut mission, organized in partnership with Axiom Space.

Pair 3 is correctly matched: NASA will launch Europa Clipper, which will explore one of Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa.

Pair 4 is not correctly matched: The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is a joint project between NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite.

Ans: A

Exp:

A team led by Indian radio astronomers have reported the discovery of 34 new giant radio sources (GRSs) using the giant metrewave radio telescope (GMRT).

• The GRSs are among the largest objects in the Universe, and their enormous size and rarity puzzles astronomers as to how they grew to such a gigantic size.
• Astronomers believe that GRSs represent the final stage of radio galaxy evolution due to their enormous sizes.

Statement 1 is correct: Giant radio sources are likely to be the largest single structures in the universe, with end-to-end extents of millions of light years. They are driven by supermassive black holes with masses ten million to a billion times that of the Sun, residing at the centre of the host galaxy. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: GMRT is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope operating within low frequency range. 

• It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

Statement 3 is incorrect: GMRT is located at Khodad, 80 km north of Pune, Maharashtra.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, the government has issued a draft notification to declare over 56,800 square kilometres of the Western Ghats across six states, including 13 villages in Kerala’s landslide-hit Wayanad, Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). 

• The development comes amid massive landslides wreaking havoc in Wayanad, leading to the deaths of over 300 people.

Statement 1 is correct: The Western Ghats is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• • Older than the Himalaya mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes.

• The Western Ghats are internationally recognized as a region of immense global importance for the conservation of biological diversity, besides containing areas of high geological, cultural and aesthetic values.

Statement 2 is correct: It also has an exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism and is recognized as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. 

• The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species.

Statement 3 is incorrect: A chain of mountains running parallel to India’s western coast, approximately 30-50 km inland, the Ghats traverse the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Ans: D

Exp:

Recently, a new project aiming to accelerate the development and accessibility of human avian influenza (H5N1) messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries has been launched. 

• This will be done through mRNA Technology Transfer Programme (MTTP) of World Health Organization (WHO), which will supplement the ongoing work under the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework.
• The Argentinian manufacturer Sinergium Biotech will lead this effort leveraging the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) mRNA Technology Transfer Programme.

Statement 1 is incorrect: The mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, jointly developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), was launched in July 2021 with the aim to build capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for the development and production of mRNA-based vaccines. 

• These are the centers from where quality generic medicines are made available to all. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: The programme is based around a technology transfer “hub”  Afrigen, which is located in South Africa.

Ans: C

Exp:

Recently, the government approved eight national high-speed road corridor projects of length 936 km entailing investment of Rs 50,655 crore to improve logistics efficiency and connectivity across the country.

• The projects approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs include 6-Lane Agra-Gwalior National High-Speed Corridor, 4-Lane Kharagpur-Moregram National High-Speed Corridor, 6-Lane Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad National High-Speed Corridor, 4-lane Ayodhya Ring Road, 4-Lane Section between Pathalgaon and Gumla of Raipur-Ranchi National High Speed Corridor, and 6-Lane Kanpur Ring Road.

Statement 1 is correct: NH44 is the longest national highway in India running 3745 km from Srinagar to Kanyakumari. 

• It was previously known as the NH7.

Statement 2 is correct: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1988 (hence, a statutory body) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

• NHAI has been set up as a Central Authority to develop, maintain and manage the National Highways entrusted to it by the Government of India. The authority, however, became operational in February, 1995.