Ans: B

Exp

Statement 1 is incorrect: The entity behind MethaneSAT is the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

• EDF is a US-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group. 

• To develop the satellite, EDF partnered with Harvard University, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and the New Zealand Space Agency.
• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a critical element of the historic Paris Agreement. It is the world’s largest climate fund, mandated to support developing countries raise and realise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) ambitions towards low-emissions, climate-resilient pathways.

Statement 2 is correct: It is an Earth observation satellite that will monitor and study global methane emissions in order to combat climate change.

• MethaneSAT will orbit the Earth 15 times a day, monitoring the oil and gas sector. It will create a large amount of data, which will tell “how much methane is coming from where, who’s responsible, and are those emissions going up or down over time”.

Statement 3 is correct: The data collected by MethaneSAT will be made public for free in near real-time. 

• The collected data will be analysed using cloud-computing and AI technology developed by Google (mission partner) and the data will be made public through Google’s Earth Engine platform
• This will allow stakeholders and regulators to take action to reduce methane emissions.

Ans: C

Exp:

France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee abortion as a constitutional right.

• Abortion enjoys wide support in France across most of the political spectrum, and has been legal since 1975.
• The constitutional change was prompted by recent developments in the US, where the right to abortion was removed by the Supreme Court in 2022.

Ans: A

Exp: 

The waters of the Red Sea are at an ‘environmental risk’ after Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar sank in the southern part of the Sea recently.

• Angola does not border the Red Sea.
• The countries of Yemen and Saudi Arabia border the Red Sea to the east. 
• Egypt to the north and west, and Sudan, Eritrea, and Djibouti to the west. 
• The Red Sea connects with the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean through the human-made Suez Canal and to the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb (‘Gate of Tears’ in Arabic).
• The Red Sea supports high species endemism. 
• It  gets its rich biodiversity due to the flow of nutrient-rich water from the Gulf of Aden through the Bab el Mandeb.

Ans: C

Exp:

President Droupadi Murmu will confer Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards for the Years 2022 and 2023 to ninety-four eminent artists in New Delhi Recently. 

Statement 1 is incorrect: The awards are given in the fields of music, dance, drama, folk and tribal arts, puppetry and allied theatre art forms.

• The Akademi Awards have been conferred since 1952. 
• The honour of Akademi Fellow carries a purse money of three lakh rupees, while the Akademi Award carries a purse money of one lakh rupees. 

Statement 2 is incorrect: The Fellowship of the Akademi (not the akademi award)  is the most prestigious honour and is restricted to 40 numbers at any given time.

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship is the highest honour conferred by Sangeet Natak Akademi without distinction of nationality, race, caste, religion, creed, or sex.

Ans: D

Exp:

The traditional Majuli masks in Assam as well as Majuli manuscript painting were given a Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Centre recently.

Statement 1 is correct: The handmade masks are traditionally used to depict characters in bhaonas, or theatrical performances with devotional messages under the neo-Vaishnavite tradition, introduced by the 15th-16th century reformer saint Srimanta Sankardeva. 

• The masks can depict gods, goddesses, demons, animals and birds — Ravana, Garuda, Narasimha, Hanuman, Varaha Surpanakha all feature among the masks.

Statement 2 is correct:  Mask making or ‘Mukha Shilpa’ of Majuli is one of the most famous traditional crafts still practised in Majuli, the world’s largest inhabited river island.

• ‘Mukha Shilpa’ has been an integral part of the ‘Sattriya’ culture of Assam.
• It has been mainly confined to the Satras, Vaishnavite monasteries or centres of learning, and individual craftsmen residing in the villages of Majuli.