Ans: C

Exp:

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that the Government of India has eliminated Trachoma as a public health problem.
• India has become the third country in the South-East Asia Region to achieve this milestone.
• Trachoma is a disease of the eye caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia tracho matis. If left untreated, it can lead to irreversible blindness.
• Transmission: Spread through personal contact, such as hands, clothes, bedding, or contaminated hard surfaces.
• Vector: Flies that come into contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person can also transmit the disease.
• Diseases Eliminated by India includes:
  • Smallpox: It was declared eradicated globally in 1980 (India’s last case was reported in  1975).
  • Polio: India was declared polio-free in 2014 (India’s last reported case was in 2011).
  • Trachoma: Declared eliminated as a public health problem in 2017.
• Chickenpox has not been officially declared eliminated in India. It is still present, though vaccines have made it less common. Option (c ) is correct.

Ans: C

Exp:

• According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1 in 5 people will likely develop cancer in their lifetime.
• Hereditary cancer syndromes are genetic disorders where mutations in one or more inherited genes increase the risk of developing cancer. 
  • These mutations can also cause cancer to develop at an earlier age
• Statement 1 is correct: The BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were discovered in the mid-1990s
• Statement 2 is correct: These are important for understanding hereditary cancer, particularly breast and ovarian cancers.
• BRCA and Cancer Risks
  • Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes increase the risk of breast, ovarian, and fallopian tube cancers in women, as well as prostate and breast cancer in men.
  • These mutations are also linked to a higher risk of cancers like pancreatic, colorectal, and uterine cancers.

Ans: A

Exp:

 Recently, the State of Global Water Resources report 2023 has been published.

About State of Global Water Resources report 2023:

• Statement 1 is correct: It is published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
• Annual report: Offers a comprehensive and consistent overview of water resources worldwide
  • It is based on input from dozens of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and other organisations and experts.

Key Findings:

• Statement 2  is not correct: 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades.
• Below-normal river flows: Widespread below-average river flows for five consecutive years.
• Reservoir inflows: Similar pattern to river flows, reducing water for communities, agriculture, and ecosystems.
• Glacier mass loss: 2023 recorded the second consecutive year of global ice loss across all glacier regions.

Ans: A

Exp:

• The Nobel Prize in physics 2024 was awarded to John J Hopfield and Geoffrey E Hinton “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.” Option (a) is correct
• Hopfield built an artificial neural network (ANN) resembling the network of nerve cells in the human brain, that allowed computer systems to ‘remember’ and ‘learn’.
• Machine Learning is a subset of artificial intelligence (AI) that focuses on the development of algorithms that enable computers to learn from and make decisions based on data, without being explicitly programmed for specific tasks. 

Ans: D

Exp:

India’s reliance on kerosene-based lamps as a secondary lighting source leads to release of 12.5 gigagrammes (Gg) per year of a potent climate pollutant called black carbon. 

Kerosene based Lamps account for about 10 percent of the total residential black carbon emissions, which includes cooking, heating and lighting, according to a study published in the journal Atmospheric Pollution Research.

Statement II is correct:kerosene has a lower burn rate than biomass.

Statement I is Incorrect: The emissions factors for black carbon of the Kerosene are higher than the biomass. 

For example, emissions factors for black carbon for Kerosene lights vary between 17 g and 190 g per kg, surpassing biomass’s 1-2g per kg.

Black carbon emission factor is the amount of pollutant released in grams per kg of the fuel burnt, from different lighting devices.