Answer: B

Exp: 

Recently, the Supreme Court overturned a ban on bump stocks enacted by the Trump administration, ruling that the government was wrong to classify the devices as machine guns.

• Option (b) is correct: The bump stock allows a weapon to fire at nearly the rate of a machine gun without technically converting it to a fully automatic firearm. 
• It replaces the weapon’s stock, which is held against the shoulder, and allows the rest of the rifle to slide back and forward with every shot despite having no mechanical parts or springs.
• The motion makes the trigger collide with, or bump, the shooter’s finger as long as they apply forward pressure with the non-shooting hand and rearward pressure with the shooting hand.
• It is estimated that a semi-automatic rifle outfitted with a bump stock can fire between 400-800 bullets per minute, comparable to machine guns.

Answer: A

Exp: 

The Prime Minister of India attended a G-7 outreach meeting.

G-7

• About: This intergovernmental organisation, formed in 1975, convenes annually to address shared concerns such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy. 
• Members: The G7 comprises the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US. 
  • All G7 members are also part of the G20. Option (a) is correct.
• No Charter: Unlike formal organisations, the G7 operates without a charter or a secretariat. 
• Presidency and Agenda Setting: Each year, the presidency rotates among member nations, which leads to agenda-setting. 
  • Sherpas, ministers, and envoys collaborate on policy initiatives before the summit.
• Last summit: The 49th G7 summit took place in Hiroshima, Japan.
• Participation of India: India, though not a member of the G7, participated as a guest in the 2019, 2021, and 2022 G7 summits upon invitations from France, the UK, and Germany respectively.

Answer: C

Exp: 

• The central government has given a year-long extension to the Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) meant for digitising patients’ health records and linking them with the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Account (ABHA ID).

Digital Health Incentive Scheme (DHIS) 

• Statement 1 is correct:Under the scheme, government and private hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, diagnostic labs, and pharmacies are paid Rs 20 for each additional record they digitise, over and above the threshold of 100 transactions a month.
• Statement 2  is correct:The scheme is applicable to both public and private hospitals and digital solution companies (DSCs) creating digital health records. Under it, each facility or digital solution company can earn incentives up to Rs 4 crores.
• Statement 3  is correct:The scheme was launched by the National Health Authority (NHA) on January 1, 2023 to promote digital health transactions and to provide a boost to the healthcare providers for adopting digital health.
• The scheme helps reimburse hospitals their expenditure on digitising their facility. This expenditure was often reported as a significant bottleneck for hospitals to move to digital health.
• DHIS equips the care providers to become digital, thereby enabling better healthcare services and more convenience for patients.

Answer: C

Exp: 

Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has developed a new product to predict the emergence of El Niño and La Niña conditions — they are different phases of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) — up to 15 months in advance. 

• Statement 1 is correct: ENSO is a climate phenomenon which involves changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, coupled with fluctuations in the overlying atmosphere.
  • It can alter the global atmospheric circulation, which, in turn, influences weather across the world.
• ENSO occurs in irregular cycles of 2-7 years and has three different phases — warm (El Niño), cool (La Niña), and neutral. 
  • In the neutral phase, the eastern side of the Pacific Ocean (near the northwestern coast of South America) is cooler than the western side (near the Philippines and Indonesia).
• In the El Niño phase, however, wind systems weaken, leading to lesser displacement of warmer waters. As a result, the eastern side of the Pacific becomes warmer than usual. In the La Niña phase, the opposite happens.
• Statement 2 is correct: In India, while El Niño conditions usually lead to a weak monsoon and intense heat waves, La Niña conditions result in a strong monsoon.

Answer: C

Exp: 

SEBI has proposed to the government to amend the Companies Act, 2013, to include donations made through social stock exchanges (SSEs) as part of CSR activities.

About Social Stock Exchanges (SSEs):

• Statement 1 is correct:It was Proposed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the FY20 budget.
• SSEs are platforms within stock exchanges where non-profit organisations focused on social welfare can list to raise funds.
• Statement 2  is correct:Both BSE and NSE operate social stock exchanges
• Current Listings: There are currently eight non-profit organisations listed on the NSE SSE, as stated by an NSE spokesperson.
• The minimum donation through SSEs is ₹50 lakh, as per a SEBI notice.
• Benefits 
  • SSEs will give credibility and visibility to social enterprise
  • It will also help in increasing transparency and accountability in the social sector.
  • It will allow donors to invest in social enterprises through zero coupon zero principal (ZCZP) securities. 
    • These securities will not provide any monetary returns, but they will allow donors to support the work of social enterprises.
  • It will give donors more confidence that their donations are being used effectively.