Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Leaders of the Solomon Islands and China promised to expand relations that have fuelled unease in Washington and Australia about Beijing’s influence in the South Pacific.

Option (c) is correct

Explanation: 

• Turkey agreed to allow Sweden to join the NATO alliance, setting the stage for the allies to showcase their unity at the Vilnius summit focused on securing support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia’s invasion.
• NATO was set up in 1949 by the US, Canada, and several western European nations to ensure their collective security against the Soviet Union. It was the US’s first peacetime military alliance outside the western hemisphere.
• Statement 1 is correct: Finland became the 31st member of NATO.
• Statement 2 is correct: NATO has following alliances-
  • Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a 50-nation multilateral forum for dialogue and consultation on political and security-related issues among Allies and partner countries.
  • Mediterranean Dialogue is a partnership forum that aims to contribute to security and stability in NATO’s Mediterranean and North African neighbourhood.
  • Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) is a partnership that aims at long-term global and regional security by offering non-NATO countries in the broader Middle East region the opportunity to cooperate with NATO.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• The Weather Department has attributed the heavy rainfall over Chandigarh and its adjoining areas to a Western Disturbance (WD), which hit the northern parts of India.
• Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Caspian or Mediterranean Sea, and bring non-monsoonal rainfall to northwest India, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
• They are the cause of most winter and post-monsoon season rainfall across northwest India.
• Precipitation during the winter season has great importance in agriculture, particularly for the rabi crops.
• They are usually linked with cloudy sky, higher night temperatures and unusual rain.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation: 

• Statement 1 is not correct: Recently, India has joined the Champions Group of the Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG).
• GCRG was set up by the United Nations Secretary General in 2022 to address urgent and critical global issues pertaining to interlinked crises in food security, energy, and finance and to coordinate a global response. 
• Statement 2 is correct: The GCRG is overseen by the Champions Group composed of representatives of Bangladesh, Barbados, Denmark, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal.

Option (d) is correct

Explanation:

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has relaunched his government’s quest to change Israel’s justice system, rekindling unprecedented nationwide protests.
• Israel borders Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinian territories of West Bank and the Gaza Strip; it shares maritime borders with Cyprus.

Image Credits:BBC

Option (c) is correct

Explanation:

• Set to be launched from Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14, Chandrayaan-3 is India’s third lunar mission. 
• It is a follow-up to the 2019 Chandrayaan-2 mission, which partially failed after its lander and rover couldn’t execute a soft-landing on the Moon.
• Scientists want to explore the lunar south pole due to following reasons:
  • Statement 1 is correct:Due to the rugged environment, the polar regions of the Moon have remained unexplored.
  • Statement 2 is correct:There are indications of the presence of ice molecules in substantial amounts in the deep craters in the lunar south pole.
  • Statement 3 is correct:The rocks and soil in Moon’s north and south poles could therefore provide clues to the early Solar System.