Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• In May, the headline retail inflation rate fell to a 25-month low and the wholesale price index (WPI) is now deep in the red, but groceries and household items continue to appear expensive to most Indians. 
• Statement 1 is not correct: Inflation means the increase of price rise, which is due to the increase in demand and reduction in supply.
• Statement 2 is correct: Both the Government and the Reserve Bank of India work to deal with inflation with their own policies known as Fiscal and Monetary Policies respectively. 

Option (d) is correct 

Explanation:

• Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, for anyone living north of the Equator, is June 21. It occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right over 23.5 degrees north latitude.
• Solstice means “sun stands still” in Latin. As per NASA summer solstice is that instant in time when the North Pole points more directly toward the Sun than at any other time during the year. 
• Statement 1 is correct: While the solstice occurs at the same time across the world, different countries experience it at different times according to their time zones.
• Statement 2 is correct: The amount of light received by a specific area in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer solstice depends on the latitudinal location of the place. The further north one moves from the equator, the more light one receives during the summer solstice. At the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set during the solstice.
• Summer solstice, however, does not necessarily mean the earliest sunrise or latest sunset. That depends on the latitudinal location of the country.

Option (c) is correct

Explanation:

• Recently, Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian accused of killing a soldier in the occupied West Bank, which has been hit by a new outbreak of violence.

Image Credits: BBC

• Israel is bordered to the:
  • North by Lebanon
  • Northeast by Syria
  • East and Southeast by Jordan
  • Southwest by Egypt
  • West by the Mediterranean Sea

Option (d) is correct

Explanation:

• The Indian Prime Minister gifted the 7.5-carat eco-friendly laboratory-grown diamond to the U.S. First Lady Jill Biden in Washington on his State Visit.
• The Ministry of Finance (MoF) in its 2023-24 Union Budget has put special emphasis on LGDs.
• The diamond reflects earth-mined diamonds’ chemical and optical properties. It is also eco-friendly, as eco-diversified resources like solar and wind power were used in its making.
• Statement 1 is not correct: LGDs are diamonds that are produced using specific technology which mimics the geological processes that grow natural diamonds. They are not the same as “diamond simulants” – LGDs are chemically, physically and optically diamond and thus are difficult to identify as “lab-grown.”
• Statement 2 is correct: There are multiple ways in which LGDs can be produced. The most common (and cheapest) is the “High pressure, high temperature” (HPHT) method. Other processes include “Chemical Vapour Deposition” (CVD) and explosive formation that creates “detonation nanodiamonds”.

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

• Recently, the Bureau of Indian Standards organised the meeting to disseminate details about the regulations prepared in line with the National Building Code of India. 
• The document aimed at bringing uniformity in structuring and detailing of provisions in the regulations and key approval processes throughout the country.
• Statement 1 is correct: The National Building Code of India (NBC), a comprehensive building Code, is a national instrument providing guidelines for regulating the building construction activities across the country. It serves as a Model Code for adoption by all agencies involved in building construction works be they Public Works Departments, other government construction departments, local bodies or private construction agencies.
• The Code mainly contains administrative regulations, development control rules and general building requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations regarding materials, structural design and construction (including safety); building and plumbing services; approach to sustainability; and asset and facility management.
• The Code was first published in 1970 at the instance of the Planning Commission and then first revised in 1983. 
  • The second revision of the Code was held in 2005.
• Statement 2 is not correct: Goal 9 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seeks to build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

• Recently, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) imposed a fine of ₹1.5 crore for negligence and resorting to unethical practices to West Delhi-based hospital that botched up an in vitro fertilisation procedure for a Hyderabad-based couple, by using donor semen that did not belong to the husband. 
• Statement 1 is correct: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), India is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. Its head office is in New Delhi.
• Statement 2 is not correct: The Commission is headed by a sitting or a retired Judge of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India or a sitting or a retired Chief Justice of an Hon’ble High Court, in terms of Rule 3(12)(a) of the Tribunal(Conditions of Service) Rules, 2021. 
• Statement 3 is not correct: The Commission is presently headed by Hon’ble Ms. Justice Deepa Sharma, former Judge of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court and the senior-most Judicial Member of the National Commission as acting President.