Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

India and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states are negotiating a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with a view to boost economic ties between the two regions.

The EFTA is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1960 by the Stockholm Convention for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its Member States and the benefit of their trading partners around the globe. 

Members of EFTA include Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Headquarters of the EFTA Secretariat is located in Geneva.

Option (c) is correct.

Explanation:

A new study has revealed about the illegal trade in sturgeon products. Sturgeon is a fish native to lower Danube countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. 

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1998 listed the species as endangered and put restrictions on fishing of sturgeons from the Danube and Black Sea.

Rivers Draining into the Black Sea: 

Danube: It is the second longest river in Europe after the Volga. It rises in the Black Forest mountains of western Germany and flows for around 2,850 km to its mouth on the Black Sea. 

Dnieper: It is the fourth longest after the Volga, Danube, and Ural. It flows through western Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine to the Black Sea.

Dniester: It is the river of Ukraine and of Moldova, rising on the north side of the Carpathian Mountains and flowing to the Black Sea near Odesa.

Volga: It rises in the Valdai Hills northwest of Moscow and discharges into the Caspian Sea. 

Option (c) is correct.

According to RBI data, banks investment in 91-day T-Bill rose over 112 percent to Rs 19,820 crore as of September 29, 2023.

Cash Management Bills (CMBs)

In 2010, Government of India, in consultation with RBI introduced a new short-term instrument, known as Cash Management Bills (CMBs), to meet the temporary mismatches in the cash flow of the Government of India. 

Statement 1 is correct: The CMBs have the generic character of T-bills but are issued for maturities less than 91 days. 

Treasury bills or T-bills, are money market instruments, are short term debt instruments issued by the Government of India and are presently issued in three tenors, namely, 91 day, 182 day and 364 day. 

Statement 2 is correct: Treasury bills are zero coupon securities and pay no interest. Instead, they are issued at a discount and redeemed at the face value at maturity. 

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

Pair 1 is correctly matched: European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) probe will use double gravity assist, for the first time ever, from Earth and Moon to propel itself towards Jupiter. 

Pair 2 is not correctly matched: Hayabusa2 is a mission by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that studied asteroid Ryugu, collected samples, and brought them to Earth for analysis. The spacecraft is on an extended mission to asteroid 1998 KY26.

Pair 3 is not correctly matched: NASA’s New Horizons mission was an interplanetary probe launched in 2006.  It aims to map the surfaces of Pluto and Charon, to study Pluto’s atmosphere and to take temperature readings.

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

Recently, the Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister said that women entrepreneurs are accorded first priority under the Centre’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana scheme.

MUDRA, stands for Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd., is a financial institution set up by the Centre.MUDRA has been initially formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Small Industries Development bank of India (SIDBI) with 100% capital being contributed by it. 

Launch Year: 2015

Objective: To provide loans up to 10 lakh to the non-corporate, non-farm small and micro enterprises through Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs).

Statement 1 is correct: MUDRA does not lend directly to micro-entrepreneurs/individuals.

Statement 2 is correct: Loans under this scheme are collateral-free loans.

Statement 3 is not correct: It is under the aegis of Ministry of Finance