Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Recently, NASA detected a signal from its Voyager 2 spacecraft, after losing communication for over a week. Voyager 2 is currently in interstellar space. 
  • Its primary mission was the exploration of Jupiter and Saturn.
• Hayabusa 2 Mission: It is a Japanese spacecraft that studied the asteroid Ryugu, collected samples, and brought them to Earth for analysis.
• Euclid is a European mission, built and operated by the European Space Agency, with support from NASA’s Roman Space Telescope. 
  • It aims to explore the composition and evolution of the ‘dark’ Universe.

Option (d) is correct

Explanation:

• The Union government’s  ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project may see 9.64 lakh trees felled to enable the construction of a trans-shipment port, an international airport, and township development.
• Statement 1 is Correct: Great Nicobar is the southernmost island of the Nicobar Islands Archipelago.
• It is a region of evergreen tropical forests with high biological diversity and the island itself is home to nearly 650 species of flora and 330 species of fauna.
• Statement 2 is Correct: Andaman and Nicobar are separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’.
• The Great Nicobar Island lies between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in a tectonically sensitive zone.

Option (b) is correct

Explanation:

• Researchers have recorded the first instance of captive breeding of the Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis) in India at the Assam State Zoo, Guwahati.
• Statement 1 is Correct: The Himalayan vulture mostly lives in the Himalayas on the Tibetan plateau (India, Nepal and Bhutan, central China and Mongolia).
  • It is also found in the Central Asian mountains (from Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east).
• Statement 2  is not Correct:It is categorised as ‘Near Threatened’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.
• Statement 3 is Correct: Oriental white-backed vultures are protected in the Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. 

Option (a) is correct

Explanation:

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has withdrawn the permit under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for U.K.-based NGO Save The Children’s Indian offshoot, Bal Raksha Bharat.
• The FCRA was first enacted to regulate foreign donations  during the Emergency in 1976.
  • There were apprehensions that foreign powers were interfering in India’s affairs by pumping money into the country through independent organisations.
• Statement 1 is Correct:FCRA registration is valid for five years. NGOs are expected to apply for renewal within six months of the date of expiry of registration.
• Statement 2 is not Correct: It is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.

Option (c) is correct

Explanation

• Statement 1 is correct: BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
  • BRICS countries represent 27% of the world’s land mass, and 42% of the world’s population, 24% of global GDP, and 16% of Global trade, and produce 33% of the world’s food.
• Statement 2 is correct: In 2001, the British Economist Jim O’Neill coined the term BRIC .
  • South Africa was added in 2010.
• The chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.
  • India was the chair for 2021.
• The 1st BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, in Russia in 2009.