Ans: D

Exp:

Recently, the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 was launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna, Austria. 

About World Wildlife Crime Report:

• Launch: The World Wildlife Crime Report is launched by the UNODC.
• Report Series: Third in a series following publications in 2020 and 2016.
• Focus: Updated analysis on trends in illegal wildlife trade of species listed in CITES.
• Analysis: Systematic examination of wildlife crime harms and impacts.
• Investigation: Exploration of factors driving wildlife trafficking trends.
• Evaluation: Assessment of effectiveness of interventions to combat wildlife crime.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, one of the most intense solar storm has struck Earth, leading to formation of auroras in Ladakh.

About Solar Flares:

• Solar Flares: These are giant explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space. 
• CMEs: These flares are often associated with solar magnetic storms known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). 
• Increasing Solar Flares: The number of solar flares increases approximately every 11 years.
• Range and Effect: Not all solar flares reach Earth, but those that do, can affect near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.

Major Effects of Solar Flares:

• Effects on Technology:

• • • Statement 1 is Correct: Projection of a large solar flare impacting satellites, disrupting GPS navigation, mobile phone transmissions, and satellite TV.
    • Potential disruption of power grids and electrical networks in various regions.

• Atmospheric Disruption:

• • • Statement 2 is Incorrect: Temporary alteration of the upper atmosphere without causing tsunamis.
    • Statement 3 is Correct: High-energy particles causing atmospheric atoms to glow, resulting in auroras.

• Misconceptions:

• • • Statement 4 is Incorrect: No causal link between CMEs and forest fires, despite common misconceptions about solar storms causing extreme geological and atmospheric effects.
    • Solar flares and CMEs cannot physically burn landscapes, as they primarily affect space and the upper atmosphere, not the Earth’s surface.

• Interference with Communication:

• • Statement 5 is Correct: Solar flares can interfere with short-wave radios, emitting more rays and potentially increasing sunburn risk during these events.

Ans: C

Exp:

 Recently, eminent author Ruskin Bond has been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest honour given by the literary organisation.

About Sahitya Akademi Fellowship:

• • The highest honour conferred by the Akademi on a writer is by electing him as its Fellow. This honour is reserved for ‘the immortals of literature’ and limited to twenty-one only at any given time.

• Sahitya Akademi Fellows in 2021:

• • • Pair 1 is correctly matched: Sri Ruskin Bond (1934): His notable works include Vagrants in the Valley, Once Upon a Monsoon Time, Angry River, Strangers in the Night, All Roads Lead to Ganga, Tales of Fosterganj, Leopard on the Mountain and Too Much Trouble. 
    • Pair 2 is correctly matched: Smt. M. Leelavathy (1927): Acclaimed Malayalam writer, translator, professor and literary critic Dr M Leelavathy has bagged the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award. She won the award for her translation of the Sanskrit text ‘Srimad Valmiki Ramayanam’. 
    • Pair 3 is correctly matched: Sri Vinod Kumar Shukla (1937): Vinod Kumar Shukla is a modern Hindi writer known for his style that often borders on magic-realism. His works include the novels ‘Naukar ki Kameez’ and ‘Deewar Mein Ek Khirkee Rahati Thi‘, which won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the best Hindi work in 1999.  

• Other Sahitya Akademi Fellows in 2021:

• • Sri Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay (1935)
  • Dr. Bhalchandra Nemade (1938)
  • Dr. Tejwant Singh Gill (1938)
  • Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Rambhadracharya (1950)
  • Sri Indira Parthasarathy (1930)

Ans: A

Exp:

According to NASA, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission is on track for an “early 2024” launch.

• Statement 1 is Incorrect: NISAR is a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 
  • NASA and ISRO are providing two radars that are optimized each in their own way to allow the mission to observe a wider range of changes.
• Statement 2 is correct: The NISAR Mission will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses providing information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, and will support a host of other applications. 
  • NISAR will observe Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces globally with 12-day regularity on ascending and descending passes, sampling Earth on average every 6 days for a baseline 3-year mission.

Answer: C

Explanation:

Recently, the 4th Joint Committee meeting for the review of AITIGA (ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement) was held in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

About ASEAN:

• • Establishment: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand.
• 
  • Founding Members: ASEAN was founded with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. 
  • Other Members: Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN in 1984, followed by Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Cambodia, making up what is today the 10 Member States of ASEAN.

• Taiwan: It is not a part of ASEAN.