Ans: D

Exp:

Recently, scientists found three fish species viz. Jansen’s wrasse, Checkerboard wrasse and Moon wrasse, that live in the Laccadive Sea are capable of using tools.

• Option (a) is Correct: Moon Wrasse: It is a type of marine fish in the wrasse family. It is found in shallow tropical and subtropical coastal areas, particularly in coral reefs and seagrass beds.

• Sand Martin: It is a migratory passerine bird in the swallow family. It breeds in colonies, builds nest by tunneling into sandbanks. 

• Common Krait: It is a venomous snake native to the Indian subcontinent. It is also known as the Indian krait or Bengal krait. The common krait is one of the “big four” snakes in India that inflict the most snakebites on humans. 

• White Ibis: It is a large wading bird with a white body, long legs, and a long, curved bill. They are typically found in shallow water habitats, such as marshes and shallow edges of lakes and rivers.

Ans: D

Exp:

Recently, the  Supreme Court has decided to hear petitions seeking 100% cross-verification of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with the vote count as per Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Statement 1 is incorrect: The VVPAT was first introduced  in all 21 polling stations of Nagaland’s Noksen Assembly constituency in 2013, prompting the ECI to gradually introduce it across the country, achieving full implementation by June 2017.

Statement 2 is incorrect: The concept of the VVPAT machine was initially proposed in 2010 during a meeting between the Election Commission of India and political parties to enhance transparency in the EVM-based polling process. 

• It led to the approval of VVPAT by an expert committee of the ECI in February 2013.
•  In 2013, Conduct of Election Rules, 1961  were amended to allow for a printer with a drop box to be attached to the EVM.

Statement 3 is incorrect: VVPAT is an independent verification printer machine attached to Electronic Voting Machines that allows voters to verify that their votes have been recorded accurately.

• According to ECI, EVMs and VVPATs are separate entities and are not connected to any network.

Ans: A

Exp:

April 14 is observed as World Chagas Day named after Carlos Chagas, who first discovered Chagas disease in 1909.

Statement 1 is incorrect: Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. 

• Named after the Brazilian physician Carlos Chagas, who first discovered it in 1909.

Statement 2 is correct: The disease is primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of infected triatomine bugs, also known as “kissing bugs.”

•  However, it can also be transmitted through blood transfusions, organ transplantation, congenital transmission from mother to child, and consumption of contaminated food or beverages. 

Statement 3 is incorrect: Treatment for Chagas disease is most effective when administered during the acute stage or early in the chronic stage. 

• The primary medication used to treat Chagas disease is benznidazole or nifurtimox, both of which are antiparasitic drugs that work by killing the parasite. 

Ans: A

Exp:

According to a new report, the Arctic is a ‘hemispheric sink’ for chemicals & plastics accumulating in the region from local as well as global sources.

Option a is correct: Plastics and chemicals produced all over the world deposit and accumulate in the Arctic. 

• Chemicals and plastics are transported to the region on atmospheric and oceanic currents from lower latitudes, through a process known as global distillation or the “grasshopper effect.” 
• Global distillation or the grasshopper effect is the geochemical process by which certain chemicals, most notably persistent organic pollutants (POPs), are transported from warmer to colder regions of the Earth, particularly the poles and mountain tops.

Ans: C

Exp:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) green lighted investments in the country’s Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIS).

Statement 1 is correct: The green Government-Securities (G-Secs) were classified under the Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR), a liquidity rate fixed by the RBI that financial institutions must maintain with themselves before they lend to their customers.

Statement 2 is incorrect: SGrBs yield lower interest than conventional G-Secs, and the amount foregone by a bank by investing in them is called a greenium.

•  But central banks and governments the world over are encouraging financial institutions to embrace greeniums to hasten the transition to a greener future. 

Statement 3 is correct:  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) green lighted investments in the country’s Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIS) — investors such as insurance companies, pension funds and nation-states’ sovereign wealth funds. 

• SGrBs are a kind of government debt that specifically funds projects attempting to accelerate India’s transition to a low carbon economy.