Ans: C

Exp:

Recently, Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano in North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia erupted causing alert among the people.

Pair 1 is correctly matched: Mount Ruang, a stratovolcano  ( which means it is composed of layers of lava, ash, and rocks that have accumulated over thousands of years of eruptions) in North Sulawesi Province in of Indonesia 

Pair 2 is correctly matched:  Mount Etna is a stratovolcano, It is located on the east coast of Sicily, an island in the Mediterranean Sea that belongs to Italy.

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched: Sangay volcano is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world and one of Ecuador’s most active ones.

• Sangay is the southernmost stratovolcano (a volcano built up of alternate layers of lava and ash) in the northern volcanic zone of the Andes. It is 5230 m high.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued alerts and Action plans regarding Heat waves across the country.

Statement 1 is correct: A heat wave is a period of abnormally high temperatures, more than the normal maximum temperature that occurs during the summer season in the North-Western and South Central parts of India. 

Statement 2  is incorrect: The IMD declares a heatwave if the maximum temperature recorded at a station is 40 degrees Celsius or more in the plains, 37 degrees Celsius or more in the coast, and 30 degrees Celsius or more in the hills.

Statement 3 is incorrect: The National Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the National Policy on Disaster Management, 2009, do not include heat wave in the list of natural calamities. 

• However, the National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP), which was first prepared in 2016 and revised in 2019, contains a dedicated chapter titled ‘Heat Wave Risk Mitigation’.

Ans: C

Exp:

Recently, the Russian peacekeepers started withdrawing  from the  Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Statement 1 is correct: It is located in the South Caucasus region, which straddles the border between eastern Europe and western Asia and spans the southern part of the Caucasus mountains.

Statement 2 is correct:Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked, mountainous and forested region falling within the boundaries of Azerbaijan.

•  Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Statement 3 is incorrect: Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Artsakh by Armenians, is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but its inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians. 

• They have their own government which is close to Armenia but not officially recognised by Armenia or any other country.

Statement 4 is correct: A ceasefire known as the Bishkek Protocol in 1994 left Nagorno-Karabakh de facto independent but reliant on ties with Armenia.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, the drying up of the Aral Sea has made Central Asia dustier by 7 per cent over the past 30 years.

Options 2 and 3 are Correct: 

The Aral Sea is an endorheic lake (lake with no outlet) located in the heart of Central Asia, roughly 200 miles east of the Caspian Sea.

• It is bordered by Kazakhstan on the north and Uzbekistan on the south.
• It was formerly a large saltwater lake.
• Once the fourth largest body of inland water in the world, it lost almost three-quarters of its volume and approximately half of its area.

Ans: A

Exp:

Bretton Woods Commission’s latest publication calls for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) to be significantly strengthened and empowered to meet the challenge of the ‘global common.

Statement 1 and 2 is incorrect: The Bretton Woods Agreement was established in 1944. It aimed to stabilize currencies through fixed exchange rates.

• A new international monetary system was forged by delegates from forty-four nations in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Delegates to the conference agreed to establish the IMF and the World Bank Group.

Statement 3 is correct: The Bretton Woods provisions called for the U.S. dollar to be pegged to the value of gold. 

• Moreover, all other currencies in the system were then pegged to the U.S. dollar’s value. The exchange rate applied at the time set the price of gold at $35 an ounce.