Ans: B

Exp:

The Sultanate of Oman has achieved a remarkable feat in environmental progress, ranking second among GCC nations in Environmental Performance Index (EPI)  2024.

About Environmental Performance Index (EPI):

• Statement 1 is not correct: Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is  released by the Centre for Environmental Law and Policy at Yale University in the United States.
• The EPI evaluates countries’ success in preserving, protecting, and enhancing ecosystems, along with the services they provide. 
• It assesses ecosystem vitality, accounting for 42% of the total score, covering habitat and biodiversity, ecosystem services, fishing areas, acidic rains, agriculture, and water resources.
  • Moreover, the index measures countries’ implementation of environmental health policies to protect populations from environmental risks, comprising 20% of the total index score. 
• It assesses air quality, drinking water and sanitation, heavy metals, and waste management.
• Statement 2 is correct:The EPI is funded through the generous support of the McCall MacBain Foundation.

Ans: B

Exp:

Recently, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notices to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and the States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat over a practice known as ‘Nata Pratha’.

About Nata Pratha:

• • The word “Nata” means relationship.  It involves selling “on a stamp paper” or marrying off underage girls from some communities. 
    • These “sales and marriages” are usually conducted by their own families.

• Under it, No formal marriage ceremony is required for a couple to live together and perform all obligations of husband and wife without legal wedlock.

• Traditionally, both the man and the woman who enter into a relationship are supposed to be married or have been widowed, but the custom has evolved to include single people as well. 

• This custom is prevalent in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 

Ans: D

Exp:

 The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) can pause or reverse oil production increases if the market weakens, recently the Saudi energy minister outlined.

About OPEC plus countries:

• The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil constitute OPEC plus countries.
• OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.
• OPEC had its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Objective: OPEC regularly meets to set oil production targets and coordinate output to help manage global oil prices for the entire group.

Ans: A

Exp:

A Russian missile attack on the central city of Dnipro damaged civilian infrastructure as per local authorities.

• Pair 1 is correctly matched:  Dnipro is a city in central Ukraine.  It lies along the Dnieper River, near its confluence with the Samara.In 1926 the Soviets renamed it Dnipropetrovsk after the Dnieper.
• Pair 2 is  not correctly matched: Cancún is a city in Mexico. It is located on the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, facing the Caribbean Sea.
  • Originally settled by Maya Indians, the area was recorded as Cancúne in 1843 by the American explorer John Lloyd Stephens and the British explorer Frederick Catherwood in their classic work Incidents of Travel in Yucatan (1843).
• Pair 3 is not correctly matched: Valencia  is a city in Spain. It is located on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the Turia (Guadalaviar) River, it is surrounded by orchards in a region known as the Huerta de Valencia.

Ans: B

Exp: 

The Centre is planning to purchase one million tonnes (mt) of chana (gram) under its price stabilization fund (PSF) at market prices or even higher to replenish its buffer.

About Price Stabilization Fund: 

• It  is any fund created to absorb extreme volatility in selected commodity prices. The sum in the fund is usually used for activities aimed at bringing down/up the high/low prices
• Statement 1 is not correct: In 2014-15, the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) was established under the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DAC&FW) to regulate the cost volatility of essential agricultural commodities, such as onion, potatoes and pulses.
• Statement 2 is  correct:The PSF scheme provides for the advancement of interest-free loans to State Governments/Union Territories (UTs) and Central Agencies to finance their working capital and other expenses, which they may incur in the procurement and distribution of such commodities.
• Statement 3 is  correct: Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) maintains the PSF as a central corpus fund.