1. Which institution launched a comprehensive programme to combat air pollution crisis in India?
A. Asian Development Bank
B. World Bank 🗹
C. World Health Organisation
D. World Trade Organisation
- In response to India’s escalating air pollution crisis, the World Bank has launched a comprehensive program aimed at curbing the impact of ambient particulate matter (PM) 2.5 pollution. According to the World Bank, the initiative includes the introduction of airshed management tools, the development of State-wide Air Quality Action Plans, and the creation of the first extensive Regional Airshed Action Plan for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), covering seven union territories and states.
2. Article 370 of the Constitution’, which was seen in the news, is associated with_?
A. Special status to Jammu and Kashmir 🗹
B. Special status to Andhra Pradesh
C. Goods and Services Tax
D. Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Reservation
- The Supreme Court recently gave its verdict on the Union government’s 2019 move to amend Article 370 of the Constitution. Article 370 of the Constitution of India provided the State of Jammu and Kashmir with a special constitutional status. The provision substantially limited Parliament’s power to legislate for the State compared to other states.
- The court held the Constitutional order that revoked Article 370 as valid. The background Governor’s Rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, after the BJP withdrew support to the coalition government led by PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti.
3. Vishnu Deo Sai is the new Chief Minister of which Indian state?
A. Madhya Pradesh
B. Rajasthan
C. Chhattisgarh 🗹
D. Mizoram
- Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sworn in as the next Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Raman Singh, who has run the state government for 15 years, has been made the Speaker of the state assembly.
4. Which Asian country has recently launched its own Forest and Wood Certification Scheme?
A. Sri Lanka
B. India 🗹
C. Bangladesh
D. Japan
- India’s Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has launched the Indian Forest & Wood Certification Scheme. This national forest certification scheme offers voluntary third-party certification designed to promote sustainable forest management and agroforestry in the country. The scheme includes forest management certification, tree outside forest management certification, and chain of custody certification. The Indian Forest and Wood Certification Scheme, will be overseen by the Indian Forest and Wood Certification Council.
5. “VINBAX-23” is a military exercise between the armies of India and which country?
A. Malaysia
B. Vietnam 🗹
C. Sri Lanka
D. Iran
- The military exercise “VINBAX-23” between the Armies of India and Vietnam will take place in Hanoi, this year. It is an annual training event conducted alternatively in India and Vietnam. The aim of the exercise is to foster a collaborative partnership and promote interoperability between the two forces. Exercise VINBAX was instituted in 2018 and the first edition was conducted at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Last edition was conducted at Chandimandir Military Station in 2022.
6. Which Union Ministry is implementing the ‘PM Vishwakarma Scheme’?
A. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 🗹
B. Ministry of Rural Development
C. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
D. Ministry of Finance
- The PM Vishwakarma Scheme, launched by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship in September, has received over 21 lakh applications in two and a half months. The scheme, aimed at supporting and providing skill-upgradation training to artisans and craftspeople. The highest number of applications had come from Karnataka (6.28 lakh), followed by West Bengal (4.04 lakh), Assam (1.83 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (1.53 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (1.21 lakh).
7. Indian government has deferred its earlier target of reducing road accidents in the country by half from 2024 to which year?
A. 2025
B. 2026
C. 2028
D. 2030 🗹
- Indian government has deferred its earlier target of reducing road accidents in the country by half six-by-six years from 2024 to 2030. Union Road transport and highway Minister Nitin Gadkari released a report titled ‘Road Safety Good Practices in India’ prepared by SaveLIFE Foundation, in collaboration with MoRTH and the World Bank. The country recorded a 12% increase in accidents in 2022, resulting in 53 accidents and 19 accidental deaths in the country every hour.
8. ‘Climate finance for agrifood systems in sharp downward trend’ report was released by?
A. Food and Agriculture Organization 🗹
B. World Bank
C. FSSAI
D. UNICEF
- UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report on ‘Climate finance for agrifood systems in sharp downward trend’. The new analysis revealed the amount of climate finance flowing to agrifood systems is strikingly low and continues to diminish compared to global climate finance flows. Another FAO published in the first week of COP28, stated that agriculture was the most climate-affected sector globally.
9. ‘Magh Bihu’ is a harvest festival celebrated in which state?
A. Punjab
B. Gujarat
C. Assam 🗹
D. Meghalaya
- Assam cabinet has given in-principle approval to the issue of detailed procedure for permitting traditional buffalo and bull fights to be organised. The Moh-juj festival is an integral part of the centuries-old Assamese cultural tradition. The Supreme Court in 2014 passed an order prohibiting all animal races and fights, thereby directing the Animal Welfare Board of India and the government to prevent infliction of unnecessary pain and suffering to animals.
10. Which UN Treaty is otherwise called as ‘Bonn Convention’?
A. Convention on Migratory Species 🗹
B. Convention on Climate Change
C. Convention on Endangered Animals
D. Convention on Carbon Emissions
- The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention, is an environmental treaty of the United Nations. Climate change and biodiversity loss is having catastrophic impacts on many migratory species populations, impacting their habitats, food availability and reproduction cycles. This is directly affecting the important ecosystem services they provide to humans, a new report by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a UN biodiversity treaty stated.
11. Which space agency has detected the oldest black hole ever observed, (as of 2023)?
A. NASA 🗹
B. ISRO
C. JAXA
D. ROSCOSMOS
- Astronomers have detected the oldest black hole ever observed, with around a million times the mass of the Sun. The black hole dates back more than 13 billion years to the dawn of the universe. The observations, made by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), reveal it to be at the heart of a galaxy 440 million years after the big bang. The observations of the GN-z11 galaxy suggest that they were either born big or ballooned extremely rapidly early on.
12. Which institution has approved a $250 million policy-based loan to support the development of industrial corridors in India?
A. Asian Development Bank 🗹
B. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
C. World Bank
D. World Economic Forum
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $250 million policy-based loan to further support the development of industrial corridors in India. The initiative aims to enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, fortify national supply chains, and foster connections with regional and global value chains.
13. Narges Mohammadi, who was seen in the news, is the recipient of which award?
A. Grammy Award
B. Oscar Award
C. Nobel Peace Prize 🗹
D. Booker Prize
- The children of imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi have accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. The renowned advocate for women’s rights and democracy in her home country of Iran, is currently being held in the Evin prison in Tehran, the capital, serving an eight-year sentence for “spreading propaganda”.
