Answer: (A)

Explanation:

• World Environment Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of June. The theme of 2023 is “Solution to Plastic Pollution”. World Environment Day was established by the United Nations Assembly in 1972 during the Stockholm Conference. India hosted the 45th World Environment Day with the theme 'Beat Plastic Pollution'. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• A Net Zero State refers to a country's emissions being compensated by the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This state is also known as carbon-neutrality. India aims to increase its non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. India aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2070. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

Answer: (D)

Explanation: Himachal Pradesh and Punjab are on the verge of a confrontation as the lease on the Shanan hydropower project, a 110 MW British-era project located in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh. The 99-year lease on the Shanan power project, granted to Punjab by the ruler of Mandi, is set to end in March 2024. Himachal Pradesh is unwilling to renew or extend the lease and intends to take over the project after its expiration. Himachal Pradesh seeks the intervention of the central government to ensure the handover of the project from Punjab before the lease period expires. Hence, option (d) is correct.

Answer: (B)

Explanation:

• Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) System for the Indian Railways. It is designed to bring a train to a halt automatically when it notices another train on the same line within a prescribed distance. It has been developed by the Research Design and Standards Organisation of the Ministry of Railways in collaboration with Indian industry. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• It is a set of electronic devices and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) devices installed in locomotives, in the signalling system as well as the tracks. They connect to each other using ultra high radio frequencies to control the brakes of trains and also alert drivers, all based on the logic programmed into them. The Kavach system will help prevent accidents on rail tracks like collision of trains. Once the system is activated, all trains within a 5-km range will halt to provide protection for trains on adjacent tracks. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• It is meant to provide protection by preventing trains from passing the signal at Danger (Red) and avoiding collision. It activates the train braking system automatically if the driver fails to control the train as per the speed restrictions. It is one of the cheapest, Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4) certified technologies with the probability of error is 1 in 10,000 years. Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The recent tragic accident in Balasore district, Odisha, resulting in the loss of over 288 lives, has highlighted the urgent need for safety measures to prevent such incidents. Both the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and the Yeshwanthpur-Howrah Express were not lifted with KAVACH-TACS.

Answer: (B)

Explanation: The Places of Worship Act, 1991, arises from a recent case filed by five women seeking permission to worship Hindu deities at the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi. The Places of Worship Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947, and prevent their conversion to different religious denominations. It is applicable to all religious denominations in India. It prohibits the conversion of a place of worship into a different religious denomination or segment. The Act prohibits conversion of any place of worship. It declares that the religious character of a place of worship shall remain the same as it existed on August 15, 1947. It also addresses pending legal proceedings related to religious conversions. The Act explicitly excludes the Ram Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya from its purview. The Act also exempted any place of worship that is covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. Hence, statement (b) is incorrect.

Answer: (C)

Explanation:

• DNA sequencing refers to the general laboratory technique for determining the exact sequence of nucleotides, or bases, in a DNA molecule. The sequence of the bases (often referred to by the first letters of their chemical names: A, T, C, and G) encodes the biological information that cells use to develop and operate.
• DNA barcoding is a method used to identify species. It works by analysing a specific region of DNA. This region is called the DNA barcode. The sequence of this DNA barcode is then compared to a reference library which contains information of many species linked to their barcodes.
• DNA shearing refers to the process of breaking down long strands of DNA into shorter fragments. This technique is commonly used in various molecular biology and genetics experiments, such as DNA sequencing, DNA fingerprinting, and genome mapping.
• Hence, all pairs are correctly matched.