ANSWER: D

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: C

• The researchers of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) have discovered a new species of plant from Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu.
• The plant has been named ‘Impatiens karuppusamyi’.
• Unique Characteristics
  • Conical spur with a horizontally straight, obtuse tip.
  • Base of the anterior lobe with two purplish, fleshy, and erect auriculate projections.
  • Stout biseriate purplish-blue hairs in front of the mouth.
  • Orange-pinkish pollen grains.
• There are more than 1000 species of Impatiens worldwide, of which more than 280 are found in India.
• It is distributed widely throughout tropical Africa, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka and China.

ABOUT BOTANICAL SURVEY OF INDIA

• BSI is the apex research organization for carrying out taxonomic and floristic studies on wild plant resources of the country.
• Established- 1890
• Under the purview of Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEFCC)
• It has nine regional circles situated at different regions of the country.
• Headquarters- Kolkata, West Bengal

ABOUT KALAKAD MUNDANTHURAI TIGER RESERVE

• Located in Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.
• It was declared as the “First Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu” and the 17th Tiger Reserve of the country.
• It consists of the Kanyakumari Wildlife sanctuary in the south and the Nellai Wildlife Sanctuary in the North.
• It is also part of the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve.
• It is also known as the “River Sanctuary” with as many as 14 rivers originating from this Tiger Reserve.
• Flora– vegetation varies from dry thorn forest to dry deciduous, moist deciduous and a patch of West coast wet evergreen forests on the higher reaches of the reserve.
• Fauna includes Tiger, Sambar, spotted deer, elephants, Lion Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Tahr, leopards, wild dogs, etc and a large number of bird species, reptiles, etc.

ANSWER: B

• Tiriyani Block of Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, Telangana secured the top position in the first delta rankings of Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP) announced by NITI Aayog.
  • Kaushambi block of Kaushambi District, Uttar Pradesh secured second place.
• Delta Ranking captures incremental change in blocks ranked based on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) categorized into five themes.
• The blocks have also been geographically divided into six zones and two blocks from each zone have been given rankings.
• The winners will be felicitated with a prize amount of Rs. 1.5 crores for top rank and 1 crores for second rank in all zonal categories.

ABOUT ABP

• The Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP) was launched on January 7, 2023.
• ABP focuses on improving governance to enhance the quality of life of citizens in the most difficult and relatively underdeveloped blocks of India.
• 500 blocks from 329 districts across 27 states and 4 Union Territories of India are part of the programme.
• The Programme strategy is based on convergence of existing schemes, defining outcomes, and monitoring them on a constant basis.
• About 40 key performance indicators (KPIs) were chosen to measure progress of the blocks which have been grouped into 5 themes- Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Allied Services, Basic Infrastructure, Social Development.

ANSWER: C

• The first Interpol operation against fraud schemes fuelled by victims of human trafficking has unearthed further evidence that the trend is expanding beyond the southeast Asian region.
  • The fraud schemes included fake cryptocurrency investments, fraudulent work-from-home offers, and lottery and online gambling scams.

About the mission

• Known as “Operation Storm Makers II”, the Interpol exercise resulted in the arrest of 281 persons in different countries, on charges such as human trafficking, passport forgery, corruption, telecommunications fraud, and sexual exploitation.
  • Indian enforcement agencies also participated in the exercise.
  • According to the Interpol, the Telangana police registered one of the first cases in India of human trafficking committed for the purpose of forcing victims to commit cyber fraud.
• This operation was a special mission organized by Interpol.
• It involved law enforcement in 27 countries across Asia and other regions.

ABOUT INTERPOL

• Established in 1923
• Headquarter- Lyon, France
• It facilitates criminal investigation of police forces across the globe through collection and dissemination of information received from various police forces.
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is designated as the National Central Bureau of India.

ANSWER: A

• A US F-16 jet on a training mission crashed into waters of Yellow Sea.

ABOUT YELLOW SEA

• It is located in the western Pacific Ocean.
• It is situated between mainland China to the west and north, the Korean Peninsula to the east, and the Shandong Peninsula and Liaodong Peninsula to the south.
• Hai River, the Yalu River, the Han River, the Taedong River, and the Yellow River drain into the sea.
• Its name is descriptive of the golden-yellow colour of the silt-laden water discharged from major rivers, sourced from yellowish sand particles originating from the Gobi Desert.

ANSWER: B

• International Mountain Day is an annual celebration designated by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11^th.
• It has been observed every year since 2003 to create awareness about the importance of mountains in our lives
• Mountains are home to 15% of the world’s population, host about half the biodiversity hotspots of the world, and provide fresh water for everyday life to half of humanity to sustain agriculture and supply clean energy and medicines.
• The theme for 2023 is Restoring Mountain Ecosystems.
  • It aims to increase awareness about the relevance of mountain ecosystems.