ANSWER: A

 ANSWER: B

 ANSWER: D

 ANSWER: A

• India hosted 9th Asian Ministerial Energy Roundtable in association with IEF in Bengaluru.
• Theme for this roundtable was “Mapping new pathways for energy security, inclusive growth and energy transitions”.

India’s Steps towards Energy Transition

• India recognizes that its energy transition path will involve a variety of energy solutions to support energy and economic growth. Advanced biofuels, green hydrogen, renewables and nuclear will play a critical role in the energy mix as India charters its path to the energy transition.
• India has met its commitment of 40% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030 November 2021.
• The country’s installed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity by October 2022 stands at 166 Giga Watt while its nuclear energy-based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 Giga Watt.
• India is setting up 2G refineries utilizing agricultural waste and bamboo to make ethanol, using indigenous technology.
• This contributes to achieving rural prosperity and also goes a long way in reducing pollution along with achieving energy security goals.
• E20 Fuel launched recently also added to the splendid Indian journey to decarbonization with roll out of E20 by PM yesterday, much earlier than the initial target date of 1st April 2023.
  • Fifteen cities will be covered under phase 1. A phased rollout of E20 in the entire country is targeted till April 2025.

About International Energy Forum

• IEF is world’s largest international organization of energy ministers from 72 countries (including India) and includes both producing and consuming nations.
• Member countries are signatories to IEF Charter, which outlines framework of global energy dialogue through this inter-governmental organization.
• HQ: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

 ANSWER: B

• The Ministry of Minority Affairs has announced a new Haj policy under which the application forms have been made available for free and the package cost per pilgrim has been reduced by Rs 50,000.
  • The reduction of Rs 50,000 comes primarily in the form of relaxation of norms for foreign currency – earlier a Haj pilgrim had to submit the equivalent of 2,100 Saudi Riyal, amounting to approximately Rs 44,000, that was submitted to the Haj Committee for foreign exchange.

About Hajj Pilgrimage

• The Hajj is a religious pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia that is mandatory for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and is considered a central part of Muslim religious life.
  • Five Pillars:
    • Shahada (Faith): The declaration of faith in the oneness of God and the acceptance of Muhammad as God’s prophet.
    • Salah (Prayer): Performing the five daily prayers facing the Kaaba in Mecca.
    • Zakat (Charity): Giving a portion of one’s wealth to those in need.
    • Sawm (Fasting): Fasting during the month of Ramadan.
    • Hajj (Pilgrimage): Making a pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca at least once in a lifetime if one is physically and financially able.
  • The Hajj takes place during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah and involves several rituals.
    • Dhu al-Hijjah is the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. It is considered one of the most sacred months in the Islamic year and is seen as a time of renewal, spiritual growth, and reflection, and is considered an important time to strive for greater closeness with God.
  • Participating in the Hajj is seen as a way to demonstrate one’s devotion to God and to earn spiritual merit, and it is a source of great pride and inspiration for many Muslims.

Hajj Pilgrimage Promotion in India

• Nodal Ministry-Ministry of Minority Affairs.
• Haj pilgrimage for the Indian Pilgrims is conducted either through Haj Committee of India (HCoI), which is a statutory organization under the administrative control of Ministry of Minority Affairs or through the Haj Group Organisers (HGOs) dully approved by Ministry.
• Also, the Hajj pilgrimage is promoted by various religious organizations, Islamic cultural centers, and other government agencies.
• India signed the Haj 2023 bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabia. According to the agreement, a total of 1,75,025 Indian Haj pilgrims will be able to perform Haj, reportedly the highest in history.

 ANSWER: D

• All the probable three landing sites are on moon’s south polar region on the side facing earth.
  • Landing sites are decided on basis of local and global slope, illumination from sun, radio communication with earth, and crater and boulder sizes.
  • Prime landing site lies between Manzius U and Boguslawsky M craters (southern pole region) on moon.
• Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2.
• Its primary objective is putting a Lander and rover in highlands near south pole of Moon in 2023.
• It consists of Lander and Rover configuration.
  • Lander: Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment measure thermal conductivity and temperature; Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity measures seismicity around landing site; Langmuir Probe estimates plasma density and its variations.
  • Rover: Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) for deriving elemental composition in vicinity of landing site.
• It’ll be launched by Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
  • GSLV is a 3-stage rocket, powered by a cryogenic engine.

Earlier Chandrayaan Missions

• Chandrayaan-1 (2008): Successfully inserted into lunar orbit.
• Chandrayaan-2 (2019): Successfully launched and inserted into lunar orbit in 2019, but it’s lander crash-landed on the moon’s surface due to a software glitch.

 ANSWER: C

• A US media report has claimed that China has been operating a fleet of spy balloons targeting many countries including India.
• This comes in the backdrop of U.S. Air Force fighter jet shooting down spy balloon off South Carolina coast.

About Spy Balloon

• Spy balloon is a high-altitude surveillance tool that usually operates at 80,000-120,000 feet.
• It gathers intelligence and carry out other military missions.
• It is equipped with cameras and imaging devices suspended beneath the gas-filled white object to capture things of interest.
• Advantages: Cost-effective in comparison to satellites. Also, scan an area from close quarters and capture clearer, high-resolution images of target.
• Disadvantage: Deflected due to wind current.

ANSWER: A

• The Indian armed forces are seeking 18armed Predator MQ 9A drones from the US.
• The Predator armed drones can fly up to 50,000 feet for up to 24 hours and carry an option of Hellfire air-to-ground missiles for high-value targets or air-to-air missiles to bring down aerial enemy targets.
• Of these 18 drones from the US, 6 drones will be provided to each of the three services.
• The Indian Navy already has two General Atomics-manufactured Sea Guardian (MQ 9B) drones for maritime domain awareness on lease from the US. Currently, the navy is the leading service in armed drone acquisition and deployment.
• Also the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) (an electronic and spatial intelligence organisation) will also soon acquire 8 Indian-manufactured Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones for border surveillance. The MALE drones have been built with the help of Israel in a joint venture in Gujarat.
• Both China and Pakistan have the Wing Loong II armed drones in their arsenals, therefore, the acquisition of these surveillance and predator drones is significant from India’s security perspective.

ANSWER: A

• Mukesh Dhiman, an artist of Pathiar village in Kangra district, who specialises in Kangra style of painting, recently displayed his miniature paintings at an exhibition in Frankfurt city of Germany.
• Kumar is part of the Indian delegation that had gone to Germany under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Textiles. The ministry had organised an exhibition-cum-demonstration of the traditional Indian art in Germany that concluded today.

About Kangra style of painting

• The name Kangra style is given to this group of painting for the reason that they are identical in style to the portraits of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra. Paintings of the Kangra style are attributed mainly to the Nainsukh family.
• Some of the Pahari painters found patronage in the Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh nobility in the beginning of the 19th century and executed portraits and other miniatures in a modified version of the Kangra style which continued till the middle of the 19th century.

Salient features

• The delicacy of drawing and quality of naturalism are the stand-out features of this school of art
• The Kangra style is by far the most poetic and lyrical of Indian styles marked with serene beauty and delicacy of execution.
• Distinctive is the delineation of the female face, with a straight nose in line with the forehead, which came in vogue around the 1790s, is the most distinctive feature of this style.
• Most popular themes that were painted were the Bhagvata Purana, Gita Govinda, Nala Damayanti, Bihari Satsai, Ragamala and Baramasa

 ANSWER: B

• Dr Randeep Guleria, professor and HoD, department of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorders, at AIIMS, New Delhi, has been appointed the president of AIIMS-Bilaspur recently .
• Dr Guleria was conferred with Dr BC Roy Award in 2014 and the Padma Shri in 2015.
• He is the first Indian to get a Doctorate of Medicine (DM) in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He joined AIIMS, New Delhi, in 1992 as an assistant professor in the department of medicine and was subsequently promoted to the posts of associate professor, additional professor and professor.
• The department of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorders was created by him in 2011.

 ANSWER:  A

 ANSWER:  B

 ANSWER:  C

 ANSWER:  A

 ANSWER:  A

ANSWER:  C