ANSWER: D

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

ANSWER: A

• INS Vikramaditya has recently been operationalised after an exhaustive refit lasting nearly two and a half years.

ABOUT INS VIKRAMADITYA:

• It is a modified Kiev-class aircraft carrier which entered into service with the Indian Navy in 2013.
• It has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya, a legendary emperor of Ujjain, India.

HISTORY:

• The carrier served with the Soviet Navy and later with the Russian Navy (as Admiral Gorshkov) before being decommissioned in 1996.
• It was later bought by India in 2004 for $2.33bn.
• It was commissioned in 2013 after refurbishing.

FEATURES:

• It has an overall length of about 284 meters and a maximum beam of about 60 meters.
• The ship has a total of 22 decks. It can carry more than 1,600 personnel, including crew.
• Displacement: 44,500 Tonnes
• It has a maximum speed of more than 30 knots and can achieve a maximum range of 7,000nmi.
• It can endure up to 45 days at sea.
• It is powered by 08 new-generation steam boilers.
• The ship has the ability to carry over 30 aircraft comprising an assortment of MiG 29K/Sea Harrier, Kamov 31, Kamov 28, Sea King, ALH-Dhruv and Chetak helicopters.
• The aircraft carrier can be armed with a wide range of weapons, including anti-ship missiles, beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, guided bombs, and rockets.
• The ship is equipped with state-of-the-art launch and recovery systems along with aids to enable smooth and efficient operation of ship-borne aircraft.

ANSWER: B

• The Centre has discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to State governments, a move that will hit some States, including Karnataka, offering free grains to the poor.

ABOUT OPEN MARKET SALE SCHEME (OMSS):

• Under OMSS, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) sells surplus stocks of wheat and rice at pre-determined prices through e-auction in the open market.
• Objective: To enhance the supply of food grains, especially wheat, during the lean season and thereby moderate the open market prices, especially in the deficit regions.
• The FCI conducts a weekly auction to conduct this scheme in the open market using the platform of commodity exchange NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited).
• The State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations are also allowed to participate in the e-auction, if they require wheat and rice outside the Targeted Public Distribution Scheme (TPDS) and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS).
• The reserve price is fixed by the government. In the tenders floated by the FCI, the bidders cannot quote less than the reserve price.
• The present form of OMSS comprises 3 schemes as under:
  • Sale of wheat to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction.
  • Sale of wheat to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction by dedicated movement.
  • Sale of Raw Rice Grade ‘A’ to bulk consumers/private traders through e-auction.

KEY FACTS ABOUT FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA (FCI):

• It is a statutory body set up in 1965 (under the Food Corporation Act, 1964) against the backdrop of major shortage of grains, especially wheat, in the country.
• It comes under the ownership of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Government of India.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• FCI was mandated with three basic objectives:
  • To provide effective price support to farmers;
  • To procure and supply grains to pds for distributing subsidized staples to economically vulnerable sections of society;
  • Keep a strategic reserve to stabilize markets for basic foodgrains;

ANSWER: D

• India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj introduced the draft resolution titled ‘Memorial wall for fallen United Nations peacekeepers’ in the UN General Assembly Hall.

MEMORIAL WALL –

• The UN General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution introduced by India to establish a memorial wall in the UN Headquarters to honour fallen peacekeepers.
• The resolution was submitted by 18 countries including Bangladesh, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nepal, Rwanda and the U.S.
• The resolution was co-sponsored by nearly 190 UN Member States and was adopted by consensus.
• In 2015, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN launched a virtual memorial wall, dedicated to the Indian troops who made the supreme sacrifice while doing active service as UN peacekeepers.
• The initiative was a precursor to the eventual construction of the Peacekeepers Memorial Wall.
• It is an appropriate way to commemorate all the troops from UN member states who had given their lives while on duty under the Blue Flag of the United Nations.

INDIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO UN PEACEKEEPING –

• India is currently the 3rd largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping with more than 6,000 military and police personnel.
• About 177 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice, the highest number by far from any troop-contributing country.

ANSWER: D

• The World Bank (WB) launched its first dedicated road safety project in South Asia with a USD 358 million financing agreement signed in Dhaka with the government of Bangladesh.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• The Bangladesh Road Safety Project (BRSP) was inaugurated at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• This project aims to improve road safety and reduce fatalities and injuries from road crashes in selected cities, high-risk highways, and district roads.
• The two National Highways, Gazipur-Elenga (N4) and Natore-Nawabganj (N6), passing through the five divisions of Bangladesh, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Mymensingh, will be taken up for the implementation of this project.
• This project will improve road safety by providing facilities including improved engineering designs, signage and marking, pedestrian facilities, speed enforcement, and emergency care.

ANSWER: C

• India will host the 2025 International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) Annual Conference at Kochi, Kerala in February 2025.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

• The Theme of 2025 Conference will be: “Next Generation Administrative Reforms – Empowering Citizens and Reaching the Last Mile”.
• The conference aims to explore strategies that enable citizen empowerment and ensure effective governance at all levels.
• The 2025 conference is set to witness the participation of 30 member countries, 18 national sections, and over 50 IIAS universities and institutes of public administration.
• The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances is an institutional member of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences IIAS since 1998.
• As an institutional member of IIAS, India has contributed significantly to the deliberative democracy, research publications, fiscal processes of budget/ audit through the institutional mechanisms of the Council of Administration and the Finance Committee.

ABOUT IIAS

• The IIAS (International Institute of Administrative Sciences), established in 1930, serves as a global federation dedicated to advancing administrative sciences. It comprises member states, national sections, and academic research centres, all collaborating to address contemporary policy challenges related to public administration.
• It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

ANSWER: B

• Five buildings and structures from Telangana have been selected to receive the ‘International Green Apple Awards for Beautiful Buildings’ in the Urban and Real Estate Sector category.
• These awards are presented by ‘The Green Organisation,’ an independent non-profit organization based in
• This is the first time any building or structure in India has received these prestigious awards and all five nominated structures from Telangana have been recognised.

SELECTED BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTIONS FROM TELANGANA

1. Mozzam-Jahi Market (Heritage category)
   • This building has been acknowledged for its exceptional restoration and re-use. The market holds historical significance and has been beautifully preserved and adapted for contemporary use.
2. Durgam Cheruvu Cable Bridge (Bridge category)
3. B R Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat Building
4. Integrated Command Control Centre of Telangana Police (Unique office category)
5. Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple or simply known as Yadadri or Yadagirigutta temple, is a Hindu temple

ABOUT GREEN ORGANIZATION

• The Green Organization, founded in 1994 in London, is an independent non-profit organization that focuses on acknowledging, rewarding, and promoting environmental best practices globally.
• Since 2016, they have been organizing the annual ‘Green Apple Awards’ in London, UK.

ANSWER: B

• Recently the first Janjatiya Khel Mahotsav was organized at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar.

ABOUT

• It was a coordinated effort between the Ministry of Culture, the Odisha Government, and KIIT University.
• It witnessed the assemblage of 5,000 tribal athletes and 1,000 officials from 26 states.

INDIGENOUS SPORTS

• ‘Sports’ being a state subject, the responsibility to promote indigenous sports in the country and conduct special training programmes for the development and promotion of traditional sports rests primarily with the respective State/Union Territory Governments. The Union Government supplements their efforts.
• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports runs a Central Sector Scheme, namely, the ‘Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports’ Scheme (Khelo India Scheme), of which one of the Components, namely, ‘Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games’, is specifically dedicated to the development and promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games in the country.
• Indigenous games of Mallakhamb, Kalaripayattu, Gatka, Thang-Ta, Yogasana and Silambam have been identified for promotion under this Component.
• Further, the Ministry has also made documentaries of various indigenous games in order to showcase and promote/revive them, namely, Gatka, Roll Ball, Tug of War, Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta, Kho-Kho, Mallakhamb, Shooting Ball, Sqay, Kabaddi, Gilli Danda, Sikkim Archery, Dhoop Khel and Cowrie Khel, Paika Akhada and Chhau and Akhada Kushti, Hekko, Mizoram Games, Silabam, Lagori and Langadi.

 ANSWER: C

• Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has inaugurated the online portal of the Himachal Pradesh Nurses Registration Council (HPNRC).
• The website aims to provide nurses with Primary registration and renewal services, issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOC), additional qualification updates, foreign verification, online migration, transfer of registration.
• To boost the employment generation and streamline tracking processes, the website of Employment department will be combined with HPNRC’s website.

ABOUT HIMACHAL PRADESH NURSES REGISTRATION COUNCIL (HPNRC):

• A regulatory body which maintains the registration and licensing of qualified nurses in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.
• Himachal Pradesh Nurses Registration Act, came into force from