ANSWER: B

 ANSWER: B

 ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: C

• Since Independence, only 486 antiquities have been reported as missing from the 3,696 monuments protected and maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), including 139 from Madhya Pradesh, 95 from Rajasthan and 86 from Uttar Pradesh.
  • However, estimates of missing pieces range from less than 500 to as high as 50,000.
• Antiquities are defined under Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (AATA) and include items such as any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph or other work of art or craftsmanship, article, object or thing detached from a building or cave.
• National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), launched in 2007, has the mandate of preparing a database of antiquities as defined in AATA.
  • NMMA has so far registered 52 lakh antiquities.
• UNESCO 1970 Convention (ratified by India) on Means of Prohibiting and Preventing Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property calls for measures to prohibit illicit trafficking of cultural property.
• In India, AATA makes export of such items without a license (from ASI) a criminal offence.
• Categories of missing antiquities include:
  • Those taken out of India pre-independence;
  • Those which were taken out since independence and before implementation of AATA (March 1976);
  • Those taken out since April 1976.
• Antiquities can be retrieved by raising requests bilaterally or on international fora with proof of ownership and with the help of UNESCO convention.

 ANSWER: A

• Directed by Kartiki Gonsalves and produced by Guneet Monga, Indian documentary The Elephant Whisperers emerged as the winner in the Best Documentary Short category.
  • It became the first Indian production that has won an Academy Award for the Documentary Short category.
• The film also highlights the stunning beauty of Tamil Nadu’s Mudumalai National Park and gives a peek into the lives of the Kattunayakan, an indigenous community that inhabits parts of South India.
• The film is based on the life and work of Bomman and his wife Bellie who foster orphaned elephant calves. Bomman and Bellie are both from the Kattunayakan tribe.
  • Kattunayakans, one of the 75 “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” (PVTGs) in India, are settled in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

About Mudumalai Tiger Reserve

• It is located in the Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu state, at the tri-junction of three states, viz, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• It has a common boundary with Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (Kerala) on the West, Bandipur Tiger Reserve (Karnataka) on the North, and the Nilgiris North Division on the South and East and Gudalur Forest Division on the South West, together forming a large conservation landscape for flagship species such as Tiger and Asian Elephant.
• The Reserve has tall grasses, commonly referred to as ‘Elephant Grass’.

 ANSWER: B

• Red tide has recently occurred on the coast of Florida. It has been occurring since the 1800s in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Red tide is caused by a toxic algae species known as Karenia brevis. It occurs when the algae multiply in large numbers and form blooms, resulting in the water turning reddish-brown.
• The algae produce brevetoxins, which are fatal for aquatic life and capable of making humans sick.
• It could also block out the sunlight and deplete the water’s oxygen levels. It was responsible for the deaths of over 2,000 tonnes of marine life between 2017 and 2018.

Timing of Red tide

• It occurs during summer and spring when the sunshine is apt.
• During this time, the water is warm and slow-moving.
• Also, the water is rich in nutrients as the rivers are free from ice and are adding more nutrients to the sea. The algal bloom is always more in the areas where there is a mixture of brackish and marine water.

In India

• The west coast of India is more prone to algal bloom.
  • Algae like diatoms, cyanobacteria, haptophytes, and raphiphytes cause an algal bloom in India.
• Most of the algal blooms occur during the retreat of southwest monsoon and also during the pre-monsoon period.
• Although east coast has more nutrients than the west coast as it has more number of rivers draining.
• But the temperature and water current are more suitable on the west coast. So more algal blooms occur on the west coast of India.

 ANSWER: C

• India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences in collaboration with Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and other institutions is rendering District/Block level Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) for the benefits of farmers in the country under the scheme “Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)”.
• The main emphasis of the existing AAS system is to collect and organize climate/weather, soil and crop information, and to amalgamate them with weather forecast to assist farmers to take decisions on day-to-day farm operations, which can further optimize the application of input resources at farm level during deficient rainfall situation and extreme weather events to reduce monetary loss and to maximize crop yield.

 ANSWER: B

• There are reports of systematic recruitment of prisoners across Russia by Wagner Group.
• Wagner Group is a private Russian military organisation, which has been used in military operations in many countries.
• It is owned and financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with ties to Vladimir Putin and is playing a major role in the fighting in Ukraine.

 ANSWER: D

• The third edition of the multilateral exercise La Perouse was conducted in the Indian Ocean Region from 13 to 14 March 2023.
• This edition will witness participation of personnel, ships and integral helicopters of Royal Australian Navy, French Navy, Indian Navy, Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force, Royal Navy and the United States Navy.
• The biennial exercise La Perouse is conducted by the French Navy.
• It is aimed at enhancing maritime domain awareness and optimising maritime coordination amongst the participating navies in the Indo-Pacific Region.

 ANSWER: C

• Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was an ascetic, a nationalist and a peasant leader of India.
• He played an important role in organizing non-cooperation movement in Shahabad district of Bihar and Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh.
• From 1924 to 1928 his activities centered on the propagation of Khadi and prohibition.
• He established a Khadi weaving center at Simri and an Ashram for political and Sanskrit teaching at Bihata.
• The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) was founded by Saraswati in 1929 to address peasants’ complaints about zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights, and served as the foundation for the farmers’ movements in India.
• The All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was established at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936, with Saraswati chosen as its first President.
• He organised the Bakasht Movement in Bihar during 1937-38.
• He along with other literary personalitites published a Hindi weekly, Hunkar from Patna.

 ANSWER: C

• The annual Chaitra Mela at Baba Balak Nath Temple started at Deotsidh in the Hamirpur.
• Deputy Commissioner raised the religious flag of Baba Balak Nath temple and participated in the inaugural prayers.
• The festival would continue for one month and devotees from all parts of the country and also abroad come here to pay obeisance at the temple.

 ANSWER: C

• The Cycling Association of Himachal Pradesh (CAHP) will conduct an open state MTB (Mountain Biking /Cycling) championship in Shimla on March 19.
• The venue for the championship will be Summerhill.
• Two events will be held in the championship — ITT (Individual Time Trial) and MTB XCO (Cross Country Olympic).
• Only a bona fide resident of Himachal Pradesh is allowed to participate in the state championship.