ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: D

 ANSWER: C

 ANSWER: C

• After zero cases of rhinoceros poaching recorded in Assam in 2022, first such case was reported recently in KNP.

About Kaziranga National Park

• It is located on the edge of Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots- Golaghat and Nagaon district of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha).
  • Brahmaputra lies on North and Karbi Anglong hills on South of Kaziranga.
• It is the single largest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.
• It was declared as a National Park in 1974 and a tiger reserve since 2007.
• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 and is also recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
• It has the world’s largest-population of one-horned rhinoceros.
• Conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the ‘big four’ species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.

 ANSWER: B

• A highly secured link, developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), under Department of Telecommunications, was established for the first time in India.
  • The communication is link between Sanchar Bhawan and National Informatics Centre.
• A ₹10 lakh prize money for ethical hackers who can break the encryption of the system was also announced.

About Quantum Computing

• Quantum Communication refers to communication channels that leverage laws of quantum physics to protect data and make it more secure than traditional transmission.
• In traditional key-based cryptography, data and keys are sent as classical bits (representing 1 and 0) as a stream of electrical or optical pulses.
• However, in a quantum communication network, data is transmitted via qubits.
• Qubits are particles – usually photons of light – in a superposition state, meaning they can be in multiple states and represent numerous combinations of 0 and 1.
• If a hacker tries to read them in transit, super-fragile quantum state “collapses” to either 1 or 0 and attempt to hack will also be recorded eventually.
• This property has helped to create networks for transmitting highly sensitive data based on a process called quantum key distribution, or QKD.
• QKD involves transmission of encrypted data as classical bits while decryption key is encoded and transmitted in a quantum state using qubits.

ANSWER: A

• Anji Khad bridge in Jammu’s Reasi district is a major step in the Indian Railways’ ambitious plan to seamlessly connect Kashmir to Jammu, and the rest of India.
• Anji Bridge, the first cable-stayed railway bridge in the country and is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
  • Anji River is a tributary of Chenab River between Katra and Reasi district of Jammu.
• The Anji bridge forms an important link in Indian Railways’ aim to connect J&K to the rest of India with all-weather rail connectivity.
• A large number of sensors have been placed on the Anji bridge so that the structural health can be monitored regularly.
• It has been designed to handle heavy storms and wind speed of up to 213 kilometres per hour.

 ANSWER: C

• A UK-based startup claims to have developed a Biotransformation Technology that could alter the state of plastics and make them biodegradable without leaving behind any microplastics.
• It is a novel approach to ensure plastics that escape refuse streams are processed efficiently and broken down.
• It was co-developed by the Imperial College in London, UK, and a Britain-based startup, Polymateria.
• The technology would digest the plastics packaging waste naturally with the help of microbes and biodegrade the waste without leaving behind any microplastics.
• This biotransformation technology is the world’s first that ensures polyolefins fully biodegrade in an open environment causing no microplastics.

Working

• Plastics made using this technology are given a pre-programmed time during which the manufactured material looks and feels like conventional plastics without compromising on quality.
• Once the product expires and is exposed to the external environment, it self-destructs and biotransforms into bioavailable wax.
• This wax is then consumed by microorganisms, converting waste into water, CO2, and biomass.

Applications

• Food packaging and healthcare industries are the major two sectors that could use this technology to reduce waste.

 ANSWER: D

• Researchers have discovered a new species of Moray Eel off the Cuddalore coast in Tamil Nadu.
• Moray eels, or Muraenidae are a family of eels found globally.
• They have small Eyes and they rely mostly on their highly developed sense of smell, lying in wait to ambush prey. Their body is generally patterned.
• Moray Eels occur in all tropical and subtropical seas, they live in shallow water among reefs and rocks.
• Moray eels can be found in both freshwater habitats and saltwater habitats.
• They are known for two types of jaws: one is regular (oral) jaws with big teeth and the second jaw is called the pharyngeal jaw (which drags prey inside the eels stomach).

ANSWER: B

• Recently Lebanon saw mass Confusion after its government decided to delay DST by a month.
• Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of turning the clock ahead as warmer weather approaches and back as it becomes colder again.
• The daylight saving time is followed in over 70 countries on various dates.
• India does not follow daylight saving time as countries near the Equator do not experience high variations in daytime hours between seasons.
  • However, people of the North east have demanded a separate time zone to make up for the loss of daylight hours due to the longitudinal breadth of India.

 ANSWER: B

• African philosophy ‘Ubuntu’ can help us fight climate crisis.

About Ubuntu

• African word Ubuntu means ‘humanity to others’.
• This indigenous philosophy (focusing on altruism) provides an alternative way of thinking to rampant individualism.
• It will help us focus on and rebuild our relationship with the natural world and prioritise interconnectedness.
• It invokes a spirit of collective, global and regional inter-governmental action, as well as communal and individual efforts to resolve complex climate crisis.

 ANSWER: C

• Purple Day of Epilepsy is an International Day of Awareness dedicated to raising understanding and reducing the social stigma associated with epilepsy, a neurological condition.
• It is celebrated annually on March 26 with the goal of educating people about epilepsy, recognizing the signs of a seizure, and offering support to those who are impacted by it.
• The first Purple Day of Epilepsy was celebrated on March 26, 2008, and since then, it has grown into a global movement.
• Purple Day of Epilepsy was founded in 2008 by Cassidy Megan, a young girl from Nova Scotia, Canada, who wanted to raise awareness about epilepsy after her own struggles with the disorder.

 ANSWER: A

• The Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR) and DME (Distance Measuring Instrument) systems set up by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the top of Thachi hill about 60 km from Bhuntar aiport, near the Kullu-Manali border, have been commissioned.
• Now the aircraft will be able to land even in bad weather at Bhuntar airport.
• The global aviation watchdog ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) considers DVOR coupled with DME standard navigational aids for the approaching aircraft.
• With the help of the DVOR and DME, the aircraft can accurately predict its direction and distance while in air.