ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: A

• Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh jointly inaugurated three Indian assisted development projects
• The three projects are –
  • The Akhaura-Agartala Cross-Border 12.24 km Rail Link project connects Bangladesh and Tripura.
    • It connects India’s northeast to Bangladesh by rail for the first time.
    • It will also facilitate better connectivity between Bangladesh’s Chattogram port and the northeast and boost trade and tourism.
  • The 7-km Khulna-Mongla port railway line connects Bangladesh’s second-largest port to the country’s rail network for the first time.
    • With this, Mongla, the second largest port of Bangladesh, gets connected with the broad-gauge railway network.
  • The Maitree super thermal power project, built under an Indian concessional financing scheme loan of $1.6 billion, is a 1,320 MW plant located in the Khulna division of Its Unit II was inaugurated recently.
    • It has been implemented by the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Private) Limited (BIFPCL), which is a 50:50 Joint Venture company between India’s NTPC Ltd and Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

ANSWER: B

• The 71^st Foundation Day of EPFO was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi recently.

ABOUT EMPLOYEES’ PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION

• EPFO is one of the World’s largest Social Security Organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions
  • At present it maintains 27.74 crore accounts (Annual Report 2021-22) pertaining to its members.
• The Employees’ Provident Fund came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees’ Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951.
  • It was replaced by the Employees’ Provident Funds Act, 1952.
• The Act is now referred as the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of India.
• The Act and Schemes framed there under are administered by a tri-partite Board known as the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund, consisting of representatives of Government (Both Central and State), Employers, and Employees.
  • The Central Board of Trustees administers a contributory provident fund, pension scheme and an insurance scheme for the workforce engaged in the organized sector in India.
• The EPFO is under the administrative control of Ministry of Labour and Employment.

ANSWER: C

• The Goa Foundation has filed a contempt petition before the Bombay HC at Goa seeking action against the Goa government for not complying with the directions of the High Court to notify a tiger reserve in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS) and other contiguous areas of the state within three months.

ABOUT MHADEI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (WLS)

• It is located in the Northern Part of Goa, near the village of Valpoi.
• The sanctuary covers a vast area of 208 sq. km.
• Its official declaration as a wildlife preserve came in 1999.
• The formation of this sanctuary made Goa the only state in the country that protects the entire area of the Western Ghats that falls within the state.
• Flora
  • Moist deciduous vegetation and some evergreen species too.
  • The sanctuary is particularly well-known for its sacred groves that protect rare and indigenous trees.
  • One of the most unusual trees found here is an evergreen variety of the Ashoka tree with peculiar saffron coloured flowers.
• Fauna- Indian gaur, Barking deer, Sambar deer, Asian palm civet, small Indian civet, Wild boar, Indian hare, Ruddy mongoose, Black-faced langur and Bonnet macaque.
  • Some seen more rarely include the Black Panther, Sloth bear, Leopard, Tiger, Dhole, Jungle cat, Mouse deer, Giant squirrel, Flying squirrel, Indian pangolin and the Slender loris.

ANSWER: A

• The government is pushing for Centrally-funded scheme to provide financial support to poor prisoners who are forced to remain in jail due to inability to pay the fine imposed on them or cannot secure bail due to financial constraints.
• The home ministry has asked all the state and UT prison departments to direct its concerned officers to activate the scheme on an urgent basis.
• States and union territories were earlier advised through the guidelines to constitute an ‘empowered committee’ in each district, which will assess the requirement of financial support in each case for securing bail or for payment of fine, etc.
• Based on the decision taken, the district collector or district magistrate will take necessary action to provide assistance to the prisoner.

ANSWER: B

• Lionel Messi secured his eighth Ballon d’Or, a record in football history, and Aitana Bonmati claimed the Ballon d’Or Féminin Award for her exceptional contributions to Spain’s Women’s World Cup win and Barcelona’s success.

ABOUT THE AWARD

• The Ballon d’Or is an annual football award presented by French news magazine France Football since 1956.
• The Ballon d’Or awards are based on a player’s individual performance in the previous season.
• Previously players were adjudged based on performance during the calendar year.

ANSWER: D

• Pre-World Cup paragliding championship, which was organised at Bir Billing, concluded recently.
• As many as 93 participants from 18 countries participated in the championship.
• There were 13 participants from the Indian Army, including 8 women.

RESULTS

• Overall, America’s Austin Cox stood first, America’s Owen Shoe Menker stood second and France’s Cotton Lamy bagged the third
• In the junior category, Ashwani Thakur of India stood first while Sushant Thakur stood second and Noah Kanner of Switzerland bagged the third position.
• In the sports category, Owen Schumacher bagged the first position, Subir Sidhu stood second and Christopher Moody third.
• In the senior category, Switzerland’s Michael Sewri won the first place, Noah Kinnar stood second and Veera Shivari bagged the third position.
• In the team category, Northwest Paragliding team stood first, The First Frog team won the second place while Akash Adventure team bagged the third place.
• In the Indian category, Ashwani Thakur stood first, Yash Paul stood second and Ranjit Singh third.
• In the women’s category, America’s Jenny Onal bagged the first place, Switzerland’s Veer Shevari stood second and Isabelle Messenger third.