ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: C

• A geoglyph in the form of a circle, said to be 3,000 years old, has been unearthed on the outskirts of Mudichu Thalapalli in the Medchal-Malkajgiri district of Telangana.

• It is a first-of-its-kind discovery in Telangana.
  • Etched on a low-lying granitoid hillock, the geoglyph spans 7.5 metres in diameter and has a perfect circular shape.
  • Surrounding the circle is a 30-centimetre-wide rim, and within the circle are two triangles.
• A prehistoric rock art expert has dated the geoglyph to the Iron Age, specifically around 1000 BCE.
• He suggested that this circle might have served as a model for megalithic communities in planning their circular burial sites.
• The geoglyph displays the artistic skills and etching techniques of Telangana’s Iron Age inhabitants.
• Earlier, archaeologists had discovered three prehistoric rock shelters located within a radius of 1 km from this site, where prehistoric rock art was found, with the images of bulls, deer, porcupine, and humans found on the rocks inside those rock shelters.
  • The rock art was found to have been from the Mesolithic and Megalithic periods (8500 BC- 1000 BC).

ANSWER: C

• NATO recently announced the formal suspension of the treaty of Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in response to Russia’s pullout from the treaty.
• NATO said that “a situation whereby Allied State Parties abide by the Treaty, while Russia does not, would be unsustainable”.
• Signed in 1990, just a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the CFE set constraints on conventional arms and equipment.
• Its purpose was to stop Cold War rivals from building up forces that could be used in a swift assault.
• It established limitations on conventional arms and equipment with the primary goal of preventing Cold War adversaries from amassing forces suitable for rapid attacks.
• It set equal limits on the number of tanks, armored combat vehicles, heavy artillery, etc. that NATO and the Warsaw Treaty Organization could deploy between the Atlantic Ocean and Ural Mountains.

ANSWER: B

• ‘Pauradhwani’, a programme organised by the Kerala State Literacy Mission (KSLM) in coastal and tribal-dominated areas in eight districts with the aim of shaping informed and independent citizens.
• The programme aims at instilling scientific aptitude, independent thinking, secularism, democratic spirit, constitutional values, and awareness about rights towards shaping independent citizens.
• ‘Pauradhwani’ has drawn up a six-point motto, which includes ensuring the rights of the marginalised sections, strengthening democracy and brotherhood, and building an egalitarian new Kerala society without any discrimination.

ANSWER: A

• India recently, successfully test-fired surface-to-surface short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) ‘Pralay’ from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.
• The missile has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in view of the country’s defence requirements along its borders with neighbouring China and Pakistan.
• ‘Pralay’ is a 350-500 km short-range, surface-to-surface missile with a payload capacity of 500-1,000 kg. The solid-fuel, battlefield missile is based on the Prithvi Defence Vehicle.
• ‘Pralay’ missile can be compared with China’s ‘Dong Feng 12’ and Russia’s ‘Iskander’.

ANSWER: D

• In a significant move towards green energy expansion, the Government of India, the Government of Himachal Pradesh, and the World Bank have signed a USD 200 million project aimed at advancing power sector reforms in Himachal Pradesh.
• The project will focus on increasing the share of renewable energy (RE) in the state’s electricity generation, aligning with Himachal Pradesh’s goal to add 10,000 megawatts of additional RE capacity.
• Himachal Pradesh is on a mission to become a ‘Green State’ by meeting all its energy needs through renewable and green energy sources by 2030.
• Currently, more than 80 per cent of the state’s energy demands are met through hydropower.
• The Himachal Pradesh Power Sector Development Program, backed by the World Bank, will aid the state in optimizing its existing RE resources, particularly hydropower, while diversifying its RE sources.