ANSWER: B

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: D

• Central Information Commission (CIC) recently commemorated the 18^th anniversary of enactment of the RTI Act.
• Over these years, CIC has facilitated and disposed of more than 3.5 lakh second appeals/complaints.

About Right to Information Act

• Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.
• Objective– to empower the citizens, promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government, contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in a real sense.

• The right to information is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constitution.
  • In 1976, in the Raj Narain vs the State of Uttar Pradesh case, the Supreme Court ruled that Right to information will be treated as a fundamental right under article 19.
• Any person who is citizen of India or Non-Residents of India can file RTI.
• Right to Information (Amendment) Act, 2019-
  • It provided that the Chief Information Commissioner and an Information Commissioner (of Centre as well as States) shall hold office for such term as prescribed by the Central Government. Earlier, their term was fixed for 5 years.
  • It provided that the salary, allowances and other service conditions of the Chief Information Commissioner and an Information Commissioner (of Centre as well as States) shall be such as prescribed by the Central Government.
• Challenges- As of June 30, 2023, there were 3.21 lakh pending appeals and complaints within the 27 information commissions, which serve as the final appellate authorities under this legislation.

ANSWER: B

• NASA’s Psyche spacecraft was launched recently is on its voyage to an asteroid of the same name.
• Psyche asteroid is a metal-rich world that could tell us more about the formation of rocky planets.
• By August 2029, the spacecraft will begin to orbit the 173-mile-wide (279-kilometer-wide) asteroid – the only metal-class asteroid ever to be explored.
• Because of Psyche’s high iron-nickel metal content, scientists think it may be the partial core of a planetesimal, a building block of an early planet.
• The goal is a 26-month science investigation.
• For its six-year, 2-billion-mile (3.6-billion-kilometer) trip to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Psyche relies on solar electric propulsion.
• The efficient propulsion system works by expelling charged atoms, or ions, of the neutral gas xenon to create a thrust that gently propels the spacecraft.
• Along the way, the spacecraft will use Mars’ gravity as a slingshot to speed it along on its journey.
• Arizona State University leads the Psyche mission.
• Psyche is the 14^th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

ANSWER: C

• The Ninth P20 Summit was recently hosted by the Parliament of India in cooperation with IPU in New Delhi.
  • P20 Summit is an annual gathering of G20 Parliament Speakers discussing global issues.
• Also the first ever G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit (P20 Summit) was hosted by the world’s largest democracy concluded at India International Convention Centre, Yashobhoomi, Dwarka, Delhi

ABOUT IPU

• The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments.
• It has 179 Members(including India) and 14 Associate Members.
• The IPU facilitates parliamentary diplomacy and empowers parliaments and parliamentarians to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development around the world.
• Slogan- For democracy. For everyone.
• It promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people.
• It works for peace, democracy, human rights, gender equality, youth empowerment, climate action and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.
• Financed primarily by Members out of public funds.
• Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland with offices in New York, USA and Vienna, Austria.

ANSWER: D

• A group of scientists from India and the United Kingdom have discovered a new species of toads Bufoides bhupathyi.
• It has been found in the Dampa tiger reserve of Mizoram.
• It is the third of a genus found only in a very narrow area in northeast India.
• The two earlier known species from the genus ‘bufoides’ – Bufoides meghalayanus and Bufoides kempi – were found in Meghalaya.
• The new species from Mizoram is different from the co-generic (similar) species in interdigital webbing, colouration, skin tuberculation, and the presence of ovoid, tuberculated and depressed parotid glands.
• The new species has been named after S Bhupathy, a noted herpetologist who served as principal scientist at the Coimbatore-based Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.

AABOUT DAMPA TIGER RESERVE

• It is located in the western flank (Lushai Hills) of Mizoram.
• It was declared as a tiger reserve under the Project Tiger in 1994.
• On the West, it is bound by the Chittagong hill tracts (Sazek hill range) of Bangladesh.
• Area- 500 sq km approx.
• The habitat is drained by the River Khawthlangtuipui in the West and the Teirei River to the East.
• Flora: ranges from tropical evergreen to semi-evergreen forests.
• Fauna: Hoolock Gibbon, Rhesus Macaque, Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Golden Cat, Himalayan Black Bear etc.

ANSWER: B

• World Students Day is celebrated annually on October 15^th.
• The theme for this year- “FAIL: stands for First Attempt in Learning.”
  • It is introduced by the Ministry of Education and the Government of India, aims to motivate students to embrace failure as a learning experience and continue their educational journey.
• The United Nations officially designated October 15 as World Students Day in 2010.
• It is celebrated on the birth anniversary of APJ Abdul Kalam.

ANSWER: D

• Every year, World Food Day is observed on October 16^th.
• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation was founded back in 1945.
• Thirty-four years after that, in 1979, at the FAO Conference, World Food Day was officially accepted as a world holiday.
• The theme of World Food Day is – Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind.