ANSWER: B

ANSWER: D

ANSWER: A

ANSWER: B

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in parts of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months, beginning October 1.
• Also Manipur government declared the entire state a ‘disturbed area’ under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for a period of six months in the wake of the prevailing law and order situation.
  • However, the status will not be implemented in areas under the jurisdiction of 19 police stations including the capital Imphal.

ABOUT AFSPA

• It grants special powers to the armed forces to bring back order in ‘disturbed areas.
• The Act gives unbridled power to the armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces deployed in “disturbed areas” to
  • kill anyone acting in contravention of law,
  • arrest and search any premises without a warrant and
  • protection from prosecution and legal suits without the Central government’s sanction.
• Under Section 3, the Central Government or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area.

ANSWER: C

• The Centre govt. recently notified the Angel Tax rules for valuation of equity and compulsorily convertible preferable shares issued by startups to resident and non-resident investors.
• In a bid to curb overvaluation and maintain transparency in capital transactions, unlisted companies issuing shares at a price exceeding their fair market value will be subject to Angel Tax at 30.6%.

• While earlier only investments made by a resident investor used to attract angel tax, the Budget for 2023-24 widened its ambit to include non-resident investors
• As per the Budget, the excess premium will be considered as ‘income from sources’ and taxed at the rate of up to over 30 per cent.
  • However, startups registered by the DPIIT (Department for promotion of industry and internal trade) are exempt from the new norms.
• The Income-tax (Twenty first Amendment), Rules, 2023 modify rule 11UA specify that the fair value of the shares will be as determined by the methods provided.
  • Rule 11UA is concerned with the valuation of shares for the purpose of levying Angel Tax.

ANSWER: B

• Kalyana Karnataka, a vast arid region comprising seven north-eastern districts of the State, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagara, has some pockets that give one a feeling of being in the middle of the dense Western Ghats.
• One such place is Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, located around the Chandrampalli Dam in Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district of Karnataka.
• Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary, declared as such in 2011, is a vast jungle of 134.88 square kilometres spread over five blocks, Chincholi, Sangapura, Bhonsapur, Magdumpur and Shadipur.
• The sanctuary has four dams, of which Chandrampalli is the major one.
• It is the first dry-land wildlife sanctuary in South India and the only one in the region with rich biodiversity.
• Flora– The sanctuary hosts several medicinal herbs and rare trees such as red sanders and sandalwood.
  • It has good dry deciduous and moist deciduous forest in the core with acacia and teak plantations on the fringes.
• Fauna includes blackbuck, common fox, four-horned antelope, fruit bat, hyena and Indian wolf.
  • Over 35 species of birds, including black drongo, black-winged kite, blossom-headed parakeet, blue pigeon, black-headed oriole and grey partridge.

ANSWER: B

• World Rabies Day is observed annually September 28^th.
• Established by the Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) and recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), it day aims to promote efforts to combat rabies and highlight the importance of prevention.
• This year’s theme is “All for 1, One Health for All”.

ABOUT RABIES

• Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease.
• It is caused by a Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) virus that is present in the saliva of a rabid animal (dog, cat, monkey, etc).
• Symptoms include headaches, high fever, excessive salivation, paralysis, mental disturbances, and confusion, ultimately leading to death.
• It has 100% fatality rate if left untreated.

ANSWER: A

• THE International Day for Universal Access to Information was proclaimed on 15 October 2019 at the 74^th UN General Assembly to be held on 28^th
• This year, the global celebrations in Oxford, United Kingdom on 28 September 2023 will center around the theme of “the importance of the online space for access to information.”

ANSWER: D

• Indian shooter Sift Kaur Samra clinched gold in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position event.
• Samra also achieved a world and Games record score of 469.6 points.
• Also, the Indian trio of Manu Bhaker, Esha Singh, and Rhythm Sangwan secured the gold medal in the women’s 25m pistol team event at the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China.

ANSWER: C

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, led by Dr. Amit Prasad, Associate Professor at the School of Biosciences and Bioengineering, have achieved a significant milestone in the fight against the pork tapeworm (T. solium) by pioneering an innovative protein-based vaccine.
• Collaborating with scientists from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital in Punjab and the CSIR-Institute for Himalayan Bioresource Technology in Himachal Pradesh, the team has introduced a faster, more effective approach to vaccine development for challenging infectious diseases.
• This tapeworm is notorious for causing both intestinal infections and severe brain infections leading to seizures.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has long recognized the pork tapeworm as a major contributor to foodborne deaths, resulting in substantial disability-adjusted life-year losses.
• It accounts for a staggering 30% of epilepsy cases in developing nations, soaring to 45%-50% in regions with poor sanitation and free-roaming pigs.
  • In North India, the prevalence of brain infection stands at an alarming 48.3%.
• In response, the WHO’s “2030 Roadmap of Priority Neglected Tropical Diseases” is dedicated to eradicating T. solium and related infections affecting 1.5 billion people worldwide.