Answer: (C)

Explanation: At the Global Maritime India Summit 2023 the Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled ‘Amrit Kaal Vision 2047’, a blueprint for the Indian Maritime blue economy. Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 is the long-term blueprint for the Indian maritime blue economy for enhancing port, promoting sustainable practices and facilitating global collaboration. The blueprint outlines strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing port facilities, promoting sustainable practices and facilitating international collaboration. It includes strategies to make major ports carbon-neutral and push for domestic hydrogen production and distribution. It aims to quadruple port capacity to 10,000 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 2047, aiming to get 100 % public private partnership (PPP) for 12 major ports. Global Maritime India Summit 2023 is the 3rd edition of the summit that was held at Mumbai. Hence, all statements are correct.

Answer: (B)

Explanation: Nanhe Faristey, AAHT, Uplabdh and Yatri Suraksha are operations of Railway Protection Force (RPF) to protect railway property, passenger areas and passengers.

1. Operation ‘Nanhe Faristey’ – The operation aims to rescue children and reunite them with their family. Hence, pair 1 is correctly matched.
2. Operation ‘AAHT’ – It is an effective operation to curb the evil plans of Human traffickers. Hence, pair 2 is correctly matched.
3. Operation ‘Uplabdh’ – In this operation the touts were arrested and legal action was taken against them as per law. Touts are the persons who sell tickets unofficially, at a much higher price than the official price, especially outside a theatre, stadium, railway station and other places. Hence, pair 3 is not correctly matched.
4. Operation ‘Yatri Suraksha’ - In order to redress security related complaints of passengers in distress and for immediate assistance, this operation was launched. Hence, pair 4 is not correctly matched.

Answer: (A)

Explanation: Recently the researchers have observed that the Microalgae are adapting to warming climate, declining nutrient levels in seas with help of the Rhodopsin protein. The warmer the surface water gets, the lower are the nutrients in these surface water layers. There is less mixing between the surface waters and nutrient-rich deeper waters as the oceans warm. So nutrients become scarce at the surface, impacting the primary producers such as microalgae that are present in the top layer. Microalgae form the base of the food chain in the ocean and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For algae to produce food and to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, they need sunlight. Microbial rhodopsins may absorb as much light as chlorophyll-based photosynthesis in the sea, which also captures light to generate energy and food. Rhodopsin is a light-responsive protein that helps the microalgae flourishes with the help of sunlight in place of traditional chlorophyll. Hence, statement 1 is correct.

Microbial rhodopsins may have the potential to reduce the negative effects of changing environmental conditions, such as ocean warming and even the reduction in the productivity of crops. The same mechanism could be deployed to enhance the activity of microbes that cannot use light, such as yeast. Rhodopsins were found to be more concentrated in low latitudes, where there is less mixing of ocean waters and lower concentrations of nutrients, including dissolved iron. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.

Answer: (B)

Explanation: It is a type of provident fund account that is available only for government employees in India. The primary objective of this fund is to provide a dependable source of retirement income for government employees. It allows government employees to accumulate savings over their employment tenure. Hence, statement 1 is not correct.

It is a mandatory scheme for government employees, requiring them to contribute a certain percentage of their salary towards the fund. The contributions are deducted from the employee’s monthly salary, and the amount earns interest at a predetermined rate. Employees can also increase the GPF deductions as per their choice. Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Answer: (A)

Explanation: In the recently-concluded assembly session, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin announced the ‘Samadhan Scheme’ for the settlement of arrears of tax, penalty or interest pertaining to various taxes administered under Commercial Taxes. Hence, option (a) is correct.