Explanation

• Option c is the correct answer – The ongoing excavation at Zehanpora put the spotlight on the significance of Kashmir in Buddhist history.
• It is a Buddhist site dating back nearly 2,000 years to the Kushan period. It is located in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Zehanpora, situated on an ancient trade and pilgrimage corridor linking Gandhara and Kashmir, enabled the movement of monks, merchants, and religious ideas.

T know more, click here

Explanation

• Option a is the correct answer – Calamaria mizoramensis is a non-venomous reed snake species discovered in Mizoram.
• It inhabits humid, forested hill regions between 670 and 1,295 metres in elevation, often near human settlements.
• It is confirmed in Mizoram, whereas the possible presence is in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, and Chittagong (Bangladesh).
• It is small, secretive, with a dark brown to blackish body with faint stripes and a yellow underside.

To know more, click here

Explanation

• PESA Act extends the Panchayati Raj system or the 73rd Constitutional Amendment provisions to the tribal-dominated Fifth Schedule Areas.
• Statement 1 is incorrect – Kothari Commission (1964-66) proposed a national education framework.
• Bhuria Committee, 1995, has recommended extending Panchayati Raj to tribal areas, which led to the PESA Act, 1996.
• Statement 2 is incorrect – Exclusive Rights of Gram Sabha include -
  • Consultation in land acquisition & rehabilitation.
  • Planning & management of minor water bodies.
  • Recommendations for mining licenses and concessions.
• Gram Sabha has the authority to regulate -
  • Sale/consumption of intoxicants
  • Ownership of minor forest produce (MFP)
  • Management of village markets etc.

To know more, click here

Explanation

• Option c is correct – Popocatepetl, often referred to as "El Popo," is an active stratovolcano in central Mexico. It is one of the world's most active volcano.
• It is the second-highest peak in the country, rising to 5,426 meters (17,802 ft).
• It is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Ring of Fire.
• It is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and lies above a subduction zone where the Cocos Plate subducts beneath the North American Plate.

To know more, click here

Explanation

• 4 is correct – Mpemba Effect is a phenomenon in which a hotter sample of water may freeze faster than a colder one, under certain conditions.
• The effect is named after Erasto Mpemba, who rediscovered the phenomenon. It dates back to an early reference by Aristotle in the Meteorological.
• 1 is incorrect – Tropicalisation (or tropicalization) primarily means the ecological shift where warming climates allow tropical species to expand into temperate zones,
• While temperate species retreat, altering ecosystems globally, especially in the oceans.
• 2 is incorrect – Elevational diversity gradient (EDG) Biodiversity changes with the changes in altitude. It increases as one moves from higher to lower altitudes.
• 3 is incorrect - "Spaghetti Bowl Effect" refers to the confusing, tangled network of numerous overlapping Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and their different Rules of Origin (ROO).
• This complicate global trade rather than simplifying it. It is a term coined by economist Jagdish Bhagwati to criticize FTAs for creating discriminatory and contradictory trade policies.

To know more, click here