January 2024-Compendium

For Courses: https://zjwtx.courses.
store/ GK GENIE
©Copyright @ PREP-CASA_Classplus.co. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action.
Mail us your GK related queries at: mail: gkgenie214@gmail.com
Telegram Channel Link: https://t.me/Clatgk_214
For Courses: https://zjwtx.courses.store/ GK GENIE
January 2024 Monthly Compendium:
TOPIC LIST January 2024:
• India-Pakistan Nuclear Installations Lists • India’s 4-year term at UN Statistical

Exchange Commission
• GSAT-20 • Swachh Survekshan 2023
• Five New Countries Joins BRICS (Argentina • Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu)
withdraws) • Nauru goes over to China and Taiwan New
• ST Status to Hattee Community President
• Jail to Novel Laureate Mohd. Yunus and Jail • The Ram Temple in Nagara Style
to Nobel Peace Prize 2023 • SLIM by JAXA and Pregrine-01
• 16th Finance Commission Constituted • Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar
• Bilkis Bano Case • National Tourism Day 2024
• Countries of Particular Concern: US Report • Parakram Diwas
• ICJ Hearings in Gaza Genocide • Australian Open 2024
• New Development Projects in Lakshadweep • Republic Day 2024 and Padma Awards 2024
Islands, India-Maldives Row, Maldives ask • 49th and 50th Bharat Ratna
India to withdraw Military, Maldives Turkey • Interim Budget 2024
Deal, Israel Desalination Project in • National Road Safety Week
Lakshadweep • Bill on CEC Appointment
• 'One Nation, One Election' • Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra
• Indian Olympic Association new CEO • 6th Khelo India Youth Games
• Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission • Exercise Khanjar, Exercise Cyclone and
• X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) Exercise Desert Knight
• Global Biofuel Alliance • National Girl Child Day
• National Sports Awards • ICC Awards 2023
• Aditya L-1 Mission Halo Orbit Insertion • Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have
• Jal Jeevan Mission to 14 Crore Rural announced their immediate withdrawal
Households from the West African bloc ECOWAS.
• Startup-India Day, 4th edition of the State • Snow Leopard Survey and Kyrgyzstan
Startup Ranking officially declared the snow leopard its
• Henley Passport Index national symbol
• Corruption Perception Index • UNSC Special Envoy to Afghanistan
• Aadhar Based Payment System
Important Topic Based Notes:

1. X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat): Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) has successfully launched X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) aboard
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C58.
• The satellite was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
• Ten other scientific payloads were also launched along with XPoSat.
• It marks India's first dedicated scientific endeavour to study the polarisation of cosmic X-rays from
celestial sources.
• India has become the second country in the world after the United States to send a specialised astronomy
observatory to study black holes and neutron stars in our galaxy.
• The mission life of the primary payload XPoSat is about five years.
• The telescope is being developed by the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in close collaboration with U R
Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).
• As per ISRO, this mission will complement the efforts of US space agency NASA, which launched its
Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in 2021 by observing space events across a broad energy
range of 2-30 keV.
Note: The Raman Research Institute (RRI) is an institute for scientific research located in Bengaluru, India.
It was founded by Nobel laureate C. V. Raman in 1948.
The U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), formerly ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) is an ISRO centre for the
design, development, and construction of Indian satellites. It was established in 1972 as Indian Scientific
Satellite Project (ISSP) in Peenya Industrial Estates of Bangalore.
The Indian Space Research Organisation is the national space agency of India. It operates as the primary
research and development arm of the Department of Space, which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister
of India while the Chairman of ISRO also acts as the executive of DoS. It was founded in 1969 by Vikram
Sarabhai.
2. GST Revenue:
• India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues crossed ₹1,64,800 crore in December 2023, with year on
year growth slowing to a three month low of 10.3% from a 15.1% rise in the previous month.
• The GST receipts in December are the lowest since October witnessed a peak of ₹1.72 trillion, which was
this fiscal’s second highest after a record ₹1.87 trillion in April.
• This indicates a moderation after businesses replenished supply chains in the pre-festive months, but
receipts could see a further increase closer to the fiscal year end. Barring May and August, GST receipts
have remained above ₹1.6 trillion this fiscal.
• During the April-December 2023 period, gross GST collection witnessed a robust 12% y-o-y growth,
reaching ₹14.97 lakh crore, as against ₹13.40 lakh crore collected in the same period of the previous year
(April-December 2022). Capital goods production and construction goods have shown robust double-digit
growth in the first seven months of the fiscal.
What is GST?
The Goods and Services Tax is a value-added tax levied on most goods and services sold for domestic
consumption. The GST is paid by consumers, but it is remitted to the government by the businesses selling the
goods and services
• Implementation of GST finally materialised with the Parliament passing the Constitutional Amendment
Act in September 2016, followed by the State Legislatures and GST was rolled out with effect from 1 July
2017 (including Jammu and Kashmir with effect from 8 July 2017).
• France was the first country in the world to implement Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• There are Four GST types namely Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST), State Goods and Services
Tax (SGST), Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), and Union Territory Goods and Services Tax
(UTGST). The taxation rate under each of them is different.
3. 16th Finance Commission Constituted:
• The Finance Commission in India is a constitutional body

established under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution. As per the
constitution, the commission is appointed every five years and
consists of a chairman and four other members.
• Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. Arvind Panagariya who is
a Professor at Columbia University, will be the Chairman of the 16th
Finance Commission.
• IAS officer Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey will be the secretary of the Commission. Union Cabinet has given
the green light to the terms of reference (ToR) for the Sixteenth Finance Commission.
• It holds the critical responsibility of recommending the formula for revenue distribution between the
Centre and the States for the upcoming five-year period starting from April 1, 2026.
• It will recommend the distribution of taxes between the Union Government and the States under Chapter
I, Part XII of the Constitution. It will determine the amounts to be provided to the States as grants-in-aid,
specifically under Article 275 of the Constitution, for purposes beyond those outlined in the provisos to
clause (1) of that article.
• The Commission may review the current financing structures related to Disaster Management initiatives.
This involves examining the funds created under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and presenting
suitable recommendations for improvements or alterations.
About 15th Finance Commission:
• The Fifteenth Finance Commission was constituted on 27th November, 2017. It made recommendations
covering the period of six years commencing on 1st April, 2020 through its Interim and Final Reports.
• The recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission are valid up to the financial year 2025-26.
Key Recommendations:
1. The Commission proposed maintaining the states' share in central taxes at 41% for the 2021-26 period, a
slight reduction from the 42% allocated during 2015-20 by the 14th Finance Commission. This 1%
adjustment aims to accommodate the newly formed union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
from the central resources.
2. The Commission recommended that the Centre aims to limit its fiscal deficit to 4% of GDP by 2025-26.
4. Aditya-L1 reaches halo orbit:
• Halo-Orbit Insertion (HOI) of its solar observatory

spacecraft, Aditya-L1 was accomplished at 16.00 Hrs
(approx.) on January 6, 2024 (IST).
• The final phase of the maneuver involved firing of

control engines for a short duration.
• The orbit of Aditya-L1 spacecraft is a periodic Halo orbit

which is located roughly 1.5 million km from earth on
the continuously moving Sun – Earth line with an orbital
period of about 177.86 earth days.
• This Halo orbit is a periodic, three-dimensional orbit at L1 involving Sun, Earth and a spacecraft. This
specific halo orbit is selected to ensure a mission lifetime of 5 years, minimizing station-keeping
manoeuvres and thus fuel consumption and ensuring a continuous, unobstructed view of sun.
• Aditya-L1 was launched aboard the PSLV C57. It was launched on September 2, 2023.
• Nigar Shaji is the project's director.
• Aditya-L1 was designed and realised at UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) with participation from various
ISRO centres. The payloads onboard Aditya-L1 were developed by Indian scientific laboratories, IIA,
IUCAA and ISRO. The main goal of the mission is to study various solar activities in real-time and
understand how they affect space weather.
• ISRO recently shared the first full-disk images of the Sun taken by the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope
(SUIT) instrument on board the Aditya-L1 spacecraft. The mission was Conceptualised in January 2008
by the Advisory Committee for Space Sciences (ADCOS).
Note: Japan holds the distinction of launching the first solar mission in 1981, while NASA and the European
Space Agency (ESA) have been studying the Sun since the 1990s. JAXA, the Japan's space agency, launched
its first solar observation satellite, Hinotori (ASTRO-A), in 1981. The objective was to study solar flares
using hard X-rays.
What are Lagrange points:
• Lagrange points are positions in space where objects sent there tend to stay put. At Lagrange points, the
gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to
move with them. These points in space can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to
remain in position.
• There are five Lagrange points for the Sun–Earth system, and five different Lagrange points for the Earth–
Moon system.
• The L1 point of the Earth-Sun system affords an uninterrupted view of the sun and is currently home to
the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite SOHO.
5. ICJ Hearings in Gaza Genocide:
• South Africa had asked the ICJ on Friday for an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its
obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention in its crackdown against Hamas.
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in proceedings launched by South Africa
against Israel over the Gaza war on Jan. 11 and 12. Israel had said it would appear before the court to
contest the accusations.
About Genocide Convention 1948:
• Genocide is often loosely used when speaking of attacks against

various communities across the world.
• It has been defined using set criteria in the UN’s Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, moved in the
General Assembly in 1948. As per the present Convention,
genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group, as such:
I. Killing members of the group
II. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.
III. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in
whole or in part.
IV. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group and etc.
• As per this convention the genocide is a crime whether committed during wartime or peacetime. India
ratified the convention in 1959. There is no legislation on the subject.
About ICJ: It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, situated at the Peace Palace in The Hague
(Netherlands). ICJ was established in 1945 by the United Nations charter and started working in April 1946.
Unlike the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (USA).
It settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions in accordance with international law, on legal
questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies. It has 193 state parties
.
6. India’s Four-Year Term at UN Statistical Commission:
• India started its four-year term as a member of the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) on 01-
01-2024, following a two-decade absence.
• India had won the UN Statistical Commission election by securing 46 out of 53 votes.
• The United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) is the highest body of the global statistical system,
bringing together chief statisticians from member states from around the world.
• It was established in 1947.
• The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and it is
a Functional Commission of the UN Economic and Social Council.
• The commission consists of 24-member countries of the United Nations. They are elected by the United
Nations Economic and Social Council on the basis of an equitable geographical distribution. The term of
office of members is four years.
• The commission consists of five members from the African states, four from the Asia-Pacific region, four
each from eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean, and seven more from western Europe
and other regions. Indian representative Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis chaired the commission during its
eighth and ninth sessions in 1954 and 1956, while V.R. Rao took up the chairmanship in 1976.
• The current estimates of national income are based on the 2008 SNA, with 2011-12 as the base year.
• According to experts, the most crucial business India will participate in is the finalization and
implementation of the 2025 System of National Accounts (SNA).
7. Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission
• More than 1 crore people have been screened for Sickle Cell
Disease under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination
Mission.
• The Mission endeavors to screen 7 crore population in 3 years
• Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disease which affects the

whole life of the affected patient. It is more common in the
tribal population of India but occurs in non-tribals too.
• nd
Source: Image taken from The Statesman and TOI article dated: 2 Jan, 2024.
• The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on
1st July 2023 at Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.
• The program is being carried out in a mission mode for screening, prevention, and management of sickle
cell anemia in all tribal and other high prevalent areas States/UTs of India.
• The government is committed to eliminating the disease before India celebrates its Amrit Kaal in 2047.
• Implemented in 17 high-focus states across the country, this program aims to improve the care and
prospects of all sickle cell disease patients while reducing the prevalence of the disease.
• Other Diseases and Elimination year target by India:

I. Kala Azar: 2023
II. TB: 2025
III. Leprosy: 2027
8. New Development projects in Lakshadweep: Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in Kavaratti,
Lakshadweep, inaugurated the Kochi-Lakshadweep islands submarine optical fiber connection (KLI-SOFC)
project.
• The KLI-SOFC project will lead to an increase in internet speed unlocking new possibilities &
opportunities.
• Lakshadweep will be connected through Submarine Optic Fibre Cable. Earlier, the only means of
communication with the Islands was through Satellite medium, which had limited bandwidth capacity and
was not able to meet the growing bandwidth demand.
• The project is funded by Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecommunication.
• Total link distance: 1,868 kilometres.
• Total cost of project: Rs 1072 crore plus taxes.
• Additionally, PM Modi marked the commencement of operations at the Low-Temperature Thermal

Desalination (LTTD) facility in Kadmat, designed to generate 150,000 litres of potable water daily.
• Furthermore, the Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) were inaugurated, ensuring that every
household in Agatti and Minicoy islands can now access functional tap connections.
Note: Administrator of UT of Lakshadweep: Praful Patel
Maldives row over Lakshadweep? (Just Read it).

• The saga began when PM Modi shared images from his visit
to Lakshadweep on January 4. PM Modi's Lakshadweep
visit was part of his visit to South India.
• Several social media users linked PM Modi's revealing
"India's best-kept secret" and his time in Lakshadweep to
the Maldives. Reports suggested that it could be because of
the Maldivian government's cosying up to China.
• All the talk about the Maldivian link to Lakshadweep's promotion remained as reports and online
chatter. New Delhi never said anything to suggest any Maldivian link.
• However, some politicians from the Maldives jumped onto the online chatter and started using
abusive language for PM Modi and Indians, in general.
• Finally, Male acted on Sunday (January 7), by suspending three Maldivian lawmakers.
India-Maldives Ties:
• Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has asked India to withdraw its military personnel from his country
by March 15.
• Maldives and India have set up a high-level core group to negotiate the withdrawal of troops. The group
held its first meeting at the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Male on 14th January, 2024.
• The meeting was also attended by Indian High Commissioner to Maldives, Munu Mahawar.
• According to the latest government figures, there are 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives.
I. 24 individuals are involved in helicopter operations.
II. 25 are engaged in the operations of a Dornier aircraft.
III. 26 are assigned to a second helicopter’s operation.
IV. Two individuals are responsible for the maintenance and engineering works of these aircraft.
When did Indian Soldiers first enter Maldives? The one-time India’s soldiers entered the island for an actual
military operation in November 1988 — to thwart an attempted coup, at the request of the government of then
President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Indian troops managed to secure the President and capture the rebels. Indian
soldiers have been sent to the Maldives at various points for training Maldivian troops, in both combat and
reconnaissance and rescue-aid operations.
Key agreements between India and Maldives:
1. Two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALF) were given by India to the Maldives in 2010 and in 2015.
2. The UTF Harbour Project agreement was signed between India and the Maldives in February 2021.
• There have been multiple factors at play and these anti-India sentiments were further inflamed during the
recent presidential elections in the Maldives including the pushing of a narrative that the Ibrahim
Mohamed Solih-led Maldivian Democratic Party was a political party influenced by India. The coalition
of the People’s National Congress & the Progressive Party of Maldives party, whose representative
President Muizzu won the 2023 presidential election, is considered to be pro-China.
• The ‘India Out’ campaign began much later, sometime in 2020. The resentment had been building ever
since Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Progressive Party (PPM), with a pro-China tilt, became
president in 2013.
9. Jal Jeevan Mission in News:
• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has crossed a momentous milestone of

providing tap water connections to 14 Crore (72.71%) rural
households.
• It was launched by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 15th
August 2019.
• As of today, six states, namely Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat,
Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh and three Union Territories of
Puducherry, D&D and D&NH, and A&N Islands have achieved
100% coverage.
• Mizoram at 98.68%, Arunachal Pradesh at 98.48% and Bihar at 96.42% are on track to achieve saturation
in the near future.
• The Ministry of Jal Shakti declared Goa as the first certified Har Ghar Jal state in August 2022.
• In addition to household connections, the Mission has ensured tap water supply in 9.24 lakh (90.65%)
schools and 9.57 lakh (86.63%) anganwadi centres nationwide.
• In the 112 aspirational districts, tap water access has surged from 21.41 lakh (7.86%) households at the
time of launch to 1.96 Crore (72.08%) households.
• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) aims to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household
tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
• It is also part of India’s progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
number 6.
• Several factors, including the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, have delayed the Har Ghar Jal
programme, which aims to furnish all rural households in India with safe drinking water connections by
March 2024.
• According to a statement by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the overall financial commitment for the Jal Jeevan
Mission is Rs 3,600 billion (US$ 43.80 billion), which makes it one of the largest welfare programmes in
the world.
• The World Health Organisation released a ground-breaking report in June 2023 highlighting the
substantial benefits of the 'Har Ghar Jal' program in India. The report estimates that ensuring safely
managed drinking water for all households in the country could avert nearly 400,000 deaths caused by
diarrheal diseases and prevent approximately 14 million Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) related
to these diseases. This achievement alone would result in estimated cost savings of up to $101 billion.
• Union Minister of Jal Shakti: Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
COP 28 - Women and Water:

• The 'Women and Water' theme at COP 28 in the UAE (30th November-12th December, 2023) featured
a presentation showcasing achievements under SBM-G and JJM. The event focused on WASH issues,
emphasizing the impact of these flagship programs on women's lives in India.
• SBM-G (Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen) and the Ministry of Railways launched the Pani Ki Rail
initiative on 14th September, 2023, flagged off by Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. Himsagar
Express and Kamakhya Express serve as mobile billboards to promote awareness on SBM-G, JJM, water
conservation, river rejuvenation, and more.
10. One Nation, One Election:

• The eight-member panel on 'One Nation, One Election' formed in
September, 2023 and led by former President Ram Nath Kovind
has invited suggestions from the public for making appropriate
changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable
simultaneous elections in the country. The suggestions received
by January 15 would be taken up for consideration.
• The committee has also heard the views of the Law Commission
on simultaneous polls. The Law Commission, which is looking into the issue of holding simultaneous
elections in the country, may examine the possibility of carrying out the three-tier voting exercise in two
phases in a single year, as per sources.
• In the first phase, Lok Sabha and Assembly elections can be held and in the second, local body elections
can be organised, they said, citing one of the formulas the law panel may consider for the simultaneous
elections.
• The present law panel under Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (retd) is finalising its report on holding Assembly
and Lok Sabha polls together.
• The idea of conducting simultaneous elections was advocated in 1999 by the Law Commission headed by
BP Jeevan Reddy.
• One Nation, One Election was in practice in India till 1967, but it was disrupted due to various reasons
such as defections, dismissals, and dissolutions of government.
• The cycle was first broken in 1959 after the Centre invoked Article 356 to dismiss the then-Kerala
government. Subsequently, due to defections and counter-defections between parties, several Legislative
Assemblies dissolved post-1960, which eventually led to separate polls for Lok Sabha and State
Assemblies.
• Currently, the assembly polls in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are
held together with the Lok Sabha elections.
• One Nation, one election helps in focused governance, reduction in cost of conducting election and etc.
but the logistical requirement, idea of federalism and etc. are at stake.
Note: Article 324 constitutes Election Commission which is responsible for conducting polls to the offices of the
President and Vice-President of India, Parliament, the state assemblies and the legislative councils.
11. 1st Inland Waterways Development Council:

• Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal chair the first Inland Waterways
Development Council Meeting in Kolkata.
• During the meeting, Mr. Sonowal unveiled groundbreaking initiatives, including Harit Nauka - Guidelines
for Green Transition of Inland Vessels and the River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047.
• Inland Waterways Development Council was established in October 2023 by the Government of India.
The Ministry aims to raise inland waterways’ cargo modal share from 2% currently to 5% under Maritime
India Vision 2030.
Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047: India's maritime sector is set to transform with a comprehensive roadmap
launched during the Global Maritime India Summit, involving an investment of Rs. 80,000 lakh crores.
The Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, formulated by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, builds on the Maritime
India Vision 2030 and aims to develop world-class ports and promote inland water transport, coastal shipping,
and a sustainable maritime sector.
Inauguration of National Logistics Portal (Marine): The National Logistics Portal (Marine) was inaugurated
on January 27, 2023, by the Honorable Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways. The NLP is a one-stop
platform connecting all stakeholders in the logistics community through IT, aimed at improving efficiency and
transparency while reducing costs and time delays.
Sagarmanthan – Comprehensive Monitoring Dashboard: On March 23rd, 2023, the Union Minister for Ports,
Shipping and Waterways launched 'Sagar Manthan', a digital platform containing comprehensive data related to
the Ministry and all its organizations.
12. Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas:

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, also known as NRI Day (Non-Resident Indian), is celebrated every year on
January 9.
• It holds great significance in recognising and honouring the Indian diaspora spread across the globe.
• NRI Day marks the contribution and achievements of overseas Indians in various fields, fostering a strong
connection between the homeland and its diasporic communities.
• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was first introduced in 2003 by the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, to commemorate the return of Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India on January 9, 1915.
• The decision to celebrate Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was taken in accordance with recommendations of the
High-Level Committee (HLC) on the Indian Diaspora set up by the government of India under the
chairmanship of L. M. Singhvi.
• It was celebrated every year from 2003 to 2015. But it was amended in the year 2015, and since then,
Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas is celebrated at an interval of every two year.
• 27 people were given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2023.

• In 2020 as a solemn tribute to late external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, the government renamed
Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra as Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, and Foreign Service Institute (Delhi) as Sushma
Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service.
Who is a NRI?
• A non-residential Indian is a person who stays in India for less than 182 days during the period of the
foreseeing financial year. An NRI can also be a person who has gone out of the nation for employment is
called an NRI. A person staying abroad for business-related purposes is also called an NRI.
13. National Sports Awards:
• President Droupadi Murmu today presented the National Sports and Adventure Awards 2023 at a function
in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
• The National Sports Awards is the collective name given to the six sports awards of the Republic of India.
• It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. They are presented by the President
of India in the same ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan
• Since 2004, Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award has been given alongside the other sports
awards.
List of Awards and Inception years:
• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna: Major Dhyan Chad Khel Ratna was instituted in the year 1991–
1992. It is given to sportspersons for most outstanding performance by a sportsperson over the period of
last four years. The award comprises a medallion, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹25 lakh.
The award from 1991 till 2021 was named after Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991), the 6th Prime Minister of
India.
The award since August 6, 2021 is named after Major Dhyan Chand (1905–79).
• Dronacharya Award: Dronacharya Award instituted in the year 1985, it is given to coaches for
producing medal winners at prestigious international events. Cash prize of ₹15 lakh.
• Arjuna Award: Arjuna Award was instituted in the year 1961. It is given to sportspersons for
consistent outstanding performance over the period of last four years. The award comprises a cash prize
of ₹15 lakh
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy was instituted in the year
1956–1957. It is given to the university for top performance in the inter-university tournaments over the
period of the last one year.
• Dhyan Chand Award: Dhyan Chand Award was instituted in the year 2002. It is given to individuals
for "lifetime contribution to sports development". The award comprises a cash prize of ₹10 lakh.
• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar: Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar was instituted in the year
2009. It is given to organizations (both private and public) and individuals for playing a visible role in
the area of sports promotion and development over the period of last three years.
• 2023 National Sports Awards Awardees:
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award:
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (badminton)
Chirag Shetty (badminton)
• 2023 Arjuna Awardees:
1. Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery) 14. Ritu Negi (kabaddi)

2. Aditi Swami (archery) 15. Nasreen (kho-kho)
3. M Sreeshankar (athletics) 16. Pinki (lawn bowls)
4. Parul Chaudhary (athletics) 17. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar (shooting)
5. Mohammad Hussamuddin (boxing) 18. Esha Singh (shooting)
6. R Vaishali (chess) 19. Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu (squash)
7. Mohammed Shami (cricket) 20. Ayhika Mukherjee (table tennis)
8. Anush Agarwalla (equestrian) 21. Sunil Kumar (wrestling)
9. Divyakriti Singh (equestrian dressage) 22. Antim Panghal (wrestling)
10. Diksha Dagar (golf) 23. Naorem Roshibina Devi (wushu)
11. Krishan Bahadur Pathak (hockey) 24. Sheetal Devi (para archery)
12. Pukhrambam Sushila Chanu (hockey) 25. Illuri Ajay Kumar Reddy (blind cricket)
13. Pawan Kumar (kabaddi) 26. Prachi Yadav (para canoeing)
For Courses: https://zjwtx.courses.store/
App link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.rogers.zjwtx&hl=en_IN&gl=US
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023

• Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Winner)
Note: Other three categories are very rarely asked in exams. Questions comes on majorly on these three awards
out of Six.
14. Bilkis Bano Case Brief: The timeline

• Eleven men who were sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002 were
released from Godhra sub-jail on August 15, 2022 after a panel set up by the Gujarat government approved
their application for remission of the sentence.
Who is Bilkis Bano, and what happened to her in 2002?
• On February 28, 2002, Bilkis fled her village, Radhikpur in Dahod district, after violence erupted in the
state in the aftermath of the previous day’s incident at Godhra station, in which the Sabarmati Express
was set on fire, resulting in the deaths of dozens of pilgrims and kar sewaks returning from Ayodhya.
• Bilkis was accompanied by her daughter Saleha, who was three-and-a-half years old at the time, and 15
other members of her family. They fled fearing a re-run of the arson and looting that had taken place in
their village on the occasion of Bakr-Id a few days previously.
March 3, 2002: Bilkis, five months pregnant, raped and 14 of her family members killed by a mob.
February, 2003: Limkheda Police resubmits summary report ‘A’ requesting for closure of case, which is
accepted by the court.
PROBE SHIFTED
April 2003: Bilkis approaches the Supreme Court praying that the Magistrate’s order accepting ‘A’ summary be
set aside. She seeks CBI investigation.
December 6, 2003: Supreme Court orders transfer of investigation to CBI.
January 21, 2008: Verdict passed by the Special Judge at Greater Mumbai. 11 convicted to life imprisonment
for murder, rape; seven acquitted; two abated during trial due to their death.
August 15, 2022: 11 convicts released from Godhra sub-jail on remission by Gujarat government, including
Radhyeshyam Shah.
September, 2022: Bilkis Bano approaches the Supreme Court in a writ petition challenging the premature release
of the 11 convicts.
January 8, 2024: Supreme Court quashes Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts.
https://t.me/Clatgk_214
15. 'Swachh Survekshan -2023 awards'
• President Droupadi Murmu presented the 'Swachh Survekshan -2023 awards' at Bharat Mandapam in New
Delhi in the presence of Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.
• Indore and Surat have received the cleanest cities award of the country in the Cleanliness Survey-2023, in
the category of more than one lakh population.
• Indore has received this award for the 7th consecutive time.
• Sasvad in Maharashtra, Patan in Chhattisgarh, and Lonavala in Maharashtra bagged the top three positions
in the cleanest cities in the category of population of below one lakh population.
About Swachh Bharat Mission:
• Swachh Bharat Mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign
initiated by the Government of India on 2 October 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid
waste management and to create Open Defecation Free villages.
• It aimed to achieve an "open-defecation free" (ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th anniversary of
the birth of Mahatma Gandhi through construction of toilets. An estimated 90 million toilets were built in
the period.
• Phase 1 of the Swachh Bharat Mission lasted till 2 October 2019, and Phase 2 is being implemented
between 2020–21 and 2024–25 to help cement the work of Phase 1.
• By achieving the lowest open defecation-free status in 2019, India achieved its Sustainable Development
Goal (SDG) 6.2 health target in record time, eleven years ahead of the UN SDG target of 31 December
2030.
SWACHH SURVEKSHAN AWARDS 2023:
I. Best Performing States
Maharashtra (1st), Madhya Pradesh (2nd), Chattisgarh (3rd)
II. Cleanest City
Indore & Surat (Rank 1)
III. Navi Mumbai (Rank 3)
Cleanest Ganga Town
Varanasi (Rank 1)
Prayagraj (Rank 2)
IV. Cleanest Cantonment Board - MHOW Cantonment Board
V. Best SafaiMitra Surakshit Sheher – Chandigarh
16. Countries of Particular Concern: US Report
• The US has designated China, North Korea, Pakistan, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Myanmar as 'Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged
in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
• It was announced by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African
Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam as 'Special Watch List countries' for engaging in or tolerating severe
violations of religious freedom.
• Furthermore, Blinken has designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-
Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, al-Qa’ida affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as
'Entities of Particular Concern'.
• The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 was passed to promote religious freedom as a foreign
policy of the United States, to promote greater religious freedom in countries which engage in or tolerate
violations of religious freedom, and to advocate on the behalf of individuals persecuted for their religious
beliefs and activities in foreign countries.
• The Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 27, 1998.
Xinjiang Uyghur Muslim Repression:

• About eleven million Uyghurs—a mostly Muslim, Turkic-
speaking ethnic group—live in the northwestern region of
Xinjiang.
• The Chinese government has imprisoned more than one
million people since 2017 and subjected those not detained to
intense surveillance, religious restrictions, forced labor, and
forced sterilizations.
• The United States determined that China’s actions constitute
genocide, while a UN report said they could amount to crimes
against humanity.
• The Chinese government calls the facilities vocational education and training centers.
17-18: STARTUP INDIA:
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is organising the Startup India
Innovation Week 2024 from 10th January till 18th January to bring together the country’s startups,
entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The Startup India initiative was launched
by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 16th January 2016.
• It was launched to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation, boosting startups, and encouraging
investments in the startup ecosystem of the country.
• The Commerce and Industry Ministry said, the Indian startup ecosystem has grown rapidly and the number
of recognised startups has increased to over one lakh 17 lakh thousand from about four hundred startups
in 2016.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022, declared 16th January the National Startup Day.
• The Startup India initiative is also playing an important role in realizing the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047,
the Prime Minister’s clarion call to make India a developed nation by 2047, the 100th year of
independence.
• India, once a powerhouse in the global startup ecosystem, has experienced a significant downturn in its
funding trajectory, slipping to the fourth position in the global ranking among the highest-funded
geographies in 2023. This decline comes after securing the third spot in both 2021 and 2022.
18. 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking
• Odisha has been categorised as 'Top Performer' state in the 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking
conducted by the Union Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
• The ranking was released by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
• Apart from Odisha— Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana have been ranked as 'Top Performer'
states while Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu bagged top awards (Best Performer) states.
• Startup Odisha has nurtured over 1,800 start-ups across AgriTech, IT, artificial intelligence, healthcare,
fintech, and biotechnology sectors out of which 42 per cent are women-led startups.
What is a Unicorn?
• The term unicorn refers to a privately held startup company with a value of over $1 billion. It is commonly
used in the venture capital industry. The term was first popularized by venture capitalist Aileen Lee.
• India's first Unicorn: In 2011, Inmobi was India's first unicorn.

• 100th Unicorn: Neo-banking platform Open, became India's 100th unicorn.
• 1st Unicorn of 2023: Zepto holds the distinguished title of India's first unicorn of 2023.
19. Henley Passport Index:
• The Henley Passport Index is a ranking system that evaluates all the world's passports based on the number
of travel destinations their holders can access without the need for a prior visa.
• This index encompasses 199 different passports and covers 227 travel destinations.
• It is compiled and published by London based Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and residence
advisory firm.
• The Henley Passport Index has released its list for 2024, with European nations of France, Germany, Italy
and Spain, and Asia’s Japan and Singapore sharing the number one spot.
• As per the latest rankings, Finland, Sweden and South Korea shared the second rank, while Austria,
Denmark, Ireland and Netherlands occupied the third spot.
• India moved up to the 80th position from the previous year’s ranking of 84. Those holding an Indian
passport have visa-free access to 62 destinations.
• Ranking low on the index are Pakistan (101), Iraq (102), Syria (103) and Afghanistan (104).
• Other neighbours of India were ranked as follows: Maldives (58), China (62), Bhutan (87), Myanmar (92),
Sri Lanka (96), Bangladesh (97), and Nepal (98).
• The rankings are based on the analysis of data provided by the International Air Transport Association
(IATA).
Note: The International Air Transport Association is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945.
IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also
organized tariff conferences that served as a forum for price fixing. It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.
Visa-Free Access V/s Visa on Arrival
• Visa-Free Access: Visa-free access means that citizens of certain countries can enter another
country without the need to obtain a visa in advance. They are allowed to stay for a specified
period, usually determined by bilateral agreements or international treaties, without the requirement of
obtaining a visa.
• Visa on Arrival: Visa on arrival means that travellers from specific countries can obtain a visa upon
arriving at their destination country's airport or border checkpoint.
20. Bill on CEC Appointment
• The Supreme Court has refused to stay the operation of a new law that appoints the chief election
commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs) without the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
• The court issued a notice to the Union government and will examine the matter further. Three petitions
have challenged the validity of the law, claiming it violates the Constitution and undermines free and fair
elections.
• President Droupadi Murmu, on December 28, gave her assent to a bill that seeks to put in place a new
mechanism for the appointment of CEC and ECs.
• The new law has provisions to set up a search committee chaired by the Union law minister and two other
persons not below the rank of secretary, to prepare a panel of five persons for consideration of the selection
committee for appointment as CEC or ECs.
• It provides for a selection committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, leader of Opposition and a Union
minister, to make recommendations to the President for appointment of CEC and other ECs.
• The new law marked a departure from a decision of a Constitution bench in March last year, which directed
for inclusion of the CJI in the selection panel until Parliament came up with a new law.
• Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business)
Act, 1991 was passed to determine the conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner and other
Election Commissioners and to provide for the procedure for transaction of business by the ECI. However,
the Parliament at that time decided not to put any collegium system for an appointment.
• The Law commission in its 255th report on electoral reforms (2015) for ensuring greater autonomy to the
ECI, recommended for the constitution of a selection committee.
Election Commission of India: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is an autonomous constitutional
authority responsible for administering Union and State election processes in India. The body administers
elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the offices of the President and Vice
President in the country.
• Originally the commission had only one election commissioner but after the Election Commissioner
Amendment Act 1989, it has been made a multi-member body. The commission presently consists of one
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and two Election Commissioners (ECs).
• The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.

• Rajiv Kumar is the current and the 25th Chief Election Commissioner of India
21. Taiwan loses first ally post-election
• The Pacific Island nation of Nauru on 15th January announced it had severed diplomatic relations with
Taiwan and established ties with China, a decision confirmed by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry.
• This is the second time Nauru has severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Pacific Island country
first cut ties in 2002, followed by a resumption in 2005.
• The Nauru government said its resumption of diplomatic relations with China was “in the best interests”
of the country and its people.
• Nauru’s switch of allegiance leaves Taiwan with only 12 diplomatic allies, mostly small nations in the
Pacific Ocean and Latin America, and the Vatican.
• Lai Ching-te, the current vice president and a staunch defender of Taiwan’s distinct identity and
sovereignty, won the presidential election on 13th January, handing the ruling Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) a historic third straight term.
• During the DPP’s eight years in power, Taiwan lost 10 diplomatic allies to China.
• Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China (ROC), currently has formal diplomatic relations with
11 of the 193 United Nations member states and with the Holy See, which governs the Vatican City State,
as of 15 January 2024.
• The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (also known as the Resolution on Admitting
Peking) was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required
any change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18
of the UN Charter.
• The resolution, passed on 25 October 1971, recognized the People's Republic of China as the only
legitimate representative of China to the United Nations and removed "the representatives of Chiang Kai-
shek" (referring to the Republic of China, whose central government had relocated to Taiwan from the
mainland) from the United Nations.
US-Taiwan ties: Washington cut formal ties with Taiwan in 1979 after switching diplomatic recognition from
Taipei to Beijing. After the United States established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China
(PRC) in 1979 and recognized Beijing as the only legal government of China, Taiwan–United States relations
became unofficial and informal following terms of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which allows the United
States to have relations with the Taiwanese people and their government, whose name is not specified.
• But since then, the US has maintained close unofficial ties with Taiwan and is bound by law to provide
the island with the means to defend itself.
• The Taiwan Travel Act, passed by the U.S. Congress on March 16, 2018, allows high-level U.S. officials
to visit Taiwan and vice versa.
22. Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: ATAL SETU:
• The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) was inaugurated

by PM Narendra Modi on 12 January.
• The 22 km (21.8 km) long bridge is India's longest and the
world's 12th longest sea bridge.
• The engineering marvel will take off at Sewri in south
Mumbai, crossing over Thane Creek and terminating at
Chirle in the distant outskirts of Navi Mumbai.
• It has been in the making since 2018. Originally expected to
be completed in 4.5 years. The infrastructure project was delayed by eight months due to Covid-19
pandemic.
• The original cost of Rs 14,712.70 crore has now increased to Rs 16,904.43 crore.
• It has been named as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu.
Note: Currently, Bhupen Hazarika Setu, also known as the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, is the longest bridge in India,
spanning over 9.15km over the Brahmaputra River in Assam.
• Also, the 4.94 km-long Bogibeel River Bridge is India's longest rail/road bridge. It is the first bridge in
India to have fully welded steel concrete support beams that can resist earthquakes with a Richter
magnitude of up to 7, as it is located in an earthquake-prone area.
• World’s highest railway bridge: The bridge over the Chenab River – 1,315-metre-long (4,314 feet) and
359-metre-high (1,177 feet) from the bed of the river. The bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
lies between the villages of Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of the southern Jammu area of Kashmir.
Constructed at a cost of $168m, the bridge is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project
(USBRL).
• The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a 55-kilometre (34 mi) bridge–tunnel system
consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is
both the longest sea crossing and the longest open-sea fixed link in the world.
• The Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge in China reigns as the world's longest bridge, stretching an
astounding 164.8 kilometres.
23. Points to remember: INDIA Alliance, Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra:
• The Bharat Jodo Yatra 2.0, named as Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, began on 14th January from Manipur.
• Besides Manipur, the yatra will cover four northeastern states -- Nagaland (257 km in two days),
Arunachal Pradesh (55 km in one day), Meghalaya (five km in one day) and Assam (833 km in eight
days).
• It will also cover the states in the Hindi heartland including Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and conclude in Maharashtra on March 20 or 21.
• The yatra will further pass through 100 Lok Sabha constituencies in 15 states.
• The yatra will traverse 6,713 km, mostly in buses but also on foot. It will cover 110 districts in 67 days.
• Rahul Gandhi paid homage to martyrs at the Khongjom War Memorial in Thoubal, built in memory of
those killed in the last Anglo-Manipur War in 1891.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra movement was launched by Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. K. Stalin
on September 7, 2022.
• Its main objective was to protest against the politics of

"fear, bigotry and prejudice", and the economics of
livelihood destruction, increasing unemployment and
growing inequality.
• The march started from Kanyakumari on 7 September.

Bharat Jodo Yatra covered 4,080 kilometres. It was
similar to Chandra Shekhar bharat yatra in 1983. Chandra
Shekhar went on a nationwide padayatra in 1983 from
Kanyakumari to New Delhi.
INDIA Alliance: The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A) is a big tent political alliance
of 28 political parties in India led by the Indian National Congress.
• The primary objective of the alliance is to defeat the ruling National Democratic Alliance government led
by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Indian general elections. The first Opposition parties'
meeting, held in Patna, Bihar, was chaired by Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar on 23 June 2023,
when the proposal for a new alliance was put on the table.
• The alliance held its 5th meeting virtually with some leaders not attending. Following the meeting, the
Indian National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was declared the alliance chairperson.
Nitish Kumar Resigns as CM, Leaves INDIA Alliance:

• On 28th January, submitting his resignation to Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar at Raj Bhavan in
Patna, Nitish Kumar said his party has decided to sever ties with the Mahagathbandhan comprising the
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress.
• Nitish Kumar had earlier snapped ties with the NDA in 2022 when he resigned as chief minister and joined
the Mahagathbandhan with Lalu Yadav's RJD, the Congress and the Left parties.
24. Farsi as Classical Language:

• The Government of India has decided to include Farsi (Persian) as one of the nine classical languages in
India under the New Education Policy. It is announced that Farsi will be a new classical language Under
the New Education Policy 2020.
• There are officially under the Eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution, 6 classical languages have been
identified. Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013),
and Odia (2014). All the Classical Languages are listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
• According to the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP2020) of India, Pali and Prakrit along with Farsi
(Persian) should be preserved.
• S. Jaishankar, (External Minister of India) who was on a two-day visit to Iran, made the above remarks
during a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, H Amir-Abdollahian.
• The National Education Policy of India 2020 (NEP 2020),
which was started by the Union Cabinet of India on 29 July
2020, outlines the vision of new education system of India. The
new policy replaces the previous National Policy on Education,
1986. The policy aims to transform India's education system by
2030.
• According to the "Unified District Information System for
Education Plus" (UDISE+) 2020–21, over 28 languages are to be used in teaching and learning in grades
(1–5).
• New education policy is based on general formula (5+3+3+4).

• NEP 2020 aims to increase state expenditure on education from around 3% to 6% of the GDP as soon as
possible.
The criteria evolved by Government to determine declaration of a language as a Classical language is as under: -
(i) High antiquity of its early texts/recorded history over a period of 1500-2000 years;
(ii) A body of ancient literature/texts, which is considered a valuable heritage by generations of speakers;
(iii) The literary tradition be original and not borrowed from another speech community;
About Eighth Schedule: Part XVII of the Indian constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to
351. It lists the official languages of the republic of India.
• Article 344: Article 344(1) provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on expiration
of five years from the commencement of the Constitution.
• Article 351: It provides for the spread of the Hindi language to develop it so that it may serve as a medium
of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India. However, It can be noted that there is
no fixed criteria for any language to be considered for inclusion in the Eighth Schedule.
• The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali,
Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi,
Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.
✓ Of these languages, 14 were initially included in the Constitution.
✓ Sindhi language was added by the 21st Amendment Act of 1967.
✓ Konkani, Manipuri, and Nepali were included by the 71st Amendment Act of 1992.
✓ Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santhali were added by the 92nd Amendment Act of 2003 which came into
force in 2004.
25-26. World Military Rankings and Defence upgrade roadmap:

• The United States stands first among the top 10 militaries in the world as per Global Firepower.
• The rankings assess 145 countries and use various factors to judge the best military.
• As per the list, the US possesses 13,300 aircraft, with 983 being attack helicopters. The US also leads
globally in technological advancements, medical, aerospace, and computer/telecom sectors.
• Russia ranked second and China ranked third.

• India holds the fourth position, as reported by Global Firepower.
• Bhutan ranked last.
Note: In FY 2023-24, Ministry of Defence (MoD) was allocated a total Budget of Rs 5.94 lakh crore, which is
13.18 per cent of the total budget (Rs 45.03 lakh crore).
Recently the Defence Ministry signed two contracts worth ₹802 crore towards equipment for the Army. They
include 697 Bogie Open Military (BOM) wagons at a cost of ₹473 crore with Jupiter Wagons Limited and 56
Mechanical Minefield Marking Equipment (MMME)-Mark II at a cost of ₹329 crore with Bharat Earth Movers
Limited under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category.
Defence upgrade roadmap: (Defence Technology Council): A top body chaired by the Prime Minister, with
the Defence Minister and the National Security Advisor as its Vice Presidents, should determine the country’s
defence technology roadmap and decide on major projects and their execution as per an expert committee
spearheaded by the former principal scientific advisor, Prof K Vijay Raghavan, is learned to have told the
government.
• This top body, called the Defence Technology Council by the Vijay Raghavan committee, is proposed to
have an executive committee chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff. The Principal Scientific Advisor,
along with the three service chiefs and their vice chiefs, will also be its members.
• The nine-member Vijay Raghavan panel was set up by the government last year to review the functioning
of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is learned to have submitted its
report this month.
• The panel has also suggested the creation of a separate department under the Defence Ministry — the
Department of Defence Science, Technology, and Innovation.
27. Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar:
• Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar: The Central government will confer the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya
Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) award to children for their exceptional achievements.
• The awards are conferred upon the children in the age group 5-18 years.
• Each of the awardees is given a medal and a certificate.
• The awards are given in seven categories, viz. Art & Culture, Bravery, Environment, Innovation, Science
& Technology, Social Service and Sports, which deserve national recognition.
• The President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu will confer the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar,
2024 to 19 exceptional children in an award ceremony which will take place at Vigyan Bhawan on 22nd
January, 2024.
• There are 9 boys and 10 girls among the awardees belonging to 18 States and UTs including 2 Aspirational
Districts.
Note: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been constituted by the Government
of India under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, and is mandated to function for
the protection and promotion of child rights. The Commission became operational on 5 March 2007.
The Commission is further mandated to monitor the proper and effective implementation of
1. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
2. Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.
3. Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• India has acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1992 which is an international
treaty that makes it incumbent upon the signatory States to take all necessary steps to protect children's
rights enumerated in the Convention.
Did you know? The First Factory Act was passed during the administration of Lord Ripon (1880-1884). First
Factory Act was passed in the year 1881. According to the Act, Children under seven years old should not be
employed by factories and reduced working hours for children.
28. Nagara style of Temple Architecture:
• The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be inaugurated on January 22. Chandrakant Sompura, 81, and his son
Ashish, 51, have designed the complex in the Nagara style of temple architecture.
• The Nagara style of temple architecture emerged sometime in the fifth century CE, during the late Gupta
period, in northern India. It is seen in juxtaposition with the Dravida style of southern India, which too
emerged in the same period.
• Northern India Temples follow Nagara Style architecture and Southern India Temples follow Dravida
Style of Architecture.
• Nagara temples are built on a raised plinth, with
the Garbha Griha (sanctum sanctorum) —
where the idol of the deity rests. It the most
sacred part of the temple.
• Towering over the Garbha Griha is the shikhara
(literally ‘mountain peak’), the most
distinguishable aspect of Nagara style temples.
• Shikharas are human-made representations of

the natural and cosmological order, as imagined
in Hindu tradition. It is topped by Amalka.
• The Garbagriha is generally situated below the

tallest Shikhara.
• There is no water tank and Gopurams present in

Nagar Style of Architecture. (Gopurams are the gateways in Dravida Style of Architecture.)
• The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple in Madhya Pradesh is an example of Nagara-style temple architecture.
Other examples of Nagara-style temples in India are the Sun Temple in Konark, the Sun Temple in
Modhera, Gujarat, and the Ossian Temple in Gujarat.
Note: There is another style of temple architecture i.e. Vesara Style. It has pyramidical shape. Structures of this
style have an unraised platform or Jagati as their base. Pillars, doorways, ceilings are decorated with intricate
carvings. The most famous temples of Vesara style are the Kailashnath temple, Ellora, Chennakesava temple,
Virupaksha temple, and Ladkhan temple.
• Nagara: Northern Region

• Dravida: Southern Region
• Vesara: Mixed. Between Vindhyas and Krishna River.
29. The 6th Khelo India Youth Games:
• The 6th Khelo India Youth Games 2023 from January 19-31 are being held at the Jawaharlal Nehru
Stadium in Chennai.
• This is the first time that Khelo India Youth Games are being held in South India.
• The Games are being played across four cities of Tamil Nadu, namely Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and
Coimbatore.
• The mascot for the Games is Veera Mangai. Rani Velu Nachiyar, fondly called Veera Mangai, was an
Indian queen who waged a war against British colonial rule.
• Source: Image taken from Indian Express
• The mascot symbolizes the valour and spirit of Indian women, embodying the strength of women's power.
The logo for the games incorporates the figure of poet Thiruvalluvar.
• The 26 sporting disciplines are a diverse mix of conventional sports such as football, volleyball, badminton
etc. and traditional sports such as kalaripayattu, gatka, thang ta, kabaddi and yogasana.
• Silambam, a traditional sport of Tamil Nadu, is being introduced as a demo sport for the first time in the
history of Khelo India Youth Games.
• The Khelo India Youth Games began in 2018 with 18 sports. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled
the first edition of the KIYG at the Indira Gandhi Arena, in New Delhi, on January 21, 2018.
• The 1st edition of ‘Khelo India University Games, 2020’ were successfully conducted in Bhubaneswar &
Cuttack, Odisha.
• The first Khelo India Winter Games were held in two legs at two different venues in Ladakh and J&K in
2020.
• The inaugural Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) were held in December, 2023. Haryana topped the KIPG
2023 medal table with 40 gold, 39 silver and 26 bronze medals.
About Sports Authority of India: The Sports Authority of India is the Apex National Sports Body of India,
established in 1984 by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Government of India for the development
of sport in India.
Note: The 6th edition of Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2023 hosted by Tamil Nadu was held from 19th to
31st January 2024. Maharashtra topped the medal tally of KIYG 2023 with 158 medals (57 gold, 48 silver, 53
bronze) and won the overall championship trophy.
30. Sorayya Satellite:

• Iran has conducted a successfully launched Sorayya Satellite into its highest orbit.
• Sorayya Satellite was launched and put into a 750-kilometre orbit.
• The Soraya satellite was placed in an orbit at some 750 kilometers (460 miles) above the Earth's surface
with its three-stage Qaem 100 rocket.
• The launch was part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' space program alongside Iran's civilian space
program.
• The United States has previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a U.N. Security Council resolution
and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear
weapons. U.N. sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.
• Iran is now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with
world powers. Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons, if it chooses to
produce them, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly has warned.
About Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also called Sepah or
Pasdaran, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah
Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979, in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution.
• The Iranian Army protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC's constitutional
mandate is to ensure the integrity of the Islamic Republic.
• Currently, the IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the
United States.
About the International Atomic Energy Agency: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an
intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for
any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• It was established in 1957 as an autonomous organization within the United Nations system.
• HQ: Vienna, Austria
.
31-32-33. Exercise Khanjar, Exercise Cyclone and Exercise Desert Knight in News:
Exercise KHANJAR: The 11th edition of India-Kyrgyzstan Joint Special Forces Exercise KHANJAR has
commenced at the Special Forces Training School in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.
• The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 22nd January to 3rd February 2024. It is an annual event
conducted alternatively in both the countries.
• The Indian Army contingent comprising 20 personnel is being represented by troops from The Parachute
Regiment (Special Forces) and the Kyrgyzstan contingent comprising 20 personnel is represented by
Scorpion Brigade.
Exercise Cyclone: The Indian Army contingent comprising 25 personnel reached Egypt to take part in the 2nd
edition of India-Egypt Joint Special Forces Exercise CYCLONE.
• The Exercise will be conducted at Anshas, Egypt from 22nd January to 1st February 2024. The first
edition of the exercise was conducted last year in India.
• Exercise CYCLONE is designed to develop bilateral military cooperation and strengthen bond between
two armies through conduct of discussions and rehearsal of tactical military drills.
Exercise Desert Knight: The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted an Exercise Desert Knight along with the French
Air and Space Force (FASF) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force over the Arabian Sea.
• According to the Defence Ministry, the IAF contingent consisted of Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, Jaguar, AWS,
C-130-J and Air to Air Refueller aircraft.
• The French participation included the Rafale fighter aircraft and a Multi Role Tanker Transport while the
UAE Air Force fielded the F-16.
• The Ministry said that the main focus of Exercise Desert Knight was enhancing synergy and
interoperability between the three Air Forces.
34. National Green Hydrogen Mission in News:

• The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently published guidelines and
incentives to promote the procurement of green hydrogen as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
• Under the mission, Rs 17,490 crore has been set aside for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen
Transition (SIGHT) programme, to bolster domestic Electrolyser manufacturing and green hydrogen
production.
• These incentives are designed to facilitate cost reduction and rapid expansion.
• Tranche I of Mode 2B offers a bidding capacity of 200,000 million tonnes per annum.
• The scheme's execution will be entrusted to agencies nominated by the Union Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas (MoPNG), primarily oil and gas companies, guided by the Centre for High Technology
(CHT).
• Green hydrogen is essential for removing sulfur content in crude oil to produce petrol and diesel.
• Indian Oil Corporation announced its plan last year to convert 50 per cent of its grey hydrogen to green
hydrogen by 2030 by establishing green hydrogen plants in all its refineries.
• Similarly, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation is reportedly constructing a 370 tonnes per annum green
hydrogen plant at its Visakhapatnam refinery.
• A scheme monitoring committee, co-chaired by the secretary of MoPNG, secretary of the MNRE, mission
director of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and other experts, will periodically review the
implementation status and performance of capacities awarded or established under the scheme.
About the Green Hydrogen Mission:
• Hon'ble Prime Minister launched the National Hydrogen Mission on India's 75th Independence Day (i.e.
15th August, 2021). NGHM was approved by the Union Cabinet on 4 January 2022.
• The initial outlay for the mission will be ₹19,744 crore which is expected to attract Rs 8 lakh crore of
investment in the green hydrogen chain.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will formulate the scheme guidelines for
implementation. Current Union Minister of MNRE: RK Singh
• Oil India Limited (OIL) has taken the first significant step towards Green Hydrogen Economy in India
with the commissioning of India’s First 99.999% pure Green Hydrogen pilot plant, with an installed
capacity of 10 kg per day at its Jorhat Pump Station in Assam. The plant was commissioned in a record
time of 3 months.
• China launched Asia's first hydrogen powered trains.
• In August 2022, Germany has launched the world's first fleet of hydrogen-powered passenger trains in the
state of Lower Saxony.
• India's 1st hydrogen train is scheduled to operate along the Jind-Sonipat route.
• Maharashtra is the first state in the country to announce a policy for generating Green hydrogen.
Mission Objectives:
I. To enable India to meet its climate change target of net zero carbon emission by 2070.
II. To achieve the capacity to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year by 2030.
III. To reduce carbon dioxide emission of nearly 50 Million Metric Tonne per annum by 2030.
IV. Capacity addition of 125 GW of renewable energy by 2030 and reduction in fossil fuel imports worth Rs
1 lakh crore by 2030.
V. Green Hydrogen target is set at India’s electrolyzer manufacturing capacity is projected to reach 8 GW
per year by 2025.
35. 49th and 50th BHARAT RATNA AWARD:

I. Senior BJP Leader and the man behind the Ram Janambhoomi movement, Lal Krishna Advani has been
conferred with Bharat Ratna. He will be the 50th recipient of the highest civilian award since its inception
and 7th during the Modi Government regime.
• He served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004.
• He is one of the co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
• He is also the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
• In 2015 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour.
II. Karpoori Thakur, a prominent socialist leader and former Bihar chief minister will be awarded Bharat
Ratna posthumously, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
• He is revered by his followers as 'Jannayak' as he was known for his efforts to strengthen the backward
castes.
• Thakur was imprisoned during the Quit India Movement against the British regime. He won his election
for the first time in 1952, and since then never lost a single election in his career.
• Karpoori Thakur paved the way for reservations for backward castes in government services in Bihar in
1978, a move that would set the tone for the implementation of the Mandal Commission report in 1990.
• He served as chief minister from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979.
Facts About Bharat Ratna:

✓ The Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India.
✓ It was Instituted on 2 January 1954.
✓ The award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without
distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex.
✓ The award was originally limited to achievements in the arts, literature, science, and public services, but
the government expanded the criteria to include "any field of human endeavour" in December 2011.
✓ The original statutes did not provide for posthumous awards but were amended in January 1955 to permit
them. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri became the first individual to be honoured
posthumously. The recommendations for the Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the
President, with a maximum of three nominees being awarded per year. However, in 1999, four individuals
were awarded the honour. (Jayaprakash Narayan, Amartya Sen, Gopinath Bordoloi and Ravi Shankar).
✓ The recipients receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a peepal leaf-shaped medallion.
The Bharat Ratna medals are produced at Alipore Mint, Kolkata along with the other civilian and military
awards like Padma Vibushan, Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri, and Param Veer Chakra. There is no monetary
grant associated with the award.
✓ Bharat Ratna recipients rank seventh in the Indian order of precedence.
✓ First awardees:
1.C. Rajagopalachari
2. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
3. C. V. Raman
✓ A total of 49 people have been awarded till now. (Including 2024 Karpoori Thakur)
✓ In 2014, cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, then aged 40, became the youngest recipient; while social reformer
Dhondo Keshav Karve was awarded on his 100th birthday.
✓ The first singer to be awarded was M. S. Subbulakshmi and the first actor to be awarded was M. G.
Ramachandran.
✓ Though usually conferred on India-born citizens, the Bharat Ratna has been awarded to one naturalized
citizen – Mother Teresa, and to two non-Indians: Abdul Ghaffar Khan (born in British India and later
citizen of Pakistan) and Nelson Mandela, a citizen of South Africa.
✓ As of now, only five women received the highest civilian award of India, Bharat Ratna, they are:
1. Indira Gandhi
2. Mother Teresa
3. Aruna Asaf Ali
4. MS Subhalaxmi
5. Lata Mangeshwar
36. National Girl Child Day:
• Every year, National Girl Child Day is observed on 24th January to raise awareness of the difficulties that
girls in Indian society endure.
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development launched this day in 2008.
• Every year on January 24, people celebrate National Girl Child Day, which commemorates the inaugural
anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme (Save the Girl Child,
Educate the Girl Child) on January 22, 2015.
• International Day of the Girl Child is an international observance day declared by the United Nations; it
is also called the Day of Girls and the International Day of the Girl.
• October 11, 2012, was the first Day of the Girl Child.
❖ Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme:

✓ Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao is a personal campaign of the Government of India that aims to generate
awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls. The scheme was launched
with an initial funding of ₹100 crore.
✓ It aims to address the issue of the declining child sex ratio image (CSR) and is a national initiative jointly
run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and
the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
✓ According to census data, the child gender ratio (0–6 years) in India was 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001,
which dropped to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
✓ In the Population Census of 2011 it was revealed that the population ratio of India 2011 is 943 females
per 1000 of males. The Sex Ratio 2011 shows an upward trend from the census 2001 data.
❖ About Child Marriage Restraint Act: The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1928, passed on 28 September
1928, in the Imperial Legislative Council of India, fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys
at 18 years. In 1949, after India's independence, it was amended to 15 for girls, and in 1978 to 18 for girls
and 21 for boys.
✓ It is popularly known as the Sarda Act.
❖ SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
37. ICC Awards 2023:

✓ The 2023 ICC Awards were the nineteenth edition of ICC Awards.
✓ Australia skipper Pat Cummins was announced as the winner of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the
ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year 2023.
Cricketer of the Year:
• Men's: Australia Pat Cummins

• Women's: England Nat Sciver
Men's Test Cricketer of the Year: Australia Usman
Khawaja
ODI Cricketer of the Year:
• Men's: India Virat Kohli

• Women's: Sri Lanka Chamari Athapaththu
T20 Cricketer of the Year:
• Men's: India Suryakumar Yadav

• Women's: Cricket West Indies Hayley Matthews
Emerging Cricketer of the Year:
• Men's: New Zealand Rachin Ravindra

• Women's: Australia Phoebe Litchfield
About ICC: The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as
the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. It was
renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965 and adopted its current name in 1987.
• The ICC has its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Upcoming ICC Events:
• ICC Men's Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2024: Host: South Africa. Initially Sri Lanka was the host nation
but later it was shifted to South Africa due to suspension of International Cricket Council (ICC) over Sri
Lanka Cricket Board.
• The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup. It will be co-hosted
by the West Indies and the USA.
• 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup: Host: Bangladesh.
38-39. National Tourism Day and National Voters day: (25th January)
National Tourism Day:
• National Tourism Day in India is marked on 25
January every year.
• The day is celebrated to build awareness of the
country's economic benefits from tourism.
• National Tourism Day is said to have been first

observed by the Indian government in 1948.
• The 2024 theme is 'Sustainable Journeys, Timeless

Memories,'.
Source: Image taken from business-standard
• In 2022, the National Tourism Day celebrations were a major part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an
initiative by the Government of India. India also participated in the celebration of the UN World Tourism
Day (September 27, 2023). In 2008, India even hosted this event
• Current Union Tourism Minister: G. Kishan Reddy.
National Voters Day:
• The Election Commission of India celebrated the 14th
National Voters’ Day (NVD) on 25th January 2024.
• Since 2011, National Voters’ Day has been celebrated on

January 25 every year to mark the foundation day of the
Election Commission of India.
• Hon’ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu was the
Chief Guest at the national function organized in New Delhi
by the Election Commission of India.
• NVD 2024 theme - ‘Nothing Like Voting, I Vote For sure’. A total of 16 individuals and organisations
were on Thursday conferred the Election Commission's 'Best Electoral Practices Awards' for 2023.
• Current Chief Election Commissioner: Shri Rajiv Kumar.
Note: The Election Commission's (EC) Republic Day parade tableau on Friday rolled down the Kartavya Path
showcasing "India - Mother of Democracy". It also depicted the magnitude of the parliamentary elections, which
is due shortly and in which nearly 96 crore people will be eligible to cast their vote in 12 lakh polling stations.
Nearly 1.5 crore personnel will be deployed for conducting polling.
40. 75th Republic Day:
• President Droupadi Murmu unfurled the national flag at

Kartavya Path.
• This year, India is commemorating its 75th Republic Day,

marking the adoption of the constitution on January 26,
1950, and the attainment of sovereignty.
• The chief guest: French President Macron

• The parade’s twin themes, ‘Visit Bharat’ (developed
India) and ‘Bharat — Loktantra Ki Matruka’ (India — the
mother of democracy), were showcased.
• India and France agreed to adopt the Defence Industrial Roadmap and explore opportunities for
partnership in the defence industrial sector and prioritise co-designing, co-development and co-
production.
Major Tableaux Highlights:
• The Culture Ministry's Republic Day tableau carried replicas of B R Ambedkar handing over the
Constitution to the country's first president Rajendra Prasad, as well as ancient symbols that championed
the democratic ethos.
• CPWD's tableau in the Republic Day parade depicted a modern, self-reliant and developed Bharat with
models of the Kartavya Path, the new Parliament building and a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.
• The landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft near the south pole of the Moon and the Aditya L-1 mission
to study the Sun found a prominent place in ISRO's tableau in the Republic Day parade.
• An artistic image of Ram Lalla whose new idol was recently consecrated at a grand temple in Ayodhya is
the showpiece of Uttar Pradesh's tableau.
• Tamil Nadu (Kudavolai System in Ancient Tamil Nadu - Mother of Democracy).
• Madhya Pradesh (Self-reliant women - the basic mantra of development).
• Manipur (Thambal Gi Langla - Lotus Gardens, Mother's Market).
• The Navy tableau's theme was 'Nari Shakti' and 'Atmanirbharta'.
About the National War Memorial: The National War Memorial was inaugurated and dedicated to the nation
by the Hon'ble Prime Minister on 25 Feb 2019 in New Delhi.
• The names of armed forces personnel killed during the armed conflicts with Pakistan and China as well
as the 1961 War in Goa, Operation Pawan, and other operations such as Operation Rakshak are inscribed
on the memorial walls in golden letters.
• The old Amar Jawan Jyoti, located at India Gate, previously served as the national war memorial. It was
constructed in a short time frame following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as per Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi's wishes, so that it could be inaugurated on 26 January 1972 as a mark of respect to the martyrs of
the war.
• The flame from here was merged with the flame at the new National War Memorial on 21 January 2022
by Integrated Defence Staff Chief Air Marshal Balabhadhra Radha Krishna.
About the Kartavya Path:
• Rajpath, officially named Kartavya Path, and formerly known as Kingsway, is a ceremonial boulevard in
New Delhi, India, that runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill through Vijay Chowk and India
Gate, National War Memorial to National Stadium, Delhi, Inauguration: 1911
• In September 2022, Rajpath was redeveloped under Central Vista Redevelopment Project and renamed
Kartavya Path.
Padma Awards 2024:
• Padma Awards - one of the highest civilian Awards of the country, are conferred in three categories,
namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
• The Awards are given in various disciplines / fields of activities, viz.- art, social work, public affairs,
science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.
‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for
distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards
are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
• These Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati
Bhawan usually around March / April every year.
• For the year 2024, the President has approved conferment of 132 Padma Awards including 2 duo cases
(in a duo case, the Award is counted as one) as per list below.
• The list comprises 5 Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan and 110 Padma Shri Awards.
• 30 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 8 persons from the category of Foreigners / NRI
/ PIO / OCI and 9 Posthumous awardees.
41. Australian Open 2024:
• The 2024 Australian Open was a Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park, from 14–
28 January 2024.
• It was the 112th edition of the Australian Open, the 56th in the Open Era, and the first major of the year
2024.
✓ List of Winners:
• Men's singles: Jannik Sinner from

Italy
• Women's singles: Aryna Sabalenka
from Belarus
• Men's doubles: Indian Rohan Bopanna
and Australian Matthew Ebden
• Women's doubles: Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei / Belgium based Elise Mertens
• Mixed doubles: Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei / Polish Jan Zieliński
✓ Novak Djokovic was the defending men's singles champion. He was defeated in the semifinals by Jannik
Sinner.
✓ Aryna Sabalenka successfully defended the women's singles title as she claimed her second major singles
title.
✓ The Grand Slam tournaments, also referred to as majors, are the world's four most important annual
professional tennis tournaments.
✓ The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline
in a calendar year.
✓ The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open in January, the French Open from late May to
early June, Wimbledon in late June to early July, and the US Open in late August to early September, with
each played over two weeks.
✓ The Australian and the United States tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and
Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest tournament, founded in 1877.
.
42. West African bloc ECOWAS:
• The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

have announced their immediate withdrawal from the
West African bloc ECOWAS.
• The leaders of the three Sahel nations issued a
statement saying it was a sovereign decision to leave
the Economic Community of West African States
without delay.
• Struggling with jihadist violence and poverty, the

regimes have had tense ties with ECOWAS since
coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in
2022 and Mali in 2020.
• All three were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger

and Mali facing heavy sanctions.
About ECOWAS:
• The Economic Community of West African States is also known as CEDEAO in French.
• It is a regional group which was established in 1975 through the Lagos Treaty for promoting economic
integration among its members.
• The vision of ECOWAS is the creation of a borderless region that is well-integrated and governed in
accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance.
• Current Members: Benin, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau,
Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
• Headquarters: Abuja, Nigeria
Sahel Region and the Problem:
• The word Sahel, or Sahil in Arabic means coast or shore. Sahel is the vast region that stretches from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea along Sahara desert's southern rim.
• Countries like Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania form the core of the Sahel region. This
group is also called the G5 Sahel.
• Jihadist violence erupted after a rebellion in northern Mali in 2012. The conflict has since spread to the
centre of the country, as well as to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, claiming thousands of lives and
displacing more than 3.5 million people.
• Several anti-jihadist military operations were launched in Sahel, particularly by France which is a former
colonial power in this region. The result of these operations has been mixed.
• France's Operation Barkhane was launched in 2014. The aim was to combat and prevent the spread of
jihadist groups. The headquarters of the French forces were at N'Djamena, the capital of Chad.
• French forces tasted success in earlier Operation Serval during which they gained control of half of Mali
from the insurgents. Operation Barkhane was launched to build upon the initial success. The scope of the
operation was expanded to the Sahel region rather than just Mali.
• A coup in Mali in 2021 proved to be disruptive to French operations. The military junta ruling Mali was
against French presence. French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June 2021 that France will
pull out its troops in a phased manner. In November 2022, Macron announced that Operation Barkhane
had formally ended.
• In a sign that the situation in the region was deteriorating, on August 1 military juntas in Mali and Burkina
Faso declared that any plan to intervene militarily in Niger would be construed as a 'declaration of war'
against both countries. Mali and Burkina Faso said this in a joint statement.
43. Snow Leopard Survey:
• The first scientific survey of the snow leopard in India shows the country is home to 718 of the elusive
cats.
• The study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), was released by Union minister of
environment, forest and climate change Bhupender Yadav. The exercise was conducted from 2019 to 2023
and covered approximately 120,000 sq. km of snow leopard habitat across the trans-Himalayan region,
including Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Based on data analysis from the report, Ladakh, with 477 individuals, is the leading snow leopard habitat
in India, followed by Uttarakhand (124), Himachal Pradesh (51).
• Globally, the snow leopard is listed as a vulnerable species. In India it is given the highest wildlife
protection status.
• China is known to have the biggest population of the animals, but exact numbers are not known.
• The President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Honorable Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov, has officially declared the snow
leopard as the national symbol of the Kyrgyz Republic.
About IUCN: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international
organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
It was Founded in 1948.
44. Corruption Perception Index:
• As per the country-wise corruption perception index (CPI) of the report put together by Transparency
International (TI) India has slipped from 85th position in 2022 to 93rd in 2023.
• India shared the ranking with the Maldives, Kazakhstan, and Lesotho,
• TI ranks 180 countries in terms of their perceived levels of public sector corruption in a scale of 0 to 100.
India's neighbours:
• India’s neighbours, China is shown at a score of 42 (against India’s 39).
• Bangladesh score: 24
• Myanmar score: 20
• Pakistan score: 29
✓ Denmark topped the CPI-2023 with a score of 90, maintaining its position for the sixth consecutive year.
✓ Finland and New Zealand secured the second and third ranks with scores of 87 and 85, respectively.
✓ Somalia occupied the last position, with other countries at the bottom, including Venezuela, Syria, South
Sudan, and Yemen.
About Transparency International:

Transparency International (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the
World Bank.
It is based in Berlin. Its non-profit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption
with civil societal anti-corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption.
45. Khelo India Youth Games-2023
• The sixth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games-2023 held in four districts of Tamil Nadu for 13 days
concluded on January 31 with Maharashtra securing 158 medals, the top spot and Tamil Nadu, the host
State and Haryana, finished second and third respectively.
• Maharashtra defended its Khelo India Youth Games title after topping the medals tally with 57 gold
medals, 48 silver, and 53 bronze.
• It was their fourth KIYG title and their third consecutive one.
• Squash made its KIYG debut this year while Silambam, a form of indigenous martial arts, featured as a
demonstration sport.
• All 36 States and Union Territories of India had representation at KIYG 2023.
• Swimmer Vritti Agarwal of Telangana, who represented India at the Asian Games last year, was among
the top performers at KIYG 2023. The 17-year-old swimmer won five individual gold medals by claiming
the top spots in the women’s 200m butterfly and the freestyle events in 200m, 800m, 400m and 1500m.
• The mascot for the Games was Veera Mangai. Rani Velu Nachiyar, fondly called Veera Mangai, was an
Indian queen who waged a war against British colonial rule.
• The mascot symbolized the valour and spirit of Indian women, embodying the strength of women's power.
The logo for the games incorporates the figure of poet Thiruvalluvar.
• The 26 sporting disciplines were a diverse mix of conventional sports such as football, volleyball,
badminton etc. and traditional sports such as kalaripayattu, gatka, thang ta, kabaddi and yogasana
• The Khelo India Youth Games began in 2018 with 18 sports. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled
the first edition of the KIYG at the Indira Gandhi Arena, in New Delhi, on January 21, 2018.
• The 1st edition of ‘Khelo India University Games, 2020’ were successfully conducted in Bhubaneswar &
Cuttack, Odisha.
• The first Khelo India Winter Games were held in two legs at two different venues in Ladakh and J&K in
2020.
• The inaugural Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) were held in December, 2023. Haryana topped the KIPG
2023 medal table with 40 gold, 39 silver and 26 bronze medals.
Important One Liners: January 2024:

1. Sri Lanka will not allow any Chinese research vessel to dock at its ports or operate within its exclusive
economic zone (EEZ) for a period of one year.
2. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched X-ray Polarimeter Satellite
(XPoSat) aboard Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-C58. The satellite was launched from Satish
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.
3. The Joint Military Exercise 'Desert Cyclone 2024' between India and UAE was held from January 2 to
January 15 in Rajasthan. The joint drills under 'Desert Cyclone 2024' aimed to enhance interoperability
by learning and sharing best practices in urban operations.
4. India and Pakistan on January, 1, 2024 exchanged a list of their nuclear installations through diplomatic
channels in New Delhi and Islamabad. The exchange of the list took place under a bilateral pact that
prohibits the two sides from attacking each other's atomic facilities.
5. The BRICS economic alliance has welcomed 2024 by officially adding 5 expansion nations to its ranks.
Specifically, the bloc introduced Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Egypt, and Ethiopia
to kick off the new year.
6. China has named Dong Jun as its new defence minister.
7. Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, AVSM, NM has taken charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-
Chief of the Western Naval Command (WNC).
8. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) under the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
for a period of three years to develop and report a "Green Cover Index" for the extensive network of
National Highways in India.
9. World Braille Day is observed on 4th January every year. Theme: "Empowering Through Inclusion and
Diversity,"
10. The Himachal Pradesh state government has finally issued notification to give Scheduled Tribe (ST) status
to the Hattee community of Trans-Giri area of Sirmaur district.
11. France’s development agency AFD and Germany’s KfW Bank are in talks with India to provide €100
million loan to fund the country's urban infrastructure plan, AMRUT mission.
12. The Government of India has accorded its approval for India's participation in the international mega
science project, Square Kilometer Array (SKA), at an estimated cost of ₹1250 Cr.
13. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has announced Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar 2023. Odisha
Mining Corporate Limited has been awarded in the category of Encouragement to Sports through
Corporate Social Responsibility.
14. 22 countries and 12 International Organisations have so far joined the Global Biofuel Alliance launched
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G 20 Summit in New Delhi.
15. The road transport and highways ministry has proposed to build 50,000 km of high speed (access-
controlled) corridors by 2047.
16. On 5th Jan, 2024 Indian marine commandos intercepted, then boarded the hijacked ship, and rescued the
crew. INS Chennai, the guided missile destroyer intercepted the hijacked vessel MV Lila Norfolk and
rescued 21 crew members.
17. Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has crossed a momentous milestone of providing tap water connections to 14
Crore (72.71%) rural households.
18. China launched the lotus-shaped Einstein Probe (EP) on 09 January 2024 to explore the mysteries of the
universe.
19. IIT Madras will open its campus in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
20. India's first dedicated solar mission, Aditya-L1, successfully entered the halo orbit around Lagrange Point
1 (L1) on 6th January, 2024. Lagrangian Point 1 (L1) is a stable point in space where the gravitational
forces of two large bodies, such as the Earth and the Sun, balance the centripetal force felt by a smaller
object, like a satellite.
21. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Raghuram Iyer as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
22. Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has officially assumed the role of Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
23. President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu has asked the Indian government to withdraw the military
from the island nation to protect its democracy.
24. The government has decided to implement the overarching scheme PRITHvi VIgyan (PRITHVI) for 4,797
crore rupees.
25. Nepal and India have signed a power trade agreement for Kathmandu to export 10,000 megawatts (MW)
of hydroelectricity to India over the next 10 years.
26. On January 12, 2024, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-
fired the new-generation Akash (Akash-NG) missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur,
off the coast of Odisha.
27. India is poised to chair and host UNESCO's World Heritage Committee session in New Delhi from July
21 to 31 this year, the Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO, Vishal V Sharma said.
28. A report released on January 10 ranked Meghalaya's Byrnihat as India's most polluted city in 2023.
According to the think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Meghalaya's Byrnihat
topped the list of India's most polluted cities in 2023
29. Gabriel Attal has been named next Prime Minister of France, as Emmanuel Macron aims to revive his
presidency with a new government. Gabriel Attal is currently working as an education minister.
30. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won the re-election for a fifth term in the national election that
were conducted amidst the boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former PM Khaleda
Zia, who is currently in jail.
31. In the presence of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai,
the UAE has announced its participation in developing a module on Nasa’s Lunar Gateway Station
alongside the USA, Japan, Canada and the European Union, in addition to sending the first Emirati
astronaut into lunar orbit as part of the project.
32. World Hindi Day, also known as Vishwa Hindi Diwas, is celebrated annually on January 10 to promote
the Hindi language and its usage worldwide.
33. Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has become India's first and Asia's fifth tiger reserve to have a dark
sky park.
34. President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, 2022 to Savita
Kanswal.
35. Adani Defence and Aerospace introduced the Drishti 10 Starliner Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on
Wednesday for the Indian Navy, manufactured within the country.
36. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has launched Ugram, a state-of-the-art
assault rifle of the 7.62 x 51 mm calibre, which has been indigenously designed, developed and
manufactured in collaboration with a private industry partner.
37. The Indian Navy's P8-I arrived in Guam for Exercise Sea Dragon 24.
38. India signed a slew of bilateral cooperation agreements with the United Arab Emirates and the Czech
Republic at the Vibrant Gujarat summit.
39. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 27th National Youth Festival at Nashik in Maharashtra.
40. The National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed on January 11 in the United States.
41. The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on the 31st January.
42. India's headline retail inflation rate accelerated to a four-month high of 5.69 percent in December,
according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on January 12.
43. Supreme Court has issued notice on the State of Kerala's plea against the Union government's alleged
interference with the finances of the State.
44. The Karnataka government on Friday launched the Congress party’s fifth poll promise offering (Yuva
Nidhi Scheme) monthly unemployment stipend of ₹3,000 to graduates and ₹1,500 to diploma holders.
45. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
to ensure that coastal States and Union Territories prepare the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP)
or the Island Coastal Regulation Zone Plan (ICRZP) as per the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2019
expeditiously.
46. India's longest sea bridge, Atal Setu, was inaugurated on January 12 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
Mumbai. The bridge connects Mumbai to Navi Mumbai.
47. The prominent Indian badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty conceded a loss in
the final of the Malaysia Open. The pair went down fighting against the Chinese pair of Liang Wei Keng
and Wang Chang with a score of 9-21, 21-18, 21-17.
48. The Indian National Congress kicked off the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the district of Manipur on 14
Jan 2024, Sunday. The yatra was flagged off by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, and Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi will lead the yatra. The yatra will cover 110 districts of 15 States of the country.
49. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt flagged off the indigenously developed and manufactured Astra
Missiles for supply to the Indian Air Force at Bharat Dynamics (BDL), Kanchanbagh Unit in the city.
50. Britain will commit 20,000 military personnel to serve across Europe in a major NATO exercise in the
first half of this year, as well as warships and fighter jets.
51. On 14 January 2024, Denmark made history when Crown Prince Frederick X became king.
52. Almost 25 Crore people in India have escaped poverty in the last nine years, according to the NITI Aayog.
The planning agency today released its discussion paper on Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005
to 2006, which attempts to study the decline in poverty rates across multiple dimensions.
53. India Post Payments Banks (IPPB) has achieved a significant milestone of over eight crore customers
benefiting from its innovative and inclusive financial services.
54. An Iranian court has sentenced 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi to an additional
sentence of over one year in prison on charges of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic while
behind bars.
55. Switzerland has agreed to host a global peace summit on Ukraine at the request of Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
56. Kuwait has formed a new government, the first under the country’s new Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad
al-Sabah. The freshly formed cabinet, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-
Sabah.
57. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa has become India's top-ranked men's chess player, going past veteran
Viswanathan Anand. Praggnanandhaa achieved the milestone after beating China's Ding Liren, the current
world champion, in the 4th round of the Tata Steel Masters tournament.
58. The Maldives under pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu has signed a deal with Turkey to buy drones
to patrol its exclusive economic zone waters. So far, New Delhi and Male jointly patrolled this region in
the Indian Ocean.
59. Telecom services providers have urged the Ministry of Finance to suspend the universal service obligation
fund (USOF) till the existing corpus is exhausted.
60. Japan has signed a deal with its ally the United States to buy 400 long-range Tomahawk missiles as it
ramps up its military capacity to counter regional security threats. Faced with growing Chinese military
clout and a nuclear-armed North Korea, the Japanese government plans to double its defence spending to
the NATO standard of 2% of GDP by 2027.
61. The club of countries that can soft-land spacecraft on the Moon is continuing to grow, with Japan being
the latest addition. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed that its Smart Lander for
Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully landed on the Moon’s surface.
62. The 19th NAM Summit was decided to be conducted in the capital of Uganda, Kampala at the 18th Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit held in Azerbaijan. The summit took place between 15th and 20th
January 2024 at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
63. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said that the state has inked memorandums of undertaking
(MoUs) worth Rs 3,53,675 crore at WEF Davos Summit 2024.
64. At the prestigious Wings India Awards 2024, both the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru
and the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi were jointly awarded the 'Best Airport of the Year.
65. President of the United Nations General Assembly Dennis Francis undertook an official visit to India from
January 22 to 26.
66. Kuchipudi dancer Pendyala Lakshmi Priya will receive Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by
President Murmu.
67. The Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ramlalla was held on 22nd January in Ayodhya with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi leading the rituals in the newly constructed magnificent temple. The Prime Minister also
unveiled the Ramlalla idol in the sanctum sanctorum at the temple.
68. In a major breakthrough, India has successfully set up a "Global Alliance for Global Good- Gender Equity
and Equality" to push women's empowerment and gender equality during the 54th annual meeting of
World Economic Forum in Davos.
69. On 21st January 1972, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura became full-fledged states under the North
Eastern Region (Re-organisation) Act, 1971.
70. Indian Space Research Organisation has completed all key tests on Insat-3DS satellite before the final
review which will be followed by its shipping to the spaceport in Srihari Kota, Andhra Pradesh.
71. Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has conducted a training programme in virtual mode
on the recently introduced Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) for the officers concerned from
Andhra Pradesh.
72. India has been elected as the First Vice Chair of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Committee on
Fisheries (COFI) Sub-Committee on Fisheries Management.
73. The Prime Minister of India has extended greetings to the people of India on Parakram Diwas. It is
celebrated on January 23 to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose.
74. NASA has re-established contact with its Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, the US space agency said recently.
75. Japan's "Moon Sniper" craft landed around 55 metres (180 feet) from its target, the country's space agency
said as it released the first images from the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) moon mission.
76. Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna has created history as he became the oldest grand slam winner after
teaming up with his Australian partner Matthew Ebden to defeat the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and
Andrea Vavassori in the finals of the Australian Open 2024.
77. Aryna Sabalenka beat Zheng Qinwen (6-3, 6-2) to win the 2024 Australian Open women's singles title on
Saturday, January 27.
78. Turkey's general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds majority, voted 287-
55 to approve the Sweden’s NATO membership application, made in 2022.
79. India is all set to begin the export of ground systems for the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the
Philippines in the next 10 days, while the missiles of the system will reach the Philippines by March this
year, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman, Dr. Samir V Kamat revealed.
80. Ahead of the interim Budget 2024, exporters have urged the government to allocate funds worth $3.88
billion for the Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme to promote Indian exports and help them hit the
ambitious $2 trillion target by 2030.
81. The Supreme Court recently asked the Maharashtra government and its metro rail corporation not to carry
out any construction activity at the famous Futala Lake in Nagpur.
82. The Home Minister recently said the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement with Myanmar would be
reconsidered to stop border residents from moving into each other’s country without any paperwork.
83. The International Court of Justice recently ruled that it will not throw away the genocide case against
Israel.
84. The Delhi High Court recently set aside an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing
the Income Tax (IT) department to provide details regarding the tax exemption granted to the PM Cares
Fund under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
85. The Prime Minister recently inaugurated the Diamond Jubilee celebration of the Supreme Court.
86. The inaugural edition of India-Saudi Arabia Joint Military Exercise ‘SADA TANSEEQ’ commenced
today at Mahajan, Rajasthan. The Exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 29th January to 10th
February 2024.
87. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of January, 2024 is ₹1,72,129 crore, which shows a 10.4%
Year-o-Year (Y-o-Y) growth over the revenue of ₹155,922 crore collected in January 2023.
88. The US became the first country to successfully launch Peregrine Lander One under the world's first
private moon mission. Peregrine-1 was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida
towards the moon.
89. Israel has announced that it is going to launch a desalination program in Lakshadweep on 9 January 2024.
90. Bhutanese voters have elected Tshering Tobgay as the Prime Minister for the second time.
91. The Indian Navy's multinational exercise, MILAN 24, the 12th edition will be conducted at
Visakhapatnam from 19 to 27 February 2024.
92. The 75th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on January 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. At the 75th Emmy
Awards, 'The Bear' and 'Succession' won the most awards. “The Bear" was awarded the title of Best
Comedy.
93. Andhra Pradesh is set to become the second state in India after Bihar to conduct a caste-based census.
94. Chinese Taipei's legendary badminton player Tai Tzu Ying performed brilliantly to win the India Open
2024 women's singles title. Tai Tzu Ying defeated China's Chen Yu Fei in the final.
95. The Indo-Egypt joint special forces exercise Cyclone began in Anshas, Egypt on January 22. The 11-day
bilateral exercise will continue till February 1
96. India overtook Hong Kong to become the world's fourth largest stock market by market capitalisation.
The US continues to hold the top position with a market cap of $50.86 trillion, followed by China at $8.44
trillion and Japan at $6.36 trillion.
97. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugurated the 'Our Constitution, Our Respect' campaign on 24 January
2024.
98. Turkey has approved Sweden's membership bid. Turkey's parliament approved Sweden's bid for NATO
membership.
99. In the Best Documentary Feature Film category, Indian documentary film 'To Kill a Tiger' has been
nominated for the 96th Academy Awards.
100. Cameroon has launched the world's first malaria vaccine programme for children.
January 2024 Passages:

Passage: 01 Jail to Novel Laureate
Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was convicted on Monday for violating [XX]'s labour laws. "Professor
Yunus and three of his Grameen Telecom colleagues were convicted under labour laws and sentenced to six
months in simple imprisonment," prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan told AFP, adding that all four were
immediately granted bail pending appeals. Yunus, aged 83, is acclaimed for elevating millions from poverty
through his groundbreaking microfinance bank. Yunus and three Grameen Telecom colleagues faced accusations
of violating labour laws for neglecting to establish a workers' welfare fund.
The labour court convicted and sentenced them to "six months' simple imprisonment," with all four immediately
granted bail pending appeals. Outside the court, a small demonstration of support for Yunus took place.
Source: Article taken from Hindustan Times, dated 1st January, 2024
1. Muhammad Yunus hails from which country as redacted by (XX) in the above passage?
A. Pakistan
B. Sri Lanka
C. India
D. Bangladesh
2. Professor Muhammad Yunus won Nobel Peace Prize in which year?

A. 2004
B. 2006
C. 2008
D. 2010
3. Which of the following statements is/are correct?
A. Professor Yunus has innovatively combined capitalism with social responsibility through the
establishment of the Grameen Bank.
B. This microcredit institution is dedicated to providing modest amounts of working capital to empower the
poor for self-employment.
C. Originating as an action-research project in 1976, the Grameen Bank has since expanded, offering
collateral-free loans to 7.5 million clients across more than 82,072 villages in Bangladesh, with an
impressive 97% being women.
D. All of these
4.The Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate. Who won the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901?
A. Henry Durant
B. Frederic Passy
C. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’
D. None of these
5. Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize in which year?
A. 1979
B. 1981
C. 1983
D. 1985
6. UNHCR, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has received the Nobel Peace
Prize twice, in 1954 and _____________.
A. 1979
B. 1981
C. 1983
D. 1985
Answers and Explanations:

1. D
Sol: Recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, Professor Muhammad Yunus is internationally recognised for his
contributions to poverty alleviation and the empowerment of women in need. He hails from Bangladesh.
2. B
Sol: 2006 Nobel Peace Prize was won by Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank and presented by Professor Ole
Danbolt Mjøs, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, on 13 October 2006.
3. Ans. D
4. C
5. A, The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1979 to Mother Teresa.
6. B
Sol: 27 individual organisations have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. UNHCR, the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice, in 1954 and 1981.
Passage: 02: 16th Finance Commission
The Centre has constituted the Sixteenth Finance Commission. Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr. [XX]
who is a Professor at Columbia University, will be the Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission.
Ministry of Finance in a statement said that IAS officer Ritvik Ranjanam Pandey will be the secretary of the
Commission. The Commission will make recommendations in matters including the distribution between the
Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes and measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a
State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities in the State.
The Commission may review the present arrangements on financing Disaster Management initiatives, with
reference to the funds constituted under the Disaster Management Act and make appropriate recommendations
thereon. The Finance Commission has been requested to make its report available by 31st of October, 2025
covering a period of five years commencing on the 1st of April, 2026.
Source; Article extracted from News on Air, dated: 1st Jan, 2024
1. The 15th Finance Commission was constituted by the President of India in November 2017, under the
chairmanship of NK Singh. Who was the chairman of 14th Finance Commission?
A. Ajay Narayan Jha B. KC Neogy C. Vijay L Kelkar D. YV Reddy
2. Under Article 280 of the Constitution, the President of India is required to constitute a Finance Commission at
an interval of five years or earlier. The First Finance Commission was established in which year?
A. 1949 B. 1951 C. 1953 D. 1955
3. Who will be the chairman of 16th Finance Commission?
A. Arvind Panagariya
B. V. K. Saraswat
C. Ramesh Chand
D. V. K. Paul
4. Which one of the following authorities recommend the principles governing the grants-in aid of the revenues
to the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India?
A. Finance Commission
B. Inter-State Council
C. Union Ministry of Finance
D. Public Accounts Committee
5. Who of the following shall causes every recommendation made by the Finance Commission to be laid before
each House of the Parliament?
A. The President of India
B. The Speaker of Lok Sabha
C. The Prime Minister of India
D. The Union Finance Minister
6. The Finance Commission consists of a Chairman and_______________.
A. Seven other members
B. Five other members
C. Four other members
D. Such other members as may be decided by the President from time-to-time

1. Answer: D
Sol: Governor Y. V. Reddy was the chairman of the 14th Finance Commission. The 14th Finance Commission
was constituted on 2nd January 2013 and the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission came into force
in April 2015.
2. Answer: B
Sol: The First Commission was established in 1951 under The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act, 1951. Fifteen Finance Commissions have been constituted since the promulgation of Indian Constitution in
1950.
3. Answer: A
Sol: The Centre has constituted the Sixteenth Finance Commission. Former NITI Aayog Vice Chairman, Dr
Arvind Panagariya who is a Professor at Columbia University, will be the Chairman of the 16th Finance
Commission.
4. Answer. A
Sol: The Finance Commission is constituted by the President under article 280 of the Constitution, mainly to give
its recommendations on distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States and amongst the States
themselves.
5. Answer. A, The President shall cause every recommendation made by the Finance Commission under the
provisions of this Constitution together with an explanatory memorandum as to the action taken thereon to be laid
before each House of Parliament.
6. Answer. C
Sol: As per the constitution, the commission is appointed every five years and consists of a chairman and four
other members.
Passage: 03: New Development Projects in Lakshadweep Islands:
Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today, in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, inaugurated Kochi-Lakshadweep islands
submarine optical fiber connection (KLI-SOFC) project among various developmental projects worth more than
Rs 1,150 crore covering a wide range of sectors including technology, energy, water resources, healthcare and
education. The KLI-SOFC project will lead to an increase in internet speed unlocking new possibilities &
opportunities. For the first time since independence, Lakshadweep will be connected through Submarine Optic
Fibre Cable. The dedicated submarine OFC will ensure a paradigm shift in communication infrastructure in the
Lakshadweep islands, enabling faster and more reliable internet services, telemedicine, e-governance, educational
initiatives, digital banking, digital currency usage, digital literacy etc.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister recalled the guarantee given by him in 2020 about ensuring fast
internet within 1,000 days. He said, “Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands Submarine Optical Fiber Connection (KLI -
SOFC) project has been dedicated to people today and will ensure 100 times faster Internet for the people of
Lakshadweep”. He added, “This will improve facilities like government services, medical treatment, education
and digital banking. The potential of developing Lakshadweep as a logistics hub will get strength from this”.
Source: Article extracted from PIB, dated 3rd Jan, 2024:
A. The project is funded by Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecommunication.
B. The Total link distance of the project is 1,868 kilometres.
C. The Total cost of project will be Rs 1072 crore plus taxes
D. All of these
2. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, inaugurated the Kochi-Lakshadweep islands
submarine optical fiber connection (KLI-SOFC) project. Which of the following phenomenon’s forms the basis
for guiding light within optical Fibres?
A. Total Internal Reflection
B. Interference
C. Dispersion
D. None of these
3. Fibre optics technology has since been widely used in telecommunication, medical science, laser technology,
and sensing. With a goal to securing communication and promoting quantum science, the Government of India
announced a national mission in the Union Budget of____________.
A. 2014
B. 2016
C. 2018
D. 2020
4. Lakshadweep is a group of how many Islands?
A. 24 B. 30 C. 36 D. 42
5. How did the Lakshadweep islands originate?

A. Volcanic origin
B. Coral Origin
C. Soil Deposition
D. None of these
6. The maritime boundary between the Maldives and India (Lakshadweep) runs through the?
A. Eight Degree channel

B. Five Degree channel
C. Ten Degree channel
D. Nine Degree channel
7. The High Court of Kerala and Lakshadweep is situated at:
A. Ernakulam B. Thrissur C. Kochi D. Agatti

1. Ans. D
2. Ans. A, Optical fiber uses the optical principle of "total internal reflection" to capture the light transmitted in
an optical fiber and confine the light to the core of the fiber. An optical fiber is comprised of a light-carrying core
in the center, surrounded by a cladding that acts to traps light in the core.
3. Ans. D, With a goal to securing communication and promoting quantum science, the Government of India
announced a national mission in the Union Budget of 2020. The proposed budget for this 'National Mission on
Quantum Technologies and Applications' is Rs 8,000 crore over a period of five years.
4. Ans. C, The Lakshadweep Islands, situated in the Arabian Sea, constitute a group of 36 islands with a combined
area of 32 square kilometers, spanning from 8 to 12 degrees north latitude. The primary islands that make up the
Lakshadweep group are as follows: Kavaratti. Agatti.
5. Ans. B
6. Ans. A
Sol: The maritime boundary between the Maldives and India runs through the Eight Degree Channel. It separates
the islands of Minicoy and Maldives. It is so named as it lies on the 8-degree line of Latitude, north of the equator.
7. Ans. C
Passage: 04: 'One Nation, One Election':
The panel on 'One Nation, One Election' led by former President [XX] has invited suggestions from the public
for making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections
in the country. In a public notice, the high-level committee said the suggestions received by January 15 would be
taken up for consideration. The committee has held two meetings since it was constituted in September last year.
It had also recently written to political parties seeking their views and an interaction on a "mutually agreed date"
on the idea of holding simultaneous polls. It had later sent a reminder to the parties.
Letters were sent to six national parties, 33 state parties and seven registered unrecognised parties. The committee
has also heard the views of the Law Commission on simultaneous polls. The law panel could be called again on
the issue. According to its terms of reference, the committee is meant to "examine and make recommendations
for holding simultaneous elections to the House of the People (Lok Sabha), state legislative assemblies,
municipalities and panchayats, keeping in view the existing framework under the Constitution of India and other
statutory provisions, and for that purpose, examine and recommend specific amendments to the Constitution, the
Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the rules made thereunder
and any other law or rules which would require amendments for the purpose of holding simultaneous elections".
Source: Article extracted from News on Air, dated 7th January, 2024:
1. The government has constituted a committee headed by former President _____________ to explore the
possibility of one nation, one election?
A. Ram Nath Kovind
B. Prathibha Devisingh Patil

C. Shankar Dayal Sharma
D. K.R. Narayan
2. The central idea behind One nation, One election is to synchronize the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly
elections across all States to reduce the frequency of polls throughout the country. This concept was the practice
till 1967. The cycle was first broken in ________ after the Centre invoked Article 356 to dismiss the then-Kerala
government.
A. 1957
B. 1959
C. 1963
D. 1965
A. The Law Commission of India is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India.
B. The first Law Commission was established during colonial rule in India by the East India Company under
the Charter Act of 1833 and was presided over by Lord Macaulay.
C. The idea of conducting simultaneous elections was advocated in 1999 by the then Law Commission
headed by BP Jeevan Reddy.
D. All of these
4. On November 7, 2022, who (Former Chief Justice of the Karnataka HC) was appointed as the chairperson of
the 22nd Law Commission?
A. Justice Rituraj Awasthi

B. Justice KT Sankaran
C. Justice Anand Paliwal
D. Justice M. Karunanithi
5. Article 83(2) and ___________of the Constitution stipulates that the tenure of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies
respectively will last for five years unless dissolved earlier and there can be circumstances, as in Article 356,
wherein assemblies can be dissolved earlier.
A. Article 170
B. Article 172
C. Article 174
D. Article 176
6. The Law Commission headed by Justice B. S. Chauhan reported the simultaneous elections are not feasible
within the existing framework of the Constitution. It said that the Constitution, the Representation of the People
Act ____________ and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and State Assemblies would require appropriate
amendments to conduct simultaneous polls.
A. 1947
B. 1949
C. 1951
D. 1953
7. Who has declined to be a part of the eight-member committee constituted by the central government to examine
"One Nation, One Election"?
A. Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
B. Former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad
C. Former Chairman 15th Finance Commission N. K. Singh
D. Senior Advocate Harish Salve
1. Ans. A
Sol: The government has constituted a committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to explore the
possibility of one nation, one election.
2. Ans. B
Sol: The cycle was first broken in 1959 after the Centre invoked Article 356 to dismiss the then-Kerala
government.
Subsequently, due to defections and counter-defections between parties, several Legislative Assemblies dissolved
post-1960, which eventually led to separate polls for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Currently, the assembly
polls in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are held together with the Lok
Sabha elections.
3. Ans. D, All are correct.
4. Ans. A
Sol: On November 7, 2022, Justice Rituraj Awasthi (Former Chief Justice of the Karnataka HC) was appointed
as the chairperson of the 22nd Law Commission.
5. Ans. B
Sol: Article 172 lays down the term for the Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils of the States. The
term of the Legislative Assembly shall be five years. The Council shall be a continuing House not subject to
dissolution but one‑third of its members shall retire every two years.
6. Ans. C
Sol: It said that the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of Lok
Sabha and State Assemblies would require appropriate amendments to conduct simultaneous polls. Parliament
has enacted the Representation of People Act, 1950 (RPA,1950) and Representation of People Act, 1951
(RPA,1951). The key difference between the two is that while RPA, 1950 provide for preparations before the
actual elections, RPA, 1951 makes provisions for the actual conduct of elections.
7. Ans. A
Passage: 05: Indian Olympic Association new CEO:
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Raghuram Iyer as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on Friday.
Iyer was selected unanimously for the post by the IOA Nomination Committee after thorough interviews and
careful consideration of the shortlisted candidates. Raghuram Iyer comes with a rich experience in the sports
management field, having served as the CEO of Indian Premier League (IPL) sides Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow
Super Giants and Rising Pune Supergiant. Iyer has also worked with Indian Super League (ISL) club ATK Mohun
Bagan in football and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) franchise RPSG Mavericks. “We believe that Raghuram lyer
brings a unique combination of leadership, strategic vision and a deep understanding of the sports landscape. His
appointment is a significant step toward the continued growth and success of Indian sports on the global stage,"
IOA president PT Usha said. “I am grateful for the unwavering cooperation and wholehearted support from the
esteemed members of the Executive Council in the successful appointment of the CEO for IOA. Their dedication
has been instrumental in achieving this milestone, and I look forward to continued collaboration for the lOA's
success,” Usha added. [XX], the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), had stressed upon the
IOA’s need to appoint a CEO when he was visiting Mumbai for the IOC Session last year.
Source: Article extracted from Olympics.com dated 6 th January, 2024
1. Which of the following replaces [XX] in the above passage?
A. Thomas BACH
B. Anita L. DEFRANTZ
C. Denis OSWALD
D. Robin E. MITCHELL
2. Neeraj Chopra scripted history at Tokyo Olympics. 2020 (Held in 2021) as it was India's first-ever gold medal
in Track and Field events in Olympics. With the gold medal at Tokyo, Chopra also became the second individual
gold medalist from India after Abhinav Bindra's gold-medal winning performance at the _____________.
A. 2008 Beijing Games
B. 2008 London Games
C. 2008 Athens Games

D. 2008 Jakarta Games
3. _______________is celebrated as National Javelin Day in India.

A. 5th August B. 7th August C. 9th August D. 11th August
4. Which edition of Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, France in 2024?
A. XXXI Olympiad
B. XXXII Olympiad
C. XXXIII Olympiad
D. XXXIV Olympiad
5. What is the official mascot for Paris Olympics?

A. Phrygian caps
B. Miraitowa
C. Someti
D. Vinicius and Tom
6. The All India Olympic Committee eventually transitioned into the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in
________ with Dorabji Tata as president and Dr Noehren, the secretary.
A. 1925 B. 1927 C. 1929 D. 1931
1. Ans. A
2. Ans. A, It was on August 7 2021, that Chopra hurled javelin at a distance of 87.58m during the men's Javelin
Throw final of the Tokyo Games to win the gold medal. Chopra scripted history as it was India's first-ever gold
medal in Track and Field events in Olympics. With the gold medal at Tokyo, Chopra also became the second
individual gold medalist from India after Abhinav Bindra's gold-medal winning performance at the 2008 Beijing
Games.
3. Ans. B, August 7 is celebrated as National Javelin Day in India. The Athletics Federation of India, the apex
body for the athletics in India, took the decision to celebrate August 7 as the National Javelin Day to commemorate
Neeraj Chopra's historic gold medal during the Tokyo Olympics. It was on August 7 2021, that Chopra hurled
javelin at a distance of 87.58m during the men's Javelin Throw final of the Tokyo Games to win the gold medal.
4. Ans. C, The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and commonly known as
Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event that is scheduled to take place from 26 July to 11
August 2024 with Paris as its main host city and 16 cities spread across metropolitan France and one in Tahiti an
island within the French overseas country and overseas collectivity of French Polynesia as a subsite.
5. Ans. A, The name of the Paris 2024 mascot is Olympic Phryge, based on the traditional small Phrygian hats
that the mascots are shaped after.
6. Ans. B
Sol: The All India Olympic Committee eventually transitioned into the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in
1927 with Dorabji Tata as president and Dr Noehren, the secretary. The Indian Olympic Association or Indian
Olympic Committee is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian
Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams at these events.
Passage: 06: Aditya L-1 Mission:
Halo-Orbit Insertion (HOI) of its solar observatory spacecraft, Aditya-L1 was accomplished at 16.00 Hrs
(approx.) on January 6, 2024 (IST). The final phase of the manoeuvre involved firing of control engines for a
short duration. The orbit of Aditya-L1 spacecraft is a periodic Halo orbit which is located roughly 1.5 million km
from earth on the continuously moving Sun – Earth line with an orbital period of about 177.86 earth days. This
Halo orbit is a periodic, three-dimensional orbit at L1 involving Sun, Earth and a spacecraft. This specific halo
orbit is selected to ensure a mission lifetime of 5 years, minimising station-keeping manoeuvres and thus fuel
consumption and ensuring a continuous, unobstructed view of sun.
The halo orbit insertion process commenced as the spacecraft crossed the XZ plane in the Sun-Earth- L1 rotating
system, with the required orbital state. The insertion manoeuvre is essential to nullify the X and Z velocity
components and attain the required Y-velocity in the L1 rotating frame for the required Halo orbit. The targeted
Halo-orbit for the mission is Ax: 209200 km, Ay: 663200 km and Az: 120000 km (The semi-axes of the 3-
dimensional Halo orbit-refer figure). The insertion of Aditya-L1 into this Halo orbit presents a critical mission
phase, which demanded precise navigation and control. A successful insertion further involved constant
monitoring along with the adjustment of the spacecraft's speed and position by using onboard thrusters. The
success of this insertion not only signifies ISRO's capabilities in such complex orbital manoeuvres, but it but
gives confidence to handle future interplanetary missions.
1. The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched by?
A. PSLV-C57
B. PSLV-C56
C. PSLV-C55
D. PSLC-C54

A. On September 2, ISRO successfully launched Aditya-L1 from the Second Launch Pad of Satish Dhawan
Space Centre, Sriharikota.
B. The spacecraft was projected to reach its designated orbit at point L1 roughly 125 days post-launch,
according to the space agency.
C. Aditya-L1 stands as India's inaugural space-based observatory, designed to explore the Sun from a halo
orbit positioned at the first Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1), situated approximately 1.5 million km from
Earth.
D. All are correct

3. Aditya-L1 carries seven homegrown scientific payloads, developed by ISRO and national research laboratories,
including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, ____________, and the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and
Astrophysics, Pune.
A. Kochi
B. Bengaluru
C. Pune
D. New Delhi
4. In the view of scientists, there are five Lagrangian points, or gravitational parking areas, that exist between
Earth and the Sun, where small objects can remain with minimal fuel consumption. They are named after
___________ mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, these points in space serve as advantageous locations for
spacecraft to maintain their positions, as the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth balance the necessary
centripetal force for objects to move harmoniously with them.
A. Italian-French
B. Indo-Italian
C. Indian-American
D. Italian-American
5. What is the distance between the earth and the sun at the Perihelion position?
A. 157 million km B. 147 million km C. 167 million km D. 137 million km.

1. Ans. A, The Aditya-L1 spacecraft was launched by PLSV-C57 on September 2, 2023 from SDSC SHAR, into
an elliptical parking orbit (EPO) of 235.6 km by 19502.7 km.
2. Ans. D, All are correct
3. Ans. B, Aditya-L1 carries seven homegrown scientific payloads, developed by ISRO and national research
laboratories, including the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, and the Inter-University Centre for
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune.
4. Ans. A
Sol: Named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, these points in space serve as
advantageous locations for spacecraft to maintain their positions, as the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth
balance the necessary centripetal force for objects to move harmoniously with them.
5. Ans. B
Sol: The Earth is closest to the Sun at the Perihelion position. At this point, the Earth is 147 million km away
from the Sun
Passage: 07: Jal Jeevan Mission to 14 Crore Rural Households:
By implementing water purification and treatment methods, JJM has ensured that the water reaching households
meets the standards, significantly reducing waterborne diseases and improving overall health in rural
communities. In addition to household connections, the Mission has ensured tap water supply in 9.24 lakh
(90.65%) schools and 9.57 lakh (86.63%) anganwadi centres nationwide. In the 112 aspirational districts, tap
water access has surged from 21.41 lakh (7.86%) households at the time of launch to 1.96 Crore (72.08%)
households today. The 'Har Ghar Jal' initiative is bringing substantial socio-economic benefits, liberating the
rural population, particularly women and young girls, from the arduous task of fetching water daily. The time
saved is now redirected towards income-generating activities, skill development, and supporting children’s
education. JJM’s sustainable model aims to ensure the longevity of the infrastructure and promotes community-
led development. Over 5.29 lakh Village Water & Sanitation Committees (VWSC)/ Pani Samitis have been
constituted, along with the preparation of 5.17 lakh Village Action Plans (VAPs) focusing on drinking water
source management, greywater treatment, and regular O&M of in-village water supply systems. More than 23.55
lakh women have been trained for testing water samples using Field Testing Kit (FTK) to ensure quality. Rigorous
testing of water samples from source and delivery points is conducted regularly. Today, safe drinking water is
available in all Arsenic and Fluoride-affected habitations. Guided by the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,
Sabka Vishwas aur Sabka Prayas,’ Jal Jeevan Mission is steadfastly moving towards achieving Sustainable
Development Goal [XX] – providing safe and affordable water to all.
Source: Article Extracted from PIB, dated 5th January, 2024:
1. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding features of Jal Jeevan Mission?
A. JJM focuses on integrated demand and supply-side management of water at the local level.
B. Creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability measures as mandatory elements, like rainwater
harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse, is undertaken in
convergence with other government programmes/schemes.
C. The Mission is based on a community approach to water and includes extensive Information, Education
and Communication as a key component of the mission.
D. None of these
2. Which of the following is not an objective of Jal Jeevan Mission?
A. Securing tap and sewer connections

B. Rejuvenation of water bodies
C. Creating circular water economy
D. None of these
3. Which Sustainable Development Goal goes beyond drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to also address the
quality and sustainability of water resources, which are critical to the survival of people and the planet? (Redacted
by (XX) in the above passage).
A. SDG-6 B. SDG-7 C. SDG-8 D. SDG-9
4. National Mission for Clean Ganga is being implemented by the National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection
and Management of River Ganga also known as the National Ganga Council. This mission was established on
12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act, _____________ as a registered society.
A. 1854 B. 1860 C. 1869 D. 1872
A. National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) was constituted under the provisions of the
Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
B. NGRBA was dissolved with effect from the 7th of October 2016 after the constitution of National Council
for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga (referred as National Ganga Council).
D. None of these
6. Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has crossed a momentous milestone of providing tap water connections to 14 Crore
(72.71%) rural households. As of today, six states, namely Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, and
Himachal Pradesh and ___________ Union Territories have achieved 100% coverage.
A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four

1. Ans. D, All the statements are correct.
2. Ans. D, All the three objectives are correct.
3. Ans. A, Sustainable Development Goal 6 goes beyond drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to also address
the quality and sustainability of water resources, which are critical to the survival of people and the planet.
4. Ans. B, This mission was established on 12th August 2011 under the Societies Registration Act,1860 as a
registered society. The Societies Registration Act, 1860 is a legislation in British India which allows the
registration of entities generally involved in the benefit of society – education, health, employment etc.
5. Ans. C, Both are correct
6. Ans. C, As of today, six states, namely Goa, Telangana, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh and
three Union Territories of Puducherry, D&D and D&NH, and A&N Islands have achieved 100% coverage.
Mizoram at 98.68%, Arunachal Pradesh at 98.48% and Bihar at 96.42% are on track to achieving saturation in
the near future.
Passage: 08: Startup-India:
With an aim to bring together the country’s startups, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and other
stakeholders, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, is organising the Startup India Innovation Week 2024 from [XX] January 2024 to [YY] January 2024
to celebrate the Indian Startup Ecosystem and the National Startup Day.
During the Innovation Week 2024, Secretary, DPIIT, Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh will deliver the inaugural address
in the Startup Seminar: ‘Startups Unlocking Infinite Potential’ on 11th January 2024, at the Tenth Vibrant Gujarat
Global Summit in Gandhinagar, Gujarat which aims to provide a global forum for business networking,
knowledge sharing, and inclusive socio-economic development.
On National Startup Day 2024 celebrations, DPIIT is organising the result declaration and felicitation ceremony
for the National Startup Awards 2023 and the 4th edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Framework, two of the
flagship initiatives under Startup India. Physical events are also being organised across the country by incubators
to celebrate the innovations being developed across districts by Indian entrepreneurs. These events include
dedicated workshops for startups, mentorship sessions, stakeholder round tables, panel discussions, among others.
Eight virtual Ask Me Anything (AMA) live sessions are planned to be conducted with startup ecosystem enablers
including incubators and accelerators, investors, mentors, unicorns, corporates, startups, academia, and
government to build capacity of the ecosystem. Further, 5 dedicated mentorship sessions focused on ‘How to
Start Up’ are planned to be conducted focused on capacity building of aspiring entrepreneurs and student
entrepreneurs on topics such as understanding business structures, processes to incorporate an entity, and building
a business plan.
1. Which of the following replaces [XX] and [YY] in the above passage?
A. 9th January to 16th January
B. 10th January to 16th January
C. 11th January to 18th January
D. 10th January to 18th January
2. National Startup day is observed on which date every year?

A. 15th January
B. 16th January
C. 17th January
D. 18th January
3. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Startup India?

A. Startup India is an initiative of the Government of India. The campaign was first announced by Indian
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech on 15 August 2015. Launch year: 2016
B. MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth), the National Mentorship Platform
is a one-stop platform to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, functions, stages,
geographies, and domains.
C. In 2011, Inmobi was India's first unicorn.
D. All of these
4. Which of the following statements is incorrect?

A. Zepto became India's first 2023 unicorn.
B. Neo-banking platform Open became India's 100th unicorn.
C. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ are incorrect
D. None of these is incorrect
A. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department
under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India.
B. The department in its current form came into being on 27 January 2019, when the erstwhile Department
of Industrial Policy & Promotion was renamed to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT) after internal trade was added to its mandate.
C. The current Minister is Piyush Goyal
D. All of these
1. Ans. D
Sol: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is
organising the Startup India Innovation Week 2024 from 10th January 2024 to 18th January 2024 to celebrate the
Indian Startup Ecosystem and the National Startup Day.
2. Ans. B
Sol: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022, declared 16th January the National Startup Day.
3. Ans. D
Sol: All the statements are correct
4. Ans. D
Sol: Both the statements are correct
5. Ans. D
Passage: 09: International Religious Freedom

The U.S. has designated China, North Korea and [XX] as "Countries of Particular Concern" for engaging in and
tolerating "particularly severe violations of religious freedom." Announcing the Religious Freedom Designations,
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that advancing the freedom of religion or belief has been a core
objective of U.S. foreign policy ever since Congress passed and enacted the International Religious Freedom Act.
As part of the "enduring commitment", Blinken last week said that he has designated Burma (Myanmar), China,
Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, [XX], Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as
“Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious
freedom.”
Along with that, he also designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam in
the category of "Special Watch List" countries after they engaged in or tolerated major violations of religious
freedom.
Blinken further designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West
Africa, al-Qa’ida affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular
Concern.” "Governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and
their places of worship, communal violence and lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression, transnational
repression, and calls to violence against religious communities, among other violations that occur in too many
places around the world,” said Blinken.
Source: Article extracted from the Hindu, dated: 09-01-2024.
1. Which Indian neighbouring country replaces [XX] in the above passage?
A. Bangladesh
B. Sri Lanka
C. Pakistan
D. Nepal
2. The International Religious Freedom Act of ___________was passed to promote religious freedom as a foreign
policy of the United States.
A. 1991
B. 1995
C. 1998
D. 2000
3. International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence based on Religion or Belief is observed on
which date?
A. 22nd August
B. 20th September
C. 18th October
D. 5th November
A. The Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim minority Turkic ethnic group, whose origins can be traced to
Central and East Asia and are considered to be one of the 55 officially recognized ethnic minority
communities in China.
B. Currently, the largest population of the Uighur ethnic community lives in Xinjiang region of China. China
recognises the community only as a regional minority and rejects that they are an indigenous group.
C. Uighur Muslims for decades, under the false accusation by the Chinese government of terrorism and
separatism, have suffered from abuses including persecution, forced detention, intense scrutiny,
surveillance and even slavery. However, China claims its camps to be ‘educational centres’ where the
Uighurs are being cured of “extremist thoughts” and radicalization and learning vocational skills.
D. All of these
5. The history of India’s struggle for freedom from British rule is the history of the repressive laws of sedition in
India. Law of Sedition was inserted in Indian Penal Code, 1860 in _________by an amendment introduced by Sir
James Stephen when it felt the need for a specific section to deal with the offence.
A. 1870 B. 1880 C. 1890 D. 1900

1. Ans. C, US has designated Burma (Myanmar), China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as “Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or
tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
2. Ans. C
Sol: The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 was passed to promote religious freedom as a foreign
policy of the United States,
3. Ans. A
Sol: The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief is held
every year on August 22. On this day, the international community honours the survivors and victims of religious-
based violence.
4. Ans. D
Sol: All are correct
5. Ans. A
Sol: The law was originally drafted in 1837 by Thomas Macaulay, the British historian-politician, but was
inexplicably omitted when the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was enacted in 1860. Section 124A was inserted in 1870
by an amendment introduced by Sir James Stephen when it felt the need for a specific section to deal with the
offence. Today the Sedition is a crime under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The new Bharatiya
Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023, proposes to repeal sedition law (section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code).
Passage: 10: Henley Passport Index:

The Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s most travel-friendly passports, has released its list for 2024,
with European nations of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and Asia’s Japan and [XX] sharing the number one
spot. India, meanwhile, has improved its ranking from the previous year’s ranking of 84. Those holding an Indian
passport have visa-free access to 62 destinations. The Henley Passport Index for 2024, curated by Henley &
Partners, was released this week and ranks different passports according to the number of destinations their
holders can visit without a prior visa or can avail of a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel
authority (ETA) on entering the destination. The rankings are based on the analysis of data provided by the
International Air Transport Association (IATA). It then provides a ‘Visa-free score’ which, essentially, is the
number of destinations that the holders of that particular passport can travel to without a prior visa or can avail of
a visa on arrival or other similar permits. For instance, those holding the passports of the countries in the #1 spot
had access to 194 visa-free destinations. The United States was ranked at number 7 along with Canada and
Hungary. The United Kingdom passport fared better at spot number 4, which it shared with Belgium,
Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal. In the Middle East, the UAE ranked the highest at #11. Israel ranked at #21
while Russia took the 51st spot.
Source: Article extracted from Indian Express, dated 11 th January, 2024:
A. Singapore
B. Turkey
C. Iceland
D. Norway
2. What is India’s ranking as per Henley Passport Index 2024 Q1?
A. 80th
B. 78th
C. 82nd
D. 76th
3. The Henley Passport Index for 2024, curated by Henley & Partners, was released this week and ranks different
passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa or can avail of a visa
on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) on entering the destination. Maldives has
ranked at which position in the Henley Passport Index?
A. 62
B. 66
C. 58
D. 56
4. Which country ranked last in the Henley Passport Index 2024 with visa-free access to 28 countries?
A. South Sudan
B. Sudan
C. Somalia
D. Afghanistan
5. The Henley Passport Index is an annual list put together by Henley & Partners, a _______________-based
global citizenship and residence advisory firm. It claims to be the “original ranking of all the world’s passports”.
A. New York
B. London
C. Madrid
D. Sydney

1. Ans. A
Sol: The Henley Passport Index, which ranks the world’s most travel-friendly passports, has released its list for
2024, with European nations of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, and Asia’s Japan and Singapore sharing the
number one spot.
2. Ans. A
Sol: India, meanwhile, has improved its ranking and moved up to the 80th position from the previous year’s
ranking of 84. Those holding an Indian passport have visa-free access to 62 destinations.
3. Ans. C
Sol: Neighbours of India were ranked as follows: Maldives (#58), China (#62), Bhutan (#87), Myanmar (#92),
Sri Lanka (#96), Bangladesh (#97), and Nepal (#98).
4. Ans. D
Sol: Afghanistan passport ranked last at #104, had visa-free access to only 28 of them.
5. Ans. B
Sol: The Henley Passport Index is an annual list put together by Henley & Partners, a London-based global
citizenship and residence advisory firm. It claims to be the “original ranking of all the world’s passports”. The
index covers 227 destinations and 199 passports.
Passage: 11: Swachh Survekshan 2023:

Indore and [XX] have been adjudged India’s cleanest cities as part of the Swachh Survekshan 2023 Awards given
out by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry. While it was Indore’s seventh year in a row at the top spot,
[XX] won the award for the first time. Meanwhile, [YY] bagged the cleanest state award, followed by Madhya
Pradesh. Chandigarh won the award for the city having the best safety standards for sanitation workers —
Safaimitra Surakshit Shehar. President Droupadi Murmu handed over the awards to representatives of the cities
and states at an awards ceremony in Delhi. The exercise acts as a competition among towns and cities to improve
their cleanliness, waste management service delivery to citizens. Officials at the MoHUA said that the primary
goal of Swachh Survekshan was to encourage large-scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all
sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to
reside in. This year, which is the eighth year of the survey, a total of 3,000 assessors conducted the assessment of
more than 4,500 cities across 46 indicators. Some of these indicators include segregated door-to-door waste
collection, zero waste events, disabled-friendly toilets, improved plastic waste management.
Source: Article extracted from Hindustan Time, dated 11-01-2024
1. Which of the following cities replaces [XX] in the above passage?
A. Surat
B. Navi Mumbai
C. Kochi
D. Pune
2. Which of the following states replaces [YY] in the above passage?
A. Uttar Pradesh
B. Karnataka
C. Kerala
D. Maharashtra
3. Mhow Cantonment Board was rated the cleanest cantonment. It is located in which state?
A. Uttar Pradesh
B. Karnataka
C. Madhya Pradesh
D. Maharashtra
4. Swachh Survekshan, conducted by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) under the Swachh
Bharat Urban Mission since ________________, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey.
A. 2014
B. 2016
C. 2015
D. 2017
5. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023?
A. Varanasi and Prayagraj won top Ganga town awards.
B. Chandigarh was honored as the safest city for sanitation staff.
C. West Bengal municipalities ranked last across all zones.
D. All of these
1. Ans. A
Sol: Indore and Surat were declared the joint cleanest cities of India as part of the Swachh Survekshan Awards
presented by President Draupadi Murmu. This was the seventh time that Indore won the accolade of the cleanest
city in India. Navi Mumbai ranked third.
2. Ans. D
Sol: The Union Housing Ministry confers the Swachh Sarvekshan cleanliness awards, initiated under the Swachh
Bharat Mission. Maharashtra topped the state ranks, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Smaller
cities Sasvad, Lonavala and Patan secured the top three cleanliness positions.
3. Ans. C
Sol: Mhow Cantonment Board was rated the cleanest cantonment. It is located in Madhya Pradesh.
4. Ans. B
Sol: Swachh Survekshan, conducted by the union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) under the
Swachh Bharat Urban Mission since 2016, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey. The
exercise acts as a competition among towns and cities to improve their cleanliness, waste management service
delivery to citizens.
5. Ans. D
Sol: All are correct
Passage: 12: India’s retail inflation, or consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation
India’s retail inflation, or consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation, likely rose for the second consecutive
month in December, largely driven by unfavourable base effects and rising prices of pulses, tomatoes, and onions.
This is, however, unlikely to prompt the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tweak its monetary policy in the
upcoming meeting, as core inflation is moderating and the increase in food inflation was widely anticipated.
India’s retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high of [XX]% in December 2023, from 5.55% a month earlier,
led by an uptick in food prices that rose 9.5% nationally and breached the 10% mark for urban consumers, hitting
10.42%. Although rural India’s consumers faced a slightly lower rise in food prices at just under 9%, they faced
higher overall inflation at nearly 6%, compared to 5.5% faced by their urban peers in December.While price rise
hardened in December, the average consumer price inflation for the October-to-December quarter has been 5.4%,
moderately lower than the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) projection of 5.6%. Yet, hopes of an interest cut on the
horizon remain bleak, as the RBI expects an average price rise of 5.2% for the first half of 2024 before easing to
its 4% target between July and September. Within the food basket, inflation picked up in pulses (20.73%),
vegetables (27.6%), fruits (11.14%), and sugar (7.14%), while it was just fractionally lower for cereals and spices,
which continued to record steep inflation of 9.9% and 19.7%, respectively, in December.
Source: Article extracted from the hindu, dated 12th January, 2024.
A. 5.60%
B. 5.61%
C. 5.69%
D. 5.72%
2. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation forecast for the fiscal year 2023-24 has been retained at?
A. 5.1%
B. 5.2%
C. 5.3%
D. 5.4
3. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding recently concluded MPC Meet?
A. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its bimonthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting
has retained benchmark interest rates unchanged for the 5th time in a row.
B. The key repo rate has been paused for five consecutive reviews at 6.5%
C. The GDP growth projection for 2023-24 was raised to 7% from earlier 6.5%, buoyed by a robust 7.6%
growth in the second quarter of 2023-24 FY.
D. All of these
4. Monetary policy refers to the policy of the central bank with regard to the use of monetary instruments under
its control to achieve the goals specified in the Act. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was set up under
Section 45ZB of the RBI Act of 1934 by the Union government. The first meeting of MPC was conducted on 3rd
October ______________ in Mumbai.
A. 2008 B. 2012 C. 2016 D. 2020
5. As many as seven States recorded inflation of over _________________ the RBI’s tolerance threshold for
inflation.
A. 6% B. 6.5% C. 7% D. 7.5%

1. Ans. C
Sol: India’s retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high of 5.69% in December 2023, from 5.55% a month
earlier. The Consumer Price Index or CPI measures retail inflation by examining the changes in prices of most
common consumer goods and services. CPI is calculated for a fixed list of items including food, housing, apparel,
electronics, and medical care.
Inflation: It refers to the sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over
a period of time, leading to a decrease in the purchasing power of money.
Headline Inflation: It is the total inflation for the period, comprising a basket of commodities.
2. Ans. D
Sol: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation forecast for the fiscal year 2023-24 has been retained at
5.4% in the recently Monetary Policy Committee review in December, 2023.
3. Ans. D
4. Ans. C
Sol: Monetary policy refers to the policy of the central bank with regard to the use of monetary instruments under
its control to achieve the goals specified in the Act. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was set up under
Section 45ZB of the RBI Act of 1934 by the Union government. The first meeting of MPC was conducted on 3rd
October 2016 in Mumbai.
5. Ans. A
Sol: As many as seven States recorded inflation of over 6% — the RBI’s tolerance threshold for inflation — led
by Odisha (8.7%), Gujarat (7.1%), Rajasthan (6.95%), and Haryana (6.7%). Karnataka and Telangana recorded
an uptick of 6.65% each, followed by Maharashtra at 6.1%, as per calculations released by the National Statistical
Office (NSO), which computes inflation rates for 22 major States. Punjab, with an inflation rate of 5.95%, and
Bihar (5.9%), were the others to clock a higher price rise than the national average of 5.69%.
Passage: 13: Mumbai Trans Harbour Link:

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the country’s longest bridge over the sea, the [XX] km
Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, officially the Atal Setu Nhava Sheva Sea Link. The bridge that was first
Conceptualised six decades ago will cut the travel time between Sewri and Chirle to under 20 minutes. The
Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) is a [XX]-km-long twin-carriageway six-lane bridge over the Thane Creek
in the Arabian Sea, connecting Sewri in the island city of Mumbai to Chirle in Raigad district on the mainland.
The objective of the project is to improve connectivity in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region which comprises the
districts of Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad, and promote the region’s economic development. The MTHL
will bring Mumbai and Navi Mumbai closer by dramatically cutting travel time and will decongest the existing
route over the Vashi bridge. The idea of a bay crossing connecting Mumbai to the mainland was first floated in
1963 by the American construction consultancy firm Wilbur Smith Associates, but no follow-up action was
initiated. The plan was revived in the late 90s, and the first tenders were floated in 2006.
In February 2008, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure emerged as the preferred bidder after promising to build
and recover the cost of building the (then) Rs 6,000 crore bridge in nine years and 11 months through a public
private partnership (PPP) model.
Source: Article extracted from Indian Express, dated: 12 th January, 2024:
A. 15.1 Km
B. 16.9 Km
C. 19.4 Km
D. 21.8 Km
2. The bridge has received the official designation of ‘Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu,’ paying
tribute to the enduring legacy of the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Atal Bihari Vajpayee served as a
full time Prime Minister from ______________ to ______________.
A. 1999 to 2004
B. 1997 to 2002
C. 1996 to 2001
D. 1995 to 2000
3. Currently, Bhupen Hazarika Setu, also known as the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge, is the longest bridge in India,
spanning over 9.15km over the Brahmaputra River in ____________.
A. Assam B. Mizoram C. Sikkim D. Manipur
4. Chenab Bridge is located between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), India.
Built at a height of _____________m, the 1,315m-long structure is the tallest rail bridge in the world.
A. 349m B. 359m C. 379m D. 389m
5. The world's longest bridge is the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge located in which country?
A. Russia B. China C. South Africa D. Argentina

1. Ans. D, The 21.8 km long bridge will be India's longest and the world's 12th longest sea bridge.
2. Ans. A, Atal Ji served three terms as the 10th Prime Minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then
for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, followed by a full term from 1999 to 2004.
3. Ans. A, The Bhupen Hazarika Setu, also referred to as the Dhola–Sadiya Bridge, is a beam bridge in India,
connecting the northeast states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The bridge spans the Lohit River, a major
tributary of the Brahmaputra, connecting the village of Dhola in the south to the village of Sadiya to the north,
both in Tinsukia district of Assam, and providing convenient access to Arunachal Pradesh, whose border lies a
short distance from Sadiya. At 9.15 kilometres (5.69 mi) in length, it is the longest bridge in India over water.
4. Ans. B, Chenab Bridge is located between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K), India. Built at a height of 359m, the 1,315m-long structure is the tallest rail bridge in the world.
5. Ans. B, The Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge is a 164.8-kilometre-long (102.4 mi) viaduct on the Beijing–
Shanghai High-Speed Railway. It is the longest bridge in the world.
Passage: 14: India-Maldives Ties:

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has given a deadline to India to withdraw its troops from the island nation.
The Maldivian President said the Indian military personnel should leave the nation by [XX]. The development
comes a few days after Mohamed Muizzu met Xi Jinping on his first state visit to China after being elected.
Maldives recently upgraded ties with China after a diplomatic row between India and Maldives erupted after
Maldivian ministers made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi post his visit to
Lakshadweep islands. The three ministers were sacked and the Maldivian Opposition criticised the comments,
but the President said "We may be small but no one has the license to bully us".
Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the public policy secretary at the President's Office, said, "Indian military personnel
cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration."
According to reports, around 88 Indian troops are present in Maldives.
The Maldives President's deadline comes almost two months after he called for a withdrawal of Indian troops and
said the nation "has to ensure that there is no presence of a foreign military on their soil". The current Maldivian
President came to power with his "India Out" campaign. The withdrawal of the Indian troops from Maldives was
a key election promise of Muizzu. Maldives and India have set up a high-level core group to negotiate the
withdrawal of troops. The group held its first meeting at the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Male' on Sunday
morning. Indian High Commissioner Munu Mahawar also attended the meeting, the report said.
Source: Article extracted from NDTV-World news, dated 15th January, 2024
A. 15th February
B. 15th March
C. 15th April
D. 15th May
2. Maldives lies in which direction to India and Sri Lanka?
A. South
B. Southeast
C. Southwest
D. East
3. Maldives is a chain of how many coral atolls?
A. 26
B. 28
C. 30
D. 32
4. Which of the following is the smallest country by land, area and population?
A. Nepal
B. Maldives
C. Bhutan
D. Thailand
5. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in __________’s “String of Pearls” construct in South Asia.
A. Sri Lanka
B. Pakistan
C. Bangladesh
D. China
6. Shri ____________ assumed charge of the post of High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Maldives
on 10 November 2021.
A. Munu Mahawar
B. Rajeev Shahare
C. Akhilesh Mishra
D. Sunjay Sudhir

1. Ans. B, The Maldivian President said the Indian military personnel should leave the nation by March 15.
2. Ans. C, It lies southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres (470 miles; 400 nautical miles) from the
Asian continent's mainland.
3. Ans. A, The Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north
to Addu Atoll in the south.
4. Ans. B
Sol: Out of the following Maldives has least population. The Maldives is the smallest country in Asia, as well as
one of the world's most geographically dispersed sovereign states, and the smallest Muslim-majority countries by
land area. It is the 2nd least populous country in Asia after Brunei.
5. Ans. D, The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in China’s “String of Pearls” construct in South
Asia.
Maldives has massive Chinese investment and became a participant in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The India-Maldives relationship suffered a setback when Maldives entered into a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA)
with China in 2017.
6. Ans. A
Sol: Shri Munu Mahawar assumed charge of the post of High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Maldives
on 10 November 2021.
Passage: 15: Nauru goes over to China

China, the government of the small Pacific Islands nation said on Monday, marking Taipei's first diplomatic-ally
to switch to Beijing following a presidential election. The Nauru government said that "in the best interests" of
the country and its people it was seeking full resumption of diplomatic relations with China. "This means that the
Republic of Nauru will no longer recognise the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a separate country but rather as an
inalienable part of China’s territory and will sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan as of this day and no longer
develop any official relations or official exchanges with Taiwan,” it said in a statement.
“The Government of the Republic of Nauru today announces that, in the best interests of the Republic and people
of Nauru, we will be moving to the One-China Principle that is in line with UN Resolution [XX] which recognises
the PRC as the sole legal Government representing the whole of China and seeking resumption of full diplomatic
relations with the PRC,” the statement read. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it would be holding a news conference
shortly. China claims Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taiwan strongly
disputes.
Lai Ching-te from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidential election on Saturday
as expected and will take office on May 20. Before the election China called Lai a dangerous separatist. Nauru’s
move leaves Taiwan with only 12 diplomatic allies, including Guatemala, Paraguay, Eswatini, Palau and the
Marshal Islands.
Source: Article extracted from Deccan-herald, dated 15th January, 2023:
A. UN Resolution 2758
B. UN Resolution 2658
C. UN Resolution 2558
D. UN Resolution 2458
2. In which year UNGA passed the resolution which stated that the People's Republic of China is the only
legitimate government of China?
A. 1951
B. 1961
C. 1971
D. 1981
3. Which country has withdrawn from China's vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, more than four years
after becoming the only G7 nation to join in?
A. Italy
B. Germany
C. France
D. UK
4. The BRI, represents a multifaceted development strategy aimed at enhancing global connectivity and
cooperation. It was launched in which year?
A. 2005
B. 2009
C. 2013
D. 2015
A. India's main objection to the BRI is that it includes the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which
passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), a territory that India claims as its own.
B. CPEC is a 3,000-km long route of infrastructure projects connecting China’s northwest Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in the western province of Balochistan in Pakistan.
C. Afghanistan has decided to join the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
D. All of these

1. Ans. A, The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (also known as the Resolution on Admitting
Peking) was passed in response to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1668 that required any
change in China's representation in the UN be determined by a two-thirds vote referring to Article 18 of the UN
Charter. The resolution, passed on 25 October 1971, recognized the People's Republic of China as "the only
legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and removed "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek"
(referring to the Republic of China, whose central government had relocated to Taiwan from the mainland) from
the United Nations.
2. Ans. C, On October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly passed United Nations Resolution 2758 (XXVI)
which stated that the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government of China. The resolution
replaced the ROC with the PRC as a permanent member of the Security Council in the United Nations.
3. Ans. A
Sol: Italy has withdrawn from China's vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, more than four years after
becoming the only G7 nation to join it.
4. Ans. C
Sol: The BRI, represents a multifaceted development strategy aimed at enhancing global connectivity and
cooperation. It was launched in 2013 and aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and
Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
5. Ans. D
Passage: 16: 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking

Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have ranked as best performing states in the startup ranking for 2022
based on their initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entrepreneurs. The new
ranking was released by union commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday. The states and union territories are
ranked by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT), a department under commerce
ministry.
Meanwhile, the minister will meet senior representatives of about 40 unicorn startups such as Lenskart, Zerodha,
CarDekho, EasyMyTrip, Boat and others on Wednesday to hold discussions on ways to further promote
sustainable growth of the sector, and to understand risks and domestic capital mobilization plans, etc, a senior
official informed.
According to the DPIIT report, total 33 states and UTs participated in the exercise ranked under five categories
— best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging startup ecosystems.
While releasing the startups ranking report, Goyal said that startups will define the journey of the country towards
a developed nation during the Amrit Kaal. However, Goyal urged people of all age groups to join the startup
ecosystem and contribute towards research and innovation. “New-age skills, futuristic technology, artificial
intelligence, and innovation will lay the roadmap for the future of India," he said.
Source; Article extracted from Livemint, dated: 16 th January, 2024:
1. Which state has been categorised as 'Top Performer' state in the 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking
conducted by the Union Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)?
A. Tamil Nadu
B. Gujarat
C. Uttar Pradesh
D. Odisha
2. National Startup day is observed on which date every year?
A. 15th January
B. 16th January
C. 17th January
D. 18th January
3. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Startup India?

A. Startup India is an initiative of the Government of India. The campaign was first announced by Indian
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi during his speech on 15 August 2015. Launch year: 2016
B. MAARG (Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth), the National Mentorship Platform
is a one-stop platform to facilitate mentorship for startups across diverse sectors, functions, stages,
geographies, and domains.
C. In 2011, Inmobi was India's first unicorn.
D. All of these
4. Which of the following statements is incorrect?

A. Zepto became India's first 2023 unicorn.
B. Neo-banking platform Open became India's 100th unicorn.
C. Both ‘A’ and ‘B’ are incorrect
D. None of these is incorrect
A. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is a central government department
under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India.
B. The department in its current form came into being on 27 January 2019, when the erstwhile Department
of Industrial Policy & Promotion was renamed to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal
Trade (DPIIT) after internal trade was added to its mandate.
C. The current Minister is Piyush Goyal
D. All of these
1. Ans. D
Sol: Odisha has been categorised as 'Top Performer' state in the 4th edition of the State Startup Ranking conducted
by the Union Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
2. Ans. B
Sol: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2022, declared 16th January the National Startup Day.
3. Ans. D
4. Ans. D
Sol: Both the statements are correct
5. Ans. D
Passage: 17: The Ram Temple:

The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be inaugurated on January 22. (1), have designed the complex in the Nagara
style of temple architecture.
The Nagara style of temple architecture emerged sometime in the fifth century CE, during the late Gupta period,
in northern India. It is seen in juxtaposition with the Dravida style of southern India, which too emerged in the
same period.
The use of the term ‘style’, however, is debated.
“Nagara and Dravida may be called ‘styles’, but they cover vast areas and time spans,” Adam Hardy wrote in his
highly influential The Temple Architecture of India (2007). Instead of ‘styles’, he refers to the two as “the two
great classical languages of Indian temple architecture”.
“‘Languages’ seems a [more] suitable term, in that each is a system providing a ‘vocabulary’, a kit of parts, along
with a ‘grammar’ which regulates the ways of putting the parts together,” he wrote.
Nagara temples are built on a raised plinth, with the garbha griha (sanctum sanctorum) — where the idol of the
deity rests — the most sacred part of the temple. Towering over the garbha griha is the shikhara (literally
‘mountain peak’), the most distinguishable aspect of Nagara style temples.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-culture/nagara-style-ayodhya-ram-temple-
9118010/
1. Who is the architect of Ram Temple as redacted bv (1) in the passage?
A. Chandrakant Sompura
B. Ashish
C. Vikas Diwedi
D. Both A and B
2. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Layout of Ram Mandir?
A. The Temple is built over three 20-foot high floors each with a total of 392 pillars and 44 doors.
B. Makrana Marble and Pink sandstone, granite stone, and colored Marble are used in the construction.
C. Foundation of the temple is built of a 14-metre-thick layer of roller-compacted concrete. And a 21-
foot-high granite plinth has been placed to protect against ground moisture.
D. None of these
3. Which of the following was the Project Management Company of the Ram Mandir?
A. Tata Consulting Engineers Limited (TCEL)
B. Larsen and Toubro (L&T)
C. Gammon India Limited (GIL)
D. Hindustan Construction Company (HCC)
4. Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir happened on ____________?
A. 5th June 2020
B. 5th July 2020
C. 5th August 2020
D. 5th September 2020
5. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Nagara Style of Temple Architecture?
A. It was first developed in North India during the Gupta period in the 5th century AD, this style is
popular in Northern, Western and Eastern India (except the Bengal region), especially in the regions
around Malwa, Rajputana and Kalinga.
B. It is built on a simple stone platform with steps leading up to the temple. Another unique characteristic
is that it does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.
C. The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower. There are many subdivisions of
Nagara temples depending on the shape of the shikhara.
D. None of these

1. Answer: D
Sol: The Ram temple in Ayodhya will be inaugurated on January 22. Chandrakant Sompura, 81, and his son
Ashish, 51, have designed the complex in the Nagara style of temple architecture.
2. Answer: D
Sol: All the statements above are correct.
3. Answer: A, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited (TCEL) is the Project Management Company of the Ram
Mandir.
4. Answer: C, Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir happened on 5th August 2020.
5. Answer: D, All the statements are correct.
Passage-18: SLIM by JAXA:

The club of countries that can soft-land spacecraft on the Moon is continuing to grow, with Japan being the latest
addition. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Friday confirmed that its Smart Lander for
Investigating Moon (SLIM) successfully landed on the Moon’s surface at 8.50 PM IST on Friday. Despite the
successful landing, the “(1)” has a major issue — its solar cells are not generating power.
With the landing, the list of countries that have soft-landed a spacecraft on the Moon now has five members —
the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union, China, India and Japan. “SLIM is now operating only on its battery,
and we are prioritising the transfer of its data onto earth”, Hitoshi Kuninaka, the head of JAXA’s research centre,
told a press conference, reported Reuters.
Even after “life-sustaining treatments” like turning off the spacecraft’s heater, its batteries can only last for a few
hours on the harsh conditions of the lunar surface. JAXA is hoping that a shift in the sunlight’s angle will hit the
panels in such a way that it can restore its functions, according to Kuninaka.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/japan-moon-sniper-solar-cell-9118496/
1. Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Moon lander "SLIM" (Smart Lander for
Investigating Moon) and the X-ray spectroscope "XRISM" as part of the ____________ mission as
redacted by (1) in the passage?
A. Moon Rover
B. Moon Raider
C. Moon Sniper
D. Moon Diver
2. SLIM Mission was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on September 7, 2023,
from the ______________ spaceport?
A. Tanegashima Spaceport
B. Uchinoura Space Center
C. Taiki Aerospace Spaceport
D. Ryori Spaceport
3. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding SLIM Mission?
A. SLIM is a spacecraft launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on September 7,
2023, with a weight of 590 kg, significantly lighter than Chandrayaan-3, which weighed 3,900 kg at
launch.
B. It aims to land on the Moon, becoming Japan's second attempt this year after the HAKUTO-R M1
lander, which crashed in April.
C. It was launched together with XRISM, a next-generation X-ray space telescope, onboard an H-2A
rocket.
D. None of these
4. The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is a joint mission of the _____________?
A. JAXA
B. NASA
C. ESA
D. All of the above
5. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Chandrayaan-4 (LUPEX Mission)?
A. Chandrayaan-4, an Indian-Japan joint mission (pending India's approval), will explore the moon's
South Pole, aiming to extract water from shadowed craters. Chandrayaan-4 is tentatively set for a
launch in 2026.
B. JAXA's SLIM mission, especially its navigation systems and feature-matching algorithm, will be
crucial for Chandrayaan-4's success in navigating rocky, crater-ridden terrain closer to the moon's
South Pole.
C. JAXA is expected to provide the launch vehicle and lunar rover, while India will supply the lander
module. The specific landing site for Chandrayaan-4 is yet to be determined, unlike the 'Vikram'
lander, which landed 600 km from the South Pole during Chandrayaan-3.
D. None of these
1. Answer: C, Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched the Moon lander "SLIM"
(Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) and the X-ray spectroscope "XRISM" as part of the Moon Sniper mission.
2. Answer: A, SLIM Mission was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on September
7, 2023, from the Tanegashima spaceport.
4. Answer: D, JAXA developed XRISM in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
5. Answer: D
Sol: All the statements are correct.
Passage-19: National children’s awards

A total of (1) children will be conferred with the national children’s awards for the year 2024 by President
Draupadi Murmu on January 22.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the awardees on January 23. Union Women and Child
Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani will also meet and congratulate them for their exemplary performances
in their respective categories, an official statement said.
The Central government confers the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) award to children for their
exceptional achievements. The awards are conferred upon the children in the age group 5-18 years. Each awardee
is given a medal and a certificate.
Some of the awardees this year are Charvi A. (Sports) from Karnataka, Suhani Chauhan (Innovation) from Delhi,
Pendalaya Lakshmi Priya (Art and Culture) from Telangana, and R. Surya Prakash (Sports) from Andhra Pradesh.
In a unique initiative, Artificial Intelligence was used for data crawling for the past 2 years through media content
for selecting the awardees for this year apart from various other means.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/-children-to-get-pms-national-award-on-january-
22/article67756563.ece
A. How many children will be conferred with the national children’s awards for the year 2024 by President
Draupadi Murmu as redacted by (1) in the passage?
A. 15
B. 17
C. 19
D. 21
B. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar
(PMRBP)?
A. The PMRBP is organized to celebrate the energy, determination, ability, zeal and enthusiasm of
children.
B. The awards are conferred upon the children for their excellence in seven categories, viz. Art & Culture,
Bravery, Environment, Innovation, Science & Technology, Social Service and Sports, which deserve
national recognition.
C. Each awardee of PMRBP is given a medal, cash prize of Rs. 1 Lakh, a Certificate and a Citation.
D. None of these
C. What is the maximum no. of awardees who can be conferred PMRBP Award in a year?
A. 21
B. 23
C. 25
D. 27
D. Which of the following is incorrect regarding Bal Kalyan Puraskar?
A. Instituted in 1979 as the National Child Welfare Awards, renamed in 2018 as Bal Kalyan Puraskar.
B. Given as recognition to individuals and institutions contributing significantly to child development,
child protection, and child welfare.
C. Eligibility for Institutions: Should not be entirely funded by the government; has been in the field of
child welfare for 10 years.
D. None of these
E. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Bal Shakti Puraskar?
A. Instituted in 1996 as the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, renamed in 2018 as Bal
Shakti Puraskar.
B. Recognizes exceptional achievements of children in various fields, including innovation, scholastic
achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports, and bravery.
C. Eligibility: Indian Citizen residing in India, aged between 5 and 18 years.
D. None of these
1. Answer: C, 19 children will be conferred with the national children’s awards for the year 2024 by President
Draupadi Murmu.
3. Answer: C, 25, however, any relaxation to this maximum number may be permitted at the discretion of the
National Selection Committee.
4. Answer: D
5. Answer: D
Passage: 20: National Tourism Day 2024:

National Tourism Day in India is marked on [XX] January every year. The day is celebrated to build awareness
of the country's economic benefits from tourism. It was started by the government of India with a purpose to
promote natural beauty, cultural diversity, and a rich legacy.
India is a lovely country with astonishing tourist spots like rivers, mountains, beaches, valleys, historical
monuments, and many more. National Tourism Day attempts to draw the attention of tourists to help the country's
economy. National Tourism Day is also an opportunity to honour the people working hard in the travel and
tourism industry, helping the country in promoting tourism and supporting the local economy.
The importance of National Tourism Day is in its capacity to bring issues to light of the role that tourism plays in
promoting economic development and occupation creation, both nationally and worldwide. The day likewise tries
to enhance public understanding of the monetary, social and cultural effect of tourism on a nation's economy.
This day also features the significance of sustainable tourism practices that benefit local communities. Various
projects, seminars, studios and the tourism related promotions are booked for the day to display the particular
experiences and attractions that the country's diverse regions bring to the table.
Source: Article extracted from Business-Standard, dated: 25th January, 2024:
A. 23rd January
B. 25th January
C. 24th January
D. 22nd January
2. National Tourism Day is said to have been first observed by the Indian government in?
A. 1948 B. 1950 C. 1952 D. 1954
3. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Tourism Day?
A. The 2024 theme for the day is 'Sustainable Journeys, Timeless Memories,'
B. In 2022, the National Tourism Day celebrations were a major part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an
initiative by the Government of India.
D. None of these
4. India also participated in the celebration of the UN World Tourism Day. The day is observed on which date
every year?
A. 24th September
B. 25th September
C. 26th September
D. 27th September
5. Who is currently serving as the Union Tourism Minister?
A. G Kishan Reddy
B. Suresh Prabhu
C. Piyush Goyal
D. Ajay Kumar

1. B, National Tourism Day in India is marked on 25 January every year. The day is celebrated to build awareness
of the country's economic benefits from tourism.
2. Ans. A
3. Ans. C, Both are correct
4. Ans. D, India also participated in the celebration of the UN World Tourism Day (September 27, 2023). In 2008,
India even hosted this event.
5. Ans. A
Passage: 21: Parakram Diwas
Parakram Diwas is celebrated on (1) to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra
Bose. This year marks the 126th birth anniversary of Bose, fondly known as ‘Netaji’. A model of the National
Memorial dedicated to Netaji which will be built on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep will also be unveiled on
Monday. The charismatic leader who gave popular slogans like “Delhi Chalo” was born on January 23, 1897, in
Cuttack, Bengal division, Odisha. His appealing slogan - "Tum mujhe khoon do, mai tumhe azadi doonga (You
give me blood, I will give you freedom)”- fuelled Indians with patriotism during the freedom struggle. Born to
Jankinath, a prominent lawyer, and Prabhavati, Bose was the 9th child among their 14 children including 8 sons
and 6 daughters. He attended Presidency College, Calcutta, till his suspension in 1916 due to nationalist activities.
Later he graduated from Scottish Churches College in 1919. To prepare for the Indian civil service examination,
he was sent by his parents to England's University of Cambridge. In India, Bose joined the Indian National
Congress, but with time, refuted from Mahatma Gandhi's less confrontational approach.
Source: Article extracted from Hindustan Times:
1. Parakram Diwas is celebrated every year on _________ to commemorate the birth anniversary of freedom
fighter Subhas Chandra Bose?
A. 22nd January
B. 23rd January
C. 24th January
D. 25th January
2. To mark the occasion of Parakram Diwas how many unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar were renamed
after Param Veer Chakra awardees in 2023?
A. 21 B. 22 C. 23 D. 24
3. Who of the following was the political mentor of Subhash Chandra Bose?
A. WC Banerjee
B. Veerapandiya Kattabomman
C. Chittaranjan Das
D. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee
4. Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding Indian National Army?
A. He reached Japanese-controlled Singapore from Germany in July 1943, issued from there his famous
call, ‘Delhi Chalo’, and announced the formation of the Azad Hind Government and the Indian
National Army on 21st October 1943.
B. The INA was first formed under Mohan Singh and Japanese Major Iwaichi Fujiwara and comprised
Indian prisoners of war of the British-Indian Army captured by Japan in the Malayan (present-day
Malaysia) campaign and at Singapore.
C. The INA included both the Indian prisoners of war from Singapore and Indian civilians in South-East
Asia. Its strength grew to 50,000. The INA fought allied forces in 1944 inside the borders of India in
Imphal and in Burma.
D. None of these
5. The Haripura Session of Indian National Congress, 1938 was presided over by:
A. Abul Kalam Azad B. J.B. Kriplani C. Rajendra Prasad D. Subhash Chandra Bose

1. Ans. B, The Government had declared January 23 as Parakram Diwas in 2021 to commemorate the birth
anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
2. Ans. A, PM Narendra Modi renamed 21 unnamed islands of Andaman and Nicobar after 21 Param Vir Chakra
awardees in 2023.
3. Ans. C, Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called Deshbandhu (Friend of the
Country or Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian Independence
Movement and the Political Guru of Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
4. Ans. D
5. Ans. D
Sol: The Haripura (Gujarat.) session of Indian National Congress, held in the year 1938, was Presided over by
Subhash Chandra Bose.
Passage: 22: Inflation:

Inflation is crucial to determine one’s purchasing power. In other words, inflation is a measure that causes the
prices of both goods and services to rise over time and buyers will feel the pinch as it affects their personal finance,
particularly spending and buying habits.
One way of understanding inflation is, for instance, you bought a list of household essentials last month at an
expense of INR 1,000, but this month the price of a certain food item in the same list has risen and that has led to
an increase in the cost by let’s say INR 1,100. You may be either forced to remove an item from your cart or buy
the product that has the inflated price by paying extra which may affect your monthly-set budget.
Therefore, any factor that causes prices of goods and services to rise in the market and create instability in
consumption leads to inflation. Economists suggest that achieving inflation that’s moderate enough to drive
consumption will create a baseline of growth in the economy. However, high inflation indicates that an economy
is facing serious troubles; whereas, low inflation, a.k.a. deflation is equally worrisome.
There are two indices that are used to measure inflation in India — the consumer price index (CPI) and the
wholesale price index (WPI). These two-measure inflation on a monthly basis taking into account different
approaches to calculate the change in prices of goods and services. The study helps the government and the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to understand the price change in the market and thus keep a tab on inflation.
Source: Article extracted from Forbes.com
1. High inflation levels in the economy leads to______ in the supply of money.
A. Increase
B. Decrease
C. No change
D. None of the above
2. Who compared inflation with robbers?
A. Amartya Sen
B. Professor Brahmand and Wakeel
C. Professor Jagdish Bhagwati
D. Professor Key
3. Which of the following concepts is the opposite of inflation?
A. Deflation
B. Stagflation
C. Recession
4. A government resorts to _______________ to reduce inflation.
A. Cuts in government spending
B. Increase in government expenditure
C. Reduction in repo rate
5. When the price levels of goods and services are falling continuously, this phenomenon is called
_____________.
A. Deflation
B. Stagflation
C. Inflation
6. If too much money is chasing too few goods, the resulting inflation is known as _________.
A. Stagflation
B. Cost-push inflation
C. Demand-pull inflation
Answers:
1. A 2. B 3. A 4. A 5. A 6. C
Passage: 23: International Solar Alliance:

In a big boost to accelerate global adoption of solar energy, Romania officially joined the International Solar
Alliance (ISA) as its 118th member country, signalling a robust commitment to advancing solar energy and
contributing to global climate action. Romania, under the leadership of H.E. Mr. Klaus Werner Iohannis, President
of Romania, formally signed the framework agreement of the ISA, becoming a vital participant in the global effort
to promote a solar-led energy transition. President Iohannis expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “I’m very glad that
Romania joined the International Solar Alliance today. This shows Romania’s firm commitment to becoming a
carbon-neutral country by using renewable sources of energy.
President Iohannis emphasized the strategic importance of this decision in enhancing Romania’s energy security.
He further highlighted Romania’s ambitious solar energy targets outlined in the National Energy and Climate
Plan, aiming to install over 8 gigawatts of solar energy capacity by 2030, constituting 24% of the gross final
consumption of electricity from renewable sources. He added, “By joining the International Solar Alliance,
Romania will have a broader and deeper cooperation with India too, the host of the International Solar Alliance
Secretariat, as well as with other countries interested in accelerating climate change mitigation.
Source: Solarquarter.com
1. The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was launched in the year?
A. 2015 B. 2016 C. 2017 D. 2018
2. The framework agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was opened for signature on November
15, 2016, at the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) held in ______________.
A. Marrakesh, Morocco B. Madrid, Spain C. Canberra, Australia D. Sydney, Australia
3. Most of the countries in International Solar Alliance lie:
A. Above tropic of cancer
B. Below tropic of cancer
C. Between tropic of cancer and Capricorn
D. In the Southern hemisphere
4. The International Solar Alliance was launched by France and India on the side-lines of ______.
A. COP 20 B. COP 24 C. COP 22 D. COP 21
5. At the COP26, India pledged to achieve 500 GW of installed non-fossil energy capacity by ____.
A. 2025 B. 2030 C. 2035 D. 2040

1. Ans. A, The ISA was launched at COP21, Paris in 2015.
2. Ans. A
3. Ans. C, The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line that circles the Earth at 23.5 degrees north latitude.
The Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary line that circles the Earth at 23.5 degrees south latitude. Countries that
lie between these two lines receive a lot of sunlight, making them ideal for solar energy production.
4. Ans. D
Sol: The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was indeed launched by France and India on the side-lines of the 21st
Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
held in Paris in 2015.
5. Ans. B
Sol: At the COP26, India pledged to achieve 500 GW of installed non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.
Passage: 24: National Income-

As per the first advance estimates of national income, released by the National Statistical Office in early January,
the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in the ongoing financial year. This growth estimate has
surpassed even the most optimistic assessments by analysts. Now, a study by economists at the RBI notes that
this stronger than expected growth is “underpinned by a shift from consumption to investment”. Investments, as
measured by gross fixed capital formation, are estimated to grow at 10.3 per cent in 2023-24. Growth this year
will push the investment to GDP ratio (at current prices) to 29.8 per cent in 2023-23, up almost one percentage
point from 28.9 per cent in 2021-22. The study says that investment activity is driven by the government’s
sustained push on capex, which is beginning to crowd-in private investment, and investments by households in
residential housing. The Centre’s capital spending is up around 31 per cent in the first nine months (April-
November) of the year. And till November, it had sanctioned Rs 97,374 crore under the scheme for special
assistance to states for investment as per the study. (This is roughly 75 per cent of the Rs 1.3 lakh crore allocated
for the financial year). However, investment spending by state governments has been slower as per a study by
economists at Bank of Baroda. Of the Rs 7 lakh crore of capex projected by 26 states, by November only Rs 3.18
lakh crore or 45 per cent had been spent. Household investments in real estate, though, continue to grow at a brisk
pace. As per the study, the housing market “is seeing its highest sales in more than a decade”.
Source: Article extracted from Indian Express:
1. Which of the following is a method to measure the National Income?
A. Expenditure method
B. Income method
C. Product method
D. All of the above
2. Which of the following is another term for the Net National Product at factor cost?
A. Personal Income
B. National Income
C. Gross National Product
D. Net Domestic Product
3. Which of the following organisations calculate the Gross Domestic Product in India?
A. Reserve Bank of India
B. Indian Statistical Institute
C. National Statistical Office
4. Which of the following is included in the National Income of a country?
A. Rent
B. Interest
C. Wages
D. Rent, Interest, Wages, Salary, Profits
5. Who was the first Indian to estimate the National Income of the country?
A. Dadabhai Naoroji
B. SC Bose
C. Lala Lajpat Rai
D. WC Banerjee
Answers:
1. D 2. B 3. C 4. D 5. A
Passage: 25: Australian Open 2024:

Jannik Sinner beat defending champion Novak Djokovic to reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the 2024
Australian Open. After 2,195 days, Novak Djokovic was handed his first loss at the Australian Open, a title that
he has won 10 times in his illustrious career, four times consecutively from 2019, as Jannik Sinner scripted one
of the biggest wins in his career on Friday afternoon at the Rod Laver Arena. Turning the much-anticipated
semifinal match-up, after his recent wins against the Serb in the final months of 2023, into his own personal
showcase, Sinner beat the defending champion 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-4 to reach his maiden Grand Slam final at the
2024 Australian Open. With the win, Sinner became the first [XX] male player since the ATP Rankings were
published in 1973 to defeat a World No. 1 in a Grand Slam tournament. The streak stood 0-23 before Sinner's
magnificent win. At 22 years and 163 days, he also became the youngest men's singles finalist at Melbourne Park
since Djokovic in 2008, and the first Italian player ever. Source: Article extracted from Hindustan Times, dated: 26th January, 2024:
1. Who has won the Men’s Singles Title at Australian Open 2024?
A. Dannil Medvedev
B. Alexander Zverev
C. Jannik Sinner
D. None of these
2. Jannik Sinner hails from which country as redacted by (XX) in the above passage?
A. Romania B. Spain C. Thailand D. Italy
3. Rohan Bopanna joined a select list of Indian stars who have triumphed at the Australian Open. He clinched the
Australian Open men's doubles title with partner ____________ at the Rod Laver Arena.
A. Matthew Ebden
B. Max Purcell
C. Joe Salisbury
D. Neal Skupski
4. Rohan Bopanna won the French Open in mixed doubles in which year?
A. 2015 B. 2017 C. 2018 D. 2020
5. Bopanna also joined an elite list of Indians who have triumphed at the Australian Open. Which of the following
Indian players has/have also won at Australian Open?
A. Leander Paes
B. Mahesh Bhupathi
C. Sania Mirza
D. All of these
6. Aryna Sabalenka won her second straight Australian Open title, beating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-2. She hails from
which country?
A. Belarus
B. Italy
C. Romania
D. Turkey

1. C, Jannik Sinner is a Grand Slam champion. The world No.4 clinched the Australian Open 2024 men's singles
title in stunning fashion, overcoming third seed Daniil Medvedev 3-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3
2. D, Jannik Sinner is an Italian professional tennis player.
3. A, Rohan Bopanna scripted history on Saturday in Melbourne, as he clinched the Australian Open men's
doubles title with partner Matthew Ebden at the Rod Laver Arena. The Indo-Aussie pair defeated Italy's Simone
Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(0) 7-5 in the final.
4. B, He has won the French Open in mixed doubles in 2017.
5. D, Bopanna also joined an elite list of Indians who have triumphed at the Australian Open. All three have won
the Mixed doubles or Doubles titles at the Australian Open.
6. A, Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player.
n-gl.com

January 2024-Compendium

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

January 2024-Compendium

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

For Courses: https://zjwtx.courses.

January 2024 Monthly Compendium:

TOPIC LIST January 2024:

• India-Pakistan Nuclear Installations Lists • India’s 4-year term at UN Statistical

Important Topic Based Notes:

3. 16th Finance Commission Constituted:

• The Finance Commission in India is a constitutional body

4. Aditya-L1 reaches halo orbit:

• Halo-Orbit Insertion (HOI) of its solar observatory

• The final phase of the maneuver involved firing of

• The orbit of Aditya-L1 spacecraft is a periodic Halo orbit

• Nigar Shaji is the project's director.

What are Lagrange points:

5. ICJ Hearings in Gaza Genocide:

• Genocide is often loosely used when speaking of attacks against

• It was established in 1947.

7. Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission

• The Mission endeavors to screen 7 crore population in 3 years

• Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disease which affects the

• Other Diseases and Elimination year target by India:

• Total link distance: 1,868 kilometres.

• Total cost of project: Rs 1072 crore plus taxes.

• Additionally, PM Modi marked the commencement of operations at the Low-Temperature Thermal

Maldives row over Lakshadweep? (Just Read it).

9. Jal Jeevan Mission in News:

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has crossed a momentous milestone of

• Union Minister of Jal Shakti: Sh. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

COP 28 - Women and Water:

10. One Nation, One Election:

11. 1st Inland Waterways Development Council:

12. Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas:

• 27 people were given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in 2023.

1. Ojas Pravin Deotale (archery) 14. Ritu Negi (kabaddi)

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy 2023

14. Bilkis Bano Case Brief: The timeline

15. 'Swachh Survekshan -2023 awards'

16. Countries of Particular Concern: US Report

Xinjiang Uyghur Muslim Repression:

17-18: STARTUP INDIA:

• India's first Unicorn: In 2011, Inmobi was India's first unicorn.

19. Henley Passport Index:

20. Bill on CEC Appointment

• The secretariat of the commission is located in New Delhi.

21. Taiwan loses first ally post-election

22. Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: ATAL SETU:

• The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) was inaugurated

• Its main objective was to protest against the politics of

• The march started from Kanyakumari on 7 September.

Nitish Kumar Resigns as CM, Leaves INDIA Alliance:

24. Farsi as Classical Language:

• New education policy is based on general formula (5+3+3+4).

25-26. World Military Rankings and Defence upgrade roadmap:

• Russia ranked second and China ranked third.

27. Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar:

28. Nagara style of Temple Architecture:

• Shikharas are human-made representations of

• The Garbagriha is generally situated below the

• There is no water tank and Gopurams present in

• Nagara: Northern Region

29. The 6th Khelo India Youth Games:

30. Sorayya Satellite:

34. National Green Hydrogen Mission in News:

35. 49th and 50th BHARAT RATNA AWARD:

Facts About Bharat Ratna: