Answer: B
Explanation:
● Statement 1 is correct: State Development Loans (SDLs) are dated securities issued by
states for meeting their market borrowings requirements.
● Statement 2 is correct: The SDL securities issued by states are credible collateral for
meeting the SLR requirements of banks.
● Statement 3 is incorrect: Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) are allowed to invest in SDLs.
The limits for FPI investment in SDLs is 2 per cent of outstanding stock of securities.

2. Consider the following statements about cess.
1. If the cess collected in a particular year goes unspent, it can be allocated for other purposes.
2. Proceeds from cess are part of the divisible pool of taxes.
3. Cess can be levied on both indirect and direct taxes.

Answer: A
Explanation:
● A cess is a tax that is levied by the government to raise funds for a specific purpose.
Collections from the Education Cess and Secondary and Higher Education Cess, for
instance, are supposed to be used for funding primary and higher and secondary
education respectively.
● Statement 1 is incorrect: While all taxes go to the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI), cess
may initially go to the CFI but has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected. If
the cess collected in a particular year goes unspent, it cannot be allocated for other

purposes. The amount gets carried over to the next year and can only be used for the cause
it was meant for.
● Statement 2 is incorrect: The Union government does not have to share cesses with
the states as they are not part of the divisible pool that needs to be shared with states.
● Statement 3 is correct: Cess can be levied on both indirect and direct taxes.
● It should be noted that state governments can impose cess if and only if it is approved by
the GST Council. For example, after Kerala floods in the year 2018, the state government
imposed a 1% calamity cess on GST and became the first state to do it.

3. The Government of India has launched the PM Vishwakarma scheme with the main
objective of

Answer: A
Explanation:
● PM Vishwakarma is a Central Sector Scheme launched by the Government of India in
2023 to provide end-to-end support to artisans and craftspeople who work with their
hands and tools.
● It is a new scheme with an outlay of Rs 13,000 crore and is fully funded by the Central
government. The Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise is the nodal ministry of
PM Vishwakarma Yojana.
● The prime focus of PM Vishwakarma is at improving the quality as well as the reach of
products and services of artisans and craftspeople and to ensure that they are integrated
with the domestic and global value chains.
● The scheme will provide support to artisans and craftspeople of rural and urban areas
across India.
● Eighteen traditional crafts will be covered under PM Vishwakarma. These include (i)
Carpenter; (ii) Boat Maker; (iii) Armourer; (iv) Blacksmith ; (v) Hammer and Tool Kit
Maker; (vi) Locksmith; (vii) Goldsmith; (viii) Potter; (ix) Sculptor, Stone breaker; (x)
Cobbler (Shoesmith/ Footwear artisan); (xi) Mason (Rajmistri); (xii) Basket/Mat/Broom
Maker/Coir Weaver; (xiii) Doll & Toy Maker (Traditional); (xiv) Barber; (xv) Garland maker;
(xvi) Washerman; (xvii) Tailor; and (xviii) Fishing Net Maker.
Benefits of the scheme
● The Scheme envisages provisioning of the following benefits to the artisans and
craftspersons:
○ (i) Recognition: Recognition of artisans and craftspeople through PM Vishwakarma
certificate and ID card.
○ (ii) Skill Upgradation: Basic Training and Advanced Training, with a stipend of Rs.
500 per day;
○ (iii) Toolkit Incentive: A toolkit incentive of upto Rs. 15,000 in the form of e-
vouchers at the beginning of Basic Skill Training.
○ (iv) Credit Support: Collateral free ‘Enterprise Development Loans’ of upto Rs. 3
lakh at a concessional rate of interest.

4. In the context of International politics, the term ‘de-hyphenation’ refers to

Answer: D
Explanation:
● In international politics, de-hyphenation means dealing with two countries, having an
adversarial relationship between them, in an independent manner. This would mean
building a relationship with one, ignoring the complexities of its relations with the other.
● If a third country were to be too conscious of the adversarial relations between two such
countries, locked in enduring hostility, it is likely to face foreign policy challenges in
conducting smooth relationship with both. Therefore, in such a case, a declaratory policy of
de-hyphenation creates the required space for manouevre for the third country by lowering
expectations of partisanship from it, in the other two countries.
● For example: In 2014, India instituted a policy toward Israel called de-hyphenation.
According to this policy, India’s relationship with Israel would stand on its own merits,
independent and separate from India’s relationship with the Palestinians. It would no
longer be India’s relationship with Israel-Palestine, but India’s relationship with Israel, and
India’s relationship with the Palestinians.

5. With reference to Blackholes, consider the following statements:
1. A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out.
2. An Event Horizon is the boundary defining the region of space around a black hole from
which nothing can escape.
3. Sagittarius A* is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Answer: D
Explanation:
● Statement 1 is correct: A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that
even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into
a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
● Because no light can get out, people can't see black holes.

● Statement 2 is correct: A black hole’s “surface,” called its event horizon, is the boundary
defining the region of space around a black hole from which nothing (not even light)
can escape. In other words, the escape velocity for an object within the event horizon
exceeds the speed of light.
● Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes in 1916, with his general
theory of relativity. The term “black hole” was coined many years later in 1967 by
American astronomer John Wheeler.
● In 2019, astronomers using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — an international
collaboration that networked eight ground-based radio telescopes into a single Earth-size
dish — captured an image of a black hole for the first time.
● It appears as a dark circle silhouetted by an orbiting disk of hot, glowing matter. The
supermassive black hole is located at the heart of a galaxy called M87, located about 55
million light-years away, and weighs more than 6 billion solar masses.

How big are black holes?
● Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just
one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the
amount of matter, or "stuff," in an object.

● Another kind of black hole is called "stellar." Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the
mass of the sun. There may be many, many stellar mass black holes in Earth's galaxy.
Earth's galaxy is called the Milky Way.
● The largest black holes are called "supermassive." These black holes have masses that are
more than 1 million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large galaxy
contains a supermassive black hole at its center.
● Statement 3 is correct: The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy
is called Sagittarius A* (aka Sgr A*, pronounced Sagittarius A-star). It has a mass equal
to about 4 million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million
Earths.
How do black holes form?
● Scientists believe the smallest black holes formed when the universe has begun.
● Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or
collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that
blasts a part of the star into space.
● Scientists think supermassive black holes were formed at the same time as the galaxy they
are in.
How do we identify blackholes?
● A way in which the universe showcases a black hole is when the black hole interacts with
its surroundings.
● When the dust particles and matter from the surroundings fall onto a supermassive
black hole, it engulfs a part of the surroundings but some of the matter is converted into
energy and emitted as electromagnetic radiation that makes the black hole appear very
luminous.
● This luminosity can be detected on the earth thus, adding more insights into these
occurrences.

1. One Health aims to optimize the health of

Explanation:
● One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and
optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. Hence answer is option D.
● It recognizes that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the
wider environment are closely linked and interdependent.
● The One Health approach is particularly relevant for food and water safety, nutrition, the
control of zoonoses (diseases that can spread between animals and humans), pollution
management, and combating antimicrobial resistance.

Explanation:
● One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and
optimize the health of people, animals and ecosystems. Hence answer is option D.
● It recognizes that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the
wider environment are closely linked and interdependent.
● The One Health approach is particularly relevant for food and water safety, nutrition, the
control of zoonoses (diseases that can spread between animals and humans), pollution
management, and combating antimicrobial resistance.

2. Consider the following statements about the International Financial Services Centre.
1) An IFSC provides world class financial services to only non-residents.
2) An IFSC provides services in local currency of the location where the IFSC is located.
3) India’s first IFSC has been set up at the GIFT City in Gandhinagar.