Answer: D
Explanation

What is fishkill?
● Fish kills or mass mortalities of fish can be defined as a sudden and significant death of
fish.
● This is characterized by a large number of fish dying over a short period of time within the
defined area.
Causes
Natural causes
● Globally fish kills are most frequently linked to natural causes such as ecological hypoxia
(low dissolved oxygen) or anoxia (no or zero dissolved oxygen), harmful algal blooms
(toxic and non-toxic freshwater cyanobacteria, marine dinoflagellates), diseases, extreme
or abrupt changes of temperature, salinity, floods, upwelling of the oceans. Hence all
the statements are correct.
● Minor and occasional natural causes of fish kills are volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and
meteorites.
Anthropogenic causes
● Human activities are also responsible for a number of fish kills, for example, accidental
spills (e.g. oil), runoff, and drainage discharge of pesticides and herbicides from
agriculture farmlands into water bodies.
● In addition, mass killing in the name of recreational fishing may also be responsible for
significant fish kills in some countries.
Pollution Indicators
● Fish kills event is an indicator of environmental stress, a decline in aquatic ecosystem
health, and water quality problems.
● Fish kills events provide useful information on the distributions of pollutants (e.g.nutrients,
pesticides, trace metals, oils) in aquatic environments.

Answer: B
Explanation
What’s in the news?
● Reporters Without Borders (RSF, short for Reporters sans frontières in French) has released
its World Press Freedom Index 2024.
○ RSF is an international non-profit organization based in Paris, France.

About the Index
● The index puts together an annual index of freedom enjoyed by journalists in 180
jurisdictions.
● The press freedom questionnaire covers five categories — political context, legal
framework, economic context, sociocultural context and security.
Highlights of the 2024 Index
● India’s score fell over the last year, from 36.62 to 31.28.
● India’s rank improved from 161 in 2023 to 159 in 2024, but this was because other
countries had slipped in their rankings.
● Norway and Denmark topped the RSF table while Eritrea was at the bottom, with Syria
just ahead of it.
● Scores for India dropped in all but the security indicator.

● The Government of India has in the past dismissed international rankings of freedoms in
India as misinformed and propaganda driven.

1. Which of the following statements about the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is correct?
1) It is awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
2) It is given to sports coaches for their outstanding performance.

2. Which of the following statements about the FATF is incorrect?

Answer: A
Explanation
● Statement 1 is incorrect: The Khel Ratna Award, alternatively referred to as the Major
Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, stands as a prestigious sports accolade in India,
honouring athletes who have achieved remarkable success across various sporting
disciplines, bringing immense glory to the nation.
● Statement 2 is correct: Administered annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,
this esteemed award includes a significant cash prize of Rs 25 lakh.

2. Which of the following statements about the FATF is incorrect?

3. The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) operates under which of the following ministries?

Answer: D
Explanation
● The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental organization that designs and promotes policies and standards to combat financial crime.
● The FATF sets standards or recommendations for countries to achieve in order to plug the holes in their financial systems and make them less vulnerable to illegal financial activities.
● Recommendations of the FATF target
○ Money laundering
○ Terrorist financing
○ Other threats to the global financial system.
● The FATF was created in 1989 by the G7 countries and is headquartered in Paris.
● There are 37 members, including India and two regional organizations - European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
● The decision-making body of the FATF, known as its plenary, meets thrice a year. Its decisions are taken by consensus.
What are FATF’s ‘grey’ and ‘black’ lists?
● At the end of every plenary meeting, FATF comes out with two lists of countries.
● The grey list countries are designated as “jurisdictions under increased monitoring”, working with the FATF to counter criminal financial activities.
○ For such countries, the watchdog does not tell other members to carry out due-
diligence measures vis-a-vis the listed country but does tell them to consider the

risks such countries possess. Currently, more than 20 countries such as Bulgaria,
Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Croatia, Philippines, South Africa,
Vietnam, etc. are on the grey list.

● Black list means countries designated as ‘high-risk jurisdictions subject to call for
action’.
○ In this case, the countries have considerable deficiencies in their AML/CFT (anti- money laundering and counter terrorist financing) regimens and the body calls on members and non-members to apply enhanced due diligence.
○ In the most serious cases, members are told to apply counter-measures such as sanctions on the listed countries. Currently, North Korea, Iran and Myanmar are on the black list.

● Being listed under the FATF’s lists makes it hard for countries to get aid from organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the European Union. It may also affect capital inflows, foreign direct investments, and portfolio flows.

4. Which of the following is an advantage of the SSLV over larger launch vehicles like the PSLV or GSLV?

Answer: C
Explanation
● The National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) was set up in 2014 by the Government of
India as an apex–level autonomous institution under the Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions.
● The Centre traces its origin to the National Institute of Administrative Research (NIAR),
which was set up in 1995 by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration
(LBSNAA), the Government of India's topmost training institute for civil services. NIAR was
subsequently rechristened and subsumed into NCGG.
● NCGG deals with a gamut of governance issues from local, state to national levels, across
all sectors.
● The Centre is mandated to work in the areas of governance, policy reforms, capacity building and training of civil servants and technocrats of India and other developing countries. It also works as a think tank.
● Since its inception, the Centre has been extensively working in areas such as primary and elementary education, decentralized planning at district and block levels, capacity building of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs), participatory models of learning and action, rural development, cooperatives, and public sector management, etc.
● In addition, it focuses on issues related to good governance, social accountability, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), among other sectors.
● The affairs of the NCGG are managed under the overall superintendence and direction of the Governing Body, which is headed by the Cabinet Secretary.

Answer: B
Explanation
● The SSLV is capable of launching Mini, Micro or Nanosatellites (10 to 500kg mass) into a 500 km planar orbit.
● SSLV is a three-stage launch vehicle with all solid propulsion stages and a liquid propulsion-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) as a terminal stage.
● The design drivers of SSLV are low cost, low turn-around time, flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, launch-on-demand feasibility, minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc.

5. Consider the following statements about the Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)
1) It is a fatal infection of the brain caused by amoeba.
2) The infection does not spread from person to person.
3) No vaccine is available for the prevention of PAM.

Answer: C
Explanation
● Statement 1 is correct: Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) is a rare, usually
fatal infection of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) caused by Naegleria
fowleri, a type of free-living ameba.
● As it can infect the brain and destroy the tissues there, this one-celled organism is also
called ‘brain-eating amoeba’.
How does the disease occur?
● The amoeba thrives in warm freshwater like lakes, ponds, and rivers, and can also survive
in poorly maintained swimming pools. Infection usually occurs when people swim in
these water bodies during hot summers, especially when the water level is low.
● The amoeba enters through the nose, travels to the brain, and causes brain tissue damage
and swelling.
● Statement 2 is correct: The infection does not spread from person to person.
● Children are more vulnerable.
Symptoms
● Early symptoms of PAM include headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting.
● The disease quickly worsens, causing symptoms like a stiff neck, confusion, lack of focus,
loss of balance, and hallucinations.
● It often leads to coma and death within five days, with most people dying within one to 18
days.
● These infections, though rare, are fatal and 97% of the patients don’t survive.
How is it diagnosed and treated?
● PAM can be diagnosed through Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
○ PCR works by amplifying the DNA of amoeba if present in the sample.
○ CSF is a clear, colorless liquid that surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord.
● There are no standard treatment methods available to treat PAM. Miltefosine, a broad- spectrum antimicrobial drug, Azithromycin and Amphotericin B are some of the medicines currently being utilized to treat the infection.
● Statement 3 is correct: No vaccine is available for the prevention of PAM.