Answer: (B) Singapore

The great saint Thiruvalluvar is one the most prolific poets and philosophers of Tamil literature.

PM Modi during his recent visit announced the establishment of the first ever Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center in Singapore. This institution aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of Tamil language, heritage, and literature. The establishment of this center aligns with the Indian government's broader vision to promote a deeper appreciation of the country's diverse cultural legacy and strengthen cultural ties across the globe.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

➕ What is NTCA: A statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC), estd. in 2006 under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

➕ Objectives:
- Provides statutory authority to Project Tiger, making compliance with its directives legally binding.
- Ensures accountability between the Center and States in managing Tiger Reserves through a federal structure.

➕ Members:
- Chairperson: Minister in charge of MoEFCC.
- Vice-Chairperson: Minister of State in MoEFCC.
- Other members include 3 members of Parliament, Secretary (MoEFCC), additional members.

Project Tiger

➕ A Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) under MoEFCC launched on 1st April 1973 for the in-situ conservation of tigers.

➕ Purpose: Provides funding support to tiger range States for the conservation of tigers in designated reserves.

➕ Supervision: NTCA is the supervising agency for Project Tiger

In News: The Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) has developed the Ocean Eyes mobile application to align with the Indian Ocean Biodiversity Information System (IndOBIS).

IndOBIS

➕ What is IndOBIS: The Indian node of the global Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), managed by CMLRE under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

➕ Purpose: IndOBIS collects taxonomically resolved marine species occurrence data from the Indian Ocean.

➕ Data Types: Includes species occurrence, abundance records, and genomic profiles.

About OBIS

➕ What is OBIS: A global repository for marine species data, supporting marine science and conservation.

➕ Origin: Emerged from the Census of Marine Life (2000-2010).

➕ Agencies: Established by the IOC of UNESCO and part of the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE).

➕ Global Data: Provides species distribution, habitat, and environmental information across oceans.

Acid, Base and Salt

1. Acids:
   - Sour taste
   - Turn blue litmus paper red
   - Donate protons (H+)
   - Examples: Hydrochloric acid (HCl), Sulfuric acid (H2SO4)

2. Bases:
   - Bitter taste
   - Turn red litmus paper blue
   - Accept protons
   - Examples: Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), Potassium hydroxide (KOH)

3. Salts:
   - Ionic compounds
   - Formed by the reaction between an acid and a base
   - Examples: Sodium chloride (NaCl), Calcium carbonate (CaCO3)

4. Neutralization Reaction:
   - Acid + Base → Water + Salt
   - pH of 7 is neutral

5. pH Scale:
   - Measures acidity or basicity
   - pH < 7 is acidic, pH > 7 is basic

6. Common Applications:
   - Acids used in food preservation, cleaning agents
   - Bases used in household cleaning products, medicine
   - Salts used in soap, glass production

7. Environmental Impact:
   - Acid rain from sulfur and nitrogen oxides
  

Digital Agriculture Mission

➕ Launch: Approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2023, with a budget of Rs 2,817 crore.

➕Purpose: To create Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the agriculture sector, similar to the government's e-governance initiatives like Aadhaar and UPI.

➕ Key Components:
- AgriStack: A farmer-centric DPI consisting of:
- Farmers’ Registry: Digital identities (Farmer ID) linked to land records, crops sown, and benefits availed.
- Crop Sown Registry: Digital Crop Surveys for recording crops planted by farmers.
- Geo-Referenced Village Maps: Linking geographic information to land records.
- Krishi Decision Support System (DSS): A geospatial system unifying data on crops, soil, weather, and water resources for better decision-making and crop insurance claims.
- Soil Profile Maps: Detailed soil maps (1:10,000 scale) covering 142 million hectares of agricultural land.

Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

➕ In News:
● Assam Govt recommended forest clearance for Vedanta’s oil and gas exploration project in the eco-sensitive zone of the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary

➕ About Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary:
● Location: Jorhat, Assam
● Established: 1997
● Flora:
- Upper canopy: hollong trees
- Middle canopy: nahar trees
● Fauna:
Home to India’s only ape, the hoolock gibbons and Northeastern India’s only nocturnal primate, Bengal slow loris.

➕Hoolock Gibbon
● Population: ~ 12,000,Northeast India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Southern China.
● Gibbon Species in India:
Two distinct species in India’s northeast:
- Eastern Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock leuconedys)
- Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock).
● Conservation Status:
IUCN Red List:
- Western Hoolock Gibbon: Endangered
- Eastern Hoolock Gibbon: Vulnerable
Listed: Schedule 1 of the Indian (Wildlife) Protection Act 1972 (Both Species)