Natural Rights are the one exist equally in all individuals without any discrimination on the basis of class,

strata,
gender or orientation. SC has ruled privacy is a natural right that inheres in human beings because they are
human beings. According to Justice Chandrachud, Right to Privacy entails Informational control, hence,
empowers the individual to use privacy as a shield to retain personal control over information pertaining to the
person

Why do we need a Constitution?

1. Constitution allows coordination and assurance: The very first and basic function of the constitution. If
there are no rules, it will lead to insecurity in individuals’ mind due to unpredictability of others’ action. Rules
creates a list of do’s and don’ts’s. Having said that it is also necessary that these rules are legally enforceable
to provide assurance to the individual as well as the society. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
2. Specification of decision-making powers: If rules have to be there for society, there need to be somebody
to create them and uphold them. In case of India, it is the Parliament. If Parliament has the authority to enact
laws, there must be a law that bestows this authority on Parliament in the first place. This is the function of the
constitution. It is an authority that constitutes government in the first place. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
3. Limitations on the powers of government: If the body (in India’s case, the Parliament) goes beyond its
jurisdiction or create laws which are unfair and unjust to the society, there needs to be check and balances for
the same. In India, these are provided as Fundamental Rights, which put reasonable restrictions on state.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.
4. Fundamental Identity of People: People as a collective entity come into being only through the basic
constitution. Agreeing to certain basic norms and principles one constitutes one’s basic political identity. The
constitution sets authoritative constraints upon what one may or may not do, hence defining moral identity.
Hence, statement 4 is correct.
5. Aspirations and goals of a society: Modern Constitution has taken an onus to define the society, laws and
rule that create a humanitarian society. It seeks to address the inequalities and support the economically and
socially backward classes. It tries to remove discrimination in any form. It list what the society should be aspire
to be, as it is impossible to change society overnight with rules and laws. In India’s case Fundamental Rights
and Directive Principles of State Policy tries to achieve that.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2017 was awarded to ICAN, a global civil society coalition working to promote
adherence to and full implementation of the Treaty on the prohibition of Nuclear weapon. On July 7, 2017, the
treaty was adopted at the United Nations with 122 votes in favour. It will come into force once it has been
ratified by 50 states. However, no nuclear armed states have expressed support for the treaty.
India and other nuclear armed states-US, Russia, Britain, China, France, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel had
not participated in the negotiations.
Section 171 of the CGST Act, which pertains to anti-profiteering provides for the establishment of an authority.
The National Anti-Profiteering Authority is a body with an overarching mandate to ensure that the reduction in
tax rates under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime gets passed on to consumers by way of lower
prices. It will be a five member committee. It will be headed by the senior officer of the level of secretary to the
Government of India with four Technical members from the centre and/or the states.

On Money bills, the President enjoys the suspensive veto. But since, Money Bills are generally
laid after the consideration of the President, it generally is not returned or assent withheld.

The design of the Bodhgaya temple is unusual. It is, strictly speaking, neither dravida or nagara. It is narrow like
a nagara temple, but it rises without curving, like a dravida one.

• IRNSS-1H was intended to replace IRNSS-1A, which developed problems last year.
• IRNSS-1H would have augmented “the existing seven satellites of NavIC constellation”.
• It was supposed to sit in a sub-Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (sub-GTO)
In a report by UNEP titled ‘Solid approach to waste: how 5 cities are beating pollution’, Alappuzha (India) lists
alongside Osaka (Japan), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Penang (Malaysia) and Cajicá (Colombia) in the success stories
in fighting the problem of solid waste. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
What is Alappuzha doing right?
• Implementing a project called Nirmala Bhavanam Nirmala Nagaram (Clean Homes Clean City) since
November 2012.
• The city has adopted decentralised waste management
• 80 per cent households have biogas plants and decentralised composting system.

Restoration projects undertaken by India in Asia:

• Ta Prohm Temple, Angkor, Cambodia
• Cham Monuments, Vietnam
• Thiruketeeswaram Temple, Mannar, Sri lanka
• WatPhou Temple Complex, Laos
• Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal
• Ananda Temple, Myanmar

Pundareekapuram Krishna temple, is an site which has Kerala Mural Paintings tradition.
Tiruparakunram, near Tirchy, Lepakshi near Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh, Virupaksha temple in Hampi has
painting from Mural Traditions of Vijaynagar on the ceilings.
Nayaka painting is considered extension of Vijayanagara Mural Traditions. Sri Krishna temple at Chengam in
Arcot District is also an example of Mural Traditions of Vijaynagar.

The term ‘ocean acidification’ summaries several processes/chemical reactions when Carbon dioxide reacts
with ocean water.
First reaction, the formation of carbonic acid with subsequent release of hydrogen ions. The above reaction and
release of hydrogen ions increase acidity and thus pH level is reduced. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
Second reaction, between carbonate ions, CO and water produces bicarbonate ions.
The Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is a direct tax imposed on the ‘zero tax’ on the book profit. ‘Zero tax’
companies, might be having high ‘book profit’ and distributing huge dividends (under the Companies Act) to
their shareholders, too, but showing ‘nil’ or ‘negative’ taxable income (under the IT Act) they might not pay any
income tax. To bring such companies under the income tax MAT is formulated.

The Wassenaar Arrangement is an elite club of countries which subscribe to arms export controls regime for
Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
Dual Use Goods: Dual use goods are products and technologies normally used for civilian purposes but which
may have military applications.
The Wassenaar Agreement has 42 members, the latest entrant being India. With the exception of China, all the
other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are signatories of the WA, which is headquartered in
Vienna.
Jhelum in the valley of Kashmir is still in its youth stage and yet forms meanders – a typical feature associated
with the mature stage of the river. The meanders in Jhelum river are caused by the local base le vel provided by
the erstwhile larger lake of which the present Dal Lake is a small part. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
Pangong Tso is a salt water lake. Dal and Wular are the fresh water lake in the region

A new species of gecko (lizards) was recently discovered from Mahendragiri hills in Andhra-Odisha border. It is
the second gecko to be found endemic to the Eastern Ghats area. The first one “House Lizard” was discovered
from Kanger Ghati National Park in Chattisgarh. • The Kanger Valley National Park has huge limestone
deposits. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
• Some of them are in the form of caves and the rest of it are in the form of layers or beds one upon the other.
• These deposits are present above the soil as well as under the ground level.

UNEA meets biannually and the last meeting was held in Nairobi in 2015.
The UN Environment Assembly is a governance mechanism proposed at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (Rio+20) in 2012 and approved by the UN General Assembly later that year. Hence, statement 1
is incorrect.
The UN Environment Assembly is the first universal body for the environment in the UN, giving every country a
vote and a voice. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
The UN Environment Assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, will gather
in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4-6 December 2017 for the second summit under the overarching theme of pollution.

Article 13 has declared that constitutional amendment is not a law.

However, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were accorded statutory recognition
in 1977. They are also entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a cabinet
minister. It was in 1969 that an official leader of the opposition was recognised for the first time

India, for the first time ever, hosted the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS), one of the world’s largest
conferences in the field of Cyber Space and related issues, on 23 and 24 November 2017, at Aerocity, New
Delhi. The Global Conference on cyber space (GCCS) or the London Process Conferences was Incepted in
2011 in London, second GCCS was held in 2012 in Budapest with focus on relationship between internet rights
and internet security. The third edition of GCCS was held in 2013 in Seoul with commitment to Open and
Secure Cyberspace. The fourth version GCCS 2015 was held on April 16 -17, 2015 in TheHague, Netherlands.
Themed on Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development, New Delhi is hosting
the fifth edition of GCCS wherein international leaders, policymakers, industry experts, think tanks and cyber
experts will gather to deliberate on issues and challenges for optimally using cyber space.

The Aditya-1 mission has now been revised to “Aditya-L1 mission” and will be inserted in a halo orbit around
the L1 Lagrange point which is 1.5 million km from the Earth. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
Aditya-L1 with additional experiments can now provide observations of Sun’s Photosphere (soft a nd hard X-
ray), Chromosphere (UV) and corona (Visible and NIR). In addition, particle payloads will study the particle flux
emanating from the Sun and reaching the L1 orbit, and the magnetometer payload will measure the variation in
magnetic field strength at the halo orbit around L1. These payloads have to be placed outside the interference
from the Earth’s magnetic field and could not have been useful in the low earth orbit.
The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships,
aircraft, or land. It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world. It uses a ramjet engine. It is a form of air
breathing jet engine that uses the engine’s forward motion to compress incoming air without an axial
compressor. Because ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed, they cannot move an aircraft from a
standstill. A ramjet-powered vehicle, therefore, requires an assisted take- off like a rocket assist to accelerate it
to a speed where it begins to produce thrust. It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO
Mashinostroeyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) who together have
formed BrahMos Aerospace. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two r ivers, the
Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia. Russia supplies 65% of the BrahMos; components, including
its ramjet engine and radar seeker.

Imported Inflation- Inflation due to the increase in import prices.

The different indices except GDP deflator is the basket of goods consumed by consumers or by producers for
production. These are comprehensive basket and contains items which are though imported but consumed
there by bringing in the Price rise in foreign market to domestic market, GDP defla tor is the ratio of nominal to
real GDP.

The Constitution does not define a minority or provide details relating to the geographical and numerical
specification of the concept.
But with respect to Article 30, the Constitution talks about Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The Constitution
deals with protection of linguistic and religious minorities granting them certain privileges but it never defines
what it comprises of in T.M.A. Pai Foundation & Others vs. the State of Karnataka and Ors. The Court has set
out the principle that minority status should be determined in relation to the population of the State and not to
India as a whole.
Thus, religious and linguistic minorities, who have been placed on a par in Article 30, have to be considered in
terms of the State concerned.
Some of the famous sites of Old Stone Age in India are:
• The Soan valley and Potwar Plateau on the northwest India.
• The Siwalik hills on the north India.
• Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh.
• Adamgarh hill in Narmada valley
• Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and
• Attirampakkam near Chennai
Chirand and Paiyampalli are the example of Neolithic Sites in India.

The main compositions of Carnatic music are known as kriti and are devotional in nature. Hence, statement 2
is correct.
Amir Khusro is credited with fashioning the table as a split version of the traditional Indian drum, the pakhawaj.
Tabla is associated with Hindustani music. The principal instruments playe d with Carnatic music are Veena,
Mrindagum and Mandolin.
Walk Free Foundation (WFF): The Walk Free Foundation is a global organization.
Objective: It makes an attempt to end contemporary slavery and human trafficking.
More specifically, it is known for its Global Slavery Index.
What is Global Slavery Index?
The Global Slavery Index presents an annual ranking of 167 countries based on the percentage of a country’s
population that is estimated to be in modern slavery.
Three key variables: It includes data on three key variables:
• Prevalence of modern slavery in each country,
• Vulnerability and
• Government responses to modern slavery.

Astrosat is India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory. Hence statement 1 is correct.
Astrosat is a multi-wavelength astronomy mission on an IRS-class satellite into a near-Earth, equatorial orbit.
Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
ADITYA-L1 mission is in a heliocentric orbit.
Climatic Regions of India According to Koeppen’s Scheme
Type of Climate Areas
• Amw - Monsoon with short dry season - West coast of India south of Goa
• As – Monsoon with dry summer - Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu
• Aw – Tropical savannah - Most of the Peninsular plateaus, south of the Tropic of Cancer
• Bwhw – Semi-arid steppe climate - North-western Gujarat, some parts of western Rajasthan and Punjab
• Bwhw – Hot desert Extreme - western Rajasthan
• Cwg – Monsoon with dry winter - Ganga plain, eastern Rajasthan, northern Madhya Pradesh, most of North-
east India
• Dfc – Cold humid winter with short summer - Arunachal Pradesh
• E – Polar type - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand
The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the
technique and grammar of body movement in Bharatnatyam Dance. There is also a great deal of visual
evidence of this dance form in paintings and stone and metal sculptures of ancient times. On the gopurams of
the Chidambaram temple, one can see a series of Bharatnatyam poses, frozen in stone as it were, by the
sculptor. In many other temples, the charis and karanas of the dance are represented in sculpture and one can
make a study of the dance form.

The amended Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, passed by Par liament, has given
anti-tobacco campaigners a reason to cheer with the new Act laying down stringent punishment for those selling
tobacco products or cigarettes to minors.

Vagbhata lived during Gupta age and was the last of the great medical trio of ancien t India. The other two
scholars Charaka and Susruta lived before the Gupta age. Vagbhata was the author of Ashtangasamgraha
(Summary of the eight branches of medicine).

WWF's Living Planet Report 2016 reveals that global populations of fish, birds, mammals , amphibians and
reptiles declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012. We could witness a two -thirds decline in the half-
century from 1970 to 2020 unless we act now to reform our food and energy systems and meet global
commitments on addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and supporting sustainable development.

Besides stubble burning, a “multi-day dust storm” in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia was the main cause of
Delhi’s smog between November 6 and 14, according to a study by the System of Ai r Quality And Weather
Forecasting And Research (under the Ministry of Earth Sciences) and India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The study, released on Thursday, says that the dust storm was responsible for 40 per cent of the pollution on
November 8when the average air quality index was 478, indicating “severe” levels of pollution. While stubble
burning was responsible for 25 per cent of the pollution, “local sources” also played a role
Individual, Population, Community, Ecosystem, Biome and Biosphere.

Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network. In the Ethereum blockchain, instead of mining for bitcoin,
miners work to earn Ether, a type of crypto token that fuels the network. Beyond a tradeable cryptocurrency,
Ether is also used by application developers to pay for transaction fees and services on the Ethereum network.