EXPLANATION:

• The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) was established as an autonomous Research and Development Institution of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (formerly Department of Ocean Development) on the 25th May 1998. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• Year-round maintenance of the two Indian stations (Maitri & Bharati) in Antarctica is the primary responsibility of the Centre. Maitri (1989) and Bharati (2011) were established, for carrying out research by the Indian scientists in all disciplines of polar research. Hence, statement 2 is not correct. 
• It is designated as the nodal organization for the co-ordination and implementation of the Indian Antarctic Programme, including the maintenance of India’s permanent station in Antarctica. Hence, statement 3 is correct. (115 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Code on Industrial Relations 2020: The provision will be applicable for every industrial establishment wherein 300 or more than 300 workers are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months. Hence statement 1 is not correct. 
• After becoming a law, orders will not be dependent on whims and fancies of executives of state governments. Strike, at present, a person employed in a public utility service cannot go on strike unless they give notice for a strike within six weeks before going on strike or within fourteen days of giving such notice, which the IR Code now proposes to apply for all the industrial establishments. Hence statement 2 is correct. 
• It has also proposed to set up a re-skilling fund for training of retrenched workers with contribution from the employer, of an amount equal to 15 days last drawn by the worker. Hence statement 3 is correct. (150 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Mediation is a tried and tested alternative method of dispute resolution. It has proved to be a great success in the cities of Delhi, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Nagpur, Chandigarh and Aurangabad. It is a voluntary and legally binding procedure in which a neutral and unbiased mediator assists conflicting parties in reaching an agreement. Hence, statement 1 is not correct. 
• The mediation procedure must be completed within 180 days, which the parties may extend by another 180 days. The objective of the Mediation Bill, 2021 is to resolve any civil or commercial disputes through mediation before involving a court or tribunal. Hence, statement 2 is not correct. The India Mediation Council will be established to regulate the whole process. (117 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Recently, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released ‘Youth in India 2022’ Report. Hence, statement 1 is correct. 
• Decline in Youth Population: The youth population is expected to increase initially but will start to decline in the latter half of 2011-2036 period. 
• Proportion of Youth and Elderly Population: Proportion of youth to the total population had increased from 26.6% in 1991 to 27.9% in 2016 and then projected to start a downward trend and to reach 22.7 % by year 2036: States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh are projected to see a higher elderly population than the youth by 2036. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• This report shows that the population share of the youth is starting to decline whereas the share of the elderly is expected to increase during 2021-2036. Hence, statement 3 is correct. (145 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Public-Private Partnership: PPP is an arrangement between government and private sector for the provision of public assets and/or public services. Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Model: Under the BOT model, a private player is granted a concession to finance, build and operate a project for a specified period of time. 
• Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT): It has four provisions like Build, Own, Operate and Transfer. In this variant of BOT, after the negotiated period of time, the project is transferred to the government or to the private operator. The concession agreement between the state and the concessionaire will define the extent to which ownership, and its associated attributes of possession and control, of the assets lies with the concessionaire. Hence statement 1 is correct. 
• Swiss Challenges: Swiss challenge method is a method of bidding, often used in public projects, in which an interested party initiates a proposal for a contract or the bid for a project. On the receipt of these bids, the original proposer gets an opportunity to match the best bid. In case the original proposer fails to match the bid, the project is awarded to the proposer of the best bid. Hence statement 2 is correct. (194 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Beed Model of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: Recently, the Maharashtra Government asked the Prime Minister for state-wide implementation of the ‘Beed model’ of the crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). Hence option (b) is correct. 
• About Beed Model: Beed is a district of Maharashtra located in the drought-prone Marathwada region. This model is also called 80-110 Formula. Under this plan, the insurer’s potential losses are restricted. The insurance firm does not have to entertain claims above 110% of the gross premium. The state government has to bear the cost of compensation above 110% of the premium collected to insulate the insurer from losses (bridge amount). However, if the compensation is less than the premium collected, the insurance company would keep 20% of the amount as handling charges and reimburse the rest to the state government (premium surplus). (141 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Sodium ion batteries are rechargeable batteries which require sodium ion movement between electrodes during the charging and discharging of the battery, the cathode for these batteries is manufactured from sodium. It's cheaper to produce than their lithium counterparts because of the abundance of the raw materials required to make them. They are energy dense, non-flammable, and operate well in colder temperatures. Hence, statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• Further they can store more energy per unit weight, this could make them well-suited for larger applications such as electric vehicles. They are less likely to experience thermal runaway, a condition that can cause fires in lithium-ion batteries. Hence, statement 3 is not correct.

EXPLANATION:

• Project 17A Frigates calls for the development of seven stealth frigates that will be hard to detect using radar or sonar equipment. Hence, statement 1 is correct. 
• The key advanced stealth characteristics of the P-17A include the ship's lower radar crosssection, which is achieved by using a modified superstructure form that decreases radar wave reflections. The ships under Project 17A are: INS Nilgiri INS Himgiri INS Udaygiri INS Dunagiri, Hence, statement 2 is correct. 
• Brahmos SSM, LRSAM (Forward & Aft configuration) with MF STAR radar, indigenous Sonar, and Triple tube Heavy Torpedo launcher are the main armament and sensor suite of P-17A ships. Hence, statement 3 is not correct. (108 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• The Ministry of Education has published the seventh edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), 2022. Hence, statement 1 is correct. Participation in NIRF was made compulsory for all government-run educational institutions since 2018. NIRF is the government's first attempt to rate Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) of the Country only. Hence, statement 2 is correct. 
• The best institutions are listed in 11 categories: overall national rating of universities, engineering, college, medical, management, pharmacy, law, architecture, dental, and research. Assessment on Five Parameters:
• Teaching, Learning and Resources (TLR), Research and Professional Practice (RP), Graduation Outcomes (GO), Outreach and Inclusivity (OI), Peer Perception. (102 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Kill Switch: The recent ‘Uber Files’ reveal that the company had deployed kill switches, purportedly to destroy sensitive data that could have been legitimately accessed by police and officials. A kill switch is a mechanism used to shut down or disable a device or program. In the manufacturing sector, they are deployed to terminate operations to arrest damage in assembly lines or save a worker’s life. They serve a similar purpose in the digital world but instead of hardware, they are mostly software-based. The purpose of a kill switch is usually to prevent theft of a machine or data or shut down machinery in an emergency. Hence, option (a) is correct. (112 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies, which can include bonds, treasury bills and other government securities. 
• Foreign Currency Assets: FCAs are assets that are valued based on a currency other than the country's own currency .Gold reserve is a fund of gold bullion or coin held by a government or bank. 
• Special Drawing Rights: The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves. The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.
• Reserve Position in the International Monetary Fund: A reserve tranche position implies a portion of the required quota of currency each member country must provide to the IMF that can be utilized for its own purposes. The reserve tranche is basically an emergency account that IMF members can access at any time without agreeing to conditions or paying a service fee. Hence option (c) is correct. (175 words)

EXPLANATION: 

• The Immunisation Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunisation’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Through UIP, Government of India is providing vaccination free of cost against vaccine preventable diseases include diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, severe form of childhood tuberculosis, hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia (Hemophilus influenzae type B infections), Japanese encephalitis (JE) in JE endemic districts with introduction of newer vaccines such as rotavirus vaccine, IPV, adult JE vaccine, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and measles-rubella (MR) vaccine in UIP/national immunisation programme. 
• Immunisation program was launched as “Mission Indradhanush” in December 2014. Hence statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• India also launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 4.0 in February 2022 with the aim to immunise every pregnant woman and child who had missed their vaccination. Hence statement 3 is correct.