21st May 2025

Explanation:
Option a is correct. The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme was introduced by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955, in August 2005, and it provides multi-purpose, multiple-entry, and a lifelong visa for visiting India.

Option b is correct. OCI cardholders are exempt from foreigner registration obligations for any length of stay in India and enjoy equivalence to NRIs in respect of economic, financial, and educational fields, with some exceptions like the acquisition of agricultural properties.

Option c is incorrect. According to the document, a spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or an OCI cardholder is eligible for registration as an OCI cardholder if the marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years (not five years) immediately preceding the presentation of the application.

Option d is correct. The Central Government may cancel OCI registration if the holder has shown disaffection towards the Constitution of India or has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years within five years after registration.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct. The e-Zero FIR system automatically converts cyber financial crime complaints involving over ₹10 lakh—reported via the 1930 helpline or the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP)—into FIRs.

Statement 2 is correct. The system integrates the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre's NCRP system, Delhi Police's e-FIR system, and NCRB's Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS).

Statement 3 is incorrect. While the document mentions that victims must visit a cybercrime police station within three days to get the Zero FIR converted into a regular FIR, this is part of the e-Zero FIR system's procedure, not specifically mandated by the new criminal laws effective from July 2024.

Statement 4 is correct. The Zero FIR concept originated from recommendations by the Justice Verma Committee following the 2012 Nirbhaya case to ensure victims don't face delays due to jurisdictional issues.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct. The Supreme Court declared as illegal the Ministry of Environment's 2017 notification that allowed ex-post facto environmental clearances (permissions granted after a project had already started).

Statement 2 is correct. The Court held that the 2017 Notification and 2021 Office Memorandum violated Article 21 (Right to life, which includes the right to a healthy, pollution-free environment) and Article 14 (Right to equality before law, as the OM extended protection to violators fully aware of the legal consequences).

Statement 3 is correct. The Court cited Common Cause v. Union of India (2017) and Alembic Pharmaceuticals v. Rohit Prajapati (2020) to reaffirm that ex-post facto clearances are alien to environmental law and against environmental jurisprudence.

Statement 4 is incorrect. The Supreme Court rejected the Centre's one-time justification and ruled that even a one-time exemption was unconstitutional, as it undermines the public's right to a clean environment. The Court did not permit any exemptions, even for projects of strategic national importance.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct. The Jal Jeevan Mission was initially launched with a budgetary outlay of Rs. 3.6 lakh crore, and with new approvals and revised cost estimates, the total projected expenditure has more than doubled to Rs. 8.29 lakh crore as of 2025.

Statement 2 is correct. The Government of India has decided to send 100 teams of nodal officers to conduct ground-level inspections of JJM schemes across 135 districts in 29 states and Union Territories. These schemes collectively account for 1.5 lakh crore, which is approximately 20% of the total JJM outlay.

Statement 3 is correct. The Jal Shakti Ministry had sought Rs. 2.79 lakh crore in additional central funding to meet the escalated costs for completing the scheme by 2028. This indicates a timeline extension from the original target of 2024 mentioned in the mission's objective.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct. Live baiting was banned for tourism in 1982 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. However, it still continues in conflict scenarios to trap big cats like leopards and is used to feed injured or aging tigers that can no longer hunt.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Using live baiting for old or injured tigers is not formally prohibited under NTCA's (National Tiger Conservation Authority) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), though it is described as "not advisable." The SOP emphasizes minimal human involvement in managing wild tiger populations but does not outright ban the practice.

Statement 3 is correct. Excessive human intervention in tiger conservation, including practices like live baiting, can lead to habituation to humans, dependency, loss of survival instincts, and greater risks of human-tiger conflict. Experts warn that artificial feeding goes against the principle of "survival of the fittest" and interferes with natural selection.

Statement 4 is correct. Kankati, a 23-month-old tigress in Ranthambore, killed two people within a month. She and her siblings were raised with live bait provided to their sick mother, Arrowhead. This exposure has made them lose their fear of humans, making them a potential threat to forest staff and visitors.

Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct. In A-to-I mRNA editing, adenosine (A) in mRNA is enzymatically converted into inosine (I) by proteins called ADARs (Adenosine Deaminase Acting on RNA).

Statement 2 is correct. A major risk of A-to-I editing is misreading stop codons. For example, a stop codon like UAG or UGA may be edited to UGG, coding for tryptophan. This allows the ribosome to continue protein synthesis, potentially creating abnormally long or malfunctioning proteins.

Statement 3 is correct. Researchers identified 71 genes in graminearum that contain premature stop codons (UAG) in their unedited mRNA, termed PSC (premature stop codon-containing) genes. Deleting these genes had no impact during asexual growth but caused significant disruption during sexual development, proving their essentiality in these stages.

Statement 4 is incorrect. The ribosome reads inosine (I) as guanine (G), not adenine, during protein synthesis. This alters the codon identity and can change the amino acid sequence of the resulting protein, leading to functional protein diversification and alteration in protein stability or activity.