4th March 2025

Explanation - Tinospora cordifolia, which is known by the common names heart-leaved moonseed, guduchi, and giloy in Ayurveda, is used in medicines which treat various kinds of fever (viral fever, malaria, etc.) as well as diabetes. It is used in extract form, powder form or cream. It is indigenous to the tropical areas of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

Explanation - The Olive Ridley is classified as Vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and is listed in Appendix I of CITES. The Olive Ridley sea turtle has been listed on Schedule – I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (amended 1991). The sea turtles are protected under the 'Migratory Species Convention' and Convention of International Trade on Wildlife Flora and Fauna (CITES). Every year, the Indian Coast Guard’s “Operation Olivia”, initiated in the early 1980s, helps protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.

Explanation - The Geological Survey of India was established in 1851 by Sir Thomas Oldham to locate coal deposits for the Railways. The GSI is headquartered in Kolkata, not New Delhi. The GSI provides geological expertise and geoscientific information for policy-making, commercial, and socio-economic needs. The GSI operates under the Ministry of Mines, not the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Explanation - Aditya-L1 mission is the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun. It will be launched by the PSLV-XL launch vehicle. The spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses. This will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time. The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic particle and magnetic field detectors. It is ISRO’s second space-based astronomy mission after AstroSat.