14th March 2026

Explanation - Only the first statement is correct. It is a prehistoric art form, estimated to be over 3000 years old. It originates from the Kurumba tribe in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. The art was traditionally drawn on rocks and in caves across the high hills of the Nilgiris. Raw Materials and Tools Used — Kurumba paintings use natural pigments sourced from the forest. Yellow brown and black pigments come from Vengai tree resin, while green pigments are derived from crushed leaves. Artists use fine twigs, bamboo sticks, and natural fiber brushes for application. The paintings are traditionally done on walls, fabric, and handmade paper. Design and Colour — Kurumba tribal paintings use natural colours — green from leaves, red and white from soil, and black from tree bark — applied with cloth on cow dung-coated walls. The art features simple, linear motifs with dots, lines, and geometric shapes, depicting huts, animals, and community life. Themes centre around spiritual beliefs, rituals, festivals, and daily activities. This minimalist yet expressive style preserves the tribe's cultural heritage and reflects their deep spiritual bond with nature. Product Range — Wall murals, decorative panels, ritual paintings, cloth artworks.

Explanation - It is a hard, lustrous, silver-grey metal. Properties — It is a ferromagnetic strategic alloying metal. It is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic no.27. It is associated mostly with copper, nickel and arsenic ores. Cobalt is extracted as a by-product of copper, nickel, zinc or precious metals. Major World reserves of cobalt — Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Canada, Philippines and Cuba. Occurrences of cobalt in India — Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh. Applications — Major use of cobalt is in metallurgical applications, in Special alloy/Super alloy Industry, in magnets and cutting tools industries. Cobalt is used as precursors (cobalt compounds) for cathodes in rechargeable batteries. It is also used in powerful magnets, cutting tools and high-strength alloys in the aerospace, energy and defence sectors. Cobalt compounds have been used since antiquity as a pigment (cobalt-blue) for pottery, glass, paints and other media.

Explanation - The IAEA is the world's centre of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world's "Atoms for Peace" organisation in 1957 within the United Nations family. It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It is not under direct control of the UN. Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. The IAEA Secretariat is headquartered at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria. The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide. Currently, it has 173 member states.

Explanation - NASA's Van Allen Probes mission was the first mission to use two spacecraft in tandem to study Earth's radiation belts. Originally designed for a two-year mission, the Van Allen Probes A and B gathered unprecedented data on Earth's two permanent radiation belts — named for scientist James Van Allen — for almost seven years. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield Earth from cosmic radiation, solar storms, and the constantly streaming solar wind that are harmful to humans and can damage technology, so understanding them is important. By having two spacecraft with identical instruments, with one followed by the other along nearly the same path, researchers could measure changes that occur in Earth's radiation belts over time and through space, providing insights into the physical dynamics of the radiation belts and changes that occur in this critical region of space. NASA ended the mission after the two spacecraft ran out of fuel and were no longer able to orient themselves toward the Sun.

Explanation - It is a hard, lustrous, silver-grey metal. Properties — It is a ferromagnetic strategic alloying metal. It is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic no.27. It is associated mostly with copper, nickel and arsenic ores. Cobalt is extracted as a by-product of copper, nickel, zinc or precious metals. Major World reserves of cobalt — Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Canada, Philippines and Cuba. Occurrences of cobalt in India — Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Nagaland and Madhya Pradesh. Applications — Major use of cobalt is in metallurgical applications, in Special alloy/Super alloy Industry, in magnets and cutting tools industries. Cobalt is used as precursors (cobalt compounds) for cathodes in rechargeable batteries. It is also used in powerful magnets, cutting tools and high-strength alloys in the aerospace, energy and defence sectors. Cobalt compounds have been used since antiquity as a pigment (cobalt-blue) for pottery, glass, paints and other media.