Solution (d)

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a state agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008.

It is under the aegis of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Solution (a)

It is found in parts of Pakistan in the Indus river system of Kashmir and northern and central India along the Ganges, Bangladesh and Burma and formerly occurred in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is a scarce non-breeding visitor to Nepal and has occurred as a vagrant in Oman and central Thailand with old records from Iran and China.

IUCN – Vulnerable.

Solution (b)

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was constituted vide Government of India Resolution dated 29th August, 1997 as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers as an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.

Functions

• To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
• To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
• To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps.
• To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations.
• To undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.
• To recruit/ appoint the officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and procedures laid down by the Government.
• To render advice to the Central Government on changes/ revisions in the drug policy.
• To render assistance to the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing

 Solution (a)

2I/Borisov, originally designated C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), is the first observed interstellar comet and the second observed interstellar interloper after ʻOumuamua.

It was observed by the NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Q.5) Solution (b)

The OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA asteroid study and sample-return mission. The mission’s main goal is to obtain a sample of at least 60 grams from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid, and return the sample to Earth for a detailed analysis.