The islands of the Arabian Sea include Lakshadweep and Minicoy. These are scattered between 8°N-12°N and 71°E -74°E longitude. The entire island group is built of coral deposits. There are approximately 36 islands of which 11 are inhabited. -The entire group of islands is broadly divided by the Elevene-degree channel, north of which is the Amini Island and to the south of the Canannore Island.
The Islands of this archipelago have storm beaches consisting of unconsolidated pebbles, shingles, cobbles and boulders on the eastern seaboard.

All the statements are correct.
Laterite Soil Laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘Later’ which means brick. The laterite soils develop in areas with high temperature and high rainfall. These are the result of intense leaching due to tropical rains.
With rain, lime and silica are leached away, and soils rich in iron oxide and aluminium compound are left behind.
Humus content of the soil is removed fast by bacteria that thrive well in high temperature. These soils are poor in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphate and calcium, while iron oxide and potash are in excess. Hence, laterites are not suitable for cultivation; however, application of manures and fertilisers are required for making the soils fertile for cultivation.
Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more suitable for tree crops like cashewnut. Laterite soils are widely cut as bricks for use in house construction. These soils have mainly developed in the higher areas of the peninsular plateau.
The laterite soils are commonly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.

Statement 1 is incorrect while statement 2 is correct.
The force exerted by the rotation of the earth is known as the Coriolis force.
Coriolis Force: The rotation of the earth about its axis affects the direction of the wind. This force is called the Coriolis force after the French physicist who described it in 1844.
It deflects the wind to the right direction in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. The deflection is more when the wind velocity is high.
The Coriolis force is directly proportional to the angle of latitude. It is maximum at the poles and is absent at the equator.
The Coriolis force acts perpendicular to the pressure gradient force. The pressure gradient force is perpendicular to an isobar. At the equator, the Coriolis force is zero and the wind blows perpendicular to the isobars. The low pressure gets filled instead of getting intensified. That is the reason why tropical cyclones are not formed near the equator.

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on 2nd October as Rashtriya Swachhta Diwas, publicity vans were flagged off in Delhi, to generate awareness among the people about the OMCs’ initiative of converting Used Cooking Oil to Biodiesel. The publicity involves wide social media campaign to spread awareness and educate people about the ill effects of used cooking oil and ways to dispose it off for converting it to biodiesel.
About RUCO: Launched by FSSAI. The initiative will enable collection and conversion of used cooking oil to biodiesel. FSSAI wants businesses using more than 100 litres of oil for frying, to maintain a stock register and ensure that RUCO is handed over to only registered collecting agencies.
Potential and significance of the initiative: India has the potential to recover 220 crore litres of used cooking oil for the production of biodiesel by 2022 through a co-ordinated action. While biodiesel produced from used cooking oil is currently very small, but a robust ecosystem for conversion and collection is rapidly growing in India and will soon reach a sizable scale.

1 and 4 are correct while 2 and 3 are correct.
The Constituent Assembly appointed a number of committees to deal with different tasks of constitution-making. Out of these, eight were major committees and the others were minor committees.
The names of these committees and their chairmen are given below:

Major Committees
1. Union Powers Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
2. Union Constitution Committee – Jawaharlal Nehru
3. Provincial Constitution Committee – Sardar Patel
4. Drafting Committee – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
5. Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas – Sardar Patel.
-This committee had the following five sub-committees:
1) Fundamental Rights Sub-Committee – J.B. Kripalani
2) Minorities Sub-Committee – H.C. Mukherjee
3) North-East Frontier Tribal Areas and Assam Excluded & Partially Excluded Areas Sub-Committee – Gopinath Bardoloi
4) Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (Other than those in Assam) Sub-Committee – A.V. Thakkar
5) North-West Frontier Tribal Areas Sub-Committee
6. Rules of Procedure Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
7. States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States) – Jawaharlal Nehru 8. Steering Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Minor Committees

1. Finance and Staff Committee – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
2. Credentials Committee – Alladi Krishnaswami Ayyar
3. House Committee – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
4. Order of Business Committee – Dr. K.M. Munshi
5. Ad-hoc Committee on the National Flag – Dr. Rajendra Prasad
6. Committee on the Functions of the Constituent Assembly – G.V. Mavalankar
7. Ad-hoc Committee on the Supreme Court – S. Varadachari (Not an Assembly Member)
8. Committee on Chief Commissioners’ Provinces – B. Pattabhi Sitaramayya
9. Expert Committee on the Financial Provisions of the Union Constitution – Nalini Ranjan Sarkar (Not an Assembly Member)
10. Linguistic Provinces Commission – S.K. Dar (Not an Assembly Member)
11. Special Committee to Examine the Draft Constitution – Jawaharlal Nehru
12. Press Gallery Committee – Usha Nath Sen
13. Ad-hoc Committee on Citizenship – S. Varadachari