Daily Current Affairs Quiz
Daily Quiz — March 11, 2026
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10 questions based on today’s current affairs & editorials
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Question 1 of 10
Jal Jeevan Mission was launched in which year, and what is its core objective for rural India?
Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched in August 2019 with the objective of providing Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) to every rural household by 2024. The mission was later extended to 2028 in the Union Budget 2025.
At launch, only 3.23 crore (16.7%) rural households had tap connections; by mid-2025 over 15.67 crore (80.95%) households were covered. It operates under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and mandates a minimum supply of 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD) at adequate pressure.
At launch, only 3.23 crore (16.7%) rural households had tap connections; by mid-2025 over 15.67 crore (80.95%) households were covered. It operates under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and mandates a minimum supply of 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD) at adequate pressure.
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JJM is one of India’s largest rural infrastructure programmes with an outlay of over Rs 3.6 lakh crore. The distinction between asset creation (installing taps) and service delivery (water actually flowing) is critical — many earlier connections became non-functional due to source depletion, pump failures, or lack of maintenance funding. JJM mandates Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) for operation and maintenance (O&M) — addressing the governance dimension beyond construction. The programme also trains women as water quality testers (Field Test Kit operators) at the gram panchayat level.
Question 2 of 10
Press Note 3 of 2020 introduced government approval requirements for FDI from which specific category of countries?
Press Note 3 of 2020, issued by DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) on April 17, 2020, requires prior government approval for FDI from countries that share a land border with India — Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. The note was a response to concerns about opportunistic acquisitions during the COVID-19 crisis and broader China-specific strategic concerns.
In March 2026, Press Note 2 (2026) amended some provisions, easing norms for non-Chinese land-border countries while maintaining restrictions on direct Chinese FDI.
In March 2026, Press Note 2 (2026) amended some provisions, easing norms for non-Chinese land-border countries while maintaining restrictions on direct Chinese FDI.
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FDI in India is governed through DPIIT under the automatic route (no approval needed) or government route (approval from relevant ministry). Press Note 3 specifically targeted China because Chinese FDI had been rising in Indian startups and the Galwan Valley clash (June 15, 2020, 20 Indian soldiers killed) deepened the strategic rationale. India also banned 200+ Chinese apps and restricted Chinese telecom equipment from 5G rollout. The debate now is whether to selectively ease restrictions for manufacturing joint ventures without creating strategic risk.
Question 3 of 10
In the context of renewable energy, what does the grid integration challenge mean, and why does it slow down India’s clean energy transition?
Grid integration challenges arise because solar and wind energy are intermittent — they generate power only when the sun shines or wind blows, not necessarily when demand peaks. The grid must constantly match supply and demand in real time.
Adding large amounts of intermittent power requires: transmission infrastructure (evacuation lines from solar/wind parks to load centres), storage (batteries, pumped hydro), demand-side management, and flexible fossil backup. India’s inter-state transmission expansion through the Green Energy Corridors programme addresses this.
Adding large amounts of intermittent power requires: transmission infrastructure (evacuation lines from solar/wind parks to load centres), storage (batteries, pumped hydro), demand-side management, and flexible fossil backup. India’s inter-state transmission expansion through the Green Energy Corridors programme addresses this.
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India’s renewable capacity is growing rapidly toward its 500 GW target by 2030, but grid bottlenecks are slowing effective deployment. Key challenges: inter-state transmission lines are insufficient; DISCOMs (electricity distribution companies) carry accumulated losses of Rs 6+ lakh crore and are reluctant to sign new power purchase agreements (PPAs); grid balancing requires 24/7 monitoring by the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) under POSOCO. The Ministry of Power and CEA (Central Electricity Authority) are pushing Transmission System Strengthening Plans to enable the energy transition.
Question 4 of 10
Autonomous weapons systems and AI in warfare raise the concept of meaningful human control. What does this term refer to in international security discussions?
Meaningful human control (MHC) in the context of autonomous weapons means that a human decision-maker — with sufficient understanding of the situation, time to deliberate, and ability to intervene — must make or sanction the specific decision to use lethal force. The concern is that fully autonomous weapons (that select and engage targets without human review) violate IHL principles of distinction (targeting combatants, not civilians) and proportionality (civilian harm must not be excessive relative to military advantage).
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Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) — sometimes called killer robots — are being discussed at the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva. Countries are divided: Austria, Belgium, and others want a binding ban treaty; the USA, Russia, and China prefer national discretion. India’s position has been for voluntary guidelines rather than a binding treaty. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots advocates for a pre-emptive ban on fully autonomous lethal systems. Article 36 reviews under Additional Protocol I require states to assess new weapons for IHL compliance.
Question 5 of 10
The Jal Jeevan Mission mandates the creation of Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) for which specific purpose?
Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) — or Paani Samitis — under JJM are responsible for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) of water supply systems, ensuring that installed tap connections continue to provide functional water over the long term. Each VWSC manages a village action plan (VAP), oversees infrastructure upkeep, and is mandated to collect a nominal user fee from households to fund O&M activities.
This addresses the critical gap seen in earlier schemes like National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) where infrastructure became non-functional.
This addresses the critical gap seen in earlier schemes like National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) where infrastructure became non-functional.
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O&M funding is a chronic weakness in Indian rural infrastructure. JJM mandates that VWSCs operate under gram panchayats and collect user fees, but in practice many villages resist fee collection, creating a funding gap. This connects to broader governance lessons: decentralisation works only when local institutions have authority (to collect fees, hire technicians) and accountability (to the community they serve). The 14th Finance Commission recommended that O&M costs be built into devolution grants to gram panchayats.
Question 6 of 10
Press Note 3 of 2020 was issued by DPIIT. What is DPIIT’s full name and which ministry does it fall under?
DPIIT stands for Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. DPIIT is the nodal department for FDI policy (including Press Notes and the Consolidated FDI Policy Circular), Startup India, Make in India, industrial policy, intellectual property rights, and logistics sector development.
It was renamed from DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) in 2019.
It was renamed from DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) in 2019.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
DPIIT is responsible for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy Circular (updated periodically). India has consistently been among the top FDI destinations globally in recent years. FDI flows are reported by DPIIT and tracked by RBI. Key sectors with 100% automatic FDI: most manufacturing, services, IT, telecom. Sectors with restricted FDI: defence (74% automatic, beyond that government route), media (26% in print, 49% in news broadcasting), multi-brand retail (51%).
Question 7 of 10
India’s renewable energy expansion is constrained by DISCOM financial stress. What does DISCOM stand for and why is their financial health critical to the energy transition?
DISCOMs (Distribution Companies) are the electricity distribution utilities that deliver power to homes, farms, and industries — and purchase power from generators (including renewable energy producers) through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Their accumulated losses of Rs 6+ lakh crore mean they are reluctant to sign new PPAs for renewable capacity, creating a critical bottleneck for India’s 500 GW clean energy target by 2030.
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DISCOM financial stress is caused by: below-cost tariffs for farmers and domestic consumers (cross-subsidised by industrial tariffs), high AT&C losses (aggregate technical and commercial losses from electricity theft and billing failures — national average around 17%), and delayed subsidy payments from state governments. UDAY (Ujjwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana, 2015) and RDSS (Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, 2021, outlay Rs 3.03 lakh crore) are central government schemes to reform DISCOMs. Unless DISCOMs are financially viable, India’s renewable transition will remain constrained.
Question 8 of 10
Swarming systems in AI warfare involve which tactical approach that challenges traditional air defence?
Drone swarming involves deploying dozens or hundreds of small, low-cost drones that communicate with each other and are guided by AI algorithms to coordinate attacks, reconnaissance, or electronic jamming — overwhelming air defences that can track and engage only a limited number of targets simultaneously. Swarm tactics fundamentally change the cost calculus of warfare: cheap offensive drones (costing thousands of dollars each) can saturate expensive defensive systems (costing millions per intercept).
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Drone swarms were used effectively in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (2020) by Azerbaijan using Israeli Harop loitering munitions, and extensively in the Ukraine-Russia conflict (2022-present). India has been developing indigenous drone capabilities under iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) and the Defence Acquisition Procedure’s indigenisation push. DRDO’s swarm drone programme and the Drone Rules 2021 framework address both offensive capability development and civilian airspace management.
Question 9 of 10
Which of the following is the primary distinction between a Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) and simply an installed tap connection under JJM metrics?
FHTC (Functional Household Tap Connection) specifically means a tap connection through which water is actually flowing at a minimum of 55 litres per capita per day (LPCD) at adequate pressure — not merely that a pipe has been installed or a tap has been fitted. This distinction was introduced because many earlier schemes (like NRDWP) created physical infrastructure that became non-functional due to source failure, pump breakdown, or inadequate O&M funding.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
The 55 LPCD standard is the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) and WHO minimum for safe rural water supply in piped systems. JJM tracks service delivery rather than just asset creation — a significant methodological improvement over earlier programmes that counted habitations covered rather than households with functional supply. India’s water quality testing mandate under JJM requires gram panchayats to test water at five key points, with over 25 lakh women trained as Field Test Kit (FTK) operators.
Question 10 of 10
India’s target for achieving 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 is part of which broader climate commitment?
India’s 500 GW non-fossil energy capacity target by 2030 is part of India’s Panchamrita (five-element) climate commitments announced by PM Modi at COP26 in Glasgow (November 2021). India’s formally submitted updated NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution, August 2022) targets: a 45% reduction in GDP emissions intensity from 2005 levels by 2030, and 50% of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030.
The 500 GW pledge is part of India’s overall climate action framework alongside the 2070 net-zero commitment.
The 500 GW pledge is part of India’s overall climate action framework alongside the 2070 net-zero commitment.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
India’s five Panchamrita pledges at COP26: (1) 500 GW non-fossil energy by 2030; (2) 50% energy from renewables by 2030; (3) reduce carbon intensity 45% from 2005 by 2030; (4) net zero emissions by 2070; (5) reduce projected carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030. India argues for CBDR (Common But Differentiated Responsibilities) and demands climate finance and technology transfer from developed nations. India is the 3rd-largest greenhouse gas emitter globally but among the lowest in per-capita emissions (around 1.9 tonnes CO2 per person versus the global average of 4.7 tonnes).
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