Daily Current Affairs Quiz
Daily Quiz — March 12, 2026
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10 questions based on today’s current affairs & editorials
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Question 1 of 10
The Dandi March began on March 12, 1930. It started from which location and was led by whom?
The Dandi March began on March 12, 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, led by Mahatma Gandhi with 78 selected satyagrahis. They walked approximately 385 km (240 miles) to Dandi on the Gujarat coast.
Gandhi arrived at Dandi on April 5 and broke the salt law on the morning of April 6, 1930, by picking up salt from the beach. This triggered the Civil Disobedience Movement — one of the most significant mass mobilisation events of the freedom struggle.
Gandhi arrived at Dandi on April 5 and broke the salt law on the morning of April 6, 1930, by picking up salt from the beach. This triggered the Civil Disobedience Movement — one of the most significant mass mobilisation events of the freedom struggle.
💡 Concept Note
Gandhi chose salt because it was a universal need (affecting every Indian including the poorest), the salt tax was a visible symbol of colonial economic exploitation, and breaking the salt law was simple, peaceful, and impossible to ignore. The 24-day march was a masterclass in political communication that attracted international media attention.
It led to the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) and Gandhi’s participation in the Second Round Table Conference (1931). Gandhiji was arrested on May 5, 1930, weeks after breaking the law.
It led to the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) and Gandhi’s participation in the Second Round Table Conference (1931). Gandhiji was arrested on May 5, 1930, weeks after breaking the law.
Question 2 of 10
The Strait of Hormuz is described as a global energy chokepoint. Approximately what percentage of global traded crude oil passes through it daily?
The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately 20% of global traded crude oil — roughly 20 million barrels per day. It is the single most important petroleum chokepoint in the world.
The Strait is only about 33 km wide at its narrowest point, with a navigable channel of just 3 km in each direction (separated by a 3 km buffer zone). India imports approximately 85-88% of its crude oil, with a significant share from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations transiting through Hormuz.
The Strait is only about 33 km wide at its narrowest point, with a navigable channel of just 3 km in each direction (separated by a 3 km buffer zone). India imports approximately 85-88% of its crude oil, with a significant share from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations transiting through Hormuz.
💡 Concept Note
Strategic global energy chokepoints: Strait of Hormuz (Persian Gulf to Arabian Sea — approximately 20% of global oil), Strait of Malacca (Indian Ocean to Pacific — approximately 30% of global trade by volume), Suez Canal (Mediterranean to Red Sea — approximately 12% of global trade), Bab-el-Mandeb Strait (Red Sea to Gulf of Aden — links Suez to Arabian Sea). India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur holds only about 9.5 days of consumption — critically inadequate if Hormuz is blocked for an extended period.
Question 3 of 10
The Civil Disobedience Movement triggered by the Dandi March was different from the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) in which fundamental way?
Civil Disobedience involved actively breaking specific laws deemed unjust (salt law, forest laws, revenue laws) — a form of positive disobedience. Non-Cooperation (1920-22) involved withdrawal: giving up titles, boycotting legislatures, courts, schools, and foreign cloth — a form of negative disobedience.
Both movements were non-violent but used different tactics. Civil Disobedience was more confrontational and harder for the British to contain because it required mass arrests to stop it.
Both movements were non-violent but used different tactics. Civil Disobedience was more confrontational and harder for the British to contain because it required mass arrests to stop it.
💡 Concept Note
Key phases of India’s national movement for UPSC GS-1: Moderates (1885-1905) — petitions and prayers; Extremists and Partition of Bengal (1905-1916) — Swadeshi, boycott; Home Rule Leagues (1916); Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22, suspended after Chauri Chaura violence); Simon Commission boycott (1928); Civil Disobedience (1930-32 and 1932-34); Individual Satyagraha (1940-41); Quit India Movement (August 1942). UPSC frequently asks to differentiate these movements by their nature, scope, and outcomes.
Question 4 of 10
India's vulnerability to West Asia conflicts primarily stems from three sources. Which of the following correctly identifies all three?
India’s three main vulnerabilities to West Asia instability are: (1) Crude oil — India imports approximately 85-88% of its crude oil needs, with significant volumes from GCC countries; (2) Diaspora — approximately 9 million Indians live in Gulf countries, sending approximately $40 billion in annual remittances; (3) Fertilisers and LNG — India imports natural gas and LNG from Qatar and UAE for urea (nitrogen fertiliser) production. Any conflict disrupts all three simultaneously.
💡 Concept Note
India has conducted major evacuation operations when West Asia deteriorates: Operation Rahat (2015, Yemen) evacuated 4,640 Indians and 960 foreigners; Operation Kaveri (2023, Sudan); Operation Ajay (2023, Israel-Gaza). Total remittances to India from its global diaspora are approximately $120 billion per year (world’s largest recipient), with roughly $40 billion from Gulf countries — a larger foreign exchange inflow than many merchandise export categories.
Question 5 of 10
Proton accelerators — whose installation was proposed in Visakhapatnam — are used in which scientific and applied domains?
Proton accelerators have multiple civilian scientific applications: materials science (studying crystal structures and defect analysis), nuclear physics research, cancer treatment (proton therapy precisely destroys tumours with minimal damage to surrounding tissue due to the Bragg Peak effect), production of medical radioisotopes, beam physics research, and testing materials for space and nuclear environments. Large accelerator facilities also train physicists and engineers across disciplines.
💡 Concept Note
India’s main particle physics and accelerator facilities include BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai) and VECC (Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata). The proposed Visakhapatnam high-energy proton accelerator would strengthen India’s scientific ecosystem and reduce dependence on overseas facilities like CERN (Switzerland) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA).
Proton therapy cancer treatment is available in India at the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre, Chennai, and Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. Scientific infrastructure investment is a key theme in India’s STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) Policy.
Proton therapy cancer treatment is available in India at the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre, Chennai, and Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. Scientific infrastructure investment is a key theme in India’s STI (Science, Technology, Innovation) Policy.
Question 6 of 10
The AI-driven disruption to the labour market is described as task-level disruption rather than job-level elimination. What does this distinction mean?
Task-level disruption means AI automates specific tasks within jobs — for example, AI can draft documents (part of a lawyer’s tasks) but not argue before a court; AI can analyse X-rays (part of a radiologist’s tasks) but not build patient rapport or manage complex diagnoses. Jobs are not simply automated away or fully safe — rather, the task composition of roles changes, requiring workers to adapt and new hybrid skills to emerge.
💡 Concept Note
World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report tracks this task-level disruption globally. For India, the challenge is that a large proportion of its 500 million working population is engaged in low-skill tasks (data entry, basic customer service, document processing) that are highly automatable.
Policy responses include NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation), PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), and Digital India reskilling programmes. The NEP 2020 also emphasises shifting education from rote learning to problem-solving and critical thinking.
Policy responses include NSDC (National Skill Development Corporation), PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), and Digital India reskilling programmes. The NEP 2020 also emphasises shifting education from rote learning to problem-solving and critical thinking.
Question 7 of 10
Which of the following is the correct significance of the Galwan Valley clash of June 2020 for India's economic policy?
The Galwan Valley clash (June 15, 2020) — in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed — deepened the strategic rationale for Press Note 3 of 2020 (formally issued April 17, 2020 by DPIIT), which required prior government approval for all FDI from land-border countries. India also banned 200+ Chinese apps (including TikTok, WeChat), restricted Chinese telecom equipment, and increased procurement-linked trade restrictions.
Note: India withdrew from RCEP in November 2019, before Galwan, due to trade deficit concerns.
Note: India withdrew from RCEP in November 2019, before Galwan, due to trade deficit concerns.
💡 Concept Note
India’s China policy post-2020 operates on multiple tracks: strategic (border talks and disengagement at friction points like Depsang, Demchok), economic (FDI restrictions, app bans, duty hikes on Chinese products), and technological (restricting Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks). India’s imports from China remain approximately $100 billion per year despite restrictions — electronics, solar panels, and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) create structural import dependence that is difficult to reduce quickly.
Question 8 of 10
The Dandi March's focus on salt specifically targeted which aspect of colonial economic policy?
The Salt Tax was a monopoly system under which the British colonial government controlled all salt production and levied a tax on it — making salt more expensive and inaccessible to the poorest Indians, who needed it most. By breaking the salt law, Gandhi challenged the legitimacy of colonial economic extraction in a manner every Indian could understand and participate in, regardless of class or literacy.
💡 Concept Note
Salt satyagraha connects to multiple UPSC GS-1 themes: economic exploitation under colonialism, mass mobilisation techniques, Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa and satyagraha, Congress party’s evolution from moderate petition-writing to mass civil disobedience, and the international dimension (American press coverage shifted global opinion against British rule). The salt tax represented a principle: colonialism extracted from India while taxing even the most basic survival needs of the poorest citizens.
Question 9 of 10
India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is stored at which locations to buffer against crude oil supply disruptions?
India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is stored at Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh, 1.33 MMT), Mangaluru (Karnataka, 1.5 MMT), and Padur (Karnataka/Udupi, 2.5 MMT) — all underground rock cavern facilities. Combined capacity is approximately 5.33 million metric tonnes (36.92 million barrels), equivalent to roughly 9.5 days of India’s oil consumption.
The SPR is managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a subsidiary of OIDB under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
The SPR is managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a subsidiary of OIDB under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
💡 Concept Note
India’s SPR capacity of approximately 9.5 days is far below the IEA (International Energy Agency) recommended 90-day reserve for member countries. India is not an IEA member (it is an Association Country) but has cooperated with IEA-coordinated releases (2021, 2022).
Phase II expansion is planned at Chandikhol, Odisha (4 MMT) and Padur Phase II (2.5 MMT) on a PPP basis — which would significantly expand coverage. SPR releases serve both as strategic insurance and diplomatic gestures during global supply emergencies.
Phase II expansion is planned at Chandikhol, Odisha (4 MMT) and Padur Phase II (2.5 MMT) on a PPP basis — which would significantly expand coverage. SPR releases serve both as strategic insurance and diplomatic gestures during global supply emergencies.
Question 10 of 10
West Asia's conflict dynamics affect India's fertiliser security because which key fertiliser raw material is imported in large quantities from the Gulf region?
Natural gas and LNG are the primary feedstock for urea (nitrogen fertiliser) production — natural gas is reformed with steam in the Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia (NH3), which is then converted to urea. India imports natural gas and LNG from Qatar, UAE, and other Gulf producers to supplement domestic natural gas for fertiliser plants.
Any disruption in Gulf energy supply raises urea production costs and potentially affects India’s agricultural input availability.
Any disruption in Gulf energy supply raises urea production costs and potentially affects India’s agricultural input availability.
💡 Concept Note
India is the world’s 2nd-largest fertiliser consumer. For phosphate: India imports heavily from Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt (phosphate rock for DAP and SSP).
For potash: India imports 100% from Belarus, Canada, and Russia (no domestic potash reserves). For urea: India produces most domestically but imports approximately 30% and depends on imported LNG for feedstock in gas-based urea plants.
Fertiliser security is a strategic concern linked to food security, farmer welfare, and the fertiliser subsidy burden (Rs 1.5+ lakh crore per year).
For potash: India imports 100% from Belarus, Canada, and Russia (no domestic potash reserves). For urea: India produces most domestically but imports approximately 30% and depends on imported LNG for feedstock in gas-based urea plants.
Fertiliser security is a strategic concern linked to food security, farmer welfare, and the fertiliser subsidy burden (Rs 1.5+ lakh crore per year).
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