Daily Quiz — April 12, 2026

India’s five CAPFs were historically governed by separate Acts written in different eras under entirely different strategic contexts. The CRPF Act 1949 predates independence; the BSF Act 1968 was written post-1965 war; the SSB Act 2007 came only after the SSB was reoriented as a border-guarding force.
This fragmentation meant service conditions, leave rules, and disciplinary procedures varied across forces — creating friction for inter-force deputation and MHA administration. The CAPF Act 2026 is India’s first attempt at administrative unification.
It does not affect operational mandates (BSF guards borders; CRPF handles internal security) and does not extend any force’s legal powers. The National Security Guard (NSG) is NOT a CAPF and is not covered; nor are the Assam Rifles (under Ministry of Defence) or the NIA and SPG. All five CAPFs operate under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest honour in cinema, given by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at the National Film Awards ceremony. It recognises outstanding contribution to Indian cinema over a lifetime.
Lata Mangeshkar received it in 1989; Asha Bhosle in 2000. Both sisters hold the Padma Vibhushan — Lata (1999), Asha (2008).
Lata additionally received the Bharat Ratna in 2001 — India’s highest civilian honour — which Asha did not receive. Asha Bhosle also holds two National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer: 1981 for Umrao Jaan and 1986 for Ijaazat.
The Guinness World Record recognising her as the Most Recorded Artist was awarded in 2011 for 11,000+ songs across 20+ languages — a record previously held by her sister.

Bhutan’s hydropower cooperation with India is among the most distinctive bilateral energy relationships in South Asia. India has been funding hydro projects in Bhutan since the 1960s (Chukha project).
The model: India provides grant (40%) + loan (60%) financing; Indian PSUs (NHPC, SJVN) often execute or co-execute projects; all power is exported to India under long-term Power Purchase Agreements. The Punatsangchhu-I (1,200 MW) was halted in 2019 when deep geological instability in the dam abutment made continued construction unsafe.
A modified design with additional drainage and anchoring was developed with international consultants. The project resumed April 10, 2026.
At resumption: physical completion ~88%, financial completion ~93%. The companion Punatsangchhu-II (1,020 MW) faces similar geological challenges.
Operational projects include Tala (1,020 MW), Chukha (336 MW), and Mangdechhu (720 MW, operational 2019).

A windfall tax is a levy on abnormally high profits earned by companies due to sudden, external, and unanticipated events — not the result of superior management or innovation. In India, the Windfall Profit Tax (levied as Special Additional Excise Duty under the Finance Act) was first imposed on July 1, 2022 — the week after it was found that domestic crude producers and exporters were booking exceptional profits while domestic retail prices were capped.
It covered crude oil production (initially ₹23,250/tonne) and exports of diesel, petrol (briefly), and ATF. It was revised every fortnight based on crude price movements. It was scrapped in December 2024 when crude prices fell.
It was reinstated in March 2026 as the West Asia conflict pushed prices up again. In April 2026, diesel export windfall tax was ₹55.5/litre (up from ₹21.5/litre) and ATF at ₹42/litre (up from ₹29.5/litre).

THDC India Limited was originally established as a joint venture between the Government of India and the Government of Uttarakhand to develop the Tehri Hydro Power Complex (2,400 MW, Uttarakhand) — one of India’s largest hydro projects. In 2020, NTPC acquired a 74.5% stake in THDC, making it an NTPC subsidiary.
THDC’s mandate was then expanded beyond Tehri to include new hydro projects. Kalai-II represents THDC’s first project in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Lohit River originates in Tibet (as Zayul Chu), enters India through Anjaw District (India’s easternmost district), and joins the Brahmaputra at Sadiya, Assam. Anjaw District borders China and Myanmar.
India’s large hydro PSUs: NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, under Ministry of Power) is the largest; SJVN (originally Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, JV between India and Himachal Pradesh); THDC (NTPC subsidiary); NLC India for lignite + solar.

The genus Platanista contains only one living species (P. gangetica) with two recognised subspecies. The Gangetic dolphin (P. g. gangetica) is found in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna-Karnaphuli river systems of India, Bangladesh, and Nepal — India’s National Aquatic Animal since 2009.
The Indus dolphin (P. g. minor) is found primarily in Pakistan’s Indus River (~2,000 individuals) with a tiny relict population in India’s Beas River (18–35 individuals, above Harike Barrage, Punjab). Both subspecies are functionally blind (no crystalline lens in eyes), navigate by echolocation, and swim on their sides — adaptations to turbid Himalayan river water.
Both are Schedule I under WPA 1972 (highest protection) and Endangered on the IUCN Red List. India launched Project Dolphin in 2020 to conserve both river and marine cetaceans.
The Harike Barrage (Ferozepur, Punjab) creates the Harike Wetland — a Ramsar Site (1990) — but also isolates India’s Indus dolphin population from the global Indus population in Pakistan.

GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rules) was first proposed in India in the 2012 Budget but was repeatedly deferred due to investor concerns about arbitrary application. It finally became effective from April 1, 2017, after a Shome Committee review and detailed guidelines.
GAAR applies to arrangements that are primarily designed to avoid tax and lack commercial substance — the substance-over-form doctrine. The Principal Purpose Test (PPT) within GAAR examines whether a transaction’s main purpose is obtaining a tax benefit.
The Tiger Global case involved offshore fund structures routed through Mauritius/Singapore to avail of treaty-based capital gains exemptions — a common practice for foreign investors in India. The SC ruled these structures lacked commercial substance and GAAR could be invoked.
This has significant implications for FII/FPI investment structures. GAAR is distinct from SAAR (Specific Anti-Avoidance Rules), which target specific transactions.
GAAR is residual — it catches what SAAR misses.

India’s central paramilitary/police architecture has multiple categories. The five Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are all under MHA: BSF (border security), CRPF (internal security/anti-insurgency), CISF (industrial and critical infrastructure security), ITBP (Himalayan/China border), SSB (Nepal and Bhutan borders).
The NSG is under MHA but is NOT classified as a CAPF — it is a specialist counter-terrorism force (Black Cat Commandos) that can be deployed for hijacking, hostage rescue, and VIP protection. It is governed by the NSG Act 1986.
Other non-CAPFs under MHA: NIA (investigative), SPG (VIP protection, under Cabinet Secretariat), IB (intelligence). The Assam Rifles is unique — administratively under MHA but operationally under Army; governed by the Assam Rifles Act 2006.
NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) is drawn from CAPF personnel but is not a separate force.

Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is an electoral roll revision exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India under the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) verify each registered voter’s residence.
Those who cannot be verified are proposed for deletion. The West Bengal SIR removed ~91 lakh voters (11.9% of the electorate) — the largest single-state deletion in recent memory.
The controversy centered on allegedly disproportionate deletions in Murshidabad, Malda, and Uttar Dinajpur (Muslim-majority districts). The Supreme Court’s intervention involved: (1) deploying judicial officers from WB, Odisha, and Jharkhand; (2) establishing 19 appellate tribunals across WB; (3) requiring ECI to publish district-wise deletion data.
The national SIR removed approximately 6.08 crore voters across 9 states and 3 UTs. The right to vote is a constitutional right under Article 326 (universal adult franchise) even though it is not a fundamental right under Part III.

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was constituted under the RBI Act 1934 (amended by Finance Act 2016). It has six members: three RBI officials (Governor as chair, Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy, one RBI-appointed officer) and three external members appointed by the Government of India for 4-year terms.
Decisions are by majority vote; Governor has casting vote in tie. The MPC was given a statutory inflation target: CPI inflation at 4% with a ±2% band.
The April 2026 meeting was the first of FY 2026-27. The repo rate is the rate at which RBI lends overnight to commercial banks — the primary policy rate.
The reverse repo rate (at which RBI borrows from banks) is typically 25 bps below repo. Under the current liquidity framework, the SDF (Standing Deposit Facility) rate serves as the effective floor, replacing the reverse repo.
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra has chaired MPC since December 2024, succeeding Shaktikanta Das.

The historical sequence of CAPF Acts maps to India’s evolving security priorities. The Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) became the CRPF in 1949 — making it India’s oldest central paramilitary force.
The BSF was raised in December 1965 immediately after the India-Pakistan war and formalized by the BSF Act in 1968. CISF was established in 1969 to provide security to public sector undertakings (steel plants, airports, ports).
ITBP was actually raised in October 1962 (within weeks of the Sino-Indian war) but the formal statutory basis came only with the ITBP Act 1992 — a gap of 30 years during which it operated under executive orders. SSB was raised in 1963 as Special Service Bureau (for border intelligence) and reoriented to border guarding in 2001; the SSB Act 2007 gave it a formal mandate.
The fifth CAPF by Act year: SSB Act 2007. The CAPF Act 2026 is now an umbrella over all five.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are the most marginalised among Scheduled Tribes, identified by criteria including declining or stagnant population, pre-agricultural technology, low literacy, and subsistence economy. India has 75 PVTGs across 18 states and 1 UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands).
The Lanjia Saora are found in Odisha (primarily Rayagada and Gajapati districts) and are of Proto-Australoid ethnicity. They speak Sora — a Munda (Austro-Asiatic) language, not Dravidian.
Munda languages are distinct from both Dravidian (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam) and Indo-Aryan (Hindi, Bengali) families. The Sora community has the Sorang Sompeng script — an indigenous alphabetic script used to write the Sora language, attributed to Mangei Gomango (created 1936).
Other notable tribal scripts: Ol Chiki (for Santali, Raghunath Murmu, 1925). The Ministry of Tribal Affairs runs the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission with dedicated ring-fenced funding for PVTGs.
The Chena cultivation (shifting cultivation) is a traditional agricultural practice of the Sora.

India-UAE bilateral relations: The partnership was elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in January 2022 during PM Modi’s visit to the UAE. The India-UAE CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) was signed in February 2022 and came into force May 2022 — one of India’s fastest-negotiated FTAs (completed in ~88 days). UAE is India’s 3rd largest trading partner (~$83 billion, 2023-24) after the US and China.
UAE is India’s 2nd largest export destination. India’s diaspora in UAE: ~3.5 million — the largest Indian diaspora in any single country.
ADIA (Abu Dhabi Investment Authority) is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds (~$700-800 billion AUM) and has made significant investments in India’s infrastructure, real estate, and renewable energy. EAM Jaishankar visited UAE on April 11-12, 2026, to review the partnership amid West Asia energy tensions.

The Indus River dolphin’s unique adaptations are a product of millions of years of evolution in the turbid, fast-flowing waters of the Indus river system. Functional blindness evolved because vision provides no advantage in silty water — echolocation (biosonar) is both more effective and energetically efficient in this environment.
Side-swimming is unique among cetaceans and is thought to help the dolphin scan the shallow riverbed for prey while navigating in as little as 30 cm of water. The Harike Barrage was built in 1952 at the confluence of Beas and Sutlej rivers near Ferozepur, Punjab.
It created the Harike Wetland (Hari-ke-Pattan) — a 4,100-hectare lake that was designated a Ramsar site in 1990 for its importance as a waterfowl habitat. The barrage’s spillways and gates do not have fish/dolphin passes — making it an impassable barrier for the Indus dolphin.
India’s 18–35 dolphins are thus genetically isolated from Pakistan’s ~2,000-strong population, creating serious long-term inbreeding risk.