Current Affairs Quiz 13 April 2026

The Rowlatt Act was based on the Sedition Committee report (1918) chaired by Justice Sidney Rowlatt, which reviewed the threat from Ghadar revolutionaries and Bengal terrorism. It extended wartime Defence of India Act provisions — specifically preventive detention — into peacetime without judicial oversight.
All Indian members voted against; the British official bloc passed it. Gandhi called it “the Black Act.” Brigadier-General Dyer issued a proclamation banning public gatherings in Amritsar; the April 13 crowd — gathered for Baisakhi and protesting arrests of Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew — was unaware or unable to comply.
The massacre and the Hunter Commission’s lenient verdict together radicalized India’s constitutional moderates, accelerating the shift toward complete independence as the political goal.

The WTO’s MFN obligation (GATT Article I) requires a member to grant any trade advantage given to one country to all WTO members equally. Article XXIV carves out an exception: FTAs and customs unions are permitted if they liberalise “substantially all trade” in goods (no agreed definition, but generally interpreted as >90% of trade) and are notified to the WTO. The Enabling Clause (1979 Decision) is a separate carve-out specifically for preferential treatment among developing countries — this is the legal basis for GSP schemes and GSTP, not bilateral FTAs between a developed and developing economy.
Article XX covers general exceptions (health, morality, environment, security) — not tariff preferences. The India-UK FTA, once implemented, will be notified to the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements.

Under the Constitution, minerals are in the Concurrent List (Entry 54, Union List for regulation and development of mines). The MMDR Act 1957 originally gave states the dominant role in granting mineral concessions.
The 2021 amendment opened up captive mines and introduced commercial mining auctions. The 2023 amendment went further by identifying a list of critical minerals — including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements — and enabling the Centre to auction these directly.
India imports 80–90% of its critical mineral needs. KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. — NALCO 40%, HCL 30%, MECL 30%) handles overseas acquisition.
The 46 blocks auctioned in April 2026 represent the largest single-round auction under the new framework. India also joined the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) as the only developing-country member.

NPCI was incorporated in 2008 and became operational in 2009. Its umbrella products include UPI, IMPS, RuPay, NACH, FASTag, and BBPS. UPI processed 21.70 billion transactions worth ₹28.33 lakh crore in January 2026 — India’s share of global real-time payment transactions stands at 49%.
The zero-MDR policy for UPI was introduced in January 2020. NPCI International Payments Ltd (NIPL), a wholly-owned subsidiary, manages UPI’s global rollout — live in France, UAE, Singapore, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka.
RBI regulates NPCI under PSSA 2007 as an authorised payment system operator and as a payment system participant, but RBI holds no equity. The ownership structure (banks owning the infrastructure they use) is a significant governance debate — especially given UPI’s role in nearly half of all global real-time payments.

India’s fertilizer subsidy expenditure (FY26): approximately ₹1.95–2 lakh crore. Urea MRP has been frozen at ₹242 per 45 kg bag since 2012, making it the most fiscally expensive item.
The Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme covers P and K fertilizers (including DAP and MOP) but explicitly excludes urea — a policy asymmetry that incentivises urea overuse. India’s nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for urea is only 35–40%, meaning 60–65% is lost to the atmosphere or leached into soil.
The ICRIER-Ashok Gulati report (2026) recommends extending NBS to urea, implementing true farmer-level DBT (cash in hand rather than subsidised product), and crop-neutral pricing to correct the NPK imbalance that decades of urea subsidisation have created.

The Shompen are among India’s most isolated indigenous communities, numbering fewer than 300 (Census 2011: 229 individuals). They inhabit Great Nicobar’s interior rainforests and are classified as a PVTG — the most vulnerable category within Scheduled Tribes, identified on criteria of pre-agricultural technology, stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy, and subsistence economy.
India has 75 recognised PVTGs. For constitutional purposes: the Fifth Schedule covers tribal areas in mainland states (Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, etc.) — PESA applies here.
The Sixth Schedule covers Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram through autonomous district councils. A&N Islands as a UT fall under neither Schedule in the same manner, making their tribal protection framework a distinct regulatory question.

The National Green Tribunal was established in 2010 under the NGT Act, replacing the National Environment Tribunal (1995) and National Environment Appellate Authority (1997). It has original jurisdiction over “substantial questions relating to environment” arising from the seven scheduled Acts.
NGT also has appellate jurisdiction over environmental clearances granted under the Environment Protection Act 1986. The exclusion of FRA 2006 from NGT’s schedule is a significant gap — tribal forest rights disputes involving large infrastructure projects must go to High Courts or the Supreme Court.
Appeals from NGT go to the Supreme Court. NGT applies the precautionary principle, polluter pays principle, and sustainable development as legally binding standards — unlike civil courts which apply CPC.

The genuine DBT reform proposal would deposit the subsidy equivalent directly into the farmer’s Aadhaar-linked account (like PM-KISAN), allowing purchase of any fertilizer at market price. Benefits: (1) end urea overuse caused by below-cost pricing; (2) allow NBS logic to apply to urea; (3) remove diversion incentive to non-agricultural uses.
Risks: without robust land records and banking penetration, marginal farmers could be bypassed. India’s fertilizer subsidy (FY26): ~₹1.95–2 lakh crore.
Urea accounts for over half — its MRP has been ₹242/bag since 2012. The current “DBT” is technically point-of-sale (PoS) tracking, not a cash transfer.
Comparing: PM-KISAN = true DBT (₹6,000/year cash to farmer); Fertilizer “DBT” = company reimbursement post-sale.

GATS defines four modes of services supply: Mode 1 (Cross-border — software emailed to a UK client); Mode 2 (Consumption abroad — UK tourist buys Ayurveda in Kerala); Mode 3 (Commercial presence — Infosys opens a London office); Mode 4 (Natural persons — TCS sends a consultant to a client site in Manchester). India’s IT-BPM sector earns approximately $227 billion annually (FY24), with UK among the top 3 destination markets.
Post-Brexit, the UK’s points-based immigration system imposes salary floors and sponsor licence requirements that constrain Mode 4 flows. An FTA chapter on Mode 4 — covering intra-company transferees, business visitors, and independent professionals — could significantly lower these barriers.
Compare: India-UAE CEPA (2022) includes Mode 4 provisions for specified professional categories.

The Disorders Inquiry Committee was chaired by Lord William Hunter (former Solicitor-General for Scotland). It submitted its report in March 1920.
The British majority exonerated Dyer of moral culpability; Indian members (including Sir Chimanlal Setalvad and Pandit Jagat Narayan Mulla) filed a dissent. Dyer was asked to resign and barred from re-employment but received no criminal punishment.
The British public raised a “Morning Post Fund” of £26,000 in his support. Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood.
The massacre and the Commission’s mild response convinced many constitutional moderates — including Motilal Nehru — that reform within empire was futile. Britain expressed “deep regret” through Queen Elizabeth II’s Amritsar visit in 1997 but has never issued a formal state apology.
Note: The Hunter Commission is distinct from the Rowlatt Committee (Justice Sidney Rowlatt, 1918) which preceded the Act.

Baisakhi marks the solar new year across several regional calendars: Vishu (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Puthandu (Tamil Nadu). For Sikhs, it additionally commemorates the Khalsa’s founding.
Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa as an initiated community bound by the Panj Kakars (five K’s: Kesh, Kanga, Kara, Kachha, Kirpan). The founding was an act of resistance: Guru Tegh Bahadur (9th Guru) had been executed by Aurangzeb in 1675 for refusing to convert.
The Khalsa’s egalitarian ethos — admitting members from all castes into the brotherhood — was a direct challenge to the social hierarchy the Mughal state was exploiting. Patna Sahib is Guru Gobind Singh’s birthplace; Fatehgarh Sahib is where two of his younger sons were martyred in 1704; neither is the Khalsa’s founding site.

Uzbekistan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which India joined as a full member in 2017. India’s Central Asia engagement includes bilateral exercises (DUSTLIK with Uzbekistan), the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), and the Chabahar port route as an alternative to Pakistan-controlled land access. “DUSTLIK” means “friendship” in Uzbek.
India conducts over 50 bilateral military exercises annually; other notable ones include SHAKTI (India-France), YUDH ABHYAS (India-USA), NOMADIC ELEPHANT (India-Mongolia), and CYCLONE (India-Egypt). HADR exercises are more typical with maritime neighbours (e.g., India-Sri Lanka MITRA SHAKTI).
The SCO framework has made Central Asian counter-terrorism cooperation a growing area of India’s defence diplomacy — alongside simultaneous engagement with NATO countries.

The Gangetic Dolphin was declared India’s National Aquatic Animal on October 5, 2009 at the inaugural meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), chaired by PM Manmohan Singh. It is one of only four freshwater dolphin species remaining worldwide (alongside Indus river dolphin, Irrawaddy dolphin, and Amazon river dolphin).
It is functionally blind — the lens of the eye does not focus light — and uses echolocation for navigation and prey detection. WPA 1972 Schedule I affords absolute protection: no hunting, trade, or possession.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) 2026 report found that reduced Chambal River flow (due to irrigation extraction) is forcing dolphins downstream toward the Yamuna confluence. The Chambal runs through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh and is one of India’s least-polluted major rivers.

FIU-IND was established in November 2004 under Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue). It analyses suspicious transaction reports (STRs) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, and reports to the Economic Intelligence Council.
I4C was established by MHA in 2018 and made operational in January 2020; it manages the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (cybercrime.gov.in) and coordinates inter-agency response to cyber fraud. India recorded over 18 lakh cybercrime complaints in 2023 (NCRB).
The FIU-IND + I4C MoU targets cyber-enabled financial fraud — where a digital crime generates illicit proceeds subsequently laundered through the formal financial system, requiring both agencies’ distinct expertise. This coordination model follows FATF recommendations on virtual assets and cyber-enabled financial crime.