UPSC Prelims Practice
Current Affairs Quiz 21 April 2026
Test Your Knowledge
10 questions based on today’s current affairs & editorials
Choose number of questions
Question 1 of 10
1. It marked the end of the Delhi Sultanate.
2. It was the first large-scale use of gunpowder weapons in an open-field battle in India.
3. Babur used the Tulughma flanking tactic combined with Ottoman artillery.
Select the correct answer:
All three statements are correct. The battle ended the Lodi dynasty (last of the Delhi Sultanate, 1206–1526), introduced mass battlefield use of gunpowder weapons in India, and Babur employed the Tulughma double-envelopment tactic with Ottoman matchlocks and artillery under Ustad Ali Quli.
Concept note
Ibrahim Lodi died on the battlefield, the last Delhi Sultan to fall fighting. Babur’s ~12,000 troops defeated ~100,000 Lodi forces.
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Question 2 of 10
April 21, 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of IAS (then ICS) probationers at Metcalfe House, Delhi, calling civil servants the ‘steel frame of India.’ National Civil Services Day has been observed since 2006.
Concept note
PM Awards for Excellence in Public Administration (PMAEPA), ₹20 lakh per award, are conferred on this day.
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Question 3 of 10
Mission Karmayogi (National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building, NPCSCB) was approved by the Cabinet in September 2020. Its pillars include the iGOT platform, Competency Framework, Capacity Building Commission (created 2021), and Annual Capacity Building Plans.
Concept note
iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training), 1 crore+ government employees registered (crossed 1 crore milestone; earlier figure of 30 lakh was outdated). Lateral entry is a separate initiative introduced in 2018.
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Question 4 of 10
Odisha implemented MSP in partnership with the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, as part of the Indo-Norway Integrated Ocean Initiative launched in 2019.
Concept note
NCCR is headquartered in Chennai. Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest brackish lagoon and India’s first Ramsar Wetland (1981), is a critical MSP focus area.
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Question 5 of 10
1 India’s Sundarbans National Park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and India’s Sundarbans was designated a Ramsar Wetland in 2019.
2 Research from IISER Kolkata found microplastic concentrations surge approximately 40% during winter.
3. 'Plastispheres' are microbial communities that form on plastic debris and may act as artificial carbon sources. Which statements are correct?
Statements 1 and 3 are correct. India’s Sundarbans NP was inscribed UNESCO WHS in 1987; India’s Sundarbans Wetland was designated Ramsar in 2019 (the Bangladesh Sundarbans was designated Ramsar in 1992, a common confusion point). Plastispheres are microbial communities on plastic debris that leach dissolved organic carbon, undermining the Sundarbans’ blue-carbon role.
Statement 2Incorrect
Microplastic concentrations surge ~40% during the MONSOON (not winter).
Concept note
~50% of Sundarbans microplastics are textile fibres. Sundarbans total area ~10,000 sq km; India ~3,483 sq km; Bangladesh ~6,517 sq km.
Carbon stored ~54-57 million tonnes.
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Question 6 of 10
Blue carbon is carbon captured and stored by coastal and marine ecosystems, specifically mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes. These ecosystems sequester carbon 3-5 times faster per unit area than tropical forests and store it for thousands of years in waterlogged sediments.
Concept note
Blue carbon is distinct from ‘green carbon’ (terrestrial forests). The Sundarbans is one of Asia’s most significant blue carbon stores.
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Question 7 of 10
Heatwaves are NOT classified as a ‘notified disaster’ under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. This means SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) and NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) don’t automatically activate for heat events. Drought and cold waves are notified; heatwaves are not.
India currently uses dry-bulb (not wet-bulb) temperature thresholds.
Concept note
In 2024, extreme heat cost India 247 billion labour hours and $194 billion in income. 400-490 million informal workers lack cooling access.
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Question 8 of 10
A wet-bulb temperature of 35°C is the theoretical human survivability limit. Above this threshold, the body cannot cool itself through sweating even in the shade with unlimited water, resulting in hyperthermia and death within hours. The IPCC projects parts of South Asia crossing this threshold by 2050 under high-emission scenarios.
Concept note
India currently classifies heatwaves using dry-bulb temperatures (40°C+ for plains). Parts of coastal India and the IGP have already recorded wet-bulb temperatures of 31-33°C in peak summer.
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Question 9 of 10
Category A in the AIU’s Risk Categorisation System designates the highest doping-risk nations. Indian athletes are subject to the most intensive whereabouts tracking (mandatory quarterly filing), out-of-competition testing, and Athlete Biological Passport monitoring. India recorded 260 doping violations in 2024, the highest globally.
Concept note
NADA enforces anti-doping rules under the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022. The National Anti-Doping Tribunal (NADT) adjudicates cases.
WADA accredited lab: NDTL, New Delhi.
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Question 10 of 10
Through-Glass Vias (TGVs) are microscopic conductive channels (filled with metal, typically copper) drilled through a glass substrate. They allow vertical interconnection between chips stacked on top of each other in 3D packaging, enabling heterogeneous integration of logic, memory, and other chip types in a single compact package.
Concept note
India’s first 3D glass chip packaging facility in Bhubaneswar, Odisha has a capacity of 70,000 panels and 50 million units annually. This aligns with the India Semiconductor Mission (₹76,000 crore).
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Performance
Question-wise Result
