UPSC Prelims Practice
Current Affairs Quiz 18 June 2026
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14 questions based on today’s current affairs & editorials
14 MCQs
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Question 1 of 14
The VB-G RAM G Act 2025, which replaces MGNREGA from July 2026, changes the funding model in which key way?
FACT: Under MGNREGA the wage component was borne 100 percent by the Centre; the VB-G RAM G Act shifts to a 60:40 Centre-State split. ANALYSIS: This brings states into the wage burden for the first time, raising concerns for fiscally weak states with high rural distress.
📝 Concept Note
The Act also raises the guarantee from 100 to 125 days per household per year, effective July 1, 2026, with an interim release of Rupees 95,692.31 crore on June 9, 2026. Existing e-KYC Job Cards stay valid until new Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Cards are issued.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS2 (right to work, fiscal federalism), GS3 (rural employment). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | demand-driven guarantee, cost-sharing, cooperative federalism. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | thinking the day cap fell; it rose to 125. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | MGNREGA wages were 100 percent Centre; VB-G RAM G is 60:40. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** can a justiciable right survive divided funding? |
Question 2 of 14
The VB-G RAM G Act preserves which defining feature of the earlier MGNREGA architecture?
FACT: The new Act retains the demand-driven, justiciable guarantee, work is provided when households demand it, and failure to provide it triggers a statutory liability. ANALYSIS: This is what distinguishes a right-to-work guarantee from a target-driven scheme.
📝 Concept Note
The unemployment allowance, payable when work is not provided within the statutory window, and the social-audit accountability mechanism are the features that gave MGNREGA its legitimacy and should carry over.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS2 (statutory rights, accountability). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | justiciable entitlement, social audit, demand-driven. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | treating a guarantee like an ordinary scheme. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | a guarantee is enforceable; a scheme is target-driven. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** why is the legal nature of the guarantee important? |
Question 3 of 14
Under the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, when the flow at Farakka is 70,000 cusecs or less, the water is shared:
FACT: At a flow of 70,000 cusecs or less at Farakka, the Treaty prescribes a 50:50 split; at 70,000 to 75,000 cusecs Bangladesh is guaranteed 35,000 cusecs. ANALYSIS: The Treaty has no guarantee clause assuring India a minimum flow in exceptionally low-water years, a long-standing Indian concern.
📝 Concept Note
The Treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 for a 30-year term and expires in December 2026. The dry season is defined as January 1 to May 31.
Renewal talks are underway even as Bangladesh has cleared a Padma Barrage downstream of Farakka.
Renewal talks are underway even as Bangladesh has cleared a Padma Barrage downstream of Farakka.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS2 (India-Bangladesh), GS1 (Ganga geography). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | transboundary rivers, guarantee clause, basin management. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | assuming a guaranteed minimum for India exists. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | 70,000 cusecs or less means 50:50. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** how should low-flow years be managed? |
Question 4 of 14
The Farakka Barrage, commissioned in 1975 in West Bengal, was built primarily to:
FACT: Farakka was built to divert a share of the Ganga into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly system to flush silt and maintain navigability at Kolkata port. ANALYSIS: The diversion reduced lean-season flow downstream into Bangladesh, creating the dispute the 1996 Treaty later sought to settle.
📝 Concept Note
India and Bangladesh share 54 transboundary rivers. West Bengal is a directly affected stakeholder, giving the Treaty renewal a federal dimension alongside the foreign-policy one.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS1 (rivers, siltation), GS2 (federal-IR overlap). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | navigability, sediment flushing, downstream effects. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | thinking Farakka is mainly a power project. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | Farakka serves the Hooghly and Kolkata port. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** balancing port needs against downstream flow. |
Question 5 of 14
The Nicobarese opposition to the new A&N Tribal Councils election rules centres on the rules ignoring the "Tuhet". The Tuhet is best described as:
FACT: A Tuhet is a Nicobarese joint family or clan that holds property in common and governs by consensus, with authority flowing from kinship and custom rather than an individual ballot. ANALYSIS: The Rules 2026 impose five-yearly individual-vote elections, which the Councils say erodes the Tuhet structure.
📝 Concept Note
The Nicobarese are a Scheduled Tribe, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a Union Territory. The seven Tribal Councils argue the Rules, notified in May 2026 with a June 15 objection deadline, were framed without consulting them.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS1 (tribal society), GS2 (self-governance, consultation). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | customary law, free prior informed consent, Scheduled Tribe. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | treating customary and statutory legitimacy as the same. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | Tuhet = consensus-based clan governance. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** can custom and statute coexist in tribal governance? |
Question 6 of 14
Andhra Pradesh’s 2026 cash incentive for third and fourth children is best understood as a response to:
FACT: Andhra Pradesh’s TFR is around 1.5, well below the replacement level of 2.1, so the state announced Rupees 30,000 for a third child and Rupees 40,000 for a fourth to encourage larger families. ANALYSIS: This pronatalist turn reverses the earlier two-child norm.
📝 Concept Note
A TFR below 2.1 means a population cannot replace itself across generations. A key driver is the worry that southern states could lose parliamentary seats when delimitation is keyed to population, penalising their demographic success.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS1 (demographic transition), GS2 (population policy, delimitation). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | sub-replacement fertility, pronatalism, reproductive autonomy. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | reading the move as anti-natalist. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | replacement TFR is 2.1; AP is around 1.5. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** do cash incentives actually raise fertility? |
Question 7 of 14
ISRO is developing lunar-night survival technology with the Department of Atomic Energy mainly because, during the roughly 14-Earth-day lunar night:
FACT: A lunar night lasts about 14 Earth days with no sunlight, and temperatures near the poles fall to around minus 180 degrees Celsius, freezing electronics and batteries. ANALYSIS: Involving the DAE points to radioisotope heating, where heat from radioactive decay keeps components warm through the night.
📝 Concept Note
Chandrayaan-3 landed near the lunar south pole in 2023 at Shiv Shakti Point and operated for one lunar day. The new technology targets 100 to 200 day life and feeds Chandrayaan-4 (sample return) and the Bharatiya Antariksha Station.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (space tech, indigenisation). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | radioisotope heating, mission endurance, lunar south pole. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | thinking dust, not cold and darkness, is the main problem. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | lunar day and night each last about 14 Earth days. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** why does long mission life multiply science return? |
Question 8 of 14
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) differs from the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in that the WPI:
FACT: The WPI tracks goods at the wholesale level and has no services component, while the CPI tracks retail prices including services and is the RBI’s inflation anchor. ANALYSIS: The WPI was rebased to 2022-23 from 2011-12, effective with the May 2026 data.
📝 Concept Note
The WPI is compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry; the CPI by the NSO under MoSPI. CPI inflation was 3.9 percent in May 2026, up from 3.5 percent in April.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (inflation, official statistics). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | base-year revision, anchor index, producer prices. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | thinking WPI anchors monetary policy. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | WPI = wholesale goods (DPIIT); CPI = retail with services (NSO/MoSPI). |
| 🎤 Interview | ** why does CPI, not WPI, guide the RBI? |
Question 9 of 14
The RBI’s June 2026 removal of interest-rate caps on FCNR(B) and NRE deposits was aimed primarily at:
FACT: The RBI lifted rate ceilings on fresh FCNR(B) deposits of 3 to 5 years and NRE deposits of 3 years and above, effective June 17 to September 30, 2026, to draw NRI inflows and support the rupee. ANALYSIS: Higher permissible rates make these deposits more attractive, boosting forex inflows.
📝 Concept Note
FCNR(B) accounts are held in foreign currency, shielding the depositor from rupee depreciation; NRE accounts are rupee-denominated and fully repatriable; NRO accounts hold India-earned income with limited repatriation.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (external sector, monetary tools). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | capital account, NRI deposits, rupee defence. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | confusing FCNR(B), NRE and NRO accounts. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | FCNR(B) is foreign-currency; NRE is rupee and repatriable. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** tools to defend the rupee. |
Question 10 of 14
The rising Compressed Biogas (CBG) blending obligation, set to reach 3 percent of CNG and PNG in FY27, falls under which scheme?
FACT: The CBG blending obligation rises under the SATAT scheme, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, phasing 1 percent in FY26, 3 percent in FY27, 4 percent in FY28 and 5 percent from FY29. ANALYSIS: CBG, around 90 percent methane, is interchangeable with CNG and aids import substitution.
📝 Concept Note
CBG is purified, compressed biogas made from agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal waste, linking energy policy to the circular economy. SATAT was launched to set up CBG production plants and create a market for the fuel.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (energy transition, circular economy). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | biofuel blending, import substitution, waste-to-energy. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | linking CBG to FAME (which is for EVs). |
| 📌 Exam Tip | SATAT promotes CBG; CBG is around 90 percent methane. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** how does CBG support both energy and waste goals? |
Question 11 of 14
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), in news for a new Inspector General appointment, was established under which law and in response to what event?
FACT: The NIA was created under the NIA Act 2008 following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, as India’s central counter-terror investigation agency, headquartered in New Delhi under the Ministry of Home Affairs. ANALYSIS: The NIA (Amendment) Act 2019 later widened its jurisdiction.
📝 Concept Note
The 2019 amendment lets the NIA probe specified offences committed abroad against Indians or Indian interests. Sundarraj P, a 2003-batch Chhattisgarh-cadre IPS officer and IG Bastar Range, was appointed IG, NIA, on June 16, 2026.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (internal security, agencies). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | counter-terror architecture, central agency, jurisdiction. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | dating the NIA to 2019 rather than 2008. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | NIA Act 2008 (post 26/11); 2019 amendment widened reach. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** federal concerns over a central investigating agency. |
Question 12 of 14
The IMD declares the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala only when which combination of criteria is met together?
FACT: The IMD declares onset using a combination of rainfall thresholds, the depth of westerly winds up to the 600 hPa level, and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), not rainfall alone. ANALYSIS: The 2026 Kerala onset was on May 24, eight days ahead of the normal June 1 date and the earliest since 2009.
📝 Concept Note
The IMD functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. On June 17, 2026 it forecast monsoon advance into more of Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar and parts of Chhattisgarh around June 23, with full national coverage expected around July 15.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS1 (climatology, monsoon), GS3 (agriculture link). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | onset criteria, westerlies, OLR. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | assuming onset is declared on rainfall alone. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | onset needs rainfall plus wind depth plus OLR together. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** why does monsoon timing matter for agriculture? |
Question 13 of 14
The newly described lynx spider Hamataliwa mawlyngot, found in Meghalaya, belongs to a family of spiders that:
FACT: Hamataliwa mawlyngot belongs to the family Oxyopidae, the lynx spiders, which are web-less hunters that actively chase and leap on prey. ANALYSIS: It is the first record of the genus Hamataliwa in Meghalaya, described by the Zoological Survey of India with the University of Calcutta.
📝 Concept Note
The spider was found in Mawlyngot village in the East Khasi Hills, within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the world’s most biodiverse and threatened regions. The ZSI is India’s premier faunal survey body.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS3 (biodiversity, hotspots). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | Indo-Burma hotspot, species discovery, ZSI. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | assuming all spiders spin webs. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | Oxyopidae (lynx spiders) hunt without webs. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** why are biodiversity hotspots a conservation priority? |
Question 14 of 14
The Delhi High Court case linking messaging platforms to exam paper leaks tests "safe harbour" for intermediaries, a protection found in:
FACT: Section 79 of the IT Act 2000 grants intermediaries safe harbour from liability for third-party content, subject to due-diligence conditions, which the case tests. ANALYSIS: Separately, the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 criminalises paper leaks.
📝 Concept Note
NEET-UG is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Section 66A, by contrast, was struck down in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) for being unconstitutionally vague, so it is no longer in force.
🎯 Concept Kit — tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | GS2 (governance, exam integrity), GS3 (cyber law). |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | intermediary liability, safe harbour, due diligence. |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | confusing Section 79 (safe harbour) with the struck-down 66A. |
| 📌 Exam Tip | Section 79 = intermediary safe harbour. |
| 🎤 Interview | ** should platforms be liable for leaked papers? |
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