Current Affairs Quiz 28 September 2026

Sanctions come in two broad kinds. Primary sanctions restrict a country’s own citizens and firms from dealing with a target.

Secondary sanctions penalise third countries or their firms for dealing with the target, which extends a law’s reach beyond the sanctioning state’s borders. CAATSA, passed in 2017, combined sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia; its Section 231 lets the US President sanction any person who makes a significant transaction with Russia’s defence or intelligence sectors, with a national-security waiver.

Turkey’s case in 2020 showed that even a NATO ally can be targeted. India has argued that its defence ties with Russia predate the law and serve its security, and it has not been sanctioned.

The 2026 Act adds a newer instrument, secondary tariffs: higher customs duties on all imports from countries that are among the largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. India’s formal position is that it follows sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, not unilateral sanctions of individual states, and that its energy purchases are driven by the needs of its consumers.

The India-US partnership has shifted from defence purchases and civil nuclear cooperation towards technology and supply chains. The initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), agreed in 2022, was rebranded TRUST in 2025 to cover semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, space and critical minerals.

INDUS-X, launched in 2023, links defence start-ups, investors and research institutions. Pax Silica, a US-led grouping launched in December 2025, seeks to build a secure and trusted supply chain from minerals and energy inputs through advanced manufacturing and chips to AI infrastructure and logistics, reducing coercive dependencies; India joined at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026.

These frameworks matter beyond technology: in a negotiation over sanctions or tariffs, they are assets India can put on the table because Washington values India’s talent pool, market and manufacturing potential. The Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, announced in the February 2025 joint statement, covers maritime cooperation in the region.

Section 24 excludes whole organisations from the RTI Act, unlike Section 8, which lists categories of information that may be withheld. The Second Schedule lists central intelligence and security organisations such as the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Enforcement Directorate, the Narcotics Control Bureau and central armed police forces; the CBI was added in June 2011.

The Centre may amend the Schedule by notification laid before Parliament, and States may notify their own organisations. The proviso is the key safeguard: corruption and human rights information cannot be withheld, though human rights requests need the Commission’s approval and have a 45-day timeline instead of the usual 30 days.

In Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra (2026), the Supreme Court struck down a Madhya Pradesh notification exempting the Lokayukta’s Special Police Establishment, holding that an agency investigating corruption is not an intelligence and security organisation. The test is the nature of an organisation’s functions, not the label a government gives it.

The RTI Act, 2005 created the Central Information Commission (Section 12) and State Information Commissions (Section 15) as statutory bodies to hear appeals and complaints. Originally, Commissioners had a five-year term (or until 65), and their salaries were linked to those of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners, which was meant to secure independence.

The 2019 amendment delinked these and left them to rules made by the Centre, which fixed a three-year term. The DPDP Act, 2023 made a further change: the old Section 8(1)(j) exempted personal information having no relationship to public activity or interest, unless the larger public interest justified disclosure; the new clause exempts information relating to personal information without that override, which critics say will shield officials’ records such as asset declarations.

Supporters argue it protects privacy, a fundamental right recognised in the Puttaswamy judgment (2017). The CIC’s selection committee is chaired by the Prime Minister, not the Chief Justice.

The Railways Act, 1989 has two compensation provisions. Section 124 covers accidents such as collisions and derailments.

Section 124A, inserted later, covers “untoward incidents”, defined in Section 123(c) to include terrorist acts, violent attacks, robbery, dacoity, rioting, firing or arson inside trains or station premises, and the accidental falling of a passenger from a train. Liability under Section 124A is strict: compensation is payable whether or not the railway was at fault, subject to exceptions such as suicide, self-inflicted injury or criminal acts by the victim.

Claims are decided by the Railway Claims Tribunal, set up under the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, with appeals to the High Court. The amount for death is fixed by rules and was raised to Rs 8 lakh.

In Union of India v. Rina Devi (2018), the Supreme Court held that the mere absence of a ticket does not rule out a claim: an affidavit by the claimant discharges the initial burden, which then shifts to the railway. Courts read the provision as beneficial legislation, construed in favour of victims.

A western disturbance (WD) is a mid-latitude, extra-tropical low-pressure system embedded in the westerlies. In winter the subtropical westerly jet stream shifts south of the Himalaya and steers WDs across Pakistan and north-west India, where they bring rain, cloudiness and cold waves, and heavy snow to Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

This winter rain is valuable for wheat and other rabi crops. In summer the jet shifts north of the Tibetan plateau and WDs weaken, though they can still reach north India.

When a WD interacts with monsoon moisture, especially during the monsoon’s onset or withdrawal, the result can be extreme rainfall, as in Uttarakhand in June 2013. Monsoon depressions are different: tropical systems formed over the head of the Bay of Bengal that move inland and bring much of the monsoon rain to central and northern India.

The IMD grades low-pressure systems by sustained wind speed: depression 17 to 27 knots, deep depression 28 to 33 knots, cyclonic storm 34 to 47 knots.

Bhagat Singh belonged to the second wave of revolutionary nationalism, which rose after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation in 1922. He founded the Naujawan Bharat Sabha in 1926 and, with Chandrashekhar Azad and others, turned the Hindustan Republican Association into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association in 1928, reflecting the influence of socialism.

After Lala Lajpat Rai died following a lathi charge during protests against the Simon Commission in 1928, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Azad killed Assistant Superintendent John Saunders in Lahore, mistaking him for the officer they meant to target. The Assembly bombing of April 1929 was designed to be heard, not to kill, and the accused used their trial to publicise their ideas.

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged in Lahore on 23 March 1931, now observed as Shaheed Diwas. The Congress session at Karachi in March 1931, presided over by Vallabhbhai Patel, praised their bravery while keeping its commitment to non-violence.

Vithalbhai Patel, a Swarajist, was the Assembly’s first elected Indian President.

India’s trade agreements carry different names that reflect their scope. Early agreements were mostly Preferential Trade Agreements or Free Trade Agreements in goods, such as the India-Sri Lanka FTA (1998, in force 2000).

From the 2000s India signed broader agreements covering goods, services and investment: the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Singapore (2005), and CEPAs with South Korea (2009) and Japan (2011). After a pause, India returned to deals with major partners from 2021: Mauritius (CECPA, 2021), the UAE (CEPA, 2022), Australia (ECTA, 2022), the European Free Trade Association (TEPA, 2024) and the United Kingdom (CETA, 2025).

A comprehensive agreement with Canada was being negotiated in the 2010s but stalled; talks were relaunched in 2026 after relations recovered from the 2023 diplomatic breakdown. The names matter less than the content, but examiners use them as traps, such as matching TEPA with the EU instead of EFTA.

Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease of the central nervous system. The virus travels along nerves to the brain, so the incubation period can range from weeks to months depending on the site of the bite.

It is nearly 100 per cent fatal after symptoms begin, but nearly 100 per cent preventable with timely post-exposure prophylaxis: immediate washing of the wound with soap and water, a course of anti-rabies vaccine and, for severe exposures, rabies immunoglobulin. Louis Pasteur and his colleagues developed the first rabies vaccine and used it on a human, Joseph Meister, in 1885.

Dogs cause the vast majority of human rabies cases, so mass dog vaccination is the most effective way to break transmission. India’s National Action Plan for Dog Mediated Rabies Elimination (NAPRE) adopts a One Health approach, combining human health, animal husbandry and local bodies, and aligns with the global “Zero by 30” goal of WHO, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Disclosure by candidates rests on the voter’s right to know under Article 19(1)(a). After Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms (2002), Parliament inserted Section 33A in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, requiring disclosure of pending cases in which charges have been framed for offences punishable with two years or more, and of past convictions; Section 33B, which barred disclosure beyond the Act, was struck down in PUCL v. Union of India (2003).

The affidavit is filed in Form 26 under Rule 4A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and since 2018 the form asks for all pending criminal cases. Section 125A punishes a false affidavit or concealment.

Remedies are tightly channelled: Article 329(b) and the Ponnuswami judgment keep courts out until the election is over, after which an election petition lies to the High Court, with appeal to the Supreme Court. Courts have treated blank affidavits as grounds for rejection (Resurgence India, 2013) and concealment of criminal cases as undue influence (Krishnamoorthy, 2015).

The First Information Report sets the criminal law in motion. Under the old Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, police often refused or delayed registration, which is why the Supreme Court in Lalita Kumari (2013) held registration mandatory where a cognisable offence is disclosed, with action against officers who refuse.

It allowed a preliminary inquiry only to ascertain whether a cognisable offence is disclosed, in specified categories, and required it to be time-bound. The BNSS, in force from 1 July 2024, keeps mandatory registration in Section 173 but adds the Zero FIR and e-FIR, and gives statutory form to a preliminary enquiry for mid-range offences.

For missing children, Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India (2013) required an FIR in every case with a presumption of abduction or trafficking, and directions in 2026 extended the approach nationwide. The debate now is whether the same presumption should apply to adults, who have a right under Article 21 to choose where and with whom to live (Lata Singh, 2006; Shafin Jahan, 2018).

India’s manufacturing strategy has moved in stages. The PLI schemes, covering 14 sectors from mobile phones and pharmaceuticals to automobiles, batteries and solar modules, rewarded scale in final products and helped make India a large exporter of smartphones.

But assembly-led growth kept import dependence high for components, so domestic value addition lagged. The Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, approved in 2025, supports components such as printed circuit boards, camera and display modules and passive components.

Press Note 3 of 2020, issued during the pandemic to prevent opportunistic takeovers, requires approval for investment from neighbours sharing a land border, which in practice screens Chinese capital. The Economic Survey 2023-24 argued that Chinese FDI could help India plug into global value chains, a view still debated on security grounds.

Enablers matter as much as incentives: the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (2021) and the National Logistics Policy (2022) aim to cut logistics costs, while skills and access to critical minerals decide whether suppliers can meet global standards.

The passes of the western and trans-Himalaya have long shaped trade and strategy. The Karakoram Pass (about 5,540 m) was the main caravan route between Leh and Yarkand until the mid-20th century, carrying pashmina, textiles and salt.

The Khunjerab Pass is the highest paved border crossing and carries the Karakoram Highway, now the spine of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Gilgit-Baltistan, which India regards as its territory under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. Zoji La is Ladakh’s lifeline from the Kashmir Valley; the Zojila Tunnel is being built to give all-weather access.

Shipki La, where the Sutlej enters India, was one of the border trade points with Tibet, along with Lipulekh and Nathu La. India’s present route to Central Asia avoids these contested frontiers: it runs by sea to Iran’s Chabahar port and overland through the International North-South Transport Corridor, supported by the Ashgabat Agreement, which India joined in 2018.

PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan), approved in 2019, was designed to give farmers energy security, reduce diesel use in irrigation and let farmers earn by selling solar power. Components B and C give capital support for pumps, shared between the Centre, the States and the farmer, while Component A relies on power sales to discoms, with an incentive to discoms for buying the power.

The rooftop scheme for households, PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (2024), by contrast offers up to Rs 78,000 in central subsidy for a 3 kW system, and has an outlay of Rs 75,021 crore to reach one crore households. Agrivoltaics, or agri-PV, raises panels high enough for crops beneath, so land yields both food and power, avoiding the conflict between solar parks and cultivation.

The fiscal case rests on agricultural power subsidies: farm supply is billed far below cost, and the gap weighs on distribution companies and State budgets.

India governs AI mainly through existing law and institutions. The IT Act, 2000 penalises unauthorised access and damage to computer systems (Sections 43 and 66), allows governments to notify critical systems as protected systems (Section 70), and creates two agencies: the NCIIPC for critical information infrastructure (Section 70A) and CERT-In for incident response (Section 70B), which requires reporting of specified cyber incidents.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, with rules notified in November 2025, governs personal data. The IndiaAI Mission, approved in March 2024 with an outlay of about Rs 10,372 crore, funds compute, datasets and applications, and houses the IndiaAI Safety Institute announced in January 2025.

The India AI Governance Guidelines of November 2025 favour a principle-based, light-touch approach and propose an AI Governance Group and a Technology and Policy Expert Committee. The new policy question is AI agents: systems that act on their own, and can find unintended routes to their goals, need rules on permissions, logging, testing and liability.

India’s utility-scale solar expansion has relied on large parks on degraded or government land with shared transmission. Well-known examples are Bhadla in western Rajasthan, among the largest solar parks in the world; Pavagada in Tumakuru district of Karnataka, built on land leased from farmers; Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, whose power supplies the Delhi Metro; and Khavda in the Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, a hybrid solar and wind park planned at about 30 GW.

The Rann’s flat, sparsely populated saline land, strong sunlight and wind make it suitable, but its location near the international border required clearances and security arrangements. The model delivers cheap power at scale but raises questions about land, ecology (the Rann is home to the Indian wild ass and flamingo breeding grounds) and the distribution of benefits, which is why schemes such as PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar aim to decentralise solar to farms and rooftops.