UPSC Prelims Practice
Current Affairs Quiz 8 October 2026
Test Your Knowledge
18 questions based on today’s current affairs & editorials
Choose number of questions
Question 1 of 18
1 The MPC has six members, three of whom are appointed by the Central Government.
2 The inflation target is fixed by the Reserve Bank of India in consultation with the Central Government.
3 In the event of a tie, the Governor has a second or casting vote.
4 The members appointed by the Central Government hold office for four years and are not eligible for reappointment.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
The Governor (chair), a Deputy Governor and one RBI officer sit with three external members appointed by the Centre.
Statement 2Incorrect
Under Section 45ZA the Central Government fixes the target, in consultation with the RBI, once every five years.
Statement 3Correct
Decisions are by majority, and the Governor has a casting vote in a tie.
Statement 4Correct
The external members serve four years and cannot be reappointed.
Analysis
The MPC raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent, its first increase since February 2023; the rate vote was unanimous, but the move to a “calibrated tightening” stance was carried 4-2.
Concept note
The 2016 amendment to the RBI Act moved India to flexible inflation targeting. Section 45ZA lets the Centre set the target (4 per cent CPI inflation, with a tolerance band of 2 to 6 per cent, notified again for April 2026 to March 2031), and Section 45ZB creates the MPC to set the policy rate needed to meet it.
The design splits responsibility: the elected government chooses the goal, and a six-member committee (three from the RBI, three external) chooses the instrument, with the Governor holding a casting vote in a tie. A split on stance, as in this meeting, is normal and is why the minutes, released two weeks later, are read closely for each member’s reasoning.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (monetary policy, inflation, growth); GS2 (statutory bodies, accountability). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** flexible inflation targeting, goal independence versus instrument independence, policy stance, forward guidance. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Saying the RBI sets its own inflation target; the Centre does, in consultation with the RBI. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** 45ZA = target; 45ZB = MPC; 6 members; 3 external for 4 years, no reappointment; Governor’s casting vote. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Should the inflation target be raised to give growth more room? |
Question 2 of 18
1 Under the Standing Deposit Facility, the RBI absorbs surplus funds from banks without giving government securities as collateral.
2 The Standing Deposit Facility rate forms the floor and the Marginal Standing Facility rate the ceiling of the policy corridor.
3 Under the Marginal Standing Facility, banks may borrow overnight by dipping into their Statutory Liquidity Ratio holdings up to a prescribed limit.
4 An increase in the repo rate is ordinarily accompanied by an equal cut in the Standing Deposit Facility rate.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
The SDF, introduced in 2022, lets the RBI absorb liquidity without collateral, unlike the reverse repo.
Statement 2Correct
The SDF sits below the repo rate and the MSF above it.
Statement 3Correct
The MSF is a penal window that lets banks dip into their SLR securities up to a limit.
Statement 4Incorrect
The corridor moves with the repo rate, so the SDF and MSF rise with it.
Analysis
After the 25 basis point increase, the SDF rate is 5.25 per cent and the MSF rate and Bank Rate are 5.75 per cent, with the repo rate at 5.50 per cent.
Concept note
The corridor keeps the overnight call money rate, the operating target of policy, close to the repo rate. Banks with surplus funds park them at the SDF rate; banks short of funds can borrow at the MSF rate.
Because both edges move with the repo rate, a repo increase shifts the whole corridor up by the same amount. The SDF replaced the fixed-rate reverse repo as the floor in April 2022, giving the RBI a tool to absorb large surpluses without having enough government securities to offer as collateral.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (money market, transmission of policy). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** policy corridor, operating target, weighted average call rate, liquidity surplus, transmission. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Treating the SDF as a lending window; it absorbs liquidity. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Repo 5.50; SDF 5.25 (floor); MSF and Bank Rate 5.75 (ceiling). ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Why does transmission to lending rates lag a policy rate change? |
Question 3 of 18
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Facts
Statement ICorrect
The Centre notified the same target and band for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031.
Statement IICorrectDoes not explain Statement I
Three consecutive quarters outside the band counts as a failure, after which the RBI must report to the Centre the reasons, the remedial action and the time it expects to take; this defines what happens when the target is missed, not why the target is set at 4 per cent.
Analysis
The MPC now projects CPI inflation at 5.2 per cent for 2026-27, inside the band but well above the 4 per cent target, which is why it raised the repo rate.
Concept note
The failure clause is the accountability mechanism of inflation targeting. It was triggered for the first time in 2022, when inflation stayed above 6 per cent for three quarters running and the RBI wrote to the government explaining why.
The band exists because supply shocks such as poor monsoons and fuel prices move food and energy prices in ways monetary policy cannot offset quickly. A projection of 5.2 per cent is not a failure, but a central bank that lets inflation sit near the upper edge risks unanchoring expectations, which is the argument for acting early.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (inflation, monetary policy); GS2 (accountability of statutory bodies). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** anchoring expectations, accountability, supply shocks, pre-emptive tightening. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Treating a single month above 6 per cent as a failure; it takes three consecutive quarters of averages. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Target 4 per cent, band 2 to 6, period April 2026 to March 2031; failure = 3 consecutive quarters. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Is a 4 per cent target right for an economy where food has a large weight in the CPI? |
Question 4 of 18
1 Two enantiomers contain the same atoms joined in the same order but are mirror images that cannot be superimposed on each other.
2 The two enantiomers of a drug molecule always have the same effect on the human body.
3 The proteins in living cells are built almost entirely from one mirror form of amino acids.
4 A mixture containing equal amounts of two enantiomers does not rotate plane-polarised light.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Enantiomers are like left and right hands, identical in composition but mirror images.
Statement 2Incorrect
The two forms can act very differently; the thalidomide disaster of the early 1960s is the standard warning.
Statement 3Correct
Proteins use the L-forms of amino acids, and DNA and RNA use D-form sugars, a property called homochirality.
Statement 4Correct
In an equal (racemic) mixture the two rotations cancel, as Louis Pasteur found when he separated tartaric acid crystals.
Analysis
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai for discovering non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis, chemistry that shows how a small imbalance between mirror forms can grow into near-total one-handedness.
Concept note
Most of the molecules of life are chiral, and life uses only one of each pair. Ordinary chemical reactions make equal amounts of both forms, so drug-makers need asymmetric synthesis, using chiral catalysts, to make only the form they want.
This is why the Nobel Committee has rewarded the field three times: in 2001 for chirally catalysed hydrogenation and oxidation, in 2021 for asymmetric organocatalysis and in 2026 for the effects that amplify an imbalance. Note that L and D describe the arrangement of atoms, not the direction in which a molecule rotates light.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (science and technology, pharmaceuticals); GS4 (drug safety and ethics, thalidomide). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** homochirality, asymmetric synthesis, chiral catalysts, enantiomeric excess, drug safety. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Assuming L-amino acids rotate light to the left; L and D refer to structure, not optical rotation. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Pasteur and tartaric acid; thalidomide early 1960s; chemistry prizes for chirality 2001, 2021, 2026. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** How can India move from making generic drugs to inventing the chemistry behind them? |
Question 5 of 18
1. Charles Frank : A theoretical model (1953) of how a molecule that speeds up its own formation could lead to homochirality
2. Henri B. Kagan : The finding that a product can have a greater excess of one mirror form than the chiral catalyst used to make it
3. Kenso Soai : A reaction in which a chiral product catalyses its own formation, amplifying a tiny excess of one form
4. Louis Pasteur : The first artificial asymmetric synthesis, achieved in the early 1900s
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Facts
Pair 1Correct
The British physicist Charles Frank proposed in 1953 that autocatalysis plus mutual suppression of the mirror forms could produce homochirality.
Pair 2Correct
Kagan reported this non-linear effect in 1986.
Pair 3Correct
Soai reported asymmetric autocatalysis in 1995, turning a 2 per cent excess into 87 per cent, and in 2003 started from an achiral beginning.
Pair 4Incorrect
Pasteur discovered molecular chirality in the 19th century; the early asymmetric synthesis of the 1900s was by Willy Marckwald.
Analysis
Frank’s model needed three things: an asymmetric reaction, amplification and autocatalysis. Marckwald, Kagan and Soai supplied them in turn.
Concept note
The prize is unusual because it rewards discoveries made decades ago that have since become central to the debate on the origin of life. Kagan explained his result through catalysts that hold two chiral molecules at once: mixed left-right pairs work slowly, so the majority form takes over.
Soai’s reaction is artificial and does not occur in living cells, but it shows that chemistry alone can turn a chance imbalance into near-total one-handedness. Laboratories are now trying to repeat it with amino acids and sugars.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (science and technology, achievements of scientists). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** origin of life, autocatalysis, non-linear effect, symmetry breaking, basic research. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Crediting Pasteur with asymmetric synthesis; he discovered chirality. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Frank 1953 (model), Kagan 1986 (non-linear effect), Soai 1995 (autocatalysis), Marckwald early 1900s. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Why do Nobel Prizes often reward work done 30 or 40 years earlier? |
Question 6 of 18
1 The 2021 prize recognised asymmetric organocatalysis, in which small organic molecules rather than metals or enzymes act as catalysts.
2 The 2001 prize recognised chirally catalysed hydrogenation and oxidation reactions.
3 The prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
4 Under the Nobel statutes, a prize may be shared among no more than three persons.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Benjamin List and David MacMillan won in 2021.
Statement 2Correct
William Knowles and Ryoji Noyori won for hydrogenation and K. Barry Sharpless for oxidation in 2001.
Statement 3Correct
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the physics and chemistry prizes.
Statement 4Correct
The statutes cap a shared prize at three individuals, a limit that big collaborations strain.
Analysis
The 2026 prize, worth 12 million Swedish kronor, is the third chemistry prize for the control of molecular handedness.
Concept note
The three-person cap shapes how modern science is recognised. Discoveries made by teams of hundreds, such as the IceCube neutrino observatory behind the 2026 Physics prize, end up credited to one or a few individuals, a point The Hindu’s editorial on the Physics prize made the same week.
The statutes do allow organisations to receive the Peace Prize, but the science prizes have only ever gone to individuals. Linking the chirality prizes helps answer statement questions that mix years and laureates.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (science and technology); GS4 (recognition and collective work in science). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** big science, team science, recognition, collaborative research. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Mixing up 2001 (metal catalysts) and 2021 (organocatalysts). ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Chirality prizes: 2001 Knowles, Noyori, Sharpless; 2021 List, MacMillan; 2026 Kagan, Soai. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Does the three-person limit misrepresent how science is done today? |
Question 7 of 18
1 Kuno National Park, where the project began, is in Sheopur district.
2 Gandhi Sagar, the second cheetah site, is a tiger reserve in Mandsaur district.
3 Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve spreads over Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts.
4 The cheetahs brought to India under the project belong to the Asiatic subspecies.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Project Cheetah began at Kuno in Sheopur on 17 September 2022.
Statement 2Incorrect
Gandhi Sagar is a wildlife sanctuary, not a tiger reserve.
Statement 3Correct
The reserve, notified in 2023 from the Nauradehi and Veerangana Durgavati sanctuaries, covers parts of the three districts.
Statement 4Incorrect
India’s cheetahs are African; the Asiatic cheetah survives only in Iran.
Analysis
Madhya Pradesh released two cheetahs into Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve, its third cheetah site, as India’s count reached 60, of which 41 are Indian-born.
Concept note
Spreading cheetahs across several sites guards the population against a single disaster such as disease or fire at one site, and lets the animals be managed as one metapopulation by moving individuals between sites. Veerangana Durgavati, about 2,339 sq km, is Madhya Pradesh’s seventh and India’s 54th tiger reserve.
Nauradehi, one of its constituent sanctuaries, was among the sites assessed when India first studied cheetah reintroduction. The challenge at each site is the same: open grassland, enough prey and room for a fast predator that ranges widely.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (biodiversity, conservation); GS1 (geography of Madhya Pradesh). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** metapopulation, reintroduction, grassland ecosystems, flagship species, human-wildlife conflict. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Calling Gandhi Sagar a national park or tiger reserve; it is a wildlife sanctuary. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Kuno (Sheopur) 2022; Gandhi Sagar (Mandsaur); Veerangana Durgavati (Sagar, Damoh, Narsinghpur), MP’s 7th TR, India’s 54th. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Is the money spent on cheetahs better spent on grassland species already in India? |
Question 8 of 18
1 Madhya Pradesh has the largest vulture population among the Indian States.
2 The use of the painkiller diclofenac in livestock was banned because vultures feeding on treated carcasses died of kidney failure.
3 All nine vulture species found in India occur in Madhya Pradesh.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Madhya Pradesh’s State census counted 12,981 vultures in 2025, up from 6,999 in its first count in 2016.
Statement 2Correct
Diclofenac residues in carcasses caused the crash of vulture numbers from the 1990s, and India banned its veterinary use in 2006.
Statement 3Incorrect
Seven of India’s nine vulture species are found in the State.
Analysis
The Chief Minister released the Vulture Population Estimation 2026 report at the same event at which the cheetahs were released.
Concept note
Vultures clean up carcasses, and their collapse in the 1990s and 2000s left carcasses to rot and fed a rise in feral dogs and the diseases they carry. Recovery has rested on the diclofenac ban, conservation breeding and vulture-safe zones, and on monitoring that can show whether these work.
The rising Madhya Pradesh counts are encouraging, but other veterinary drugs toxic to vultures remain in use, which is why later restrictions on such drugs matter.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (biodiversity, pollution); GS2 (regulation of drugs). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** ecosystem services, scavengers, conservation breeding, vulture-safe zones, one health. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Saying all nine species are found in Madhya Pradesh; it is seven. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** MP counts 6,999 (2016), 8,397 (2019), 12,981 (2025); diclofenac veterinary ban 2006. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** What does the vulture decline teach us about unintended effects of veterinary drugs? |
Question 9 of 18
1 It is constituted under Article 279A, inserted by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.
2 The vote of the Central Government carries a weight of one-third of the total votes cast.
3 A decision requires a two-thirds majority of the weighted votes of the members present and voting.
4 The Supreme Court has held that all recommendations of the Council are binding on Parliament and the State legislatures.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Article 279A came with the 101st Amendment.
Statement 2Correct
The Centre has one-third of the votes and the States together two-thirds.
Statement 3Incorrect
A decision needs three-fourths of the weighted votes of members present and voting.
Statement 4Incorrect
In Union of India v. Mohit Minerals (2022) the Court held that the Council’s recommendations are persuasive, not binding.
Analysis
The Council’s 57th meeting is scheduled for 8 October 2026, its first since September 2025.
Concept note
The voting rule means neither side can act alone: the Centre’s one-third cannot carry a decision without most States, and the States together cannot reach three-fourths without the Centre. That is the design of cooperative federalism in GST.
Mohit Minerals confirmed that Parliament and the States keep the power to legislate on GST, so the Council works by persuasion and bargaining. A thirteen-month gap between meetings matters because rate rationalisation, compensation and appeals tribunals all wait on the Council.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (federalism, constitutional bodies); GS3 (indirect taxation). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** cooperative federalism, fiscal federalism, weighted voting, pooled sovereignty. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Two-thirds majority; the rule is three-fourths of weighted votes. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Art 279A; 101st Amendment 2016; Centre 1/3, States 2/3; decision 3/4; Mohit Minerals 2022. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Does the GST Council strengthen or weaken the fiscal autonomy of States? |
Question 10 of 18
1 The National Commission for Scheduled Castes is required under the Constitution to evaluate the progress of the development of Scheduled Castes.
2 The Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 split the earlier joint commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two.
3 The National Commission for Backward Classes was given constitutional status under Article 338B.
4 The reports of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes are presented to the President, who causes them to be laid before each House of Parliament.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Article 338(5)(c) gives the NCSC this duty.
Statement 2Correct
The 89th Amendment created a separate NCST under Article 338A.
Statement 3Correct
The 102nd Amendment (2018) inserted Article 338B.
Statement 4Correct
Article 338(5)(d) and 338(6) provide for reports to the President and their laying before Parliament with a memorandum of action taken.
Analysis
Acting on an NCSC letter, the Department of Financial Services has directed State Level Bankers’ Committees to report the share of Scheduled Caste beneficiaries under schemes such as Mudra, Stand-Up India and PMEGP.
Concept note
The NCSC’s complaint was simple: it could not evaluate the economic progress of Scheduled Castes without knowing how many received loans under schemes meant to include them. Banks report credit by sector and scheme but rarely by social group.
The direction to report through the State Level Bankers’ Committees, the forums of banks under the Lead Bank Scheme, could make that data routine. Disaggregated data is the precondition for checking whether inclusion schemes reach those they name.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (constitutional bodies, welfare of vulnerable sections); GS3 (financial inclusion). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** disaggregated data, financial inclusion, monitoring, accountability, credit access. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Placing the NCST under Article 338; it is 338A. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** 338 NCSC; 338A NCST (89th Amendment, 2003); 338B NCBC (102nd Amendment, 2018). ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Why is caste-disaggregated data on credit contested, and is it necessary? |
Question 11 of 18
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Facts
Statement ICorrect
Courts have set aside local body quotas fixed without such findings.
Statement IICorrectExplains Statement I
The triple test laid down in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v. State of Maharashtra (2021) requires a dedicated commission, local body-wise proportions based on its findings and a 50 per cent ceiling on total reservation.
Analysis
Odisha has set up a commission under Justice Pramath Patnaik to study the political backwardness of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes before its 2027 local body elections.
Concept note
Articles 243D(6) and 243T(6) let States reserve seats for backward classes in panchayats and municipalities, but the Supreme Court has distinguished political backwardness from the social and educational backwardness used for jobs and education. In K. Krishna Murthy (2010) it upheld such reservation but asked for a rigorous inquiry; in Gawali (2021) it turned that into a three-part test.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling on BC reservation in local bodies, covered on 2 October, shows what happens when the test is not met.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (local government, reservation, judiciary). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** political backwardness, empirical data, dedicated commission, 50 per cent ceiling, local self-government. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Using job-reservation data for local body quotas; political backwardness needs its own study. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Triple test: dedicated commission, local body-wise proportion, 50 per cent cap; Gawali 2021; Krishna Murthy 2010. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Should reservation in local bodies follow population share or measured political backwardness? |
Question 12 of 18
1 Article 262 of the Constitution allows Parliament by law to bar the Supreme Court and other courts from exercising jurisdiction over inter-State river water disputes.
2 The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 provides for the setting up of tribunals to adjudicate such disputes.
3 The doctrine of rebus sic stantibus is recognised in Article 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969.
4 The Cauvery Water Management Authority was created by a separate Act of Parliament passed after the Supreme Court judgment of 2018.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Article 262(2) permits such a bar.
Statement 2Correct
The 1956 Act provides for tribunals whose awards are final.
Statement 3Correct
Article 62 allows a fundamental change of circumstances to be invoked, within strict limits.
Statement 4Incorrect
The Authority was constituted in 2018 by the Centre under Section 6A of the 1956 Act, as the scheme to implement the Court’s judgment, not by a separate Act.
Analysis
Karnataka has argued, citing the Indus Waters Treaty being held in abeyance, that changed circumstances justify revisiting water allocations.
Concept note
The Supreme Court’s 2018 judgment set Karnataka’s release to Tamil Nadu at 177.25 tmcft in a normal year and declared drinking water the highest priority. Karnataka’s use of rebus sic stantibus, a doctrine of treaty law, borrows from India’s own position on the Indus Waters Treaty.
The difficulty is that the doctrine is narrow even between States in international law, and the Cauvery allocation is a court-confirmed award, not a treaty. Its real point may be distress sharing in a weak monsoon year.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (federalism, inter-State disputes, judiciary); GS1 (rivers); GS3 (water resources). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** distress sharing, cooperative federalism, tribunal delays, river basin management. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Saying Article 262 itself bars courts; it allows Parliament to do so by law. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Art 262; ISRWD Act 1956; CWMA and CWRC (2018) under Sec 6A; VCLT Art 62. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Can basin-wide institutions replace litigation in river disputes? |
Question 13 of 18
1 The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 recognises 21 specified disabilities.
2 A person with benchmark disability under the Act is one with not less than 40 per cent of a specified disability.
3 In Rajive Raturi v. Union of India (2024), the Supreme Court held a rule on accessibility ultra vires because it laid down only non-binding guidelines.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
The 2016 Act raised the number of recognised disabilities from seven to 21.
Statement 2Correct
Benchmark disability, which unlocks reservation and other benefits, means at least 40 per cent.
Statement 3Correct
The Court struck down Rule 15 of the RPwD Rules, 2017 and directed the Centre to frame mandatory accessibility rules under Section 40 of the Act.
Analysis
A three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice has issued notice to the Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA, AAI, CISF and others on a plea about accessibility gaps at airports.
Concept note
Accessibility is the gateway right: without ramps, assisted boarding and accessible security screening, the right to travel exists only on paper. Raturi changed the legal position from voluntary guidelines to enforceable standards, and the airport petition tests whether those standards reach a fast-growing sector.
India ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007, and the 2016 Act was passed to bring Indian law into line with it.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (vulnerable sections, rights, judiciary); GS4 (empathy, dignity). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** universal design, reasonable accommodation, rights-based approach, enforceable standards. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Saying the Act lists seven disabilities; that was the 1995 Act. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** RPwD Act 2016: 21 disabilities, 40 per cent benchmark; Raturi 2024: Rule 15 ultra vires, Section 40. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Is accessibility a matter of cost or of rights? |
Question 14 of 18
1 The Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme is run by the Defence Innovation Organisation under the Department of Defence Production.
2 Under the revised procedure for industry use of government test ranges, disputes are to be settled by conciliation instead of arbitration.
3 The Technology Development Fund is executed by the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
IDEX, launched in 2018, is run by the Defence Innovation Organisation under the Department of Defence Production.
Statement 2Correct
The revised standard operating procedure replaces arbitration with conciliation.
Statement 3Incorrect
The Technology Development Fund is executed by DRDO.
Analysis
The Defence Ministry has waived proof and testing charges for iDEX, TDF, Make and other developmental projects at ranges of DRDO, government quality assurance agencies and the three Services.
Concept note
Start-ups and small firms building defence products often stall at testing, because private firms cannot build firing ranges and test facilities of their own. Waiving charges for development projects and giving firms a fixed slot each quarter lowers that barrier.
The move fits the push for indigenisation through iDEX grants, TDF funding and the Make category of the Defence Acquisition Procedure, 2020, under which industry designs and develops equipment for the forces.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (defence technology, indigenisation, MSMEs). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** defence start-ups, test infrastructure, indigenisation, ease of doing business in defence. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Placing TDF under ISRO or the Department of Defence Production; it is executed by DRDO. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** iDEX 2018 (DIO, DDP); TDF (DRDO); Make category under the Defence Acquisition Procedure. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** What holds back private defence manufacturing in India beyond testing access? |
Question 15 of 18
1. Jaduguda : Jharkhand
2. Tummalapalle : Andhra Pradesh
3. Rohil : Rajasthan
4. Gogi : Meghalaya
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Facts
Pair 1Correct
Jaduguda in Jharkhand is UCIL’s headquarters and its oldest mine.
Pair 2Correct
Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh holds one of India’s largest uranium reserves.
Pair 3Correct
Rohil in Rajasthan is the largest of UCIL’s planned greenfield projects, at 2,500 tonnes of ore a day.
Pair 4Incorrect
Gogi is in Karnataka.
Analysis
UCIL plans to double domestic uranium output by 2036 through four greenfield projects and by recovering uranium from Hindustan Copper’s mine residue from 2029-30.
Concept note
India’s uranium ore is low grade, so domestic output has never matched the needs of its reactors, and imports under safeguarded agreements fill the gap. As nuclear capacity grows, including through private participation after the SHANTI Act, 2025, fuel supply becomes the binding constraint.
India’s long-term plan rests on thorium through the three-stage programme, but uranium remains the fuel of the first stage.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS1 (distribution of mineral resources); GS3 (energy security, nuclear energy). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** fuel security, three-stage nuclear programme, low-grade ore, resource recovery from waste. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Placing Gogi in Andhra Pradesh or Meghalaya; it is in Karnataka. Meghalaya’s uranium deposit is at Domiasiat. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Jaduguda (Jharkhand), Tummalapalle (AP), Rohil (Rajasthan), Gogi (Karnataka). ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Can India meet its nuclear targets without assured uranium imports? |
Question 16 of 18
1 The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) Central Framework is an international statistical standard adopted by the UN Statistical Commission.
2 The report "Green National Accounts in India: A Framework" was prepared by an expert group chaired by Partha Dasgupta.
3 The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation publishes environmental accounts in its EnviStats India series.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
The SEEA Central Framework was adopted as a standard in 2012, and SEEA Ecosystem Accounting followed in 2021.
Statement 2Correct
The expert group chaired by Sir Partha Dasgupta submitted its report in 2013.
Statement 3Correct
EnviStats India carries MoSPI’s environmental accounts, compiled since 2018.
Analysis
MoSPI has released a Strategy for Environmental-Economic Accounts for 2026-2030, succeeding the 2022-26 strategy.
Concept note
GDP records the timber from a felled forest as income but not the loss of the forest as an asset. Environmental accounts fill that gap by recording natural assets, their depletion and the services ecosystems provide.
They are the statistical basis for green GDP and for policies that price natural capital. The strategy sets out which accounts MoSPI will build next and how it will align them with the revised System of National Accounts.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (environment, national income accounting); GS1 (resources). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** natural capital, green GDP, ecosystem services, depletion, sustainable development. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Treating SEEA as a replacement for GDP; it is a satellite system alongside national accounts. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** SEEA CF 2012 (standard), SEEA EA 2021; Dasgupta report 2013; EnviStats India. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Should India publish a green GDP figure alongside GDP? |
Question 17 of 18
1 It was adopted under Article 19 of the WHO Constitution, under which the only earlier treaty is the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
2 It opens for signature only after the World Health Assembly adopts its annex on Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing.
3 Unlike the Agreement, the International Health Regulations are adopted under Article 21 of the WHO Constitution and bind member states unless they reject them.
4 The Agreement was adopted without any abstentions.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Article 19 lets the World Health Assembly adopt conventions by a two-thirds vote, and the FCTC (2003) is the only earlier one.
Statement 2Correct
Signature waits on the PABS annex, and entry into force needs 60 ratifications.
Statement 3Correct
The IHR are regulations under Article 21 and apply to all members except those that reject or reserve them.
Statement 4Incorrect
The committee vote was 124 for, none against and 11 abstentions.
Analysis
In The Hindu, Priyadarshini Singh of CSEP argues that the Agreement already forms a global legal regime and that India should lead the Global South in shaping the PABS annex.
Concept note
The PABS system is the bargain at the heart of the Agreement: countries share pathogen samples and genetic sequence data quickly, and in return manufacturers that join the system make 20 per cent of their real-time production available to WHO in a pandemic emergency, at least 10 per cent of it donated. The annex that will make this work is due no later than the World Health Assembly of May 2027.
Separately, amendments to the IHR in force from September 2025 created a new alert level, the pandemic emergency.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS2 (international institutions, health); GS3 (biotechnology, vaccines). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** vaccine equity, benefit-sharing, global health governance, sovereignty, One Health. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Treating the Pandemic Agreement and the IHR as the same instrument. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Agreement: Art 19, 20 May 2025, 124-0-11, PABS annex, 60 ratifications; IHR: Art 21, pandemic emergency from 19 September 2025. ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** How should India balance its role as a vaccine maker with its stand for equity? |
Question 18 of 18
1 In IUCN Red List usage, "threatened" covers only the Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered categories.
2 India’s first dugong conservation reserve lies in the Gulf of Kutch.
3 The Centre’s Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats scheme supports recovery action for identified species such as the great Indian bustard and the hangul.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Facts
Statement 1Correct
Near Threatened is not a threatened category, and Extinct in the Wild is separate.
Statement 2Incorrect
India’s first dugong conservation reserve, 448.34 sq km, is in the Palk Bay off Tamil Nadu.
Statement 3Correct
The scheme supports recovery of 24 identified species, among them the great Indian bustard, the Sangai, the dugong and the hangul.
Analysis
In The Hindu, Supriya Sahu and Yash Veer Bhatnagar argue that India’s recovery successes show what works, and that a National Red List assessment should decide where the next effort goes.
Concept note
Of the Indian animal species assessed on the global IUCN Red List (7,516), 1,012 are threatened, yet these assessments cover only about 7.2 per cent of the animal species documented in India. The National Red List Roadmap, launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi in 2025, aims at National Red Data Books by 2030.
A national list judges risk within India, so it can differ from the global status of the same species.
🎯 Concept Kit tap to expand
| 🔗 Cross-Paper Links | ** GS3 (conservation, biodiversity); GS1 (geography of species distribution). ** |
| ✍️ Mains Keywords | ** species recovery plan, habitat protection, conservation breeding, community participation, national red list. ** |
| ⚠️ Common Mistake | ** Counting Near Threatened species as threatened. ** |
| 📌 Exam Tip | ** Dugong reserve: Palk Bay, 448.34 sq km; IDWH: 24 species; Nilgiri tahr 1,364 (2026); lions 891 (2025); snow leopards 718 (2024). ** |
| 🎤 Interview | ** Do single-species recovery programmes take money away from protecting whole habitats? |
Performance
Question-wise Result
