Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- 'Trusted AI' has been designated as the central pillar of the India-France innovation partnership.
- France was the first country to sign a Mutual Recognition of Qualifications (MRQ) agreement with India, in 2018.
- The CEFIPRA (Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research) is a new institution created under the Innovation Roadmap 2030.
- France aims to welcome 30,000 Indian students by 2030 under this framework.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct — the Roadmap designates 'Trusted AI' as a central pillar (building on the February 2025 India-France AI Declaration), France became the first country to conclude an MRQ agreement with India in 2018, and the Roadmap explicitly acknowledges France's goal of welcoming 30,000 Indian students by 2030. Statement 3 is the load-bearing trap — CEFIPRA is an existing flagship instrument of bilateral scientific cooperation being given enhanced focus, not a new institution created under the Roadmap.
Option (b) is correct — Paragraph 3, which allowed one-third of members to split without disqualification, was omitted by the 91st Constitutional Amendment in 2003. Option (a) is the central trap, since the Schedule authorises only the merger of the original political party (approved by two-thirds of the legislature party), not the merger of two-thirds of the legislature party by itself; option (c) is wrong because the 2020 K.M. Singh tribunal recommendation remains unimplemented, with power still resting with the Speaker/Chairman; and option (d) is a scope-confusion trap, as the two-thirds threshold applies to the legislature party in the House, not registered party membership at large.
- During El Niño, trade winds strengthen, pushing warmer water toward the eastern Pacific.
- El Niño is the warm phase of the ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) cycle.
- Past strong El Niño events have been associated with droughts, flooding, and large-scale wildfires in parts of Southeast Asia and South America.
- The US National Weather Service forecast (as of mid-2026) suggests El Niño may develop by July 2026 and last through winter.
Statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct — El Niño is definitionally the warm phase of ENSO (La Niña being the cool phase), strong past episodes (early 1980s, late 1990s, mid-2010s) are linked to severe droughts, flooding and wildfires in Southeast Asia and South America, and the US National Weather Service projects El Niño potentially developing by July 2026 and lasting through winter. Statement 1 is the core science trap — during El Niño the trade winds actually weaken, allowing warm water to accumulate in the central and eastern Pacific, so the statement inverts the mechanism.
- Launch of the India-France Strategic Partnership — India's first-ever strategic partnership with a Western nation
- France becomes the first country to sign a Mutual Recognition of Qualifications (MRQ) agreement with India
- India-France bilateral ties elevated to a 'Special Global Strategic Partnership'
- India-France Innovation Roadmap 2030 adopted
The correct order is 1 → 2 → 3 → 4: the Strategic Partnership was launched in 1998 (India's first with any Western nation), the MRQ agreement was signed in 2018, ties were elevated to a 'Special Global Strategic Partnership' in February 2026 during Macron's visit for the AI Impact Summit, and the Innovation Roadmap 2030 was adopted in June 2026 in Nice. The trap lies in conflating the February 2026 elevation with the June 2026 Roadmap, or misplacing the 2018 MRQ relative to these two 2026 milestones.
- A. Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule | 1. Provides exception from disqualification for merger of a political party, approved by two-thirds of the legislature party
- B. Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule | 2. Permitted one-third of a legislature party to split without disqualification — omitted in 2003
- C. 52nd Constitutional Amendment | 3. Introduced the Tenth Schedule and the anti-defection law
- D. K.M. Singh case (Supreme Court, 2020) | 4. Recommended vesting disqualification powers in an independent tribunal headed by judges
The correct match is A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4: Paragraph 3 allowed one-third of a legislature party to split without disqualification and was omitted by the 91st Amendment in 2003 (A→2), while Paragraph 4 is the surviving merger exception approved by two-thirds of the legislature party (B→1). The 52nd Constitutional Amendment introduced the Tenth Schedule and anti-defection law in 1985 (C→3), and the K.M. Singh case (2020) recommended vesting disqualification powers in an independent tribunal headed by judges, a recommendation that remains unimplemented (D→4).
