Current Affairs Quiz 23 October 2026

Statement 1 is correct — NSAP (launched 15 August 1995) gives effect to Article 41, a Directive Principle on public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement. Statement 2 is incorrect — NSAP is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with 100% central assistance, run by the Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, and implemented by States and UTs, mainly through their social welfare departments. Statement 3 is correct — since the Cabinet decision of 14 October 2026, the disability pension uses the 40% benchmark disability of Section 2(r) of the RPwD Act, 2016, replacing the earlier 80% (severe disability) threshold, and the minimum age of 18 has also been removed. ‘100% central assistance’ tempts candidates to call it a Central Sector Scheme, but the test is who implements: NSAP is implemented by States, so it is Centrally Sponsored even with full central funding, and it sits with Rural Development, not Social Justice.

Statement 1 is correct — the RPwD Act, 2016 (in force 19 April 2017) expanded the list from 7 to 21 disabilities, adding categories such as acid attack victims, thalassemia and specific learning disabilities. Statement 2 is incorrect — the 2016 Act replaced the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, while the National Trust Act, 1999 (for autism, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and multiple disabilities) continues in force, and its definition of severe disability (80%) was the old pension threshold. Statement 3 is correct — India ratified the UNCRPD in 2007, and the 2016 Act was enacted to give effect to it. Statement 4 is incorrect — reservation in Government jobs is 4% (Section 34), whereas 5% applies to seats in higher educational institutions (Section 32). The 4% and 5% quotas are interchanged in the distractor.

Pair 1 is correct — 14446 is the National De-addiction Helpline of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, promoted under the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan. Pair 2 is incorrect — 1933 is MANAS (Madak Padarth Nishedh Asuchna Kendra) of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, for reporting drug trafficking. Pair 3 is correct — 14416 is Tele-MANAS, the Health Ministry's national tele-mental health helpline. Pair 4 is correct — 1930 is the national helpline for reporting cyber financial fraud, run with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), MHA. ‘MANAS’ (1933, narcotics) and ‘Tele-MANAS’ (14416, mental health) share a word but belong to different ministries: 1933 = report drugs (MHA); 14446 = quit drugs (MoSJE); 14416 = mental health (MoHFW).

Statement 1 is correct — Article 47 (DPSP) asks the State to raise the level of nutrition and public health, and to endeavour to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health, except for medicinal purposes. Statement 2 is incorrect — the NDPS Act, 1985 is administered by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, with enforcement coordinated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (MHA), while the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment leads demand reduction through the NAPDDR and the Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (2020). Ask whether a statement is about enforcement (Finance/Home) or prevention and treatment (Social Justice).

Statement 1 is correct — Thiruvalluvar's Thirukkural has 1,330 kurals in 133 chapters of ten couplets each, and the 133-foot statue at Kanyakumari reflects the chapter count. Statement 2 is correct — its three books are Aram (virtue, 38 chapters), Porul (wealth and polity, 70) and Inbam (love, 25). Statement 3 is correct — Tamil was declared India's first classical language in 2004, followed by Sanskrit (2005), and there are 11 classical languages now. Sanskrit's antiquity leads many to assume it was recognised first, but the order follows government notifications, not the age of the language.

Statement 1 is correct — under Section 80A of the RPA, 1951 the High Court has jurisdiction to try election petitions, with appeals to the Supreme Court. Statement 2 is correct — Section 123(2) defines undue influence as any direct or indirect interference with the free exercise of an electoral right, and it was argued in the recent Madras High Court case on children in campaigning. Statement 3 is correct — the 61st Amendment (1988) amended Article 326 to lower the voting age to 18. Statement 4 is incorrect — under Section 8A, the President decides on disqualification (for up to six years) after obtaining the Election Commission's opinion, and must act according to it. Because the ECI advises, candidates assume it decides, but the pattern repeats across Articles 103 and 192: the President or Governor decides, bound by the ECI's opinion.

Statement-I is correct — the editorial notes that no DAP, SSP or other phosphatic fertiliser can be made without sulphur, whose landed price has risen from under $100 a tonne (2019–20) to about $1,000–1,100 amid attacks on refineries and gas facilities. Statement-II is correct and explains Statement-I — rock phosphate is treated with sulphuric acid to make phosphoric acid, and the sulphur comes mainly from desulphurisation at oil refineries and gas plants, so a shock to hydrocarbons is a shock to phosphate fertilisers. Apply the ‘because’ test: phosphate fertilisers are vulnerable to oil and gas disruptions because their sulphur comes from refining and gas processing. Candidates link only nitrogen (urea, via natural gas) to hydrocarbons and miss the sulphur route for phosphates.

Statement-I is correct — many of India's major droughts have coincided with El Niño years, and the editorial warns that a prospective “very strong” El Niño could test farm output and the diversion of food crops to fuel. Statement-II is correct and explains Statement-I — a warmer central and eastern Pacific shifts the rising limb of the Walker circulation eastward, leaving sinking, drier air over the Indian region and weakening the monsoon. The link is not absolute, since a positive Indian Ocean Dipole can offset El Niño's effect, as in 1997, so ‘often’ keeps Statement-I correct while ‘always’ would not.

Statement 1 is correct — under Article 324(5), the CEC enjoys the same removal protection as a Supreme Court judge. Statement 2 is correct — the same clause provides that an Election Commissioner can be removed only on the CEC's recommendation. Statement 3 is correct — in T.N. Seshan v. Union of India (1995) the Supreme Court held that the CEC and ECs are on an equal footing and that differences are resolved by majority; the episode reported on 23 October, in which the Cabinet Secretariat declined to act on two ECs' letters citing non-interference, turned on this independence. Statement 2 makes the CEC look superior, which tempts candidates to reject Statement 3, but both hold: the CEC has extra removal protection, yet all members vote as equals.

Statement 1 is correct — Article 19(1)(b) protects peaceable assembly without arms, and with 19(1)(a) it underpins the right to protest; the Delhi High Court recently held that mere presence at a protest does not by itself justify prosecution. Statement 2 is incorrect — under Article 19(3), restrictions on assembly may be imposed only in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India and public order, while defamation and contempt of court are grounds under Article 19(2), which applies to speech and expression. Remember the narrowing pattern: 19(2) has eight grounds, 19(3) only two.

Statement 1 is incorrect — Doordarshan began in 1959 as part of All India Radio and was separated from AIR in 1976; neither was a corporation until both came under Prasar Bharati. Statement 2 is correct — the Prasar Bharati Act received assent in 1990 but was brought into force only in 1997, when the corporation was set up as a statutory body. Statement 3 is correct — in Cricket Association of Bengal (1995) the Court held that airwaves are public property and called for an independent authority to regulate their use. The start date (1959) is attached to a later event (separation, 1976) and to a status Doordarshan never had, so check that the year, the event and the institutional status all match.

Belarus (1), Lithuania (3) and Russia (4) border Poland, with Russia through the Kaliningrad exclave. Poland's seven neighbours are Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Russia. Hungary (2) is separated from Poland by Slovakia and Austria (5) by the Czech Republic, so neither borders Poland. Hungary and Austria are close to Poland, and Hungary is its partner in the Visegrád Group, so they feel like neighbours, while Russia is often missed because the Russia–Poland border runs only along Kaliningrad.

If all households try to save more at once, consumption falls, firms sell less and cut output, and income falls, so total saving may stay the same or fall; what is prudent for one is self-defeating for all. Option (b) is the classical view that Keynes rejected, since he argued that investment, driven by uncertain profit expectations, determines income, and income adjusts to generate equal saving. Options (a) and (c) are incorrect because higher rates may raise the reward for saving but typically discourage investment, and the paradox concerns aggregate demand, not the stance of monetary policy. The paradox is a fallacy of composition: what is true for an individual (saving more makes me richer) need not hold for the whole economy (Keynes, General Theory, 1936).

Statement 1 is correct — the FRLD was agreed at COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh (2022), and in October 2026 it set aside $21.6 million for Nepal, its first allocation to a specific country. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Fund was operationalised at COP28, Dubai (2023), with the World Bank as interim trustee, while COP29, Baku (2024) agreed the New Collective Quantified Goal of $300 billion a year by 2035. Statement 3 is correct — the Warsaw International Mechanism was set up at COP19 (2013); loss and damage was later recognised in Article 8 of the Paris Agreement, and the Santiago Network (2019) provides technical assistance. Fix the chain: COP27 Egypt — Fund agreed; COP28 Dubai — Fund operationalised; COP29 Baku — NCQG.

Pair 1 is correct — Galwan Valley in Ladakh (Western Sector) saw the June 2020 clash. Pair 2 is correct — Yangtse, in Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh, saw a clash in December 2022. Pair 3 is incorrect — Sumdorong Chu (1986–87 stand-off) is also in Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh, not Sikkim. Pair 4 is incorrect — Doklam (2017 stand-off) is a plateau at the India–Bhutan–China tri-junction, adjoining Sikkim; it is Bhutanese territory claimed by China, far from Ladakh. The current face-offs reported by the ITBP are in Arunachal Pradesh's Eastern Sector, including near Asaphila (Upper Subansiri). Sort by sector: Western (Ladakh) — Galwan, Depsang, Demchok; Sikkim/Bhutan — Doklam, Naku La; Eastern (Arunachal) — Sumdorong Chu, Yangtse, Asaphila.