Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- It was adopted at Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 and functions as a specialised agency of the United Nations.
- A wetland qualifies as a Wetland of International Importance if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.
- The Montreux Record lists Ramsar Sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the Convention was adopted at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971, but it is an intergovernmental treaty outside the UN system; UNESCO is only its depositary and the Secretariat sits at Gland, Switzerland, alongside IUCN. Statement 2 is correct — Criterion 5 of the nine Ramsar criteria qualifies a wetland that regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds, the only criterion with an absolute number. Statement 3 is correct — the Montreux Record (COP4, Montreux, 1990) flags sites with adverse change in ecological character, and India’s Keoladeo NP and Loktak Lake are on it.
- Khichan Wetland — Rajasthan — Wintering demoiselle cranes
- Beas Conservation Reserve — Punjab — India’s only population of the Irrawaddy dolphin
- Loktak Lake — Manipur — Floating vegetation mats called phumdis
- Chilika Lake — Odisha — Removed from the Montreux Record in 2002
Pair 1 is correct — Khichan (Rajasthan) hosts 22,000+ demoiselle cranes each winter on just 54 ha. Pair 2 is incorrect — the Beas Conservation Reserve holds India’s only known population of the Indus river dolphin, not the Irrawaddy dolphin, which is found in Chilika. Pairs 3 and 4 are correct — Loktak Lake is known for phumdis and contains Keibul Lamjao, the world’s only floating national park, while Chilika was placed on the Montreux Record in 1993 and removed in 2002 after restoration.
- The Narcotics Control Bureau was constituted under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- The Golden Triangle refers to the illicit opium-producing region comprising Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
Statement 1 is correct — the NCB was constituted in 1986 under Section 4(3) of the NDPS Act, 1985 and is the apex drug law-enforcement agency under the MHA. Statement 2 is incorrect — Afghanistan–Iran–Pakistan is the Golden Crescent, while the Golden Triangle is Myanmar–Laos–Thailand, adjoining India’s North-East. Anchor them by geography: Crescent to the west, Triangle to the east.
- Statement-I: Tamil Nadu receives nearly half of its annual rainfall during the October–December season.
- Statement-II: Western disturbances bring winter rainfall and snowfall to north-western India.
Statement-I is correct — per IMD, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal receive about 48% of their annual rainfall in October–December from the northeast monsoon, as moist air from the Bay of Bengal reaches the Coromandel Coast. Statement-II is also correct — western disturbances are extra-tropical systems from the Mediterranean that bring winter rain and snow to north-west India. However, Statement-II concerns a different region and mechanism, so it does not explain Tamil Nadu’s rainfall.
- The Niño 3.4 region in the central-equatorial Pacific is the primary index area used to define ENSO phases.
- An El Niño is declared when the three-month average sea surface temperature anomaly in Niño 3.4 exceeds +0.5°C for five consecutive overlapping periods.
- During an El Niño, the trade winds strengthen and upwelling of cold water off the coast of Peru intensifies.
- The Southern Oscillation refers to the see-saw in surface air pressure between Tahiti and Darwin.
Statement 1 is correct — Niño 3.4 (5°N–5°S, 170°W–120°W) is the main ENSO index area, and it crossed 30°C for the first time on 5 October 2026. Statement 2 is correct — the +0.5°C threshold over five consecutive overlapping three-month periods marks El Niño, with 1.5–1.9°C classed as strong and above 2°C very strong. Statement 3 is incorrect — in El Niño the trade winds weaken, warm water spreads east and upwelling off Peru weakens, hurting fisheries; the statement describes La Niña-type conditions. Statement 4 is correct — the Southern Oscillation Index measures the pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin.
- Article 19(1)(b) guarantees to all persons in India the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
- Reasonable restrictions on this right may be imposed in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order.
- Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 corresponds to Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Statement 1 is incorrect — Article 19 rights are available only to citizens, not to all persons (Articles 14 and 21 extend to all persons). Statement 2 is correct — Article 19(3) permits restrictions on only two grounds: sovereignty and integrity of India (added by the 16th Amendment, 1963) and public order. Statement 3 is correct — Section 163 of the BNSS carries forward Section 144 of the CrPC, allowing magisterial orders in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger, valid up to two months.
- The Restatement of Values of Judicial Life was adopted by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of India in 1997.
- The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct were adopted as a binding resolution of the UN General Assembly.
Statement 1 is correct — the Restatement was adopted by the Full Court on 7 May 1997, and its Clause 8 bars judges from expressing views on matters pending or likely to arise for judicial determination. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Bangalore Principles (2002) were drafted by the Judicial Integrity Group and endorsed by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2006; they are soft-law guidance, not a binding UNGA resolution.
- Statement-I: Since the introduction of the Nutrient-Based Subsidy scheme in 2010, the share of nitrogen in India’s total NPK fertiliser use has increased.
- Statement-II: Urea was kept outside the Nutrient-Based Subsidy scheme at a statutorily fixed price, while prices of phosphatic and potassic fertilisers were left to the market.
Statement-I is correct — nitrogen’s share of NPK use is back to about 70%, the 1970s level, moving nationally from 7% below to 9% above its recommended dose while the potash deficit widened from 48% to 72%. Statement-II is correct — NBS (April 2010) fixed a per-kg nutrient subsidy for P and K fertilisers and let their prices float, while urea stayed outside at a fixed price; DAP prices nearly tripled and MOP rose six-fold, against a rise of about 1% for nitrogen. Statement-II explains Statement-I, since cheaper nitrogen relative to P and K drove farmers towards urea.
- Urea — 46% nitrogen — Price fixed statutorily; outside NBS
- Diammonium phosphate (DAP) — 18% N and 46% P₂O₅ — Covered under NBS
- Muriate of potash (MOP) — 60% K₂O — Met largely from domestic potash mines
Pair 1 is correct — urea contains about 46% N and is sold at a statutorily notified price, outside the NBS scheme. Pair 2 is correct — DAP (18-46-0) carries 18% N and 46% P₂O₅ and is subsidised under NBS. Pair 3 is incorrect — MOP does contain about 60% K₂O, but India has no commercially exploited potash reserves and imports essentially all its potash; in three-column matches, a pair is correct only if all three cells fit.
The Soil Health Card scheme (2015, launched at Suratgarh, Rajasthan) tests 12 parameters: macronutrients N, P and K; the secondary nutrient S; micronutrients Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn and B; and pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and organic carbon (OC). Cation exchange capacity is an important soil property but is not one of the twelve card parameters. In 2024–25 tests, 72% of samples were low in nitrogen and 52% in organic carbon.
- It provides for a Data Protection Board of India to adjudicate on personal data breaches and non-compliance.
- Appeals against the orders of the Data Protection Board lie directly to the High Court.
- The individual to whom the personal data relates is termed the ‘data fiduciary’.
Statement 1 is correct — the Act establishes the Data Protection Board of India as an adjudicatory body, with penalties extending up to ₹250 crore. Statement 2 is incorrect — appeals lie to the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT), not the High Court. Statement 3 is incorrect — the individual is the data principal, while the entity that decides the purpose and means of processing is the data fiduciary.
- Establishment of the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage
- Establishment of the Santiago Network
- Agreement to establish a fund for responding to loss and damage at Sharm el-Sheikh
- Adoption of the Paris Agreement with a dedicated article on loss and damage
The Warsaw International Mechanism came first at COP19 (2013), followed by the Paris Agreement (2015), whose Article 8 deals with loss and damage while the COP decision excludes liability and compensation. The Santiago Network for technical assistance was set up at COP25 (2019), and the fund was agreed at COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh (2022), operationalised at COP28, Dubai (2023), with its first allocation — $20 million to Nepal — coming in 2026. Hence the order is 1-4-2-3.
- Zooxanthellae living in coral tissue belong to the family Symbiodiniaceae and supply most of the coral’s food through photosynthesis.
- Reef-building corals are listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- The Gulf of Kachchh, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the major coral reef areas of India.
All three statements are correct. Zooxanthellae (Symbiodiniaceae) provide food and colour, and under heat stress corals expel them and bleach; new studies show bleached corals can regain algae from healthy corals of the same genet. Reef-building corals are protected under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, and India’s four major reef areas are the Gulf of Kachchh, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
- The Time Use Survey is conducted by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, and its first all-India round was held in 2019.
- Target 5.4 of the Sustainable Development Goals relates to recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work.
Statement 1 is correct — the NSO (MoSPI) held the first all-India Time Use Survey in 2019 and the second in 2024, with about 4.5 lakh persons recording activities for every half hour of the day. Statement 2 is correct — SDG target 5.4 calls for recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work, which TUS data track. Comparing the two rounds, women’s travel rose 6.6 points in the four free-bus States, against 3.7 points for men.
- AgriStack under the Mission comprises a Farmers’ Registry, Geo-referenced Village Maps and a Crop Sown Registry.
- The Mission is implemented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- Farmer IDs under AgriStack are linked to land records maintained by State governments.
Statement 1 is correct — AgriStack has three registries (Farmers’ Registry, Geo-referenced Village Maps and Crop Sown Registry), and the Mission also includes the Krishi Decision Support System and soil profile maps. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Mission, approved in September 2024, is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare with the States, not MeitY. Statement 3 is correct — Farmer IDs are linked to State land records, with 11 crore IDs created by 23 October 2026, ahead of the 31 March 2027 deadline.
