Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- The 73rd Constitutional Amendment added Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule, which lists 29 subjects.
- Article 243I provides for a State Finance Commission to review the financial position of Panchayats every five years.
- Article 243K provides for a State Election Commission to conduct elections to Panchayats.
All three statements are correct. The 73rd Amendment (1992), in force from 24 April 1993, inserted Part IX (Articles 243–243O) and the Eleventh Schedule with 29 subjects. Article 243I requires the Governor to constitute a State Finance Commission every five years, and Article 243K vests Panchayat elections in a State Election Commission, not the Election Commission of India. The new PM Viksit Gram Swaraj Yojana aims to help Panchayats use the larger Finance Commission grants for 2026–31.
- It is a Central Sector Scheme fully funded by the Union Government.
- It also covers traditional local bodies in areas where Part IX of the Constitution does not apply.
Statement 1 is incorrect — PM VGSY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme: of its ₹7,395.55 crore outlay for 2026–27 to 2030–31, the Centre provides ₹4,869.48 crore and the States ₹2,526.07 crore. Statement 2 is correct — it extends to all States and UTs, including traditional local bodies in non-Part IX areas where Panchayats do not exist.
- The State of Nagaland
- The State of Meghalaya
- The State of Mizoram
- Scheduled Areas under the Fifth Schedule
Article 243M(1) excludes Scheduled Areas (Fifth Schedule) and tribal areas (Sixth Schedule) from Part IX, and Article 243M(2)(a) excludes the States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram, along with the hill areas of Manipur that have District Councils. Panchayats operate in Fifth Schedule areas only because Parliament extended Part IX to them with modifications through PESA, 1996, so Part IX does not apply there as such. PM VGSY covers traditional local bodies in such non-Part IX areas.
- Interest Subvention Assistance — ₹859 crore — 3% annual interest subvention on term loans
- Operational Expenditure Assistance — ₹8,891 crore — Interest subvention on working-capital loans
- Testing and certification assistance — ₹150 crore — Grants for in-house laboratories of individual manufacturers
Pair 1 is correct — ISA (₹859 crore) gives a 3% a year interest subvention on term loans for greenfield plants (≥1 lakh TEU) and brownfield expansions (≥25,000 TEU). Pair 2 is incorrect — OEA (₹8,891 crore) is a production-linked payment per container manufactured to global standards and sold, bridging the cost gap, subject to 70% local content rising to 90% from FY 2032–33. Pair 3 is incorrect — the ₹150 crore funds common facilities such as dynamic longitudinal impact testing, not individual in-house labs. The scheme’s total outlay is ₹10,000 crore up to FY 2039–40, targeting 7.5 lakh TEUs of capacity.
- The Cartagena Protocol deals with the safe transboundary movement of living modified organisms.
- The Nagoya Protocol deals with liability and redress for damage caused by living modified organisms.
- The ‘30×30’ target is part of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Statement 1 is correct — the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000; in force 2003) governs the transboundary movement of LMOs, and India released its 5th National Report under it at COP-17. Statement 2 is incorrect — liability and redress are covered by the Nagoya–Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol (2010), while the Nagoya Protocol (2010; in force 2014) deals with access and benefit-sharing. Statement 3 is correct — Target 3 of the Kunming–Montreal GBF (2022) aims to conserve 30% of land and sea by 2030.
- Free Trade Agreements are permitted under the WTO as an exception to the Most-Favoured-Nation principle, under Article XXIV of GATT.
- New Zealand is a member of both the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the CPTPP.
Statement 1 is correct — GATT Article XXIV allows customs unions and FTAs covering substantially all trade, while GATS Article V covers services agreements. Statement 2 is correct — New Zealand belongs to both RCEP (which India left in 2019) and the CPTPP, and the India–New Zealand FTA, now in force, gives India comparable preferential access.
- The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) functions under the Ministry of Finance.
- Disinvestment proceeds are classified as non-debt capital receipts in the Union Budget.
- The New Public Sector Enterprise Policy, 2021 envisages a bare minimum presence of public sector enterprises in strategic sectors.
All three statements are correct. The Department of Disinvestment (1999) was renamed DIPAM in 2016 and is a department of the Ministry of Finance. Disinvestment receipts are non-debt capital receipts that reduce the borrowing needed to finance the fiscal deficit. The 2021 policy identifies four strategic sectors with a bare-minimum PSE presence — not complete exit — while PSEs in non-strategic sectors are to be privatised or closed.
In an Offer for Sale, an existing shareholder — here the Government — sells shares through the exchange platform, and the money goes to the seller, not the company; it widens public ownership without changing management. Option (a) describes a fresh issue, (c) a strategic sale (such as Air India in 2022 or the approved IDBI Bank sale), and (d) a buyback.
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 amended the Right to Information Act, 2005 with respect to disclosure of personal information.
- The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 did not contain any exemption for processing personal data for journalistic purposes.
Statement 1 is correct — Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act amended Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, removing the public-interest override for disclosure of personal information. Statement 2 is incorrect — both the Srikrishna Committee draft (2018) and the PDP Bill, 2019 exempted journalistic processing, but the DPDP Act, 2023 does not, which is the source of publishers’ current concerns. The Government has said the law does not infringe press freedom and may consider an explicit amendment.
- Statement-I: Benchmark indices such as the Nifty 50 and Sensex weight companies by free-float market capitalisation.
- Statement-II: Market capitalisation of a company is calculated as its share price multiplied by the total number of its outstanding shares.
Statement-I is correct — indices use free-float market capitalisation, counting only shares available for trading and excluding promoter holdings. Statement-II is correct — it is the definition of full market capitalisation, as with Jio Platforms at about ₹13.05 lakh crore after listing. However, Statement-II defines full market cap and does not explain why indices use the free-float version, which reflects investable shares.
- Effective demand — J.M. Keynes — Employment depends on aggregate demand; fiscal policy can close a demand gap
- “Political Aspects of Full Employment” — Michał Kalecki — Business may resist permanent full employment as it weakens the threat of dismissal
- Monetarism — Milton Friedman — Sustained fiscal expansion is the best way to maintain full employment
Pair 1 is correct — Keynes argued that output and employment are determined by effective (aggregate) demand. Pair 2 is correct — Kalecki (1943) argued that under permanent full employment “the sack” would lose its disciplinary role, so business may oppose it. Pair 3 is incorrect — Friedman’s monetarism emphasised control of the money supply to curb inflation and was sceptical of active fiscal policy; sustained fiscal expansion is the Keynesian prescription.
- Ways and Means Advances from the Reserve Bank of India help States meet temporary mismatches between receipts and payments.
- Under Article 293, a State may raise loans from abroad with the consent of the Union Government.
- A State that owes money to the Union Government requires the Centre’s consent to raise new loans.
Statement 1 is correct — WMA is short-term RBI credit to cover temporary cash mismatches, with the RBI acting as banker and debt manager to States by agreement. Statement 2 is incorrect — Article 293(1) permits States to borrow only within the territory of India, as external borrowing is a Union power. Statement 3 is correct — Article 293(3) requires the Centre’s consent if any part of a loan from the Centre remains outstanding. The RBI recently urged States to adopt prudent borrowing and cash-management strategies.
- Statement-I: India has exempted SDN-1 and SDN-2 genome-edited plants from the biosafety rules applicable to genetically modified organisms.
- Statement-II: SDN-1 and SDN-2 genome editing does not involve the insertion of foreign DNA into the plant’s genome.
Statement-I is correct — in 2022, India exempted SDN-1 and SDN-2 plants free of exogenous DNA from GM rules under the Environment (Protection) Act, while SDN-3 remains regulated. Statement-II is correct and explains Statement-I — these edits alter the plant’s own genes without introducing foreign DNA, which is the very basis of the exemption. India’s first genome-edited rice varieties, DRR Dhan 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1, were released in 2025.
- Deep saline aquifers and depleted oil and gas reservoirs are potential sites for geological storage of carbon dioxide.
- Basalt formations can store carbon dioxide by converting it into stable carbonate minerals.
- ‘Blue hydrogen’ is produced by electrolysis of water using renewable electricity.
- Captured carbon dioxide can be used for enhanced oil recovery.
Statement 1 is correct — geological storage options include depleted reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. Statement 2 is correct — CO₂ injected into basalt reacts to form carbonate minerals, as in Iceland’s CarbFix, and India’s Deccan basalts are a potential site. Statement 3 is incorrect — electrolysis with renewable power gives green hydrogen, while blue hydrogen comes from fossil fuels (or coal gasification) with carbon capture. Statement 4 is correct — enhanced oil recovery is a major use of captured CO₂, and the Union Budget 2026–27 earmarked ₹20,000 crore over five years for CCUS.
- The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas is a statutory body.
- The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was first notified in 2017 following directions of the Supreme Court.
- Under the National Air Quality Index, an AQI between 201 and 300 is classified as ‘Very Poor’.
Statement 1 is correct — CAQM was established under the CAQM Act, 2021, replacing the non-statutory EPCA (1998). Statement 2 is correct — the MoEFCC notified GRAP in January 2017 pursuant to Supreme Court directions. Statement 3 is incorrect — an AQI of 201–300 is ‘Poor’ (GRAP Stage I), while ‘Very Poor’ is 301–400 and ‘Severe’ is 401–500.
