Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- Under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, a senior citizen is a person aged 60 years or above.
- Article 41 of the Constitution directs the State to make effective provision for public assistance in cases of old age.
- SHATAYU is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under which the government directly employs geriatric caregivers.
Statement 1 is correct — the MWPSC Act, 2007 defines a senior citizen as a person aged 60 or above and places a legal duty on children and relatives to maintain them. Statement 2 is correct — Article 41 (DPSP) covers the right to work, education and public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement. Statement 3 is incorrect — SHATAYU (launched 22 May 2026) is a digital initiative of the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, a directory and matching platform listing 30,151 trained caregivers rather than an employer, with training supported by NISD and NSDC.
NEP 2020 replaced the 10+2 structure with 5+3+3+4, and the Foundational Stage spans five years — three years of pre-school/Anganwadi/Balvatika (ages 3–6) plus Grades 1 and 2 (ages 6–8). Its pedagogy is play- and activity-based, as set out in the National Curriculum Framework for the Foundational Stage (2022), the context of the current debate on screens and AI in early grades. Option (a), 3–6 years, covers only early childhood care and education, which is just part of the Foundational Stage.
- Statement-I: Although non-fossil sources account for over half of India’s installed power capacity, their share in actual electricity generation is considerably lower.
- Statement-II: Solar power plants have a lower capacity utilisation factor than coal-based thermal plants, as they generate electricity only during daylight hours.
Statement-I is correct — non-fossil capacity stood at 308 GW, about 55% of installed capacity, on 31 July 2026, yet coal still produces the larger part of electricity actually generated. Statement-II is correct — solar plants in India typically have a CUF of about 18–20%, as they produce only in daylight and output varies with weather, while coal plants can run round the clock. Because each gigawatt of solar produces fewer units than a gigawatt of coal, a large capacity share translates into a smaller generation share, so Statement-II explains Statement-I.
- PM-Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana — Rooftop solar for households
- PM Surya Sarovar Yojana — Floating solar with energy storage
- GOBARdhan — Compressed biogas from organic waste
- SATAT — Viability gap funding for offshore wind
Pair 1 is correct — PM-Surya Ghar (February 2024; ₹75,021 crore) supports rooftop solar for 1 crore households. Pair 2 is correct — PM Surya Sarovar Yojana (31 July 2026; ₹5,070 crore) targets 5,000 MW of floating solar with at least two-hour storage. Pair 3 is correct — GOBARdhan, now a National Circular Bioenergy Scheme (₹23,731 crore), aims to raise compressed biogas output nearly ten-fold. Pair 4 is incorrect — SATAT (Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation, 2018) promotes CBG as a transport fuel, while offshore wind has a separate ₹7,453 crore VGF scheme for 1 GW.
- Under India’s Green Hydrogen Standard, only hydrogen produced through electrolysis of water can qualify as green hydrogen.
- The National Green Hydrogen Mission targets the production of 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030.
- The Geological Survey of India has estimated India’s geothermal power potential at about 10,600 MW.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the Green Hydrogen Standard (2023) covers both electrolysis using renewable energy and biomass conversion, provided well-to-gate emissions do not exceed 2 kg CO₂-equivalent per kg of hydrogen. Statement 2 is correct — the NGHM, approved in January 2023 with ₹19,744 crore, targets 5 MMT a year by 2030. Statement 3 is correct — the GSI estimates about 10,600 MW from studies of 381 hot springs, and the National Policy on Geothermal Energy was notified in September 2025.
- The asset turnover ratio of a company is the ratio of its sales to its fixed assets.
- Gross Fixed Capital Formation in national accounts includes changes in inventories held by firms.
Statement 1 is correct — asset turnover equals sales divided by fixed assets, and a Bank of Baroda study found the ratio rising from 1.14 to 1.30 between September 2025 and September 2026, indicating better use of existing capacity. Statement 2 is incorrect — GFCF covers spending on fixed assets such as buildings, machinery and equipment, while Gross Capital Formation equals GFCF plus change in stocks plus valuables; inventories are not fixed assets.
- The Quad has a permanent secretariat to coordinate its initiatives.
- The first summit-level meeting of the Quad leaders was held in 2021.
- The Malabar naval exercise has included the navies of all four Quad countries since 2020.
- The United States renamed its Pacific Command as the Indo-Pacific Command in 2018.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the Quad has no treaty, no permanent secretariat and no collective-defence clause, and works through regular meetings and working groups. Statement 2 is correct — the first leaders’ summit was held virtually in March 2021, the last was at Wilmington (2024), and the next is expected in Manila. Statement 3 is correct — Australia rejoined Malabar in 2020, bringing all four navies together. Statement 4 is correct — INDOPACOM, headquartered in Hawaii, was renamed in 2018.
- Statement-I: The 2016 arbitral award in the case brought by the Philippines rejected China’s claim to historic rights within the ‘nine-dash line’.
- Statement-II: China is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982.
Statement-I is correct — in July 2016, a tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS, with the Permanent Court of Arbitration as registry, held that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights within the nine-dash line. Statement-II is incorrect — China ratified UNCLOS in 1996 (India in 1995) and rejects the award on the ground that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction; a State can be a party to a treaty and still reject a ruling under it.
- The Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, appoint.
- A substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution must be decided by a Bench of at least five judges.
- Parliament may, by law, increase the number of judges of the Supreme Court.
All three statements are correct. Article 130 lets the Supreme Court sit elsewhere with the CJI’s and President’s approval, a provision the 229th Law Commission Report (2009) relied on to propose regional Cassation Benches. Article 145(3) requires a minimum of five judges — a Constitution Bench — for such questions and for Article 143 references. Article 124(1) provided for the CJI and seven judges “until Parliament by law prescribes a larger number”, and the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956 has been amended several times, with the sanctioned strength rising to 38 in 2026.
- Under Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, a foreign judgment obtained by fraud is not conclusive in India.
- Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is a ground for divorce available to all courts under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.
Statement 1 is correct — Section 13 of the CPC lists six exceptions, including judgments obtained by fraud, and under Y. Narasimha Rao (1991) a foreign divorce must also rest on a ground available in the matrimonial law under which the parties married. Statement 2 is incorrect — the HMA does not list irretrievable breakdown; only the Supreme Court, under Article 142, can dissolve a marriage on this basis (Shilpa Sailesh, 2023), which is why a UK decree on this ground could not end a Hindu marriage in the recent bigamy ruling.
- BIMSTEC was established through the Bangkok Declaration of 1997.
- All member countries of BIMSTEC are also members of SAARC.
- The permanent secretariat of BIMSTEC is located in Dhaka.
Statement 1 is correct — BIMSTEC was set up by the Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997, and its Charter was adopted at the Colombo Summit (2022). Statement 2 is incorrect — Myanmar and Thailand are not SAARC members, while Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan are in SAARC but not BIMSTEC. Statement 3 is correct — the secretariat has been in Dhaka since 2014, and the first BIMSTEC Health Ministers’ Meeting was recently held in Colombo.
- Bab-el-Mandeb — Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
- Strait of Hormuz — Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
- Bosporus — Black Sea and Sea of Marmara
- Strait of Malacca — Andaman Sea and South China Sea
All four pairs are correct. Bab-el-Mandeb (between Yemen and Djibouti/Eritrea) links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, and Hormuz (between Iran and Oman) links the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The Bosporus links the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, from where the Dardanelles lead to the Aegean, the two forming the Turkish Straits under the Montreux Convention (1936). The Strait of Malacca, between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, links the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) to the South China Sea.
- Statement-I: India typically runs a deficit in merchandise trade but a surplus in services trade.
- Statement-II: A depreciation of the rupee, other things being equal, makes Indian exports cheaper in foreign markets.
Statement-I is correct — in October 2026, goods exports hit a record $49.47 billion against goods imports of $89.35 billion, a gap of $39.88 billion, and the services surplus brought the overall deficit down to $20.1 billion. Statement-II is correct — a weaker rupee lowers the foreign-currency price of Indian goods, supporting exports. However, India’s goods-deficit, services-surplus structure arises from its import dependence (oil, gold, electronics) and its strength in IT services, not from exchange-rate movements, so Statement-II does not explain Statement-I.
- Urea is covered under the Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme introduced in 2010.
- Leguminous crops such as chickpea and pigeon pea fix atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic Rhizobium bacteria.
- The Soil Health Card scheme provides crop-wise recommendations of nutrients and fertilisers based on soil testing.
Statement 1 is incorrect — the Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme (2010) covers phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers, while urea has a statutorily fixed retail price of about ₹266 a bag, with the subsidy covering the cost gap — one reason for its overuse. Statement 2 is correct — pulses host Rhizobium in root nodules, which convert atmospheric nitrogen into usable forms, which is why the Khet Bachao Abhiyan urges rotation away from paddy–wheat. Statement 3 is correct — the Soil Health Card scheme (2015) tests soil and advises nutrient doses crop-wise.
- Matsya-6000 is being developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- The International Seabed Authority is headquartered in Geneva.
- Polymetallic nodules are an important source of manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper.
- India’s exploration contract area for polymetallic nodules lies in the Arabian Sea.
Statement 1 is correct — NIOT, Chennai is building Matsya-6000 under Samudrayaan (Deep Ocean Mission), with its first 500 m trial dive planned for early 2027. Statement 2 is incorrect — the ISA, set up under UNCLOS, is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica. Statement 3 is correct — polymetallic nodules contain manganese, nickel, cobalt and copper, minerals important for batteries. Statement 4 is incorrect — India’s contract area of about 75,000 sq km is in the Central Indian Ocean Basin, where India became a pioneer investor in 1987.
