Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- A. Param Vir Chakra — 1. Instituted 4 January 1952; renamed January 1967; conferred at Defence Investiture Ceremony
- B. Ashoka Chakra — 2. Highest wartime award; 21 total awardees (14 posthumous); last awarded Kargil War, 1999
- C. Kirti Chakra — 3. Highest peacetime award; 87 total awardees (68 posthumous); conferred at Republic Day Parade, Kartavya Path
- D. Shaurya Chakra — 4. Second-highest peacetime award; eligible recipients include RPF and CAPF personnel
A-2 — the Param Vir Chakra is India's highest military decoration with only 21 awardees (14 posthumous), last awarded during the Kargil War 1999, conferred at the Republic Day Parade, Kartavya Path (not the Defence Investiture Ceremony — making Description 1 wrong for A). B-3 — the Ashoka Chakra is the highest peacetime award with 87 awardees (68 posthumous), also conferred at Kartavya Path; PVC and AC are the only two awards presented there, all others go to the Defence Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. C-4 — the Kirti Chakra is the second-highest peacetime award (4th overall); RPF and CAPF personnel are eligible for peacetime awards but NOT wartime ones — the most tested eligibility trap. D-1 — the Shaurya Chakra (6th and lowest overall) was originally Ashoka Chakra Class-III, instituted 4 January 1952, renamed 1967, and is conferred at the Defence Investiture Ceremony.
Reason (R): Financial investors such as PE/VC funds and sovereign wealth funds accounted for approximately 40.5% of India's effective FDI inflows between 2022–26 and are structurally oriented toward planned capital exit, generating large disinvestment and repatriation outflows through the Financial Account.
The Assertion is false for two reasons — dividend repatriation is recorded in the Current Account (under investment income), not the Financial Account; and the actual driver of weak net FDI is disinvestment and capital repatriation by financial investors, not dividend remittances. The Reason is independently true — PE/VC funds and sovereign wealth funds constituted ~40.5% of effective FDI inflows (2022–26) and are structurally built for planned capital exit, with the outflow ratio worsening from $0.56 per $1 inflow (2014–18) to $1.50 (2022–26); the Temasek exit earning $6.4 billion on a $637 million investment is a paradigmatic example. Since A is false, R cannot explain it even though R is true.
- The axolotl belongs to Class Amphibia, Order Urodela, and Family Ambystomatidae — it is neither a fish nor a reptile.
- Neoteny in the axolotl is caused by the permanent evolutionary suppression of the thyroid-stimulating metamorphic signal, resulting in retention of larval features including external feathery gills throughout adult life.
- The axolotl's CITES Appendix II listing means international commercial trade is completely banned, equivalent in protection to Appendix I species.
- The wild axolotl population density in Xochimilco collapsed from approximately 6,000 per sq km (1998) to ~36 per sq km (2014) and zero sightings (2024–26), with invasive tilapia and carp as the primary biological drivers.
- The FIFA World Cup 2026 official mascot is the axolotl, chosen to represent Mexico City's hosting of five matches.
Statements 1, 2, and 4 are correct — the axolotl is a Class Amphibia, Order Urodela salamander; its neoteny results from evolutionary suppression of the thyroid-stimulating cascade (laboratory thyroxine can still force metamorphosis, proving suppression rather than complete absence); and its wild density collapsed from ~6,000/sq km (1998) to ~36/sq km (2014) to zero sightings (2024–26) driven by invasive tilapia and carp. Statement 3 is incorrect — CITES Appendix II regulates but does not ban commercial trade (permits required); only Appendix I bans it. Statement 5 is incorrect — the official FIFA World Cup 2026 mascot is "Striker," a cartoon bobcat; the axolotl is only Mexico City's unofficial local symbol for its five matches, not an official FIFA designation.
- South Lhonak Lake, North Sikkim — Breached 4 October 2023; killed 178 people; destroyed 1,200 MW Teesta-III dam; no advance warning
- Gangabal Lake, Ganderbal district, J&K — Area 1.65 sq km; altitude 3,576 m asl; fed by Harmukh Glacier; drains into Wangath Nullah → Sindh River
- Moraine — Engineered concrete barrier; primary dam structure of glacial lakes equipped with spillways for controlled discharge
- Seismic Zone V — Highest earthquake hazard in India; includes J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Northeast India, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
Pairs 1, 2, and 4 are correctly matched. The South Lhonak GLOF (4 October 2023) breached after its permafrost moraine slumped, destroying the 1,200 MW Teesta-III dam and killing 178 people with no early warning system in place. Gangabal Lake (1.65 sq km, 3,576m, Harmukh Glacier, Wangath Nullah → Sindh River) is precisely described. Seismic Zone V covers J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Northeast India, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Pair 3 is the foundational conceptual trap — a moraine is entirely natural, being an unsorted accumulation of rock, sediment, and debris deposited by a retreating glacier with no concrete reinforcement, no spillway, and no monitoring infrastructure, which is precisely why GLOFs are so catastrophically sudden.
- The Ulgulan reached its climax at Dombari Buru in Khunti district in January 1900, where British forces fired on thousands of tribal gatherings asserting Khuntkatti land rights.
- The Birsait faith founded by Birsa Munda was a reform movement within Hinduism, incorporating Vaishnavite elements with tribal traditions — distinct from Sarnaism but derived from the Hindu tradition.
- The CNT Act, 1908 prevents transfer of Adivasi land to non-Adivasis, legally recognised the Khuntkatti system, and remains in force in Jharkhand today.
- Jaipal Singh Munda — Oxford-educated tribal leader who championed tribal rights in the Constituent Assembly — captained India's hockey team to gold at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
- Under Article 342, the Parliament is empowered to specify Scheduled Tribes; the President can modify the list by law.
Statements 1, 3, and 4 are correct — British forces fired on the Dombari Buru gathering (January 1900); Birsa was arrested on 3 March 1900 and died in Ranchi jail on 9 June 1900, aged 24; the CNT Act, 1908 prohibits Adivasi land transfer to non-tribals, recognised the Khuntkatti system, and remains in force in Jharkhand; and Jaipal Singh Munda captained India's hockey team to its first Olympic gold at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics before championing tribal rights in the Constituent Assembly. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Birsait faith was a fully independent religious movement; though Birsa passed through a transitional Vaishnavite phase, his mature faith was distinct from both Hinduism and Sarnaism. Statement 5 is incorrect and inverted — under Article 342, the President specifies Scheduled Tribes, and Parliament can modify the list by law, not the other way around.
