Current Affairs Quiz 21 October 2026

Statement 1 is correct — Entry 29 of the Union List covers airways, aircraft and air navigation, the provision of aerodromes and the regulation of air traffic and aerodromes, which is why civil aviation is a Union subject even though land, VAT on ATF and policing lie with the States. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, with effect from 1 April 1995, by merging the International Airports Authority and the National Airports Authority, and the Aircraft Act, 1934 has itself been replaced by the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024. Statement 3 is correct — under RCS-UDAN (launched 21 October 2016), VGF is shared 80 : 20 between the Centre and the States, and 90 : 10 for North-Eastern States and UTs, with the Centre's share coming from a Regional Connectivity Fund built through a levy on non-RCS domestic flights; the next phase (2026–36) carries an outlay of ₹28,840 crore. A statutory body is usually created by an Act bearing its own name, as with the AAI Act, 1994 (compare the IWAI Act, 1985).

Statement 1 is correct — a PSP is a “water battery” with a round-trip efficiency of typically about 70–80%, so it uses more energy than it returns, and its value lies in time-shifting surplus solar and wind power to peak hours and in grid services (frequency regulation, inertia, black-start). Statement 2 is incorrect — in a closed-loop scheme neither reservoir lies on a perennial river, stream or nallah; when both are on a river it is on-stream, and when one is on a river it is off-stream open-loop, and off-stream sites hold about 288.71 GW of the identified 345.38 GW potential. Statement 3 is correct — the CEA functions under Section 70 of the Electricity Act, 2003 (it was first constituted under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948), and under Section 8 hydro schemes above a cost threshold, raised to ₹3,000 crore in 2025, need CEA concurrence, while off-stream closed-loop PSPs are exempt. Statement 4 is incorrect — in March 2019 the Ministry of Power declared large hydro (above 25 MW) to be renewable energy and introduced a Hydropower Purchase Obligation, and small hydro (up to 25 MW) was already treated as renewable. “Continue to” states the pre-2019 position as if it were current, and “closed-loop” means closed off from the river, not built on it.

Statement-I is correct — the CEA has identified 320 projects with a combined potential of 345.38 GW, and the Western Region leads with 129.72 GW (Maharashtra 67.36 GW, Gujarat 33.36 GW), followed by the Southern (97.76 GW), Eastern (53.41 GW, of which Odisha 41.53 GW), Northern (50.32 GW) and North-Eastern (14.18 GW) Regions. Statement-II is correct and explains Statement-I, because a PSP's output depends on the head, the height difference between its two reservoirs, and the Western Ghats escarpment drops steeply towards the Arabian Sea, so short distances yield large heads; the CEA attributes the Western Region's lead mainly to this topography and the steep gradients of Ghats rivers. The ‘because’ test holds: the West has the highest potential because Ghats rivers have steep gradients. Himalayan rivers also have high heads, but the Northern Region ranks only fourth, since geology, seismicity and access also matter.

Pair 1 is correct — KONKAN is the India–UK naval exercise, held since 2004, and KONKAN-26 (8–15 October 2026) was held off Plymouth with INS Trishul and HMS Sutherland, conducted by the Royal Navy's FOST. Pair 2 is correct — AUSTRAHIND is the India–Australia army exercise, and its 5th edition (19 October – 1 November 2026) is under way at the Foreign Training Node, Thiruvananthapuram, on sub-conventional operations in island and coastal terrain under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, with a New Zealand observer delegation attending for the first time. Pair 3 is incorrect — Varuna is the India–France naval exercise, while with Japan the naval exercise is JIMEX and the army exercise is Dharma Guardian. Pair 4 is correct — SIMBEX is the India–Singapore naval exercise, one of the Indian Navy's longest-running bilateral exercises. Japan is a natural decoy for any Indo-Pacific naval exercise, so anchor by name: SIMBEX carries ‘S’ for Singapore, JIMEX ‘J’ for Japan, and Varuna, the Vedic god of the waters, goes with France.

Statement 1 is correct — Kufri Jamunia (released by ICAR-CPRI, Shimla in 2024; pedigree MS/8-1148 × CP4242) is conventionally bred, not genetically modified, while fortification is regulated by FSSAI's Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2018 and carries the “+F” logo, as with fortified rice in the PDS. Statement 2 is incorrect — anthocyanins are water-soluble flavonoid pigments (purple, red, blue; their colour varies with pH) that act as antioxidants, whereas it is the carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, that are fat-soluble, and some of them are provitamin A. Kufri Jamunia contains both, with 42.05 mg/100 g anthocyanins and about 161 µg/100 g carotenoids in the flesh. Memory rule: carotene → carrot → vitamin A, fat-soluble; anthocyanin → “anthos” (flower) → water-soluble colour.

Statement 1 is incorrect — the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was set up in 2002 under the Energy Conservation Act, 2001 (Ministry of Power), and the CCTS was notified in June 2023 after the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2022 empowered the Centre to specify a carbon credit trading scheme; the Grid Controller of India keeps the registry and CERC regulates trading. Statement 2 is correct — targets are set in tCO₂e per unit of output, a baseline-and-credit design unlike the cap-and-trade EU ETS (2005), and nearly 500 companies across seven sectors filed their first compliance reports on 31 July. Statement 3 is correct — PAT (2012), under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency (one of the eight missions of the NAPCC, 2008), let over-achievers sell Energy Saving Certificates (ESCerts) on the power exchanges. The BEE, PAT and CCTS all sit under the Energy Conservation Act, while the Electricity Act, 2003 governs the CEA and the CERC.

The 42nd Amendment (1976) froze the inter-State allocation of seats on the basis of the 1971 census until the first census after 2000, which is the old deadline in option (a). The 84th Amendment (2001) extended the freeze to the first census taken after 2026, so that States which had controlled population growth would not be penalised, and it allowed readjustment of constituency boundaries within States on the 1991 figures, which the 87th Amendment (2003) changed to the 2001 census; Article 170 applies the same rule to State Assemblies. Census 2027 (reference date 1 March 2027; 1 October 2026 for snow-bound areas) will be the first census after 2026, which is why its timing matters for delimitation and for women's reservation under the 106th Amendment (2023). Anchor the years: 42nd → after 2000; 84th → after 2026, with 2011 and 2021 as decoys.

Statement 1 is incorrect — in Anuradha Bhasin (2020) the Court held that speech and trade carried on through the Internet are protected under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g), and ruled that indefinite suspension is impermissible; orders must be temporary, proportionate, published and subject to periodic review. Statement 2 is correct — in Secretary, Ministry of I&B v. Cricket Association of Bengal (1995) the Court held that airwaves are public property and that Article 19(1)(a) includes the right to receive and impart information, and the Court relied on it on 15 October 2026 when it held that Internet access is a fundamental right of children under Article 21 read with Article 19(1)(a). Statement 3 is incorrect — under Section 2(f) of the DPDP Act, 2023 a child is an individual who has not completed eighteen years, whereas sixteen is the default age of digital consent under the EU's GDPR. Statement 4 is correct — Section 9 requires verifiable parental consent for processing a child's data and prohibits tracking, behavioural monitoring and targeted advertising directed at children.

Statement 1 is correct — under Paragraph 3 of the 1950 Order, SC status originally applied only to Hindus, with Sikhs added in 1956 and Buddhists in 1990, so converts to Islam or Christianity lose SC status; the Justice K.G. Balakrishnan Commission (October 2022) is examining whether this should change. Statement 2 is correct — under Article 341(1) the President specifies the castes by public notification, and under Article 341(2) only Parliament, by law, may include or exclude castes thereafter. Statement 3 is incorrect — the 102nd Amendment (2018) gave the NCBC constitutional status (Article 338B) and inserted Article 342A, and after the Supreme Court's 2021 Maratha reservation verdict read it as taking away the States' power, it was the 105th Amendment (2021) that restored the States' power to keep their own SEBC lists. On 15 October 2026 the Supreme Court upheld the Madras High Court's invalidation of Tamil Nadu's 9 March 2024 order that let converts obtain BC Muslim certificates. Remember: 102 = NCBC made constitutional; 105 = States' lists back.

Statement-I is incorrect — no Article expressly enacts the doctrine; it is implicit in the constitutional scheme, and provisions that reflect it include Article 50, Articles 121/211 (no discussion of judges' conduct in legislatures) and Articles 122/212 (courts not to inquire into legislative proceedings). Ram Jawaya Kapur (1955) held that India has no rigid separation, while Kesavananda Bharati (1973) and Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975) recognised it as part of the basic structure. Statement-II is correct — Article 50 is a DPSP, and on 12 October 2026 the CJI invoked separation of powers and judicial propriety in declining to receive a memorandum from the Leaders of Opposition on matters already sub judice. A doctrine read in by courts is passed off as constitutional text, so check each statement independently before applying the ‘because’ test.

Statement 1 is correct — public order (Entry 1) and police (Entry 2) are in List II, so crowd management at events such as Durga Puja is primarily a State responsibility, as the crowd crush at a Kolkata pandal on 17 October 2026 showed. Statement 2 is incorrect — the NDMA is chaired by the Prime Minister, an SDMA by the Chief Minister and a DDMA by the District Collector, while the National Executive Committee is chaired by the Union Home Secretary. The NDMA's guide “Managing Crowds at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering” (2014) sets out the demand–capacity and “input control” approach. The Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal ministry, so the Home Minister looks like a natural chair, but the ladder is PM (NDMA) → CM (SDMA) → Collector (DDMA).

Statement-I is incorrect — bond prices and yields move inversely, so a rising price means a falling yield; the recent rise in U.S. Treasury yields reflects falling bond prices, driven by expectations of rates staying “higher for longer”, a higher term premium, heavy government borrowing and AI-related capital spending. Statement-II is correct — a ₹100 bond with a ₹7 annual coupon yields 7% when bought at ₹100 but only about 6.4% when bought at ₹110. Since Indian government bonds joined the J.P. Morgan GBI-EM index (June 2024), Indian yields and the rupee are more sensitive to U.S. yields, which complicates easing by the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee, which targets CPI inflation of 4% ± 2%. A fixed ₹7 coupon divided by a higher price gives a smaller percentage, so Statement-II is the very mechanism that makes Statement-I wrong.

Pair 1 is correct — the hoolock gibbon is India's only ape, and the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary (Jorhat, Assam), a forest fragment cut by a railway line, holds about 130 western hoolocks, with planted canopy bridges now letting them cross the track; the western hoolock is Endangered (IUCN) and both hoolock species are in Schedule I of the WPA, 1972. Pair 2 is correct — the lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus, Endangered, endemic to the Western Ghats) lives in rainforest fragments around Valparai, split by tea and coffee estates. Pair 3 is correct — the grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura) is protected in the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu), where rope bridges help it cross roads. Pair 4 is incorrect — the Indian giant squirrel (Ratufa indica, state animal of Maharashtra) is found in peninsular forests such as Melghat and Bhimashankar, whereas Dachigam is known for the hangul (Kashmir stag). Giant squirrels need a continuous tropical canopy, which a temperate Himalayan park does not offer.

When a light source approaches, its waves are compressed into shorter wavelengths, a shift towards blue, and when it recedes the shift is towards red. In the VELC images, negative Doppler velocities mean plasma moving towards the observer and positive velocities mean plasma moving away, which helps infer whether a coronal mass ejection is heading along the Sun–Earth line. Options (c) and (d) borrow other things that spectra can reveal (temperature, composition) to pull attention from motion, and the train-whistle analogy settles it: pitch rises as the train approaches, just as light shifts to blue. Aditya-L1 was launched on 2 September 2023 (PSLV-C57) and placed in a halo orbit around L1 (about 1.5 million km from Earth) on 6 January 2024; its seven payloads are VELC, SUIT, SoLEXS, HEL1OS (remote sensing) and ASPEX, PAPA, MAG (in situ), and VELC was built by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

Statement 1 is correct — Phobos (about 22 km across) orbits only about 6,000 km above the Martian surface, while Deimos (about 12 km) orbits roughly 20,000 km out, and both were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. Statement 2 is correct — Phobos circles Mars in about 7 hours 39 minutes, while Mars takes about 24 hours 37 minutes to rotate once, so seen from Mars it rises in the west, and tidal forces are slowly drawing it inward. Statement 3 is correct — Hayabusa2 returned its capsule from Ryugu in December 2020, and the first Hayabusa returned samples from Itokawa in 2010; JAXA's MMX, launched on 20 October 2026, aims to bring at least 10 g of Phobos material back by 2031, carrying the IDEFIX rover built by CNES–DLR. Statement 2 sounds impossible but is a well-known fact about Phobos, so do not eliminate a counter-intuitive statement without a contrary fact.