Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- Sarnath is the site where the Buddha delivered his first sermon, known as the Dharmachakra Pravartana, to his five disciples around 528 BCE.
- The Lion Capital of Ashoka discovered at Sarnath, which became India's National Emblem, was erected by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE and bears the Schism Edict in Brahmi script.
- The Chaukhandi Stupa at Sarnath is a purely Buddhist monument with no later additions from any other period.
- Sarnath was inscribed on UNESCO's Tentative List in 1998, and nomination criteria include (iii) and (vi) recognising its enduring spiritual significance and direct association with the Buddha's life.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct. The first sermon was delivered at Sarnath c. 528 BCE to five disciples; Ashoka's pillar bears the Schism Edict in Brahmi and dates to c. 250 BCE, with the Lion Capital becoming the National Emblem; and Sarnath was on the Tentative List since 1998, inscribed under criteria (iii) and (vi). Statement 3 is incorrect — the Chaukhandi Stupa is topped by an octagonal Mughal brick tower built by Akbar in 1588 CE as a memorial to Humayun, making it a Buddhist-Mughal composite monument.
Reason (R): The Mahaparinibbana Sutta (Digha Nikaya, Sutta 16) records the Buddha naming four sites for pilgrimage — Lumbini (birth), Bodh Gaya (enlightenment), Sarnath (first sermon), and Kushinagar (parinirvana).
Both A and R are true, and R explains A. Lumbini (1997), Bodh Gaya/Mahabodhi Temple (2002), and Sarnath (2026) are UNESCO WHS; only Kushinagar is not. The Reason correctly identifies the four sites the Buddha himself designated for pilgrimage, which is precisely the framework being applied to count and assess inscriptions.
- Flooded paddy fields produce methane because anaerobic (low-oxygen) soil conditions allow methanogenic archaea to thrive, releasing methane through the rice plant stem and as bubbles.
- According to the Nature Food study, global paddy field GHG emissions in 2011–2020 were approximately 1.1 billion tonnes of CO₂-equivalent per year — a rise of over 90% from 1961–1980 levels.
- India's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement includes specific quantitative targets for reducing methane emissions from rice cultivation.
- The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) technique involves transplanting young seedlings at precise wide spacing in non-continuously flooded fields, which reduces anaerobic conditions and methane output.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct. Anaerobic soil conditions from flooding enable methanogenic archaea to produce methane; the Nature Food study confirms 1.1 billion tonnes CO₂-equivalent per year, a 90.4% rise since 1961–1980; and SRI uses aerobic, non-continuous flooding to reduce methane. Statement 3 is incorrect — India's NDC focuses on energy decarbonisation, forest cover, and GDP emission intensity, without specific agricultural methane reduction targets, a documented policy gap.
AWD stands for Alternate Wetting and Drying, an irrigation technique where paddy fields are allowed to partially dry between irrigations rather than staying continuously flooded, disrupting the anaerobic conditions that enable methanogenic archaea to produce methane, cutting GHG emissions while largely maintaining yield.
- The term 'Zoopharmacognosy' was coined by plant biologist Eloy Rodriguez and refers to the behaviour of animals selecting plants or other substances with medicinal properties to treat or prevent illness.
- Geophagy, which is the consumption of clay or soil by animals, is a form of zoopharmacognosy observed only in primates such as chimpanzees and orangutans.
Statement 1 is correct — Eloy Rodriguez coined "zoopharmacognosy" (animal + medicine + knowledge) in the 1990s. Statement 2 is incorrect — geophagy is documented across many animal groups, including elephants, birds, and various mammals, not confined only to primates.
- Unlike classical computers that use bits (0 or 1), quantum computers use qubits that can exist in superposition — simultaneously 0 and 1 — enabling parallel processing of vastly more possibilities.
- A photonic quantum computer uses individual electrons as qubits, which must be cooled to temperatures near absolute zero using dilution refrigerators.
- In the DTU study, the quantum computer replaced the AI model entirely, taking over the task of designing immune-binding peptides without any AI involvement.
- HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) molecules on cell surfaces act as display platforms for peptide fragments, and a peptide must bind stably in an HLA groove before the immune system can recognise it.
Statements 1 and 4 are correct. Qubits exist in superposition, enabling parallel processing beyond classical bits, and HLA molecules display peptide fragments, with stable HLA-groove binding required before immune recognition. Statement 2 is incorrect — photonic quantum computers use photons, not electrons, as qubits, and operate near room temperature rather than needing near-absolute-zero cooling. Statement 3 is incorrect — the quantum computer only seeded the AI's starting distribution; the AI still performed the peptide design work.
Reason (R): Flying directly through a planetary ring to collect samples would pose unacceptable collision hazards from ring particles, making a grazing touch-and-go technique necessary.
Both A and R are true, and R explains A. PRAXIS (Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling), selected for NIAC 2026 Phase I, would be the first mission to sample ring particles in-situ. The Reason directly explains the design choice: flying through a ring risks collision damage from particles, making the grazing touch-and-go boom technique the necessary engineering solution.
- The Black Sea connects to the Mediterranean Sea via the Turkish Straits — comprising the Bosphorus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles — and is bordered by six nations including Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, and Georgia.
- The Montreux Convention (1936) governs naval transit through the Turkish Straits and grants Turkey authority in wartime to restrict passage of warships belonging to belligerent states.
- The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey in 2022, allowed Ukrainian grain exports and remained fully operational as of July 2026.
- India is the world's second-largest supplier of maritime officers, with over 240,000 Indian seafarers employed on international merchant vessels.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct. The Black Sea connects via the Turkish Straits and is bordered by six nations including Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey; the 1936 Montreux Convention lets Turkey restrict belligerent warship transit in wartime; and India is the world's second-largest seafarer supplier, with over 240,000 Indians on international merchant vessels. Statement 3 is incorrect — Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2023, ending it, so it was not operational as of July 2026.
- Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the Central Government to direct blocking of public access to online information and requires a hearing, written reasons, and is subject to review — it is the primary blocking power under Indian law.
- Section 79 of the IT Act provides safe harbour protection to intermediaries from liability for third-party content, and Section 79(3)(b) conditions this protection on expeditious removal upon government notification of unlawful use.
- In Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020), the Supreme Court held that freedom of speech over the internet is not a fundamental right but may be regulated as a privilege under Article 19(2).
- The I4C's order directing removal of BitChat repositories from GitHub was issued under Section 79(3)(b) rather than Section 69A, bypassing the hearing and written-reasons requirements of formal blocking procedure.
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct. Section 69A is the primary blocking power with procedural safeguards (hearing, written reasons, review); Section 79 provides safe harbour, with 79(3)(b) conditioning it on expeditious takedown upon government notification; and the I4C's BitChat removal order used 79(3)(b), bypassing 69A's formal procedural requirements. Statement 3 is incorrect — Anuradha Bhasin actually affirmed internet speech as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a), establishing a proportionality doctrine, not treating it as a mere privilege.
Option (C) is correct — the Court held restrictions must pass a proportionality test: prescribed by law, pursuing a legitimate aim, necessary, and the least restrictive measure, with the degree matching the actual emergency territorially, temporally, and in scope. Option (A) removes the proportionality requirement, reflecting the pre-Bhasin executive position. Option (B) overstates the judgment — prior judicial approval within 24 hours specifically is not required, only periodic review. Option (D) is wrong — executive orders under Section 69A and the Telecom Act remain valid.
- The D-Day landings (Operation Overlord) on 6 June 1944 involved more than 150,000 Allied troops landing on five Normandy beaches — Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno — to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation.
- The inscribed property includes only the beach landing zones and explicitly excludes the Pointe du Hoc assault site.
- The evaluation body that assessed the Normandy nomination for the World Heritage Committee is ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites).
- Mount Olympus in Greece, also inscribed at the same Busan session, was recognised as a mixed cultural and natural World Heritage Site, rewarding a 12-year Greek nomination effort.
Statements 1, 3 and 4 are correct. The D-Day landings involved over 150,000 Allied troops across five beaches on 6 June 1944; ICOMOS evaluates cultural heritage nominations for UNESCO; and Mount Olympus was inscribed as a mixed cultural-natural site after a 12-year nomination effort. Statement 2 is incorrect — the inscription explicitly includes the Pointe du Hoc assault site alongside the five beaches, not excludes it.
Reason (R): The study paired urban individuals with rural genetic relatives whose ancestry was verified by genome sequencing, so that observed microbiome differences could be attributed to environment (diet) rather than inherited genetics.
Both A and R are true, and R explains A. Urban subjects showed elevated Megamonas and depleted Holdemanella, attributed to processed food access. The Reason explains why this dietary attribution is scientifically valid — by pairing individuals with genome-verified rural relatives, the study controlled for genetic ancestry, isolating diet as the explanatory variable.
- An EGR is fungible — meaning once created, it represents a standard quantity and purity of gold rather than a specific physical bar, so an investor converting an EGR to physical gold may receive equivalent gold from a different vault rather than the original deposit.
- EGRs are identical to Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) in their legal structure — both are government securities backed by the Reserve Bank of India and carry an annual interest rate.
Statement 1 is correct — fungibility is a key EGR feature, with vault inter-operability meaning investors need not return to the original vault. Statement 2 is incorrect — EGRs are SEBI-regulated exchange instruments backed by physical vault gold, carrying no interest, entirely distinct from Sovereign Gold Bonds, which are RBI-issued government securities with 2.5% annual interest.
Option (A) is correct — the Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape in South Sudan hosts one of the world's largest annual land mammal migrations (millions of white-eared kob, tiang antelope, and Mongalla gazelle), and its inscription at the 48th WHC session is South Sudan's first World Heritage designation. Options (B), (C) and (D) introduce plausible-sounding but fabricated details unrelated to the actual site.
- After the Sarnath inscription in 2026, India has 45 World Heritage Sites, ranking 6th globally and 2nd in the Asia-Pacific region.
- Under the World Heritage Convention framework, each State Party may propose only one site per year for consideration by the World Heritage Committee.
- The World Heritage Convention was adopted in 1972 and has been ratified by 196 nations; India was a member of the World Heritage Committee from 2021 to 2025.
- A site must appear on a country's Tentative List for a mandatory minimum period before it can be nominated to the World Heritage Committee for inscription.
All four statements are correct. India has 45 World Heritage Sites after Sarnath, ranking 6th globally and 2nd in Asia-Pacific. The WHC framework permits one nomination per State Party per year. The Convention was adopted in 1972, ratified by 196 nations, with India on the WHC from 2021–25. And Tentative List entry for a minimum period is a mandatory prerequisite before nomination — Sarnath had been on it since 1998.
