Daily Current Affairs Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
- IaaS — Virtual servers, storage and networks on rent — A retailer scaling server capacity for festive sales
- PaaS — Tools to build, test and deploy applications — A team developing a mobile banking app
- SaaS — Code that runs only when triggered, with servers managed by the provider — Automatically processing an order after purchase
Pair 1 is correct — Infrastructure as a Service rents computing infrastructure, and the user manages the software on top. Pair 2 is correct — Platform as a Service gives developers a ready environment without managing servers. Pair 3 is incorrect — the description and example are of serverless computing, whereas Software as a Service delivers ready-to-use applications over the internet, such as video conferencing or online file storage.
- MeghRaj is the Government of India’s cloud computing initiative, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 requires all personal data to be stored only on servers located in India.
Statement 1 is correct — MeghRaj (GI Cloud) was launched by MeitY in 2014, and MeghRaj 2.0 serves over 2,300 government departments. Statement 2 is incorrect — the DPDP Act follows a negative-list approach, allowing personal data to be transferred abroad except to countries the Centre restricts by notification. Localisation mandates come from sectoral rules, such as the RBI’s 2018 directive on payment data.
- The UNFCCC and the Convention on Biological Diversity were opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit, 1992.
- The UN Convention to Combat Desertification was also opened for signature at the Rio Earth Summit, 1992.
- ‘Urban forestry, protection of the environment and promotion of ecological aspects’ is a subject in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution.
Statement 1 is correct — the UNFCCC and CBD were opened for signature at Rio (1992), and their 2026 meetings are UNFCCC COP31 (Antalya, Türkiye) and CBD COP17 (Yerevan, Armenia). Statement 2 is incorrect — Rio only called for a desertification convention, and the UNCCD was adopted in Paris in 1994 (in force 1996), with its COP17 in Mongolia completing 2026’s “Triple COP” year. Statement 3 is correct — Item 8 of the Twelfth Schedule (74th Amendment) covers urban forestry and the environment, giving a constitutional basis for city-level climate action, as stressed in the Delhi Declaration 2026.
- Indian citizens from other States require an Inner Line Permit to enter Arunachal Pradesh.
- The PRASHAD scheme of the Ministry of Tourism focuses on infrastructure at pilgrimage and heritage destinations.
- Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) provides interest-free 50-year loans to States, including for developing iconic tourist centres.
All three statements are correct. The Inner Line Permit system under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 applies to Arunachal Pradesh, while foreigners need a Protected Area Permit. PRASHAD — the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive — targets pilgrimage and heritage infrastructure. SASCI is a loan facility, not a grant, extending interest-free 50-year loans, and nine iconic tourist centre projects worth ₹790 crore are in the North-East, where the 14th International Tourism Mart is being held at Tawang.
- Statement-I: Public officials cannot invoke the right to privacy to prevent publication about their conduct in the discharge of official duties.
- Statement-II: In R. Rajagopal v State of Tamil Nadu (1994), the Supreme Court recognised that the right to privacy is implicit in Article 21.
Statement-I is correct — Rajagopal held that the remedy of privacy is not available to public officials for acts relating to their official duties, and matters in public records are open to comment. Statement-II is correct — the same case recognised a right “to be let alone” implicit in Article 21, later affirmed as a fundamental right in Puttaswamy (2017). However, recognising privacy as a right does not explain why public officials are excluded from it for official conduct, which rests on accountability and public interest; this is the principle the editorial invokes against the DPDP Act’s missing journalism exemption.
- Freedom of the press is explicitly mentioned in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
- Under the original Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, information that cannot be denied to Parliament or a State Legislature could not be denied to any person.
Statement 1 is incorrect — Article 19(1)(a) guarantees freedom of speech and expression, and press freedom has been read into it by the courts (Romesh Thappar, 1950; Indian Express Newspapers, 1985). Statement 2 is correct — the proviso to Section 8(1)(j) contained this “Parliament test”, and the section also allowed disclosure of personal information in the larger public interest, a qualification removed by Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act and now challenged in the Supreme Court.
- It is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with Denmark retaining responsibility for foreign and defence policy.
- It is a member of the European Union through Denmark.
- The Pituffik Space Base, operated by the United States, was formerly known as Thule Air Base.
Statement 1 is correct — under the Self-Government Act, 2009, Greenland controls most domestic affairs, while foreign, defence and security policy stay with Denmark. Statement 2 is incorrect — Greenland left the European Community in 1985 and is associated with the EU only as an overseas country and territory. Statement 3 is correct — Thule Air Base was renamed Pituffik Space Base in 2023, and the new U.S.–Denmark–Greenland agreement provides for its expansion.
- India has been an observer at the Arctic Council since 2013.
- The Arctic Council was established by the Ottawa Declaration of 1996.
- India’s Arctic research station Himadri is located at Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, Norway.
- The Northern Sea Route runs along Russia’s Arctic coast.
All four statements are correct. India became an observer at the Arctic Council in 2013 — the eight members are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the U.S. — and the Council was created by the Ottawa Declaration (1996). Himadri has operated at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard since 2008, and India is party to the Svalbard Treaty (1920). The Northern Sea Route follows Russia’s Arctic coast, while the Northwest Passage runs through Canada’s Arctic archipelago; India’s Arctic Policy (2022) rests on six pillars.
- The collegium system originated in the Second Judges case (1993).
- The 99th Constitutional Amendment, which created the National Judicial Appointments Commission, was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015.
- The collegium for appointments to the Supreme Court comprises the Chief Justice of India and the two senior-most judges.
Statement 1 is correct — the Second Judges case (1993) gave primacy to the judiciary and created the collegium, reversing the executive primacy upheld in the First Judges case (1981). Statement 2 is correct — the NJAC (Article 124A) was struck down in the Fourth Judges case (2015) as violating judicial independence, part of the basic structure. Statement 3 is incorrect — since the Third Judges case (1998), the Supreme Court collegium is the CJI plus the four senior-most judges; the CJI plus two is the collegium for High Court appointments.
The eight “Plus” countries are Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States; Canada is an ASEAN Dialogue Partner but not part of ADMM-Plus. ADMM began in 2006 and ADMM-Plus in 2010 (Hanoi). The 13th ADMM-Plus was held in Cebu, Philippines, and India co-chairs the Experts’ Working Group on Counter-Terrorism with Malaysia (2024–27).
- Biofortification raises the nutrient content of crops during plant growth, through breeding or biotechnology.
- Kufri Jamunia was developed by transferring genes from jamun into a potato line.
Statement 1 is correct — unlike fortification, which adds nutrients during processing, biofortification breeds plants that accumulate nutrients as they grow. Statement 2 is incorrect — ICAR–CPRI developed Kufri Jamunia by conventionally crossing a high-vitamin-C line with a purple-fleshed line; its colour comes from anthocyanins, pigments also found in jamun, which explains only the name.
- SpaDeX — ISRO — Demonstrated docking of two satellites in orbit
- NISAR — NASA and ISRO — Synthetic aperture radar using L-band and S-band
- HysIS — ISRO — Synthetic aperture radar for all-weather imaging
Pair 1 is correct — SpaDeX achieved docking on 16 January 2025, making India the fourth country to do so. Pair 2 is correct — NISAR (launched July 2025) is the first mission to combine L-band (NASA) and S-band (ISRO) radar. Pair 3 is incorrect — HysIS (2018) is a hyperspectral imaging satellite that records many narrow bands of visible and infrared light to identify materials; it is a passive optical sensor, not a radar.
- The Yarlung Tsangpo enters India as the Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The Subansiri is a south-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra.
- The Brahmaputra is known as the Jamuna in Bangladesh.
Statement 1 is correct — after the Great Bend near Medog in Tibet, where China is building a 60,000 MW dam, the river enters India as the Siang, site of the proposed 11,200 MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Subansiri is the largest north-bank tributary, while the Dhansiri and Kopili are south-bank tributaries. Statement 3 is correct — in Bangladesh the main channel is called the Jamuna, which later joins the Ganga (Padma).
- Statement-I: Second-generation NVS satellites can make NavIC easier to use in smartphones and wearable devices.
- Statement-II: NVS satellites transmit signals in the L1 band, which is widely used by GPS receivers.
Statement-I is correct — the new satellites improve NavIC’s compatibility with consumer devices. Statement-II is correct and explains Statement-I — NVS satellites add the L1 band to the existing L5 and S bands, and since L1 is the most common GPS frequency, low-power single-frequency chips in phones and wearables can use NavIC. ISRO’s NVS-03 launch aims to restore NavIC’s minimum of four working satellites.
- Licensed cultivation of opium poppy for medicinal and scientific purposes is permitted in parts of India.
- In 2021, the Border Security Force’s jurisdiction in Punjab was extended to 50 km from the international border.
Statement 1 is correct — licensed opium cultivation is permitted in parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh under the NDPS Act, regulated by the Central Bureau of Narcotics, and leakage of opium and poppy husk feeds illicit markets in Punjab. Statement 2 is correct — in 2021, the BSF’s jurisdiction in Punjab (and West Bengal and Assam) was extended from 15 km to 50 km. Punjab led India in drug-trafficking possession cases in 2024 (NCRB).
