Current Affairs Quiz 31 October 2026

Pair 1 is correct — a gig worker performs work outside a traditional employer–employee relationship. Pair 2 is correct — a platform worker uses an online platform to reach customers or organisations and get paid, so all platform workers are gig workers but not vice versa. Pair 3 is incorrect — an aggregator is the digital intermediary or marketplace, i.e. the platform company, that connects users with service providers, and aggregators contribute 1–2% of turnover to the social security fund.

Statement 1 is correct — the newly notified Boards are chaired by the Union Labour Minister and include Central and State representatives, aggregators, employers, unions and gig associations. Statement 2 is correct — aggregators contribute 1–2% of annual turnover, subject to a cap of 5% of payments to gig and platform workers. Statement 3 is incorrect — social security and social insurance is Entry 23 of the Concurrent List, and “welfare of labour” (Entry 24) is also Concurrent.

Statement 1 is correct — the Survey of India (1767), headquartered in Dehradun, is among the world’s oldest scientific departments and works under DST. Statement 2 is correct — the National Geospatial Policy, 2022 makes DST the nodal department and sets up the Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC) as the apex body, building on the liberalised 2021 guidelines.

CORS — Continuously Operating Reference Stations — are permanent GNSS receivers at known locations; comparing their known positions with satellite readings lets users correct errors and achieve centimetre-level accuracy for surveying, construction and precision farming. Options (a) and (b) are data-capture tools, while (d) describes land-record systems such as those supported by SVAMITVA.

Statement-I is correct — Convention No. 102 (1952) sets minimum standards across nine branches of social security, and India has not ratified it. Statement-II is correct — Entry 23 (social security and social insurance) and Entry 24 (welfare of labour) are in the Concurrent List, the basis of the editorial’s federal argument. However, the constitutional distribution of powers does not explain India’s decision on an international treaty, so Statement-II does not explain Statement-I.

All three statements are correct. The 1993 Agreement committed both sides to respect the LAC and keep forces at minimum levels pending a settlement, and the 1996 CBM agreement barred firearms use within 2 km of the LAC. The Special Representatives mechanism dates to 2003, followed by the 2005 Political Parameters agreement. The McMahon Line emerged from the Simla Convention (1914) between British India and Tibet, and China rejects it and claims much of Arunachal Pradesh.

Pair 1 is correct — the Western sector covers Ladakh, including the dispute over Aksai Chin, with Galwan, Depsang and Demchok lying here. Pair 2 is incorrect — the Middle sector covers Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand; Barahoti, in Uttarakhand, is right for this sector, but the States listed belong to the Eastern sector. Pair 3 is correct — the Eastern sector covers Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, where the McMahon Line is India’s boundary; the LAC is about 3,488 km long.

Statement 1 is correct — the Higgs boson has spin 0, the kind of particle described by the Klein–Gordon equation (1926), which waited decades for such a particle to be found. Statement 2 is incorrect — Kaluza–Klein theory sought to unify gravity and electromagnetism, not the nuclear forces, through a fifth dimension, an idea later developed by string theory. Ashoke Sen (ICTS) is the first Indian to receive the Oskar Klein Medal.

Statement 1 is correct — under Article 169, the Assembly passes a resolution by a special majority and Parliament enacts a law. Statement 2 is incorrect — Article 169(3) states that such a law is not deemed an amendment under Article 368, so Parliament passes it by simple majority. Statement 3 is correct — under Article 171, one-third are elected by MLAs from among non-members, one-third by local bodies, one-twelfth each by graduates and teachers, and the rest are nominated by the Governor; six States (AP, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, UP) have Councils.

Quota = [number of valid votes ÷ (number of seats + 1)] + 1, so here 180 ÷ (5 + 1) = 30, and 30 + 1 = 31. Surplus votes of elected candidates are transferred to next preferences and the lowest candidates are eliminated until all seats are filled. The same STV system applies to Legislative Council elections, which therefore use ballot papers, not EVMs.

Statement 1 is correct — “Prisons, reformatories, borstal institutions” are in Entry 4 of the State List. Statement 2 is incorrect — the 2023 Act is a model law prepared by the Centre for States to adopt, so since prisons are a State subject it does not automatically replace the colonial Prisons Act, 1894. The Theni jailbreak has highlighted overcrowding and staff shortages.

Statement 1 is correct — the World Bank moved to 2021 PPPs in 2025, with $3.00 for extreme poverty and $4.20 for lower-middle-income countries, and India’s extreme poverty fell from 27.1% (2011) to 2.6% (2023). Statement 2 is correct — the MPI (OPHI–UNDP) uses health, education and living-standard indicators. Statement 3 is correct — the Tendulkar method gave about 21.9% for 2011–12, against 29.5% under the Rangarajan method. Statement 4 is incorrect — PPP rates adjust for price levels and, for India, differ greatly from market rates because prices are lower.

Statement-I is correct — after the launcher releases it, the satellite fires its own apogee motor to raise its orbit. Statement-II is correct — NVS-03 was placed in a GTO of about 170 km × 37,000 km, and its low perigee must be raised to circularise the orbit at about 36,000 km. Because the transfer orbit dips far below the target altitude, the satellite must manoeuvre to reach it, so Statement-II explains Statement-I; NVS-02 failed in 2025 at exactly this stage.

All three statements are correct. The Meghalayan Age (about 4,200 years ago to present) is defined using a stalagmite from Mawmluh Cave, Meghalaya, and the 4.2 ka drought is linked to the decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation. C4 plants (many grasses, maize, millets) use water and CO₂ more efficiently in heat and dryness, while C3 plants (most trees, rice, wheat) prefer cooler, wetter settings. Oxbow lakes are cut-off meanders common in the Ganga plain, and BSIP used one near Hulas Khera to reconstruct 4,600 years of monsoon history.

Statement 1 is correct — Barren Island lies on the volcanic arc formed as the Indian Plate subducts beneath the Burma microplate. Statement 2 is correct — the Narcondam hornbill is found only on Narcondam. Statement 3 is incorrect — the Tentative List is a prerequisite for nomination, not recognition, since only the World Heritage Committee inscribes sites. Statement 4 is incorrect — mud volcanoes emit mud, water and gases (mainly methane), not molten rock; Baratang, the Andaman Subduction Volcanoes and Sirpur were recently added to India’s Tentative List.