Daily Current Affairs Quiz for UPSC Prelims 2027 — 14 July 2026

Recent investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into financial irregularities, such as alleged scholarship frauds, highlight its crucial role in combating corruption. In this context, under which of the following does the CBI operate for administrative purposes?

Why this answer

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) operates under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. While it was originally established through a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs, its administrative control now lies with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is part of this ministry. The Ministry of Home Affairs is a common distractor due to its role in internal security and the CBI's origin. The Prime Minister's Office has oversight but not direct administrative control, and the Ministry of Law and Justice is separate from investigative functions.

The static concept

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - Its structure, functions, and administrative control under the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.

The Chief Justice of India recently constituted four special Benches to exclusively hear the Supreme Court's oldest pending civil and criminal cases, exercising the administrative power to allocate cases and constitute Benches. With reference to the constitutional and procedural basis of the Supreme Court of India's functioning, which one of the following statements is correct?

Why this answer

The correct statement is that under Article 145(3), a minimum of five Judges must sit to decide any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution — this is an explicit constitutional floor, not merely a procedural convention. The claim that Article 145 rules need no Presidential assent is wrong — Article 145(1) requires such rules to be made 'with the approval of the President'. The claim that the Chief Justice's 'Master of the Roster' power makes their judicial authority superior to other Judges is wrong — this is purely an administrative power to constitute Benches and allocate cases (rooted in convention and the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, as clarified in Shanti Bhushan v. Supreme Court of India, 2018); on the judicial side the CJI remains only 'first among equals'. The claim that Article 145 rules override parliamentary law is also wrong — Article 145(1) makes such rules explicitly 'subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament', not the reverse.

The static concept

Article 145 — Supreme Court's rule-making power over its own practice and procedure, including minimum Bench strength for constitutional questions and the CJI's administrative 'Master of the Roster' role.

With reference to the recent extension of Autonomous Hill Development Councils to all seven districts of Ladakh, which one of the following statements is correct regarding their constitutional status?

Why this answer

The correct statement is that the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) are statutory bodies constituted under the LAHDC Act, 1995 — not the Sixth Schedule, which under Article 244(2) applies only to specified tribal areas within Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, and has never been extended to any Union Territory. The option claiming LAHDCs derive 'directly' from the Sixth Schedule, 'exactly like' Assam's councils, is wrong — it misattributes a statutory creation to a constitutional one. The option claiming a 'formal' Sixth Schedule extension to Ladakh in 2019 is wrong — no such constitutional extension has ever occurred; only the LAHDC Act's territorial reach has grown, most recently to all seven districts. The option claiming 'complete' and 'untrammelled' autonomy is wrong — even genuine Sixth Schedule Councils require the Governor's assent for their laws and remain subject to the Governor's power to reorganise or dissolve them, so no such body is fully free of executive oversight.

The static concept

Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Article 244(2)) — Autonomous District Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, distinguished from statutory hill councils like Ladakh's LAHDC, which are NOT constitutional bodies.

The current U.S.-Iran flare-up around the Strait of Hormuz has renewed attention on India's web of 'strategic partnerships' with Gulf states — including the India-UAE Strategic Defence Partnership framework (Letter of Intent, January 19, 2026) and the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council (formalised by the October 2019 agreement). In terms of the legal and military nature of these arrangements, which of the following statements is most accurate?

Why this answer

The correct answer is that India's Gulf strategic partnerships are cooperative frameworks, not mutual-defence pacts. The India-UAE Letter of Intent (January 19, 2026) commits both sides to a Strategic Defence Partnership framework covering defence-industrial collaboration, innovation, counter-terrorism, and training — not joint military intervention. Similarly, the India-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council, formalised by the October 2019 agreement, steers cooperation without any NATO-style Article 5 clause. The option describing a NATO-comparable collective-defence obligation is wrong because no such binding clause exists in either framework. The option folding India into a US-led multinational task force is wrong because India's actual Gulf naval presence — Operation Sankalp, launched by the Indian Navy on June 19, 2019 — is a solo escort mission for Indian-flagged vessels, run jointly by the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Shipping, and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, not a contribution to any US-led coalition. The option claiming these partnerships only began after the 2026 crisis is wrong because the Saudi SPC agreement predates it by seven years.

The static concept

India's Strategic/Defence Partnerships with Gulf states — cooperative frameworks (defence-industrial collaboration, joint exercises, training) distinct from formal mutual-defence alliances; parallel doctrine to India's non-aligned naval posture (Operation Sankalp, IONS).

The recent IED attack on an Assam Rifles vehicle in Nagaland's Sukhovi, which killed one personnel and injured four during a routine movement, has renewed attention on how India's security forces in the North-East are organised and commanded. With reference to this force architecture, consider the following statements:

1. 1.Assam Rifles functions under a dual-control structure, with administrative control vested in the Ministry of Home Affairs and operational control — including counter-insurgency deployments such as in Nagaland — vested in the Indian Army under the Ministry of Defence.
2. 2.The Border Security Force (BSF) is similarly placed under a dual-control arrangement, with its operational command vested in the Indian Army.
3. 3.Assam Rifles, often called the 'Sentinels of the North-East', is India's oldest paramilitary force and also guards a stretch of the Indo-Myanmar border.
4. 4.As with the other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), the Director General of Assam Rifles is mandatorily drawn from the Indian Police Service (IPS) on central deputation.

How many of the above statements are correct?

Why this answer

The answer is 'Only two' — the first and third statements are correct, while the second and fourth are false. Assam Rifles alone among India's paramilitary forces retains a dual-control structure: the Ministry of Home Affairs holds administrative control while the Indian Army, under the Ministry of Defence, exercises operational control in counter-insurgency deployments such as the recent Nagaland operation. It is also correctly described as India's oldest paramilitary force, nicknamed the 'Sentinels of the North-East', with a border-guarding role along the Indo-Myanmar frontier. The claim that the BSF shares this same dual-control arrangement is false — the BSF's administrative and operational control both rest solely with the Ministry of Home Affairs, with no routine Army command role. The claim that the Director General of Assam Rifles must be an IPS officer is also false — unlike the heads of the other CAPFs, the DGAR is conventionally an Indian Army Lieutenant General on deputation, a legacy of the force's historic Army linkage.

The static concept

Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and the Assam Rifles' dual-control model — Internal Security force architecture in India's North-East.

Recent research (2026) has produced a metal-organic framework (MOF) material capable of rapidly filtering tritium — a radioactive isotope of hydrogen notoriously difficult to separate from nuclear reactor wastewater — reviving attention on how different radioisotopes are actually used across the nuclear fuel cycle and allied fields. With reference to List-I (Radioisotope) and List-II (Principal Application), consider the following pairs:

1. 1.Tritium (Hydrogen-3) — Fuel component in deuterium-tritium nuclear fusion reactions
2. 2.Plutonium-238 — Power source for Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs)
3. 3.Cobalt-60 — Radiocarbon dating of archaeological samples
4. 4.Iodine-131 — Determining the geological age of rocks and minerals

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Why this answer

The correct answer is 'Only two pairs.' Pair 1 is correct: Tritium (Hydrogen-3) — the same isotope now being filtered from reactor wastewater by the MOF material in the news — is a genuine fuel component in deuterium-tritium fusion reactions. Pair 2 is correct: Plutonium-238, a byproduct of weapons-programme reprocessing, is the standard fuel for Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators powering spacecraft systems. Pair 3 is wrong: radiocarbon dating of archaeological material relies on Carbon-14, not Cobalt-60 — Cobalt-60's real role is gamma-ray radiotherapy (cancer treatment) and industrial/food irradiation. Pair 4 is wrong: Iodine-131 is used to diagnose and treat thyroid disorders, not to date rocks or minerals — geochronology instead uses isotope systems like Potassium-40/Argon-40 or Uranium-Lead. So exactly two of the four pairs are correctly matched.

The static concept

Nuclear Energy Technology — radioisotopes and their applications across the nuclear fuel cycle, power generation (fission/fusion), and allied uses (medical, dating, spacecraft power).

With reference to the architecture and safety systems of ISRO's Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission, consider the following statements:

1. 1.In the Gaganyaan orbital module, the Crew Module is the only pressurised, habitable segment that carries the astronauts, while the Service Module houses propulsion, power and thermal systems and remains uninhabited throughout the flight.
2. 2.The Crew Module's uprighting mechanism uses inflatable airbags to flip the capsule into the correct floating orientation if it splashes down inverted, a safety feature also used to right NASA's Apollo Command Module after splashdown.
3. 3.The umbilical connectors joining the Crew Module to the Service Module are designed to separate only after the Crew Module's main parachutes have deployed, so that the Service Module continues supplying power during re-entry.
4. 4.All uncrewed precursor flights under the Gaganyaan programme, including those carrying the humanoid 'Vyommitra', are meant solely to qualify the launch vehicle and do not test any Crew Module safety system.

How many of the above statements are correct?

Why this answer

The answer is 'Only two' — Statements 1 and 2 are correct. Statement 1 correctly attributes habitability solely to the Crew Module, with the Service Module carrying propulsion/power/thermal systems and never being pressurised for occupation. Statement 2 is correct: the Crew Module's airbag-based uprighting system is exactly the mechanism ISRO just tested for post-splashdown orientation, paralleling the well-documented Apollo Command Module righting bags. Statement 3 is wrong — the CM-SM umbilical must separate BEFORE re-entry begins, since the Service Module carries no heat shield and cannot survive atmospheric re-entry heating; parachute deployment happens much later, after the heat-shield-protected Crew Module has already decelerated. Statement 4 is wrong — the news event itself is proof that uncrewed precursor missions test Crew Module safety systems (uprighting, umbilical separation) directly, not merely the launch vehicle.

The static concept

Gaganyaan Mission — Crew Module/Service Module architecture and the re-entry safety chain (escape system, module separation, splashdown uprighting).

With reference to the institutional architecture of India's cybersecurity governance, consider the following pairs of agencies and their respective controlling/nodal authority:

1. 1.National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre — National Technical Research Organisation
2. 2.Indian Computer Emergency Response Team — Ministry of Home Affairs
3. 3.Defence Cyber Agency — Ministry of External Affairs
4. 4.Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre — Ministry of Home Affairs

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Why this answer

The correct count is two. The pairing of the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre with the National Technical Research Organisation is accurate — NCIIPC was set up under Section 70A of the IT Act, 2000 as a unit functioning under NTRO, which reports to the National Security Council Secretariat. The pairing of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre with the Ministry of Home Affairs is also accurate — I4C was launched under MHA to give states a coordinated cybercrime-reporting and investigation mechanism. The pairing of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team with the Ministry of Home Affairs is wrong — CERT-In was designated under Section 70B of the IT Act and functions under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), not MHA. The pairing of the Defence Cyber Agency with the Ministry of External Affairs is wrong — DCyA is a tri-service agency raised in 2019 under the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence, not MEA; its appearances in bilateral dialogues do not change its parent ministry.

The static concept

Institutional architecture of India's cybersecurity governance — CERT-In (Sec. 70B, MeitY), NCIIPC (Sec. 70A, NTRO/NSCS), I4C (MHA), and the Defence Cyber Agency (MoD/Integrated Defence Staff).