Daily Current Affairs Quiz for UPSC Prelims 2027 — 31 July 2026

India's insurance sector has recently seen its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regime liberalised through a new amending Act. In this context, which one of the following statements is correct?

Why this answer

The correct statement is the first: the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025 raised the FDI limit for Indian insurance companies to 100% under the automatic route, but LIC — being a separate statutory corporation — remains capped at 20% foreign investment under the automatic route. The option claiming LIC's cap was also raised to 100% is wrong: the Act deliberately kept LIC's cap untouched at 20%. The option citing 74% is wrong because that was the FDI ceiling in force before this 2025 reform, not the new one. The option citing 49% is wrong because that figure is an even older, now-obsolete insurance FDI cap (pre-2021) and its claim of 'unchanged' directly contradicts the fact that the limit was raised.

The static concept

FDI Policy — sectoral caps and the automatic route, with insurance as a live case study in entity-specific exceptions.

Assam's recent tightening of land-transfer rules around heritage sites has renewed attention on how India's constitutional framework protects the land rights of indigenous and tribal communities in special areas. Under the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, which authority is empowered to restrict or regulate the transfer of land by members of Scheduled Tribes within a Scheduled Area?

Why this answer

The correct answer is the Governor. Under Paragraph 5(2) of the Fifth Schedule, the Governor of a state may make regulations for the peace and good government of a Scheduled Area, including regulations prohibiting or restricting the transfer of land by or among members of Scheduled Tribes — but any such regulation only takes effect with the assent of the President. This is a special, President-checked regulation-making power, distinct from an ordinary State legislative Act, which is why the 'ordinary Act needing only the Governor's assent' option is wrong. The Tribes Advisory Council option is wrong because the TAC's constitutional role is purely advisory — it advises the Governor on tribal welfare matters referred to it, and cannot issue binding directions to the State Government. The District Collector option is wrong because no Fifth Schedule land-transfer regulation-making power vests in a revenue official; the constitutional mechanism runs through the Governor and the President, not through executive orders.

The static concept

Article 244 and the Fifth Schedule — the Governor's regulation-making power (with the President's assent) to restrict transfer of tribal land in Scheduled Areas.

The trial run of India's first Vande Bharat freight train, indigenously designed and built by the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, has renewed attention on the policy framework guiding Indian Railways' modernisation. In this context, which one of the following statements is correct?

Why this answer

The correct statement is that the National Rail Plan 2030 targets a 45% freight modal share for Railways, sustained up to 2050 — this is the plan's stated objective. The second option is wrong on both the figure (60% instead of 45%) and the deadline (2025 instead of 2030). The third option misattributes the FDI provision — 100% FDI under the automatic route for rolling-stock manufacturing, electrification, and signalling is a 'Make in India' / DPIIT policy, not a National Logistics Policy provision. The fourth option inverts the goal — the NLP aims to CUT India's logistics cost from its current ~13-14% of GDP to below 10%, not raise it further.

The static concept

National Rail Plan 2030 and 'Make in India' as industrial-policy instruments driving railway infrastructure modernisation and logistics-cost reduction.

India's naval response to recurring instability in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Persian Gulf has recently drawn renewed attention. Which of the following most accurately describes 'Operation Sankalp', the Indian Navy's standing mission in this theatre?

Why this answer

The correct answer is that Operation Sankalp is a unilateral Indian Navy deployment, maintained since 2019, independent of any Western-led coalition. India launched it precisely because it chose NOT to join the US/UK-led International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in the Persian Gulf, opting instead for an autonomous deployment safeguarding Indian-flagged vessels' safe passage through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. The 'Combined Maritime Forces/joint patrols with Western navies' option is wrong precisely because it collapses this distinction — India has consistently kept Sankalp separate from CMF-style multinational task forces. The 'UN-mandated mine-clearing mission' option is wrong — no such UNSC mandate exists; India's MEA has instead repeatedly called for de-escalation through dialogue at the UNSC, not deployed a peacekeeping-style mission. The 'bilateral India-Iran naval arrangement tied to Chabahar' option is wrong — Chabahar is a port-development and connectivity project (part of India's INSTC-linked connectivity push), not a naval security pact, and Sankalp's legal basis is India's own sovereign deployment, not a bilateral agreement with Iran.

The static concept

India's maritime security posture in the Persian Gulf/Strait of Hormuz — Operation Sankalp (Indian Navy, since 2019) as an autonomous deployment distinct from Western-led coalitions like the IMSC, reflecting India's non-aligned strategic-autonomy doctrine in foreign policy.

Assam's recently amended heritage-linked land law, which tightens land-transaction restrictions around protected sites while carving out exemptions for Scheduled Tribes and indigenous communities, has renewed attention on Northeast India's UNESCO-recognised monuments and living pilgrimage traditions. With reference to the following heritage and pilgrimage sites and the States they are located in, consider the following pairs:

1. 1.Charaideo Moidams (Ahom mound-burial system, UNESCO World Heritage Site) — Assam
2. 2.Kamakhya Temple (Shakti Peetha on Nilachal Hill) — Assam
3. 3.Majuli's Vaishnavite Satra tradition (founded by Srimanta Sankardev) — Meghalaya
4. 4.Living Root Bridge Cultural Landscape (UNESCO Tentative List) — Nagaland

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Why this answer

The answer is 'Only two pairs' — the Moidams and Kamakhya pairings are correct, the other two are not. Charaideo Moidams, the Ahom dynasty's mound-burial complex, is correctly paired with Assam (Sivsagar district; inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024). Kamakhya Temple, one of the Shakti Peethas, is correctly paired with Assam (situated on Nilachal Hill, Guwahati). Majuli's Vaishnavite Satra tradition, founded by Srimanta Sankardev, is wrongly paired with Meghalaya — Majuli, the river island on the Brahmaputra, is in Assam. The Living Root Bridge Cultural Landscape, built by Khasi and Jaintia communities and on UNESCO's Tentative List since 2022, is wrongly paired with Nagaland — it belongs to Meghalaya.

The static concept

UNESCO World Heritage recognition and living pilgrimage/cultural traditions of Northeast India (Ahom Moidams, Kamakhya Shakti Peetha, Majuli's Vaishnavite Satras, Meghalaya's Living Root Bridges).

With reference to the origins of the song 'Vande Mataram' and its place within the Moderate–Extremist currents of the Indian National Congress — a linkage that has drawn renewed attention amid recent moves to elevate the song's legal standing — consider the following statements:

1. 1.Vande Mataram was composed by Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay and later incorporated into his 1882 novel Anandamath.
2. 2.The song was first sung at a session of the Indian National Congress in 1896, before the outbreak of the Swadeshi Movement.
3. 3.During the Swadeshi Movement, Vande Mataram was primarily championed by Moderate leaders such as Gopal Krishna Gokhale as a symbol of constitutional protest against the partition of Bengal.
4. 4.The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, already extended to Vande Mataram the same legal protection as to the National Anthem, unchanged until now.

How many of the above statements are correct?

Why this answer

The answer is 'Only two' — statements 1 and 2 are correct. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay did compose Vande Mataram and place it within Anandamath (1882), and it was indeed first sung at an INC session in 1896, ahead of the Swadeshi Movement of 1905-08. Statement 3 is wrong: during the Swadeshi Movement the song was championed most forcefully by the Extremist wing — Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh — as a cry of assertive, often defiant protest, while the Moderates favoured petitions and prayer, not this symbol as their signature method. Statement 4 is wrong: the 1971 Act did not already grant Vande Mataram anthem-equal protection — that parity is precisely what the 2026 Amendment Bill newly extends, so claiming it was 'unchanged until now' inverts the timeline.

The static concept

Era of the Moderates and Extremists (1885-1907) — the Swadeshi Movement's methods and symbols, culminating in the Surat Split; cross-linked to Article 51A(a) and the legal status of national symbols.

Why this answer

The answer is 'A is true but R is false'. Assertion A is correct: GDPR (2016/2018) is widely cited as the template later echoed by data-protection and AI regulations in other jurisdictions, precisely because of the Brussels Effect. Reason R is false: GDPR's Article 3 gives it extraterritorial scope, applying to ANY entity anywhere that processes the personal data of EU residents, regardless of where that entity is incorporated or headquartered — the opposite of R's claim that it applies 'exclusively' to EU-headquartered firms. So while A is true, R misstates the actual mechanism of EU regulatory influence and is therefore false.

The static concept

International governance of emerging technology — the 'Brussels Effect' and the extraterritorial application of EU regulatory standards (GDPR, AI Act) in shaping global digital-governance norms.