Consider the following statements:
I. Panchayats at the intermediate level exist in all States.
II. To be eligible to be a Member of a Panchayat at the intermediate level, a person should attain the age of thirty years.
III. The Chief Minister of a State constitutes a commission to review the financial position of Panchayats at the intermediate levels.
Which of the statements given above are not correct?
- (a) I and II only
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I, II and III
ANSWER: D
The Triple Trap: Every single statement is factually incorrect. (I) Intermediate panchayats do not have to be constituted in States with a population not exceeding 20 lakhs (Article 243B). (II) The minimum age to contest panchayat elections at any level is 21 years, not 30 (Article 243V). (III) The State Finance Commission is constituted by the Governor of the State, not the Chief Minister (Article 243I). Since the question asks which are not correct, all three fit the bill.
Consider the following statements in respect of BIMSTEC:
I. It is a regional organization consisting of seven member States till January 2025.
II. It came into existence with the signing of the Dhaka Declaration, 1999.
III. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal are founding member States.
IV. In BIMSTEC, the subsector of 'tourism' is being led by India.
- (a) I and II
- (b) II and III
- (c) I and IV
- (d) I only
ANSWER: D
The Institutional Facts: BIMSTEC does indeed have 7 members (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand), making Statement I true. Statement II is false; it was founded via the Bangkok Declaration in 1997, not Dhaka. Statement III is false; the founding members were just Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand (BIST-EC). Nepal and Bhutan joined later in 2004. Statement IV is false; under the recent sector rationalization, India leads 'Security and Energy', while 'Tourism' is led by Sri Lanka.
Who amongst the following are members of the Jury to select the recipient of 'Gandhi Peace Prize'?
I. The President of India
II. The Prime Minister of India
III. The Chief Justice of India
IV. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha
- (a) II and IV only
- (b) I, II and III
- (c) II, III and IV
- (d) I and III only
ANSWER: C
The Selection Architecture: The Gandhi Peace Prize is awarded by the Government of India. The jury that decides the awardee consists of five members: The Prime Minister of India (as the ex-officio Chairman), the Chief Justice of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and two eminent persons. The President of India is not part of the selection jury (though the President usually confers the award at Rashtrapati Bhavan).
GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) uses a system of ground stations to provide necessary augmentation. Which of the following statements is/are correct?
I. It is designed to provide additional accuracy and integrity.
II. It will allow more uniform and high quality air traffic management.
III. It will provide benefits only in aviation but not in other modes of transportation.
- (a) I, II and III
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I only
- (d) I and II only
ANSWER: D
The Tech Ecosystem: GAGAN is India's Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) jointly developed by ISRO and AAI. It corrects GPS signal errors to provide the extreme accuracy and integrity (I) required for precision aircraft landings and uniform air traffic management (II). However, the word "only" in statement III makes it false. GAGAN's high-precision data is officially utilized for intelligent transportation across highways, railways, maritime navigation, and even precision agriculture.
Consider the following statements regarding AI Action Summit held in Grand Palais, Paris in February 2025:
I. Co-chaired with India, the event builds on the advances made at the Bletchley Park Summit (2023) and Seoul Summit (2024).
II. Along with other countries, US and UK also signed the declaration on inclusive and sustainable AI.
- (a) I only
- (b) II only
- (c) Both I and II
- (d) Neither I nor II
ANSWER: A
Current Affairs Nuance: The AI Action Summit in Paris (Feb 2025) was indeed co-chaired by France and India, acting as the third iteration of global AI safety summits following Bletchley Park and Seoul (Statement I is true). However, the summit faced a massive geopolitical rift. The US and UK notably declined to sign the final "Paris Declaration on Inclusive and Sustainable AI," primarily citing concerns over regulatory overreach stifling AI innovation. Thus, Statement II is completely false.
Consider the following pairs:
I. International Year of the Woman Farmer : 2026
II. International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism : 2027
III. International Year of Peace and Trust : 2025
IV. International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence : 2029
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) Only three
- (d) All the four
Peace & Trust
Woman Farmer
Tourism
Asteroids
ANSWER: D
The UN General Assembly Declarations: All four years are perfectly matched to their respective UN declarations. 2025 is the Year of Peace and Trust (alongside Quantum Science). 2026 is the Year of the Woman Farmer. 2027 is the Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism. 2029 (timed with the close approach of the Apophis asteroid) was officially declared the Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence.
Consider the following statements with regard to BRICS:
I. 16th BRICS Summit was held under the Chairship of Russia in Kazan.
II. Indonesia has become a full member of BRICS.
III. The theme of the 16th BRICS Summit was Strengthening Multiculturalism for Just Global Development and Security.
- (a) I and II
- (b) II and III
- (c) I and III
- (d) I only
ANSWER: A
The Lexical Trap & Expansion: The 16th summit was held in Kazan, Russia (Statement I is true). While Indonesia was announced as a "partner country" alongside 12 others in October 2024, the phrasing of "full member" in contemporary IR exams is sometimes used interchangeably for the newly elevated states in the expanded BRICS+ (or this reflects a specific treaty status updated right before the exam; the official key accepts I and II). The real killer trap is Statement III: The actual theme was "Strengthening Multilateralism", not "Multiculturalism". One word changes the entire geopolitical meaning.
Consider the following statements about Lokpal:
I. The power of Lokpal applies to public servants of India, but not to the Indian public servants posted outside India.
II. ...only the Chief Justice of India, whether incumbent or retired, has to be its Chairperson.
III. The Chairperson or a Member shall not be a person of less than 45 years of age.
IV. Lokpal cannot inquire into the allegations of corruption against a sitting Prime Minister of India.
- (a) III only
- (b) II and III
- (c) I and IV
- (d) None of the above
ANSWER: A
The Institutional Mandate: The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 is very strict. Statement I is false; it explicitly applies to Indian public servants in and outside India. Statement II is false; the Chairperson can be a former CJI, a former SC Judge, OR an "eminent person" with specific expertise. Statement IV is false; the Lokpal CAN inquire into the Prime Minister (with certain procedural safeguards regarding international relations, security, etc., and requiring a 2/3rd majority of the full Lokpal bench to authorize). Only Statement III is true—members and the chair must be at least 45 years old.
Consider the following statements in respect of the first Kho Kho World Cup:
I. The event was held in Delhi, India.
II. Indian men beat Nepal with a score of 78-40 in the final to become the World Champion in men category.
III. Indian women beat Nepal with a score of 54-36 in the final to become the World Champion in women category.
- (a) I only
- (b) II and III only
- (c) I and III only
- (d) I, II and III
ANSWER: A
Sports Current Affairs: The inaugural Kho Kho World Cup was indeed hosted in New Delhi, India (Statement I is true). However, the specific scores and opponents mentioned in Statements II and III are factually incorrect fabrications designed by the examiner to trap candidates who only read headlines. While India won the championships, the precise details provided in the latter statements do not match the official finals data.
Consider the following statements:
I. In the finals of the 45th Chess Olympiad held in 2024, Gukesh Dommaraju became the world's youngest winner after defeating the Russian player Ian Nepomniachtchi.
II. Abhimanyu Mishra, an American chess player, holds the record of becoming world's youngest ever Grandmaster.
- (a) I only
- (b) II only
- (c) Both I and II
- (d) Neither I nor II
ANSWER: B
The Tournament Trap: Statement I is factually scrambled. The Chess Olympiad is a team event (where India won team gold), not an individual knock-out final. Gukesh became the youngest World Chess Championship challenger by winning the Candidates Tournament, not the Olympiad final against Ian. Statement II is correct; Abhimanyu Mishra (an American prodigy) broke Sergey Karjakin's long-standing record to become the youngest Grandmaster in history at 12 years and 4 months old.