Current Affairs — 19 September 2026

1. Jan Aushadhi: Expanding Beyond Medicines

Basic Concept

The Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) sells generic medicines at 50–80% below branded-drug prices through dedicated Jan Aushadhi Kendras, aiming to make quality healthcare affordable, especially for low-income and chronic-illness patients who otherwise face a heavy out-of-pocket burden.

Core Context

The scheme is now broadening its product basket beyond medicines to include surgical consumables and medical devices spanning different life stages, reflecting an effort to deepen its role in affordable healthcare delivery rather than remain confined to generic drugs alone.

Latest Developments

• Over 20,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras now operate nationally, offering a combined basket of 2,110 medicines and 315 surgical items and devices, a significant expansion of scope since the scheme's launch.

• Cumulative sales between 2021-22 and 2025-26 have crossed ₹7,873.85 crore, with the scheme estimated to have saved citizens around ₹37,200 crore compared to what they would have paid for equivalent branded products.

• Expanding into surgicals and devices addresses a gap where out-of-pocket healthcare costs are often driven as much by consumables and devices as by medicines themselves, particularly for surgical and post-operative care.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• PMBJP (Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana) is implemented by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

• Jan Aushadhi generic medicines are typically priced 50–80% below equivalent branded drugs.

• The scheme's product basket has expanded from medicines alone to include surgical consumables and medical devices.

• Cumulative Jan Aushadhi sales between 2021-22 and 2025-26 have crossed ₹7,873 crore.

2. The US Federal Reserve's Rate Hike and Its Spillover to India

Basic Concept

The US Federal Reserve's Federal Funds Rate is the world's most closely watched policy interest rate, and changes to it ripple through global capital flows: a hike tends to strengthen the dollar, pull portfolio capital toward US assets, and raise borrowing costs for countries (like India) that rely partly on foreign capital inflows.

Core Context

The Federal Reserve raised its Federal Funds Rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75–4%, its first increase in three years, with the Fed signalling that inflation is now projected to reach its 2% target only by 2029, a longer horizon than previously expected.

Latest Developments

• A rate hike of this kind typically pressures emerging-market currencies, including the rupee, as investors shift capital toward higher-yielding US assets, and can also push up India's own borrowing costs if the RBI needs to respond to maintain interest-rate differentials.

• The signal that US inflation will take until 2029 to reach target suggests the Fed expects to maintain a relatively tighter monetary stance for longer, which could mean prolonged, rather than one-off, pressure on emerging-market capital flows.

• Indian policymakers typically respond to such global monetary tightening through a mix of tools — RBI's own rate and liquidity actions, forex-reserve management, and monitoring of capital-account flows — to cushion the domestic economy from imported volatility.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Federal Funds Rate is the US Federal Reserve's key policy interest rate.

• The Fed's latest hike of 25 basis points took the rate to a range of 3.75–4%, its first increase in three years.

• A stronger dollar, resulting from US rate hikes, typically pressures emerging-market currencies like the Indian rupee.

• The Federal Reserve operates under a “dual mandate” of price stability and maximum employment.

3. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): India's Bridge to Full Electrification

Basic Concept

Electrified vehicles span a spectrum: a Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV, or “strong hybrid”) uses regenerative braking and a battery to assist the engine but cannot be externally charged; a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) adds a larger battery that can be charged externally and driven on electric power alone for a meaningful range; a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) runs purely on battery power; and a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) uses hydrogen fuel cells.

Core Context

India's first mainstream PHEV has entered the market, offering over 115 km of pure electric-only range alongside a combined fuel efficiency exceeding 40 km per litre when the petrol engine is also used, positioning PHEVs as a practical bridge technology between conventional and fully electric vehicles for Indian buyers wary of range anxiety.

Latest Developments

• PHEVs are seen as particularly suited to India's current charging-infrastructure constraints, since owners can rely on petrol for longer trips while still doing most daily commuting on electric power alone, easing the transition without demanding a fully built-out charging network.

• The distinction between HEVs and PHEVs is frequently a source of consumer confusion, since both are called “hybrids,” even though only PHEVs qualify for plug-in charging and the tax and subsidy treatment can differ significantly between the two categories.

• PHEV adoption also intersects with India's EV policy debates, since some state EV policies extend subsidies or benefits differently to PHEVs compared with pure BEVs, affecting their relative market competitiveness.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• A PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) can be externally charged and driven on electric power alone for a meaningful range, unlike a standard HEV.

• An FCEV (Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle) uses hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity onboard.

• Regenerative braking, used in HEVs and PHEVs, recovers energy during braking to recharge the battery.

• India's first mainstream PHEV offers over 115 km of electric-only range.

4. Eco-Sensitive Zones: The Implementation Gap

Basic Concept

Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) are buffer areas notified around protected areas (national parks, wildlife sanctuaries) under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, intended to regulate the character, scale and type of activity permitted near ecologically fragile cores, acting as a shock absorber between strictly protected areas and zones of intensive human use.

Core Context

An analysis finds that most notified ESZs in India lack functional Zonal Management Plans, the operational documents meant to specify what activities are permitted or restricted within each zone, leaving these buffer areas largely unmanaged in practice despite their formal legal designation.

Latest Developments

• Jurisdictional overlap between forest departments (which manage core protected areas) and revenue authorities (which administer land within ESZs) is repeatedly cited as a structural reason for the implementation gap, since neither agency has unambiguous, sole responsibility for enforcement.

• Urban and peri-urban ESZs face additional, distinct pressures — noise, water pollution and stray-animal conflict — that differ qualitatively from the challenges facing more remote, forested ESZs, suggesting a one-size-fits-all management approach is inadequate.

• Without functioning Zonal Management Plans, ESZs risk becoming a purely paper safeguard, undermining their intended role in preventing the kind of unregulated development that protected-area buffers are specifically meant to prevent.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Eco-Sensitive Zones are notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

• ESZs typically extend up to 10 km around a protected area, though the exact extent varies case by case.

• A Zonal Management Plan is the operational document specifying permitted and restricted activities within a notified ESZ.

• ESZ enforcement often involves both forest departments and revenue authorities, creating potential jurisdictional overlap.

5. FAO's “Forests for Food” Report

Basic Concept

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a UN specialised agency, periodically assesses forests' contribution to global food and nutrition security, a dimension often under-measured because forest-derived food and livelihood benefits (wild foods, bushmeat, non-timber forest produce) are poorly captured in conventional agricultural statistics.

Core Context

An FAO report argues that forests' nutritional and livelihood contributions remain largely absent from national food-security statistics and policy frameworks, despite forests underpinning the food security and incomes of a very large share of the world's rural poor.

Latest Developments

• The report estimates that over 5 billion people depend on forests for some part of their livelihoods, with more than 50,000 wild species used globally for food and traditional medicine, underscoring forests' underappreciated role in nutrition and health security.

• In some regions, forests are estimated to contribute up to 20% of rural household incomes, particularly through non-timber forest produce (NTFP) such as fruits, honey, fibres and medicinal plants.

• In India, the Forest Rights Act, 2006, formally recognises the rights of forest-dwelling communities to collect and sell Minor Forest Produce (MFP), a legal framework directly relevant to operationalising the kind of forest-based food security the FAO report highlights.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) is a UN specialised agency headquartered in Rome.

• The Forest Rights Act, 2006, recognises forest-dwellers' rights over Minor Forest Produce (MFP) in India.

• Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) includes fruits, honey, fibres, resins and medicinal plants harvested from forests.

• The FAO report estimates over 5 billion people globally depend on forests for some livelihood support.

6. The Himalayan Monal's Acoustic Adaptation to Tourism Noise

Basic Concept

“Acoustic masking” occurs when background noise (such as traffic, tourism activity or human settlements) drowns out or interferes with animal vocal communication, potentially disrupting mating calls, territorial signals and predator-warning calls, an increasingly studied dimension of human-wildlife conflict in tourism-heavy natural landscapes.

Core Context

Researchers studying the Himalayan monal — the state bird of Uttarakhand and Nepal's national bird — in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary have found that the species shifts its mating calls to higher frequencies in noisier, tourism-heavy areas, a behavioural adaptation to acoustic masking from ambient human noise.

Latest Developments

• While the Himalayan monal remains classified as “Least Concern” on conservation status lists, the study raises the possibility that such acoustic adaptation, even if not immediately threatening the species' survival, could carry unstudied costs for mating success or energy expenditure over time.

• The finding adds to a growing body of research on how eco-tourism, even when not directly destructive to habitat, can subtly alter animal behaviour through noise pollution, a consideration increasingly factored into sustainable-tourism planning in protected areas.

• Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, where the study was conducted, sits within a broader Himalayan landscape facing mounting tourism pressure, making it a useful case study for balancing eco-tourism revenue against ecological disturbance.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The Himalayan monal is the state bird of Uttarakhand and the national bird of Nepal.

• “Acoustic masking” refers to background noise interfering with animal vocal communication.

• The Himalayan monal is currently classified as “Least Concern” on conservation status assessments.

• Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Uttarakhand.

7. HAL Deliveries: Tejas Trainers and Dhruv NG Helicopters

Basic Concept

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is India's principal state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer, producing indigenous platforms such as the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft and the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter, central to India's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) push in defence manufacturing.

Core Context

HAL has inducted new twin-seater Tejas trainer aircraft and civil-certified Dhruv NG (Next Generation) helicopters, expanding the operational and training fleet of two of India's flagship indigenous defence-aviation programmes.

Latest Developments

• Twin-seater Tejas trainers are used both for pilot conversion training on the Light Combat Aircraft platform and, in some configurations, for operational roles, supporting the broader expansion of the Indian Air Force's Tejas fleet.

• The Dhruv NG's civil certification signals HAL's push to expand indigenous helicopter platforms beyond purely military use into civilian and paramilitary roles, widening the potential customer base and production scale for the programme.

• These deliveries fit into a longer-term pattern of incremental but steady progress in India's indigenous defence-aviation manufacturing base, even as India continues to import certain high-end platforms and components.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) is India's primary state-owned aerospace and defence manufacturer.

• The Tejas is India's indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

• The Dhruv is HAL's indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

• Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence emphasises indigenous design, development and manufacturing of military platforms.

8. Tulu Gets Official Language Status in Karnataka's Coastal Districts

Basic Concept

India's Eighth Schedule lists languages given special constitutional recognition, but a language need not be in the Eighth Schedule to receive official-language status at the state or district level; states can grant additional official-language recognition to regional languages through their own legislative or executive action.

Core Context

Karnataka's Cabinet has granted Tulu additional official-language status in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, where the language has a substantial native-speaker base, allocating ₹82 lakh annually to support its implementation in local administration.

Latest Developments

• The move reflects a form of sub-state linguistic federalism, where a state government formally recognises a regional language for a specific area without seeking (or necessarily needing) its inclusion in the Constitution's Eighth Schedule, which would require a constitutional amendment.

• Tulu is spoken by a significant population in coastal Karnataka and parts of Kerala, and has long had a demand for Eighth Schedule inclusion, a separate and more difficult process than state-level official recognition.

• This kind of targeted, sub-state language recognition is a useful case study for GS1/GS2 discussions on how India balances linguistic diversity with administrative practicality below the level of full constitutional recognition.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Tulu has been granted additional official-language status in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

• Inclusion in the Eighth Schedule requires a constitutional amendment, distinct from state-level official-language recognition.

• Tulu is primarily spoken in coastal Karnataka and parts of northern Kerala.

• Karnataka has allocated ₹82 lakh annually to implement Tulu's new official-language status.

9. Russia Holds Its First Wartime Parliamentary Election

Basic Concept

Comparative polity often studies how authoritarian or semi-authoritarian systems use formally democratic procedures (elections) to confer legitimacy while constraining genuine political competition through candidate exclusion, media control or resource asymmetry between the ruling party and opposition.

Core Context

Russia conducted a three-day parliamentary election — its first held during the ongoing war — with the ruling United Russia party expected to retain overwhelming control, while the country's only explicitly anti-war party, Yabloko, was excluded from the ballot entirely.

Latest Developments

• The removal of the sole anti-war party from the ballot is widely read as evidence that the election offered no genuine avenue for voters to register opposition to the war through the formal political process, reinforcing scholarly characterisations of the system as managed rather than genuinely competitive.

• Multi-day voting periods, used here as in some other Russian elections, are sometimes defended on administrative-convenience grounds but are also criticised by independent observers as reducing the transparency and verifiability of the count compared with single-day voting.

• The election result, if as anticipated, would reinforce United Russia's legislative dominance, further consolidating the ruling party's ability to pass war-related and other legislation with minimal institutional friction.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• United Russia is Russia's ruling political party, holding a dominant position in the State Duma (lower house of parliament).

• The State Duma is the lower house of Russia's Federal Assembly (parliament).

• This was described as Russia's first parliamentary election held during the ongoing war.

• Yabloko is a Russian political party historically associated with anti-war and liberal positions.

10. Real-World Asset Tokenisation: Maharashtra's Proposed DELTA Act

Basic Concept

Real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation converts rights over a physical or financial asset (such as land, property or commodities) into digital tokens recorded on a blockchain, enabling fractional ownership, easier transferability and potentially greater market liquidity for assets that are traditionally illiquid, like real estate.

Core Context

Maharashtra has proposed the DELTA Act to enable tokenisation of physical assets such as land, allowing fractional digital ownership and aiming to unlock liquidity in traditionally illiquid asset classes, while raising significant legal questions about how tokenised ownership interacts with existing property law.

Latest Developments

• Key legal challenges include reconciling blockchain-based fractional ownership with India's existing property-registration laws, stamp-duty regimes (a state subject) and title-verification systems, none of which were designed with tokenised, fractional digital ownership in mind.

• Cybersecurity and fraud-prevention concerns are also significant, since tokenised asset platforms could become targets for hacking or manipulation, and taxation treatment of gains from tokenised asset trading remains an open regulatory question.

• If implemented carefully, proponents argue RWA tokenisation could improve financial inclusion by allowing smaller investors to own fractional stakes in otherwise expensive assets like prime real estate, though the framework's success will depend heavily on how well it is integrated with existing land-record and registration systems.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation converts ownership rights over physical/financial assets into blockchain-based digital tokens.

• Stamp duty on property transactions is a State List subject under India's constitutional division of powers.

• Fractional ownership allows multiple investors to hold partial stakes in a single asset.

• The proposed DELTA Act is a Maharashtra state-level initiative, not a central legislation.

11. Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

Basic Concept

PMKKKY, launched in 2015, channels a share of mining royalties collected from mining companies into District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) — trust-like bodies set up in mining-affected districts — to fund welfare and development projects benefiting communities directly affected by mining activity.

Core Context

Cumulative data shows over 4.70 lakh projects worth roughly ₹1 lakh crore have been sanctioned under PMKKKY since its launch, with about 70% of funds directed toward priority sectors such as healthcare, education, drinking water and sanitation in mining-affected areas.

Latest Developments

• PMKKKY is designed to ensure that the economic benefits of mineral extraction do not bypass the very communities who bear its environmental and social costs, addressing a long-standing criticism that mining-rich regions often remain among India's least developed.

• District Mineral Foundations (DMFs), the implementing vehicles for PMKKKY funds, are typically chaired by the district administration and include local representatives, aiming to ensure some degree of local participation in prioritising which projects get funded.

• The scheme's emphasis on healthcare, education and sanitation reflects a recognition that mining-affected communities often face compounded development deficits beyond just environmental degradation, requiring a broad-based welfare response rather than narrow compensation.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• PMKKKY was launched in 2015 and is funded through a share of mining royalties.

• District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) are the implementing bodies for PMKKKY funds at the district level.

• About 70% of PMKKKY funds are earmarked for priority sectors like healthcare, education and sanitation.

• PMKKKY funds have sanctioned over 4.70 lakh projects worth about ₹1 lakh crore cumulatively.

12. India's First Soil Carbon Payments Initiative: The ‘Aadi’ Programme

Basic Concept

Soil-carbon payment programmes reward farmers financially for adopting regenerative agricultural practices (such as reduced tillage or alternate wetting-and-drying in rice cultivation) that increase carbon sequestration in soil, generating verifiable carbon credits that can be sold in voluntary carbon markets, creating a direct financial incentive for climate-friendly farming.

Core Context

The ‘Aadi’ farmer carbon programme has paid over 2,500 smallholder farmers for adopting regenerative practices such as direct-seeded rice and reduced tillage, generating verified carbon credits, with the initiative reported to have benefited more than 100,000 farmers across seven states in total.

Latest Developments

• Direct-seeded rice (DSR), a practice incentivised under the programme, reduces water use and methane emissions compared with traditional transplanted, flooded rice cultivation, making it doubly attractive for both climate mitigation and water conservation in water-stressed regions.

• Carbon-credit-based farmer payment programmes represent a market-based complement to direct government subsidy schemes, potentially offering an additional, climate-linked revenue stream for smallholders without requiring continuous fiscal outlay from the state.

• The programme's scale (100,000+ farmers across seven states) suggests early but meaningful traction for agricultural carbon markets in India, an area that remains nascent compared with more established voluntary carbon-market sectors like renewable energy.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The ‘Aadi’ programme is described as India's first soil-carbon payments initiative for smallholder farmers.

• Direct-seeded rice (DSR) reduces water use and methane emissions compared with traditional transplanted rice.

• Carbon credits generated through such programmes can be sold in voluntary carbon markets.

• The Aadi programme has benefited over 100,000 farmers across seven states.

13. Redefining the “Census Town”: Is India's Urbanisation Data Outdated?

Basic Concept

A “Census Town” in India is defined using criteria first set in the 1981 Census — a minimum population, population density, and share of male workers in non-agricultural occupations — distinct from a “Statutory Town,” which has a municipal corporation, municipality or similar urban local body.

Core Context

The Ministry has flagged the 1981-origin definition of a Census Town as outdated, noting that satellite and remote-sensing data suggest India's actual level of urbanisation could be as high as 63%, far above the officially recorded 31.2% from the last full Census exercise.

Latest Developments

• Criticisms of the current criteria include its reliance on rigid population thresholds, its exclusive focus on male non-agricultural workforce share (ignoring women's economic participation), and its use of administrative boundaries rather than actual built-up, urbanised land area.

• An outdated or under-counted urbanisation figure has real governance consequences, since urban infrastructure planning, municipal-finance devolution and welfare-scheme targeting often depend on official rural-urban classification.

• Any revision of the Census Town definition would need to balance methodological accuracy (using modern satellite-based built-up-area data) against the administrative and political complexities of reclassifying large numbers of settlements as urban, which can affect local governance structures and resource allocation.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• The current Census Town definition dates to the 1981 Census.

• A Census Town is distinct from a “Statutory Town,” which has a formal urban local body.

• Official Census data records India's urbanisation at 31.2%, while satellite-data estimates suggest a much higher figure.

• Census Town criteria include population size, density, and share of male workers in non-agricultural occupations.

14. Hyderabad Liberation Day: Operation Polo and Integration

Basic Concept

After Indian independence in 1947, several princely states initially resisted full accession to the Indian Union; the integration of these states, overseen chiefly by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and V.P. Menon, is a major theme in India's post-independence political consolidation, alongside the broader constitutional and diplomatic processes of state accession.

Core Context

India observed Hyderabad Liberation Day, commemorating the events of 17 September 1948, when a short military operation — codenamed Operation Polo — brought the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union after its ruler, the Nizam, had resisted accession and permitted the mobilisation of the Razakar militia.

Latest Developments

• The Hyderabad operation concluded within about three days, reflecting the swift resolution of what had been a significant political and administrative challenge to India's post-independence territorial consolidation, given Hyderabad's size, location and the Nizam's initial preference for independence or accession to Pakistan.

• The integration of Hyderabad, alongside that of Jammu & Kashmir and Junagadh, is typically studied together as the three princely-state cases that most directly tested the framework for accession set out in the Indian Independence Act, 1947, and the Instrument of Accession mechanism.

• The day's commemoration and its naming have periodically been subjects of political debate in different eras, reflecting differing regional and community memories of the events of 1948, though the core historical sequence of accession is well documented.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• Operation Polo refers to the September 1948 military action that integrated Hyderabad into the Indian Union.

• Hyderabad's integration is commemorated on 17 September, alongside similar milestones for Jammu & Kashmir and Junagadh's accession.

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and V.P. Menon are most closely associated with the integration of India's princely states.

• The Instrument of Accession was the legal mechanism by which princely states formally joined the Indian Union.

15. E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar): Birth Anniversary and the Self-Respect Movement

Basic Concept

The Self-Respect Movement, founded by E.V. Ramasamy (popularly known as Periyar) in 1925 in the Madras Presidency, sought to challenge caste hierarchy, Brahmanical ritualism and gender inequality, promoting rationalism and self-respect as the basis for social reform rather than reformed religious practice alone.

Core Context

Tamil Nadu marked the 147th birth anniversary of Periyar, commemorating his role as one of the most influential social reformers of twentieth-century India, whose ideas continue to shape Tamil Nadu's politics and its distinctive approach to social-justice policy, including caste-based reservation.

Latest Developments

• Periyar's ideas fed directly into the Dravidian movement, which has shaped Tamil Nadu's party politics for decades and continues to inform the state's strong institutional commitment to caste-based affirmative action and anti-caste social policy.

• His advocacy extended beyond caste to gender equality, including support for widow remarriage, women's property rights and critiques of patriarchal religious practice, making him a significant figure in India's broader social-reform history alongside contemporaries working on related issues in other regions.

• Periyar's legacy remains a live reference point in contemporary Indian political and social debate, particularly in discussions of caste, secularism and federal-versus-regional political identity, given his movement's continuing influence on Tamil Nadu's political culture.

UPSC Prelims Pointers

• E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) founded the Self-Respect Movement in 1925 in the Madras Presidency.

• The Self-Respect Movement emphasised rationalism and social equality, challenging caste hierarchy and ritualism.

• Periyar's ideas significantly influenced the subsequent Dravidian political movement in Tamil Nadu.

• Periyar is commemorated for contributions to both anti-caste reform and the advancement of gender equality.

16. Practice MCQs

Practice MCQs

Q1. The Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) is implemented under which ministry?

• (a) Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

• (b) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

• (c) Ministry of Consumer Affairs

• (d) Ministry of Commerce and Industry

Answer: (b) Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers

Explanation: PMBJP (the Jan Aushadhi scheme) is implemented by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, not the Health Ministry.

Q2. Consider the following statements regarding electrified vehicle categories:
1. A PHEV can be charged externally and driven on electric power alone for a meaningful range.
2. A standard HEV (strong hybrid) can also be plugged in for external charging.
3. An FCEV generates electricity onboard using hydrogen fuel cells.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• (a) 1 and 2 only

• (b) 1 and 3 only

• (c) 2 and 3 only

• (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (b) 1 and 3 only

Explanation: A standard HEV (strong hybrid) cannot be externally charged, unlike a PHEV — this is precisely the distinguishing feature between the two categories, so statement 2 is incorrect.

Q3. Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) in India are notified under which legislation?

• (a) The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

• (b) The Forest Conservation Act, 1980

• (c) The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

• (d) The Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Answer: (c) The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

Explanation: Eco-Sensitive Zones are notified as buffer areas around protected areas under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Q4. Under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY), funds are channelled through which of the following?

• (a) State Disaster Response Funds

• (b) District Mineral Foundations (DMFs)

• (c) National Clean Energy Fund

• (d) Compensatory Afforestation Fund

Answer: (b) District Mineral Foundations (DMFs)

Explanation: PMKKKY channels a share of mining royalties into District Mineral Foundations, trust-like bodies set up in mining-affected districts to fund local welfare projects.

Q5. “Operation Polo,” associated with the integration of a princely state into the Indian Union, refers to events in which state?

• (a) Jammu and Kashmir

• (b) Junagadh

• (c) Hyderabad

• (d) Travancore

Answer: (c) Hyderabad

Explanation: Operation Polo was the September 1948 military action that led to the integration of the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union.

Q6. The Self-Respect Movement, founded by E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) in 1925, was primarily associated with which of the following?

• (a) The temple-entry movement in Kerala

• (b) Anti-caste and rationalist social reform in the Madras Presidency

• (c) The Indigo revolt in Bengal

• (d) The Non-Cooperation Movement

Answer: (b) Anti-caste and rationalist social reform in the Madras Presidency

Explanation: The Self-Respect Movement, founded in the Madras Presidency in 1925, promoted rationalism and challenged caste hierarchy and Brahmanical ritualism, distinct from the other listed movements.