UPSC Current Affairs Quiz, 3 November 2026

Explanation

El Niño is defined by the anomalous warming of sea-surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, and it forms the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) system — Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is incorrect: El Niño is teleconnected to below-normal (deficit) rainfall over India, not above-normal; the suppression of the Walker Circulation during El Niño weakens the Indian summer monsoon, historically leading to drought conditions in the subcontinent — which is precisely why Indian state governments issue warnings about El Niño-driven rainfall deficits. Statement 3 is correct: the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), computed as the standardised pressure anomaly difference between Tahiti and Darwin (Australia), is the canonical atmospheric indicator of ENSO state and is used by meteorologists to track and forecast monsoon conditions across South and Southeast Asia.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct. The statutory eligibility criteria for registration as an elector are Indian citizenship, attaining the age of 18, and ordinary residence in the constituency. The inability to produce a specific document from the prescribed list does not automatically negate eligibility — the ERO retains discretion to mark an elector eligible if field verification by the BLO is satisfactory. Statement 2 is incorrect. Under the electoral roll revision framework, an ERO who finds an elector ineligible must pass a 'speaking order' clearly recording reasons for deletion; arbitrary or unreasoned deletions are specifically prohibited. The requirement for a speaking order is a procedural safeguard against arbitrary removal from the rolls. Statement 3 is incorrect. Aadhaar is a proof of identity and address issued under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, but it is not a proof of citizenship. The Election Commission has separately clarified that Aadhaar alone is insufficient to establish citizenship for the purposes of electoral roll revision, and EROs are directed to seek documents from the prescribed list of 11 documents — including birth certificates, passports, and educational certificates — to establish eligibility.

Explanation

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has a well-established democratic convention that its Chairperson is drawn from the principal Opposition party in the Lok Sabha. This practice underscores parliamentary accountability — the Opposition scrutinises government expenditure. Pair 1 is therefore correctly matched. The Estimates Committee does NOT examine CAG reports or appropriation accounts. Its mandate is to examine the estimates of expenditure included in the budget and suggest economies or improvements in policy execution before money is spent — a forward-looking function. Examination of CAG reports and appropriation accounts is the specific mandate of the Public Accounts Committee, not the Estimates Committee. Pair 2 is therefore incorrectly matched. The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) does examine the accounts of government companies and corporations, and also takes up CAG reports on public undertakings for scrutiny. Pair 3 is correctly matched. Hence, pairs 1 and 3 are correctly matched.

Explanation

Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the three categories are distinctly defined. A 'spurious drug' (Section 17B) includes a drug that is an imitation of or substitute for another drug, or one that purports to be a drug but does not contain it, or that falsely bears the name of another drug — directly relevant to the practice of repackaging generic formulations and labelling them as branded products. An 'adulterated drug' (Section 17A) refers to a drug in which any substance has been mixed or packed so as to reduce its quality or strength, or where any substance has been substituted wholly or in part. A 'misbranded drug' (Section 17) refers to a drug which is not labelled in the prescribed manner or whose label makes any false claim. All three definitions are correctly matched with their respective descriptions as laid down in the Act. The distinctions among these three categories matter because they attract different penal provisions under the Act and implicate different regulatory obligations of the Drug Controlling Authorities.

Explanation

Pair 1 is correctly matched: under the IT Act, 2000 read with the Sensitive Personal Data or Information (SPDI) Rules, 2011, transfer of sensitive personal data outside India was permissible provided the recipient ensured a protection standard equivalent to Indian law, and the transfer was either necessary for a lawful contract or had been consented to by the data subject. An assertion or claim of adequacy was sufficient — there was no independent verification mechanism. Pair 2 is also correctly matched: the DPDP Act, 2023 replaced the earlier IT Act regime as the primary framework for personal data protection, with its Rules notified in November 2025 and a phased rollout under which certain consent and safety provisions take effect only in 2027. Pair 3 is incorrectly matched and is the key conceptual distractor: the SPDI Rules under the IT Act regime applied only to a defined list of 'sensitive personal data' (financial records, medical or health details, sexual orientation, biometric information, etc.). Categories such as names, addresses, phone numbers, caste, religion, political affiliations, browsing history, social media activity, and online or offline behavioural patterns were explicitly excluded from the Rules' protections — a major gap that the DPDP Act framework seeks to address.