UPSC Current Affairs Quiz, 20 October 2026

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: the Khilafat agitation was launched to defend the institution of the Ottoman Caliphate, which came under threat after World War I. Gandhi's strategic decision to align the Non-Cooperation Movement with the Khilafat cause was explicitly aimed at forging Hindu-Muslim solidarity against British colonial rule — a well-established fact in Indian national movement history. Statement 2 is also correct: Hedgewar belonged to the Bal Gangadhar Tilak faction of the Congress, which was more assertive and confrontational than the Moderate wing, and he was associated with the Anushilan Samiti — a Bengal-based revolutionary nationalist network. Both affiliations placed him in a current that was sceptical of Gandhian conciliation and non-violent mass politics. Statement 3 is false: the RSS as an organisation did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement under Hedgewar, nor in the Quit India Movement under Golwalkar. This deliberate distance from Congress-led mass campaigns was a defining and controversial feature of the RSS's early strategy, drawing criticism from nationalists who saw direct confrontation with colonial rule as the fundamental test of patriotism.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: the SRIA targets the top buyers of Russian crude oil or natural gas with tariffs up to 100 per cent, and India — as one of the largest purchasers of Russian oil — falls squarely within its scope. This mechanism directly threatens market access for Indian exporters, particularly the gems and jewellery sector whose primary export destination is the United States. Statement 2 is incorrect: the SRIA framework does include a Presidential waiver authority. The US President can suspend the punitive duties on grounds of national interest, as demonstrated when the proposed 100 per cent tariffs on India were put on hold through such a waiver. The claim that no waiver authority exists, and that tariffs are irreversible once enacted, misrepresents the statutory structure.

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect. The 'duck curve' does NOT arise because net demand peaks simultaneously with solar generation. The defining feature of the duck curve is the temporal mismatch: solar generation is highest during midday (creating a belly — oversupply or very low net demand), while actual grid demand peaks in the evening after sunset when solar output collapses to near-zero. This creates the characteristic duck-shaped net-load curve — a deep midday trough followed by a steep evening ramp. If both net demand and solar peaked simultaneously, there would be no grid-balancing problem; the problem is precisely that they peak at different times. Statement 2 is correct. BESS is the canonical structural solution to the duck curve: storage absorbs surplus solar electricity during the midday surplus period and injects it back into the grid during the evening peak, effectively shifting solar generation temporally to match demand. Statement 3 is correct. In high-renewable grids, dispatchable thermal capacity and short-term power market purchases act as flexibility resources — they can be ramped up during the critical evening hours when solar falls to zero and wind output is uncertain. This is exactly the role played by thermal plants and market purchases in a grid where renewable capacity alone cannot guarantee supply-demand balance at all hours.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct. MSP is explicitly a floor price — it is the minimum guaranteed price below which the government pledges to procure. It imposes no upper ceiling; in years of supply shortfall, market prices routinely and legally exceed the MSP, as farmers discover through open price competition in APMC mandis. Statement 2 is incorrect. APMC mandis facilitate competitive price discovery through open-auction systems; there is no legal requirement for mandi prices to stay at or below MSP. In fact, the very purpose of MSP as a floor is to prevent prices falling below a threshold — when market demand is strong and supply is tight, mandi prices exceed MSP, benefiting farmers. Legally capping mandi prices at MSP would be contrary to the floor-price concept. Statement 3 is correct. FCI is mandated to hold buffer stocks of food grains for food security, welfare schemes (such as the Public Distribution System), and emergency purposes. In deficit years, the government can release FCI stocks into the market to moderate price rises — this is a recognised market-intervention mechanism. The coexistence of rising paddy prices and a record FCI inventory illustrates the government's policy choice about when and whether to intervene.

Explanation

Pair 1 is incorrectly matched. CAATSA (enacted in 2017) authorises secondary sanctions on countries making significant transactions with Russia's defence and intelligence sectors — not its energy export sector. India's purchase of the S-400 missile system from Russia brought it under CAATSA scrutiny precisely because that was a defence transaction. A separate legislative instrument (not CAATSA) provides tariff/sanction authority over Russian oil importers. Pair 2 is correctly matched: secondary sanctions are a well-established US foreign-policy tool whereby penalties are directed at third-country actors who engage commercially with a sanctioned state, thereby extending US economic pressure beyond the primary target. Pair 3 is correctly matched: 'strategic autonomy' is India's articulated foreign-policy doctrine — rooted in its Non-Aligned Movement heritage and refined in the post-Cold War era — that justifies independent decisions on defence procurement, energy sourcing, and diplomatic partnerships without binding itself to any single power's preferences. This doctrine underpins India's continued purchase of Russian crude even as it deepens ties with the United States.