UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 23 September 2025

Solution: B

• Statement 1 is correct as LEADS is a national index that ranks and assesses the logistics ecosystem of Indian States and UTs. It aims to identify gaps and best practices to enhance supply chain performance across the country.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. The report is released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, specifically the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), not the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• Statement 3 is correct. The assessment is comprehensive and multi-faceted, based on several criteria. These include the quality of infrastructure (like roads, warehousing, and multimodal connectivity), the efficiency of logistics services (timeliness, truck turnaround time), and importantly, the perception of stakeholders from the industry who provide feedback on cost, speed, and reliability. This 360-degree evaluation makes the LEADS report a robust instrument for policy-making.

Solution: A

• The Evo AI model represents a significant leap in the application of artificial intelligence to genomics and synthetic biology.
• Statement 1 is incorrect because Evo is not trained exclusively on viral sequences. It is a foundation model for genomics trained on a massive dataset of both microbial (80,000 genomes) and viral genetic sequences (millions of bacteriophage/plasmid sequences). This broad training allows it to understand a wider range of genetic interactions.
• Statement 2 is correct. One of the core functionalities of Evo is to predict the functional consequences of DNA mutations on proteins. This predictive power, combined with its generative capabilities, allows it to design and generate novel genetic sequences for applications like creating bacteriophages (viruses that kill bacteria) to combat drug-resistant infections.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. The model is publicly available for non-commercial academic research, promoting open science and accelerating innovation in the field. This collaborative approach is intended to spur further discoveries and applications in synthetic biology.

Solution: C

The Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) Corridor is a landmark infrastructure project for India.

• Statement I is correct. The project is a collaboration between India and Japan, with Japan providing both technical expertise (based on its Shinkansen technology) and financial assistance in the form of a soft loan. This partnership is a key aspect of the project’s implementation.
• Statement II is incorrect. The project heavily relies on Japanese Shinkansen technology, including the E5/E10 series trains and advanced signalling and automatic train control systems. While there is an emphasis on ‘Make in India’ for some components, the core technology is not indigenous.
• Statement III is correct. The 508 km route of the bullet train corridor is designed to connect major economic hubs. It covers 156 km in Maharashtra, 348 km in Gujarat, and a small 4 km section in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Solution: A

Isobutanol is being explored as a promising biofuel, especially for blending with diesel.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Isobutanol (C4H10O) has a higher energy density (calorific value) than ethanol (C2H5OH). This means it provides more energy per unit volume, leading to better fuel efficiency, not less. While it has a higher flash point, making it safer, the claim about lower energy density is false.
• Statement 2 is correct. Isobutanol is produced through a biotechnological process. It involves the fermentation of natural sugars (from sources like cane juice or grains) using genetically engineered microbes. These microbes are specifically designed to produce isobutanol instead of the more common ethanol.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. One of the main limitations of isobutanol is its low cetane number. The cetane number is a measure of a fuel’s ignition quality in a diesel engine. A low cetane number can lead to engine knocking and poor performance. Therefore, additives are often required to improve the ignition quality when blending isobutanol with diesel.

Solution: A

• Statement I is correct. The Super Typhoon Ragasa formed over the western Pacific Ocean. This region is a known hotspot for the formation of powerful tropical cyclones.
• Statement II is correct. It accurately describes the ideal conditions for the intensification of tropical cyclones like typhoons. Warm ocean waters (typically above 26.5°C) provide the necessary heat and moisture to fuel the storm. Low wind shear (minimal change in wind speed and direction with height) allows the storm’s structure to remain vertically aligned and organized, which is crucial for it to strengthen.
• Therefore, the conditions described in Statement II are the scientific reasons for the formation and intensification of typhoons like Ragasa in the western Pacific Ocean, making Statement II the correct explanation for Statement I.

Solution: D

The LEADS 2025 initiative includes several new features to make the logistics assessment more dynamic and effective.

• Statement 1 is correct. LEADS 2025 will involve Corridor Performance Tracking, assessing key national corridors using metrics like journey time and truck speed to identify bottlenecks.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. LEADS aims to guide states in policy reforms, but it does not mandate a single, unified policy. It provides tailored recommendations based on state-specific findings, encouraging a competitive and federal approach to improving logistics rather than a centralized one.
• Statement 3 is correct. The initiative incorporates modern technology, using API-enabled data for real-time section-wise speed evaluation on major road corridors, allowing for sharper and more granular analytics.
• Statement 4 is correct. A key feature of the LEADS report is the classification of states and UTs into categories like ‘Leaders’, ‘Achievers’, and ‘Aspirers’. This is done to foster healthy competition and encourage states to improve their logistics performance.

Solution: C

• Statement I is correct. The Philippines is an archipelago, a large group of islands, consisting of over 7,000 islands. It is situated in Southeast Asia, in the western Pacific Ocean.
• Statement II is incorrect. The Philippines does not share any land borders. It is surrounded by water. Its neighbors are separated by sea channels or straits. Taiwan lies to the north across the Luzon Strait, and Malaysia (Sabah, Borneo) and Indonesia are to the south across the Sulu and Celebes Seas.
• Statement III is correct. The Philippines is located on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. This geological setting explains the presence of active volcanoes like Mayon and Taal and the country’s high seismic activity.

Solution: C

• (a) is incorrect. While Evo can design novel viruses and proteins, these designs must still be synthesized and tested in laboratories to confirm their biological activity and effectiveness. AI accelerates the design phase but does not eliminate the need for experimental validation.
• (b) is incorrect. No AI model, including Evo, can predict protein function with 100% accuracy. Biology is incredibly complex. While Evo significantly improves the accuracy of predictions, it is a probabilistic tool, not a deterministic one.
• (c) is correct. The traditional method of developing new biological constructs involves a slow, trial-and-error process in the lab. Evo’s ability to predict, design, and generate genetic code dramatically shortens this “design-build-test” cycle. It can reduce decades of research to a matter of weeks, thereby accelerating innovation and reducing costs.
• (d) is incorrect. While Evo is a very advanced model, it is not the first AI model to be trained on genomic data. There have been numerous machine learning and AI models applied to genomics over the years. Evo’s uniqueness lies in its scale (being a large foundation model) and its generative capabilities.

Solution: B

• (a) is incorrect. The Eighth Schedule is about language recognition, not political reservation. Political reservation is determined by inclusion in the Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) lists, not the language schedule.
• (b) is correct. Inclusion in the Eighth Schedule grants a language official recognition. This would obligate the government to take measures for the development of the Kurmali language, including its promotion through literature and education.
• (c) is incorrect. Inclusion in the Eighth Schedule does not automatically make a language the official language of a state. States have the power to decide their own official languages through legislation.
• (d) is incorrect. While the Kurmis follow the Sarna religion, and language is a key part of culture, the primary aim of Eighth Schedule inclusion is broader official recognition and development, not just the preservation of religious texts.

Solution: D

• Statement I is correct. This statement describes the fundamental difference in processing architecture. A normal computer typically has a single CPU with a few cores (e.g., 2 to 16). In contrast, a supercomputer’s power comes from massive parallelism, using thousands or even millions of CPUs and GPUs working together to solve a single problem.
• Statement II is correct. The massive number of processors in a supercomputer generates an immense amount of heat. Standard air cooling with fans is insufficient. Therefore, supercomputers require specialized and powerful cooling systems, such as liquid cooling or immersion cooling, to maintain optimal operating temperatures. This is a direct consequence of their processing architecture described in Statement I.
• Statement III is incorrect. While normal computers are accessed directly by individual users, supercomputers are not. They are remote, shared resources accessed by researchers and scientists via job schedulers. Users submit their computational jobs to a queue, and the supercomputer’s management system allocates resources and runs the jobs.