UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 20 October 2025

Solution: A

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The SAIEE is conducted every five years (quinquennially), not every ten (decadally). Furthermore, it is published jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), not solely by WII.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. The report explicitly identifies the Western Ghats as hosting the largest elephant cluster in the country, with 11,934 elephants. The Central India & Eastern Ghats region reported the smallest cluster, with 1,891 elephants.
• Statement 3 is correct. The report highlights a concerning decline in states like Jharkhand (-68%) and Odisha (-54%), which is linked to mining activities and habitat degradation. Concurrently, it observes a rise in populations in Chhattisgarh (+82.6%) and Madhya Pradesh. This is not due to a natural increase within those states but is attributed to elephant herds migrating from the disturbed habitats in the eastern regions (like Jharkhand and Odisha) in search of safer corridors and resources.

Solution: A

• Statement-I is correct. The New Development Bank (NDB) was founded by the five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) with an initial subscribed capital of $50 billion, contributed equally ($10 billion each). A key feature of its Articles of Agreement is the equal distribution of voting rights among the founding members. No member possesses veto power.
• Statement-II is correct. This governance model was a deliberate political and economic choice. The founding members, particularly emerging economies, had long criticized the quota-based voting systems of the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – IMF). In those institutions, voting power is largely determined by the size of a country’s financial contribution (quota), which gives established economies like the United States and European nations disproportionate influence and, in some cases, veto power.
• Statement-II directly and correctly explains the rationale behind Statement-I.

Solution: C

• Statement 1 is correct. India joined the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 16 October 1945, the day it was founded. As such, India is a founding member and has maintained an 80-year partnership with the organization, moving from a food-scarce nation to one of self-sufficiency.
• Statement 2 is correct. The impetus for the FAO came from the United Nations Conference on Food and Agriculture, held in Hot Springs, Virginia, USA, in 1943. This conference led to the formal establishment of the FAO on 16 October 1945, in Quebec City, Canada. Its headquarters were later moved to Rome, Italy.
• Statement 3 is correct. While the FAO’s primary role is in policy, research, and technical assistance for sustainable agriculture and food security, it also has a significant humanitarian function. It works in close partnership with other UN agencies, most notably the World Food Programme (WFP), to respond to food emergencies and crises caused by conflict, climate disasters, and other shocks, helping to build resilience in affected populations.

Solution: C

• The ‘We Rise – Women Entrepreneurs Reimagining Inclusive and Sustainable Enterprises’ initiative is a targeted public-private partnership. Its core objective is to boost the global trade participation of Indian women entrepreneurs. It operates under the WEP’s ‘Award to Reward’ (ATR) framework.
• The initiative focuses on identifying women-led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with high growth potential and providing them with strategic mentorship, capacity-building, and trade facilitation to make them ‘export-ready’.

A key feature is providing access to global value chains, including the opportunity to showcase products at Bharat Mart in Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone, leveraging DP World’s global logistics expertise.

Solution: D

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation, not Melanesian. It is located in the west-central Pacific Ocean, not the Indian Ocean.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. While Tuvalu is a constitutional monarchy (part of the Commonwealth), its capital is Vaiaku, which is located on the Funafuti Atoll. Suva is the capital of Fiji.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. Tuvalu’s geography and soil composition are not suitable for extensive agriculture or mining. Its soils are highly porous, limiting agriculture to subsistence crops like coconuts, breadfruit, and taro. The country has no rivers and depends on rainwater collection. Its economy is small and relies heavily on foreign aid, remittances, and revenue from its “.tv” internet domain name. It has no phosphate mining industry (unlike Nauru, another Pacific island).

Solution: B

• Statement 1 is correct. A key achievement celebrated during the 80th anniversary is India’s journey from food scarcity at the time of its independence (and the FAO’s founding) to becoming a self-sufficient nation capable of feeding 1.4 billion people.
• Statement 2 is correct. The collaboration with the FAO provided crucial technical expertise and policy support that strengthened key Indian initiatives. This includes support during the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased food grain production, as well as in the framework for policies like the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. The partnership has evolved beyond just food production. It now actively promotes nutrition-sensitive and climate-resilient agriculture, micro-irrigation, and natural farming. The the promotion of AgriStack for digital governance, indicating that the collaboration extends to modern digital initiatives in the agricultural sector.

Solution: B

• Statement 1 is correct. The NDB’s Articles of Agreement allow any member of the United Nations to be admitted, subject to approval by the bank’s Board of Governors. This is evidenced by the inclusion of non-BRICS members like Bangladesh, UAE, Egypt, and Algeria.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. A crucial provision in the NDB’s governing articles states that the collective share of the founding BRICS members cannot fall below 55% of the total voting power. This ensures that the founding members retain majority control over the institution’s direction, even as it expands.
• Statement 3 is correct. A key function of the NDB is to innovate in finance. It issued its first green bond in 2016 (denominated in Renminbi). A major objective is also to provide lending in the local currencies of its member nations to reduce dependence on the US dollar and mitigate risks associated with currency-exchange volatility for borrowers.
• Statement 4 is incorrect. The headquarters of the New Development Bank is located in Shanghai, China, not Beijing.

Solution: B

• Statement I is correct. Tuvalu has become the 90th member of the IUCN, enhancing its commitment to conservation.
• Statement II is correct. It accurately describes Tuvalu’s extreme geographical vulnerability. As a low-lying atoll nation with a maximum elevation of around 4.6 metres, it faces an existential threat from sea-level rise and coastal erosion, making it a prominent advocate for global climate action.
• Statement III is correct. It outlines the significance of IUCN membership. The IUCN is a global authority on biodiversity and conservation. For Tuvalu, membership provides access to technical expertise and international partnerships essential for managing its rich marine biodiversity (coral reefs, migratory species) and building climate resilience, which are severely impacted by the threats described in Statement II.
• Both II and III are correct. Statement III directly explains why joining the IUCN (Statement I) is a logical and beneficial step for Tuvalu.

Solution: A

The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (PMGKRA) was a targeted employment-cum-rural infrastructure creation program.

• Statement 1 is correct. The PMGKRA was launched in June 2020 to provide livelihood opportunities to the large number of migrant workers who returned to their native villages due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The Abhiyaan aimed to provide immediate employment and income support to these workers.
• Statement 2 is incorrect. The Abhiyaan was not a pan-India initiative. It was implemented in 116 districts across six states, namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Odisha. These districts were chosen based on the large concentration of returnee migrant workers.
• Statement 3 is correct. The Abhiyaan had a twofold objective: to provide immediate employment to the returnee migrant workers and to create durable rural infrastructure. The works under the Abhiyaan included the construction of rural roads, housing, anganwadis, panchayat bhavans, community toilets, and other public assets.

Solution: D

• Statement 1 is incorrect. While dopamine is famously known as the “feel-good chemical,” its functions are diverse. Beyond pleasure and motivation, it plays critical roles in motor control (as seen in Parkinson’s disease, which involves the death of dopamine-producing cells), learning, memory, and focus. Limiting its role to only pleasure and motivation is an oversimplification.
• Statement 2 is correct. The mesolimbic pathway, which originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and projects to the nucleus accumbens, is the brain’s principal reward circuit. It reinforces behaviors that the brain interprets as pleasurable or beneficial for survival (like eating or achieving goals) by releasing dopamine, thereby driving the individual to repeat those actions.
• Statement 3 is correct. Modern life can expose individuals to chronic hyper-stimulation, leading to consistently elevated dopamine levels. This can cause the brain’s baseline satisfaction level to drop. The consequence of this desensitization is that everyday, less stimulating activities may no longer provide a sense of reward, resulting in boredom, anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure), emotional fatigue, and a persistent state of low motivation.