UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 29 December 2025

Solution: D

• RPREX-2025 is a large-scale exercise led by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) to test the nation’s preparedness against maritime environmental disasters. Its primary objective is to validate the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP).
• The exercise simulates realistic scenarios, such as the tanker-fishing boat collision used in the Mumbai drill, to ensure that various agencies—including ONGC, port authorities, and state agencies—can coordinate effectively.
• It focuses on using Pollution Control Vessels (PCVs), skimmers, and containment gear to prevent crude oil from damaging sensitive ecosystems like mangroves and protecting the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities.

Solution: B

• Anopheles stephensi is a unique challenge in the fight against malaria.
• Statement 1 is incorrect because it is specifically an urban and peri-urban vector, unlike traditional rural malaria mosquitoes.
• Statement 2 is correct; its ability to breed in man-made containers (overhead tanks, construction sites, tires) allows it to thrive in high-density cities.
• Statement 3 is incorrect because this species is an efficient vector for both major human malaria parasites: Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Its rapid spread in Indian cities like Delhi threatens the national goal of malaria elimination by 2030, as it shifts the disease burden from traditional tribal or rural areas to metropolitan centers.

Solution: B

• Statement I describes the party’s evolution into a mainstream political force that formed elected governments in states like Kerala and West Bengal.
• Statement II highlights its earlier revolutionary agrarian roots in the 1940s.
• However, the leadership of agrarian movements like Tebhaga and Telangana does not “explain” the later shift to parliamentary democracy; in fact, the transition to electoral politics was a separate strategic evolution influenced by the changing political landscape of independent India and internal ideological debates.

Solution: C

• The IPC is an autonomous body that sets drug standards (Statement 1) and is headquartered in Ghaziabad (Statement 3).
• Statement 2 is incorrect. Although the pharmaceutical industry is often associated with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, the IPC specifically falls under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). This is because its primary mandate is public health and the safety/quality of medicines, which aligns with the Health Ministry’s portfolio. The commission ensures that all drugs sold in India meet the standards listed in the Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP).

Solution: B

• Somaliland is located in the Horn of Africa. To its west lies Djibouti, and to its south and southwest is Ethiopia. To its east, it borders the rest of Somalia, specifically the autonomous region of Puntland. It does not share a border with Eritrea, which is located further northwest, separated from Somaliland by Djibouti and parts of Ethiopia. To its north, Somaliland has a long coastline along the Gulf of Aden.

Solution: C

• The Litani River is a major watercourse in southern Lebanon. It is geographically and politically significant due to its proximity to the Blue Line (the UN withdrawal line).
• Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River is designated as a buffer zone that must be kept free of any armed groups other than the Lebanese Armed Forces and UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
• It frequently appears in the news regarding tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, making it a focal point of Middle Eastern security arrangements.

Solution: C

• Statement 1 is correct; the CPI formed the first non-Congress government in Kerala in 1957 under M.S. Namboodiripad.
• Statement 2 is also correct as it remains a party based on Marxist-Leninist ideology, focusing on class struggle and social equality.

Solution: A

• Statement I is correct: Persistent trade deficits create pressure on the domestic currency, often leading to rupee depreciation.
• Statement II is correct: When imports exceed exports, importers need more foreign currency (like USD) to pay for goods than exporters are earning. This higher demand for foreign currency (and selling of domestic currency) drives down the value of the domestic currency.
• Explanation: Statement II provides the economic mechanism (supply and demand of currency) that explains why Statement I happens.

Solution: D

• Desert Cyclone is with the UAE. Hand-in-Hand is the traditional (though currently suspended) exercise with China.
• Surya Kiran is with Nepal, and Garuda Shakti is with Indonesia. These exercises are part of India’s military diplomacy, aimed at enhancing mutual understanding of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and preparing for peacekeeping or counter-terrorism operations.

Solution: A

• Statement-I is correct. RRBs serve a dual purpose: they act as professional financial institutions (like commercial banks) but focus heavily on local, rural credit needs (like cooperatives).
• Statement-II is also correct and directly explains why RRBs have this dual nature. The Narasimham Committee (1975) felt that commercial banks were too urban-centric and cooperatives lacked professional management. Thus, the hybrid model was created to ensure that rural areas receive institutional credit (for small farmers and artisans) with the efficiency of a modern bank. Their regulation by the RBI and supervision by NABARD further reinforces this professional-yet-local structure.