UPSC Current Affairs Quiz : 28 March 2026

Solution: D

• The description pertains to the Gruh Sugam Portal, an initiative launched by the National Housing Bank (NHB). The portal is designed as a specialized digital lending platform to foster financial inclusion for Defense, Paramilitary, and Government personnel. The core logic behind this platform is to bridge the gap between financial institutions and employees who are often posted in remote or high-altitude areas, where physical documentation and branch visits are nearly impossible.
• Unlike general credit portals, Gruh Sugam functions as a Unified Digital Marketplace where the borrower registers basic requirements, and various registered banks then provide competitive offers. This “bidding” mechanism is crucial as it leverages the stable income profiles of government employees to drive down interest rates, making affordable home ownership a reality.

Furthermore, the portal’s integration with administrative units allows personnel to process applications through their office’s digital interface, effectively bringing “banking to the doorstep.” This reduces the bureaucratic paper trail and ensures that the families of soldiers on duty can secure housing without the lead applicant needing to be physically present at a bank branch. The NHB, as the apex regulatory body for housing finance, oversees this ecosystem to ensure consumer protection and grievance redressal.

Solution: B

• Statement I is correct as the Nasha Mukt Vidyalaya initiative, a subset of the larger Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan (NMBA), explicitly requires school heads to ensure that a 500-metre radius around the institution is designated as a “Drug-Free Zone.” This involves mandatory reporting of any violations or drug-related activities within this perimeter to the local police.
• Statement II is also correct. The initiative represents a shift in strategy by utilizing educational institutions as a primary defense. It emphasizes capacity building for teachers and peer-led initiatives among students to foster a culture of mutual support. By targeting the school environment, the government seeks to trigger behavioral change and ensure early intervention before addiction patterns become ingrained in the youth.
• However, Statement II is not the explanation for Statement I. Statement I describes a physical, regulatory, and spatial mandate (the 500m zone) which is a law enforcement and administrative tool.
• Statement II describes the sociological and psychological philosophy of the program (behavioral change).

Solution: A

• The Padma River is the principal channel of the Ganges in Bangladesh.
• Statement 1 is correct; the river enters Bangladesh after the main stream of the Ganges splits at the Farakka Barrage in Murshidabad, India. One branch continues as the Bhagirathi-Hooghly in India, while the main volume flows into Bangladesh as the Padma.
• Statement 2 is correct. Geologically, the Padma is a classic braided river. Because of the high sediment load it carries from the Himalayas, the river constantly creates and destroys chars (temporary islands). This leads to a high erosion rate, which frequently alters the geography and displaces communities along its banks. During the monsoon, its discharge is massive, often exceeding 75,000 cubic meters per second.
• Statement 3 is incorrect. The Mahananda is a tributary, not a distributary. It originates in the Himalayas and joins the Padma from the north in northwestern Bangladesh. Conversely, rivers like the Madhumati, Ariyal Khan, and Bhairab are distributaries that branch off from the Padma to distribute water across the delta. The Padma eventually joins the Meghna River at Chandpur before emptying into the Bay of Bengal. The recent construction of the Padma Bridge has reduced reliance on ferry terminals like Dauladia, though they remains critical for heavy goods transit.

Solution: C

• The term “Context Window” is a fundamental constraint and feature of Large Language Models (LLMs). As the AI industry shifts toward tokenomics, understanding this limit is crucial.
• Option (c) is correct because the context window defines how many tokens (units of data) the model can “see” or “remember” at any given moment. For example, if a model has a 128k token context window, it can process a very long document or a lengthy conversation history in one go.
• However, once the conversation exceeds this limit, the model starts losing track of the earlier parts of the interaction because those tokens fall outside the “window.” This is directly related to the statelessness of AI models; they do not have long-term memory of users unless the history is contained within the current context window. This limit affects the complexity of tasks an AI Agent can perform.
• Options (a) and (d) are incorrect because speed is measured in tokens-per-second (throughput), and data sovereignty relates to hosting, not the window size. Option (b) describes a “sandbox” or “firewall,” not a context window. In the current global competition, models with larger context windows and lower cost-per-token are highly attractive for developers building automated systems that process vast amounts of background data daily.

Solution: C

• In Indian trademark law, the Cadila Healthcare case is a seminal judgment. Option (c) is correct because the Supreme Court ruled that a higher threshold must be applied when comparing trademarks for medicines. The court emphasized that unlike other consumer goods (where a mistake might only lead to financial loss), a mistake in medicinal products can be life-threatening.
• Therefore, even if there is a minor phonetic or visual similarity, the mark should be barred to prevent any possibility of consumer confusion or deception. This is particularly relevant in the recent dispute where Novo Nordisk alleged that Dr. Reddy’s “Olymviq” was deceptively similar to “Ozempic.” The Trade Marks Act, 1999 is designed to protect both the commercial R&D investment of innovators and the safety of the public.
• This “exacting standard” ensures that in India’s multilingual and often low-awareness settings, the risk of wrong drug dispensing is minimized.

Solution: D

• The PRISM-SG Portal (Portal for Rail-Road Inspection & Stages Management – Steel Girders) is a specialized digital platform. Its primary objective is to eliminate technical bottlenecks in the construction of Road Over Bridges (ROBs) where highways and railways intersect. Before this portal, the approval process for steel girders—which requires high structural precision and complex welding specifications—was largely manual and fragmented between different departments. By moving the process online, the government aims to reduce the approval cycle by 70%, moving from a standard one-year wait to approximately 100 days.
• Key features include a digital dashboard for real-time monitoring, allowing contractors and railway officials to track every stage of fabrication and inspection. It also ensures an unalterable audit trail, which enhances transparency and prevents administrative delays. This portal works in tandem with the RRCAS system, creating a comprehensive digital ecosystem for infrastructure.
• Ultimately, it ensures that critical highway projects are not stalled at railway crossings due to paperwork, thereby saving capital for the exchequer and ensuring structural integrity through automated scheduling of inspections and digital uploads of test results.

Solution: B

• In the context of Large Language Models (LLMs), a token is the fundamental unit of information. While humans read text as words, AI models break text down into tokens during a process called tokenization. A token is not always a full word; it can be a single character, a part of a word (like the “ing” in “playing”), or even a whole word depending on the model’s design.
• Once text is tokenized, it undergoes numerical conversion, where each token is assigned a unique numerical ID (vector) that the computer can understand. The model then uses mathematical patterns to predict the next token in a sequence. This granularity allows AI to handle spelling, grammar, and even coding languages effectively.
• Tokens also serve as the utility meter for the AI industry; companies like OpenAI or Google charge developers based on the number of Input Tokens (the prompt) and Output Tokens (the response). Different languages have different levels of language variability, meaning some languages use more tokens per word than others, affecting the cost and efficiency of the AI agent.

Solution: A

• The Paris Agreement requires countries to submit NDCs every five years, representing their highest possible ambition for climate action. India’s updated NDC for 2031-2035 is a strategic step toward the Net-Zero 2070
• Statement-I is correct as it highlights the alignment of periodic targets with long-term climate neutrality.
• Statement-II is also correct and serves as a primary quantitative pillar explaining how the long-term vision in Statement-I will be operationalized through measurable reductions in carbon footprint per unit of economic output.
• By targeting a 47% reduction in emissions intensity by 2035, India ensures that economic growth (Viksit Bharat) is decoupled from greenhouse gas emissions. This transition involves scaling up renewable energy, enhancing energy efficiency across industrial sectors, and promoting the LiFE movement. The success of meeting 2015 targets ahead of schedule provides the credibility required for these enhanced ambitions. Therefore, Statement-II directly supports and explains the strategic direction mentioned in Statement-I.

Solution: C

• Pair 1 is correctly matched: MISHTI (Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes) focuses on mangrove reforestation along India’s coastline, which serves as a natural buffer against cyclones and a potent carbon sink.
• Pair 2 is correctly matched: The LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) movement is a global initiative by India to encourage mindful consumption and individual actions to combat climate change.
• Pair 3 is correctly matched: PM Surya Ghar (Muft Bijli Yojana) aims to provide free electricity to households by incentivizing solar rooftop installations, contributing to the non-fossil fuel capacity target.
• Pair 4 is incorrectly matched: Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam is a people-centric plantation drive aimed at increasing green cover through community participation, not a technological project for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS). While CCUS is part of India’s clean energy missions, it is distinct from this plantation drive.

Solution: B

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Although it facilitates travel, the IVFRT scheme is primarily a security-cum-service project implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), not the Ministry of External Affairs. Its core mandate is border management and national security.
• Statement 2 is correct: The scheme creates a seamless digital ecosystem by connecting 117 ICPs, 15 FRROs, and 854 FROs. This integration allows for real-time tracking of a traveler’s lifecycle—from the moment they apply for a visa to their final exit from the country.
• Statement 3 is correct: The Fast Track Immigration (FTI-TTP) is a technological leap that utilizes automated e-gates. By using trusted traveler credentials, it reduces clearance time from an average of 3 minutes to just 30 seconds.
• This “contactless and faceless” service enhances the ease of travel while ensuring that security protocols, such as biometric verification, are strictly maintained. The scheme balances the dual objectives of promoting tourism/business and safeguarding the country against illegal migration and security threats.