UPSC Editorials Quiz : 1 July 2026

Solution: C

Originally, Education was a subject in the State List (List II) under the Constitution of India, giving states exclusive legislative authority over it.

However, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act transferred Education from the State List to the Concurrent List (List III). As a result:

• Both Parliament and State Legislatures can make laws on education.
• In case of a conflict between a Central law and a State law on a Concurrent List subject, the Central law generally prevails, subject to constitutional provisions.

The 44th Constitutional Amendment Act did not make this change.

Solution: C

• Statement 1 is incorrect because short-term reprieves in bond yields and debt inflows do not always reflect long-term structural strength. They can be influenced by transient factors like temporary global price dips in commodities or fragile international ceasefires.
• Statement 2 is correct. Coordinated interventions, such as offering tax exemptions on FPI investments in government bonds or concessional dollar-rupee swap facilities, help stabilize the currency but are not costless to the state exchequer or central bank reserves.
• Statement 3 is correct because emerging market economies like India are structurally better served by attracting stable, long-term foreign equity investments (FDI/FPI in equity) rather than volatile, short-term debt, which remains vulnerable to capital flight during global shocks.

Source

Solution: B

Upward accountability refers to the hierarchical responsibility of civil servants to report, justify decisions, and comply with the directions of their superiors within the administrative and political chain of command. In a parliamentary system, this includes accountability to senior bureaucrats as well as elected political executives such as ministers.

• Option (a) is incorrect because accountability toward citizens and civil society is known as downward or public accountability.
• Option (c) is incorrect because the executive is subject to judicial review, but this is not described as upward accountability.
• Option (d) is incorrect because accountability to one’s own conscience relates to ethical or moral accountability, not upward accountability.

Solution: D

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the right of transit passage in international straits is un-suspendable and guarantees unimpeded navigation for all foreign vessels, including warships, which may not be impeded or subjected to prior notification requirements. This is fundamentally distinct from innocent passage, which applies to standard territorial waters and allows coastal states to temporarily suspend transit to preserve national security. Thus, Statement 1 is incorrect.

Statement 2 is incorrect because the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea, which codifies the customary law of naval warfare, stipulates that while a belligerent may restrict enemy warships, it must fully respect the transit rights of neutral commercial shipping and cannot close an international strait completely.

Solution: D

• Statement 1 is correct. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a statutory body constituted under the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, as amended by the Finance Act, 2016. The amendment institutionalized a committee-based framework for monetary policy decisions, replacing the earlier system where the RBI Governor had sole authority.
• Statement 2 is correct. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India serves as the ex-officio Chairperson of the MPC. The committee has six members—three from the RBI and three appointed by the Central Government. Each member has one vote, and decisions are taken by a majority. In the event of a tie, the Governor exercises a casting vote to break the deadlock.
• Statement 3 is correct. The RBI Act specifies that the primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping the objective of growth in mind. To achieve this, the Central Government, in consultation with the RBI, has notified an inflation target of 4% Consumer Price Index inflation, with a tolerance band of ±2% (i.e., 2%–6%).