UPSC Prelims 2015 IR and Current Affairs questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2015 asked 13 current affairs questions in GS Paper I, spread over 2 topics. See the current affairs weightage for 2015 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
IR and Current Affairs 2015: questions by topic
- International organisations, groupings and India's relations10
- Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs3
Counted from the 13 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
Seeing 13 IR and Current Affairs questions spread over 2 topics can feel overwhelming. That's exactly why the Battle IAS PYQ Book maps every question topic by topic, so you know what to study first. Download free sample
International organisations, groupings and India's relations 10
The ‘Fortaleza Declaration’, recently in the news, is related to the affairs of
Answer (b) & explanation
The Fortaleza Declaration came out of the 6th BRICS summit at Fortaleza, Brazil, in July 2014 (b). That summit agreed to set up the New Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai with K. V. Kamath of India as its first president, and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement for members facing balance-of-payments stress. ASEAN (a), the OECD (c) and the WTO (d) have their own declarations but not this one.
Notice how the NDB and CRA were seen as the emerging economies' answer to the World Bank and IMF, reflecting a wish for a bigger voice in global finance.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Among the following, which were frequently mentioned in the news for the outbreak of Ebola virus recently?
Answer (b) & explanation
The 2014–16 West African Ebola epidemic, the largest ever with over 11,000 deaths, centred on Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia (b). WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in August 2014. The other groups, Syria–Jordan (a), Philippines–Papua New Guinea (c) and Jamaica–Haiti–Surinam (d), were not Ebola hotspots.
The virus is named after the Ebola river in the DR Congo, where it was first identified in 1976. It spreads through direct contact with body fluids. Notice how such outbreaks shaped later global health responses, including WHO's handling of Zika and COVID-19.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The area known as ‘Golan Heights’ sometimes appears in the news in the context of the events related to
Answer (b) & explanation
The Golan Heights are in the Middle East (b). Israel took this plateau from Syria in the 1967 war and annexed it in 1981, a move most of the world does not recognise. It overlooks the Sea of Galilee and is a key source of water. It has nothing to do with Central Asia (a), South-East Asia (c) or Central Africa (d).
UN peacekeepers of UNDOF, including Indian troops at times, patrol the ceasefire line. The USA recognised Israeli sovereignty in 2019. Notice how high ground and water make some small territories hugely important in geopolitics.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following is associated with the issue of control and phasing out of the use of ozone-depleting substances?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Montreal Protocol (1987), under the Vienna Convention (1985), phases out ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs and halons (b). It is the first UN treaty ratified by every country. Bretton Woods (a) created the IMF and World Bank in 1944. The Kyoto Protocol (c) dealt with greenhouse gases, and the Nagoya Protocol (d) with access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources.
Its Kigali Amendment (2016) adds HFCs, which do not harm ozone but are strong greenhouse gases. Notice how the ozone layer is healing, a rare success story of global cooperation.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Amnesty International is
Answer (b) & explanation
Amnesty International (London, 1961) is a global human-rights movement of members and volunteers (b). It campaigns against torture, the death penalty and unjust imprisonment, and won the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize. It is not a UN refugee agency (a), which is the UNHCR; it is not a poverty relief NGO (c); and it is not an inter-governmental medical agency (d), a role closer to the ICRC or Médecins Sans Frontières, which is itself an NGO.
Amnesty shut its India operations in 2020 after its bank accounts were frozen. Notice how UPSC tests whether a body is UN, inter-governmental or non-governmental.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India is a member of which among the following?
- 1. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
- 2. Association of South-East Asian Nations
- 3. East Asia Summit
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 3 is correct (b). India has been a member of the East Asia Summit since it began in 2005. India is a dialogue partner of ASEAN, not a member, and the relationship was raised to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022. India has long sought to join APEC, but the group has not admitted it.
The EAS has 18 members: the ten ASEAN states plus India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Russia. Notice how India's Act East Policy works through these forums, linking trade, connectivity and security in the Indo-Pacific.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation, an initiative of six countries, which of the following is/are not a participant/participants?
- 1. Bangladesh
- 2. Cambodia
- 3. China
- 4. Myanmar
- 5. Thailand
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Mekong–Ganga Cooperation (2000, Vientiane) joins India with five Mekong countries: Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. So Bangladesh and China are not participants (c). Options listing Cambodia, Myanmar or Thailand as non-participants are wrong.
MGC covers tourism, culture, education and transport, highlighting the civilisational links of the two great rivers. China leads its own Lancang–Mekong Cooperation, the Lancang being the Chinese name for the upper Mekong. Notice how MGC fits India's Act East Policy, along with BIMSTEC and the India–Myanmar–Thailand highway.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC)’, consider the following statements :
- 1. It was established very recently in response to incidents of piracy and accidents of oil spills.
- 2. It is an alliance meant for maritime security only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). IORA, founded in 1997 in Mauritius and renamed in 2013, is not a recent body formed in response to piracy or oil spills, so statement 1 is wrong. It is a regional forum for economic and trade cooperation, covering trade, fisheries, tourism, the blue economy and disaster management, as well as maritime safety, so it is not a security-only alliance.
Its secretariat is in Mauritius, and India is a founding member that chaired it in 2011–13 and again from 2025. Notice how the Indian Ocean links India's trade, energy imports and the SAGAR vision.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’, often seen in the news, is
Answer (c) & explanation
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is an agenda for women's empowerment, adopted at the UN's Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 (c). It covers 12 critical areas, from poverty and education to violence and decision-making, and countries report on it every five years. It is not an SCO counter-terror strategy (a), an APEC growth plan (b) or an East Asia Summit wildlife declaration (d).
Its 30th anniversary review, Beijing+30, took place in 2025. Notice how its goals feed into SDG 5 on gender equality and India's own steps like the women's reservation law of 2023.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. China
- 2. France
- 3. India
- 4. Israel
- 5. Pakistan
Which among the above are Nuclear Weapons States as recognized by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)?
Answer (a) & explanation
The NPT (1968) recognises as nuclear-weapon states only those that tested before 1 January 1967: the USA, Russia, UK, France and China. So among the options only China and France qualify (a). India, Pakistan and Israel never signed the NPT and, though they have nuclear weapons, fall outside this definition.
These five are also the permanent members of the UN Security Council. India rejects the NPT as discriminatory but follows a no-first-use policy and got the NSG waiver in 2008. Notice how history, not just capability, defines status in this treaty.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs 3
Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF)?
- 1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government.
- 2. NIF is an initiative to strengthen the highly advanced scientific research in India’s premier scientific institutions in collaboration with highly advanced foreign scientific institutions.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
NIF-India (set up in 2000 in Gujarat) is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (1 correct). Inspired by Anil Gupta's Honey Bee Network, it scouts, documents and supports grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge of ordinary people. Statement 2 is wrong: it does not promote elite research tie-ups with advanced foreign institutions. The answer is (a).
NIF runs the biennial national grassroots innovation awards and helps innovators get patents and reach markets. Notice how it shows that innovation is not only the work of labs, but also of farmers and artisans solving local problems.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 was given to which one of the following?
Answer (c) & explanation
The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2014 went to ISRO (c), for using space technology for development and for achievements such as the Mars Orbiter Mission. BARC (a), IISc (b) and TIFR (d) are leading science institutions but did not receive the 2014 award.
The prize is given by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. Earlier winners include Mikhail Gorbachev, Médecins Sans Frontières and the UNHCR. Notice how India's space programme is framed around development: weather, communication and resource mapping, not just exploration. Mangalyaan made India the first to reach Mars orbit on its first try.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The term ‘IndARC’, sometimes seen in the news, is the name of
Answer (d) & explanation
IndARC (2014) is India's first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic (d), placed in Kongsfjorden near the Himadri research station in Svalbard, Norway. It records ocean data such as temperature and salinity, linked to Arctic climate change and its possible effect on the Indian monsoon. It is not a radar (a), a satellite (b) or an Antarctic base (c).
India's Antarctic stations are Maitri and Bharati, after the first, Dakshin Gangotri. India released its Arctic Policy in 2022. Notice how polar research helps India understand its own monsoon and sea-level rise.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
All years by topic
Every question from 2011 to 2026, grouped by syllabus topic, with year-wise trends.