UPSC Prelims 2016 IR and Current Affairs questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2016 asked 16 current affairs questions in GS Paper I, spread over 2 topics. See the current affairs weightage for 2016 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
IR and Current Affairs 2016: questions by topic
- International organisations, groupings and India's relations9
- Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs7
Counted from the 16 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
Seeing 16 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 9
Consider the following pairs :
| Community sometimes mentioned in the news | In the affairs of
| 1. Kurd | Bangladesh
| 2. Madhesi | Nepal
| 3. Rohingya | Myanmar
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 2 and 3 are correct (c). The Madhesis of Nepal's Terai protested the 2015 constitution, which led to a border blockade with India. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority denied citizenship in Myanmar's Rakhine State, and many fled to Bangladesh after 2017. Pair 1 is wrong: the Kurds live across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, not Bangladesh.
The Kurds are among the largest ethnic groups without a state of their own. Notice how communities in the news link to India's neighbourhood policy, as with refugees and border relations.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to ‘Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)’, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is an organization of European Union in working relation with NATO and WHO.
- 2. It monitors chemical industry to prevent new weapons from emerging.
- 3. It provides assistance and protection to States (Parties) against chemical weapons threats.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). The OPCW, based in The Hague, implements the Chemical Weapons Convention (1997). It monitors the chemical industry to stop new weapons emerging (2) and provides assistance and protection to member states against chemical threats (3). Statement 1 is wrong: it is an independent international body, not an EU organisation working with NATO and WHO.
It has 193 member states and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. India signed the CWC and destroyed its declared stockpile by 2009. Notice how disarmament treaties rely on verification bodies like this.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is an agreement among all the Pacific Rim countries except China and Russia.
- 2. It is a strategic alliance for the purpose of maritime security only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Statement 1 is wrong: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (signed 2016) had only 12 Pacific Rim economies, not all of them except China and Russia; countries such as South Korea and Indonesia were outside it. Statement 2 is wrong: the TPP was a trade and investment agreement, not a maritime security alliance.
The US withdrew in 2017, and the remaining 11 signed the CPTPP in 2018. The UK joined in 2024. China has applied to join. Notice how the TPP contrasts with RCEP, a separate Asia-Pacific trade bloc that India chose to leave in 2019.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
The India-Africa Summit
- 1. held in 2015 was the third such Summit
- 2. was actually initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The India–Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi in October 2015 was the third one, after 2008 in New Delhi and 2011 in Addis Ababa. Statement 2 is wrong: the summit process began in 2008, not under Nehru in 1951.
The 2015 summit was the largest, with all 54 African countries taking part, and India pledged concessional credit and scholarships. Nehru's link with Africa came through anti-colonial solidarity, the Bandung Conference (1955) and the Non-Aligned Movement. Notice how India's push later helped the African Union win permanent membership of the G20 in 2023.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)’, often in the news, is
Answer (b) & explanation
MSF is an independent international NGO (b). Médecins Sans Frontières was founded in France in 1971 by doctors and journalists. It gives emergency medical care in wars, epidemics and disasters, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. It is not a division of the WHO (a), it is not run by the European Union (c), and it is not a UN specialised agency (d). In fact, it guards its independence by taking most of its money from private donors.
It was in the news in 2015 after a US airstrike hit its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Notice the trap: famous humanitarian names tempt you towards "UN" options, but bodies like MSF, Amnesty and the ICRC (a private Swiss association with a special mandate) are not UN agencies.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following is not a member of ‘Gulf Cooperation Council’?
Answer (a) & explanation
Iran is not a GCC member (a). The Gulf Cooperation Council was formed in 1981 with its headquarters in Riyadh. It has six Arab monarchies: Saudi Arabia (b), the UAE, Kuwait (d), Qatar, Bahrain and Oman (c). It was formed partly as a response to the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the Iran–Iraq war, so Iran's absence is the point. Iraq and Yemen are not members either.
For India, the GCC is a top trading bloc, a key oil and gas source, and home to about 9 million Indians, who send large remittances. India–GCC FTA talks restarted in 2022, and India signed a CEPA with the UAE in 2022. Notice the corridors too: IMEC, announced in 2023, runs through the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Belt and Road Initiative’ is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of
Answer (d) & explanation
The Belt and Road Initiative is China's project (d). Xi Jinping announced it in 2013 in Kazakhstan and Indonesia. It combines the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to build ports, railways and power lines across Asia, Africa and Europe. It is not a project of the African Union (a), Brazil (b), or the EU (c). The EU's answer is its Global Gateway.
India has boycotted BRI because its flagship, the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which India sees as a breach of sovereignty. Watch for the term "debt-trap diplomacy", as in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port lease. Italy left BRI in 2023, and India backs alternatives such as IMEC.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The term ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’ often appears in the news in the context of the affairs of a group of countries known as
Answer (b) & explanation
RCEP is linked with ASEAN (b). The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership was negotiated by the 10 ASEAN countries and their six FTA partners: China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. India walked out in November 2019. It feared a flood of cheap Chinese goods, harm to dairy and farm sectors, and weak safeguards. The other 15 signed in November 2020, and the deal came into force in 2022. It is not a G20 (a), SCO (c) or SAARC (d) project.
It is the world's largest trade bloc, covering about 30% of global GDP. Notice India's other path: it reviews its ASEAN FTA (AITIGA) and signs bilateral deals such as with the UAE, Australia, EFTA and the UK.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The International Solar Alliance was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2015.
- 2. The Alliance includes all the member countries of the United Nations.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). India and France launched the International Solar Alliance on 30 November 2015 at COP21 in Paris (1). Its headquarters is in Gurugram, at the National Institute of Solar Energy campus. It became a treaty-based body in 2017. Statement 2 is wrong because membership is not automatic. It was first meant for about 121 solar-rich countries lying between the Tropics, and in 2020 it was opened to all UN members, but each country must sign and ratify the framework agreement. About 100+ have done so, not all UN members.
Its slogan is "One Sun, One World, One Grid" (OSOWOG). Notice related Indian-led groups too: CDRI for disaster-resilient infrastructure and the Global Biofuels Alliance (2023).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs 7
‘Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to
Answer (c) & explanation
Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan (2001) is a national campaign to eradicate manual scavenging and rehabilitate those freed from it (c). It is led by civil-society groups, with Jan Sahas at its core. It is not about the homeless (a), sex workers (b) or bonded labour (d), which have their own laws and schemes.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 bans the practice. The NAMASTE scheme (2023) focuses on the safety of sanitation workers. Notice how this links to dignity under Article 21 and the abolition of untouchability under Article 17.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to
Answer (a) & explanation
Mission Indradhanush (December 2014) is about the immunisation of children and pregnant women (a). It targets children under two and pregnant women who were missed or left partly vaccinated under routine immunisation. It has nothing to do with smart cities (b), which come under the Smart Cities Mission, space research for Earth-like planets (c), or the education policy (d).
The seven rainbow colours first stood for seven vaccine-preventable diseases; more vaccines were added later. Intensified Mission Indradhanush pushed coverage further, and the U-WIN portal now tracks doses digitally. Notice how it supports the Universal Immunisation Programme, one of the largest in the world.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to pre-packaged items in India, it is mandatory to the manufacturer to put which of the following information on the main label, as per the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011?
- 1. List of ingredients including additives
- 2. Nutrition information
- 3. Recommendations, if any, made by the medical profession about the possibility of any allergic reactions
- 4. Vegetarian/non-vegetarian
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct (c). The FSS (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011 required a list of ingredients including additives (1), nutrition information (2) and the veg/non-veg symbol, a green dot or brown dot in a square (4). Statement 3 is wrong: medical recommendations about allergic reactions were not a mandatory label item in those rules.
Other mandatory items included name of the food, net quantity, batch number, manufacturing and best-before dates, and the FSSAI licence number. These rules were later replaced by the Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020. Notice how labelling turns food safety into a consumer right to informed choice.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following is the best description of ‘INS Astradharini’, that was in the news recently?
Answer (c) & explanation
INS Astradharini is a torpedo launch and recovery vessel (c). Commissioned in 2015, it was indigenously designed with IIT Kharagpur and the DRDO's Naval Science and Technological Laboratory, and built in Visakhapatnam. It is used to test underwater weapons such as torpedoes. It is not an amphibious ship (a), a nuclear submarine (b) or an aircraft carrier (d).
Its twin-hull (catamaran) design gives stability at sea. For contrast, INS Arihant is India's nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, and INS Vikrant is its indigenous aircraft carrier. Notice how such ships show the push for self-reliance in naval technology.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What is/are the purpose/purposes of ‘District Mineral Foundations’ in India?
- 1. Promoting mineral exploration activities in mineral-rich districts
- 2. Protecting the interests of the persons affected by mining operations
- 3. Authorizing State Governments to issue licences for mineral exploration
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) were created by the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015 as non-profit trusts in mining districts. Miners pay into them: 10% of royalty for leases after 2015 and 30% for older ones. The money is spent for the benefit of people and areas affected by mining (2) through the PMKKKY, on drinking water, health, education and the environment. Statement 1 is wrong because exploration is funded by the separate National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET). Statement 3 is wrong because licences are issued under the MMDR Act and auction rules, not by DMFs.
PMKKKY was revised in 2024. Notice the idea behind it: people who bear the cost of mining should share in its gains.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘SWAYAM’, an initiative of the Government of India, aims at
Answer (d) & explanation
SWAYAM gives free, quality education to all (d). SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) was launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Education (then MHRD). It is a free MOOC platform with courses from Class 9 to postgraduate level. National coordinators include NPTEL, IGNOU, UGC-CEC, NCERT and NIOS, and universities can count up to 40% of a programme's credits from it. It is not about Self Help Groups (a), start-up finance (b), or adolescent girls (c), which come under schemes like DAY-NRLM, Startup India and SABLA.
Its sister tool SWAYAM Prabha runs free DTH education channels. Notice how this fits the NEP 2020 push for blended learning and the Academic Bank of Credits.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
A recent movie titled The Man Who Knew Infinity is based on the biography of
Answer (a) & explanation
The film is about S. Ramanujan (a). The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015), with Dev Patel, tells the story of self-taught mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) and his work with G. H. Hardy at Cambridge. It is based on Robert Kanigel's 1991 biography. Ramanujan became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918 and is famous for work on partitions, infinite series and the "taxicab number" 1729. S. Chandrasekhar (b) is known for the Chandrasekhar limit. S. N. Bose (c) gave his name to bosons. C. V. Raman (d) discovered the Raman effect.
22 December, Ramanujan's birthday, is National Mathematics Day. Notice that 28 February, the day Raman announced his effect in 1928, is National Science Day.
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.