UPSC Prelims 2018 IR and Current Affairs questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2018 asked 10 current affairs questions in GS Paper I, spread over 2 topics. See the current affairs weightage for 2018 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
IR and Current Affairs 2018: questions by topic
- International organisations, groupings and India's relations6
- Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs4
Counted from the 10 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
Seeing 10 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 6
What is/are the consequence/consequences of a country becoming the member of the ‘Nuclear Suppliers Group’ ?
- 1. It will have access to the latest and most efficient nuclear technologies.
- 2. It automatically becomes a member of “The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)”.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), formed in 1974 after India's Pokhran test, is a group of 48 supplier countries that controls exports of nuclear material and technology. Members trade more freely with one another, so joining brings easier access to advanced nuclear technology (1). Statement 2 is wrong because NSG membership does not automatically make a country a member of the NPT. The two are separate, though most NSG members have signed the NPT.
India got a special NSG waiver in 2008 after the India–US nuclear deal. Its bid to become a full member is blocked mainly by China, which says only NPT members should join. Notice that India is a member of the MTCR, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Very recently, in which of the following countries have lakhs of people either suffered from severe famine/acute malnutrition or died due to starvation caused by war/ethnic conflicts ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Yemen and South Sudan faced war-driven famine (d). In 2017–18, the UN warned of the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, caught in the Saudi-led war against the Houthis and a naval blockade. Millions faced famine and a cholera outbreak. In South Sudan, famine was formally declared in parts of Unity State in 2017 after the civil war. Both crises were caused by conflict. Angola and Zambia (a) and Morocco and Tunisia (b) had no such crises. Venezuela's crisis (c) was economic, with hyperinflation and mass migration.
Notice the more recent cases: the UN-backed IPC confirmed famine in Gaza in August 2025 and in parts of Sudan (Darfur), where the war began in 2023.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The term “two-state solution” is sometime mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of
Answer (b) & explanation
The "two-state solution" is about Israel (b). It means an independent State of Palestine next to Israel, roughly along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital. The idea goes back to the UN Partition Plan of 1947 and is the basis of the Oslo Accords (1993–95). It has nothing to do with China (a), Iraq (c) or Yemen (d). India officially supports a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state living side by side and at peace with Israel.
After the Gaza war that began in October 2023, France, the UK, Canada, Australia and others recognised Palestine in September 2025. Notice that India recognised Palestine back in 1988, and in 2025 it voted for the UN's New York Declaration on the two-state solution.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India enacted The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in order to comply with the obligations to
Answer (d) & explanation
The GI Act was passed to meet India's WTO obligations (d). The WTO's TRIPS Agreement (1995), Articles 22–24, requires members to protect geographical indications: names that link a product's quality or reputation to the place it comes from. India passed the GI Act in 1999, and it came into force in 2003. Darjeeling tea was the first Indian GI (2004). The GI Registry in Chennai, under DPIIT, registers them, and a GI lasts 10 years at a time, renewable. The ILO (a), IMF (b) and UNCTAD (c) have no role here.
India now has over 650 GIs, with Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu leading. Notice that TRIPS gives wines and spirits stronger protection. India wants the same for products like Basmati.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Indian context, what is the implication of ratifying the ‘Additional Protocol’ with the ‘International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’ ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Additional Protocol brings India's civilian reactors under IAEA safeguards (a). India signed an India-specific safeguards agreement after the 2008 nuclear deal and ratified the Additional Protocol in 2014. It gives the IAEA more information and access, but only for the civilian facilities India has declared and placed under safeguards. That is 22 or more reactors. Military sites stay outside (b). The protocol gives no right to buy uranium from the NSG (c), since that came from the 2008 waiver. It does not make India an NSG member (d).
India split its civil and military nuclear facilities under the separation plan (2006). Notice that the protocol is part of the case India makes for NSG membership.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. Australia
- 2. Canada
- 3. China
- 4. India
- 5. Japan
- 6. USA
Which of the above are among the ‘free-trade partners’ of ASEAN ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Australia, China, India and Japan are ASEAN's free-trade partners (c). ASEAN has free trade agreements with China (ACFTA, 2010), Japan (AJCEP), South Korea, India (AITIGA, 2010, for goods), and Australia and New Zealand (AANZFTA, one shared deal). These were the six partners in the RCEP talks, which India left in 2019. ASEAN has no FTA with the USA or Canada, though ASEAN–Canada talks began in 2021. So options with 2 or 6 are wrong.
ASEAN also signed an FTA with Hong Kong (2019). Notice India's demand: it is pushing to review AITIGA because of its widening trade deficit and rules-of-origin abuse, with the review due by 2025–26.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs 4
“Rule of Law Index” is released by which of the following ?
Answer (d) & explanation
The World Justice Project releases the Rule of Law Index (d). The World Justice Project is an independent organisation based in Washington, DC. It publishes the Rule of Law Index every year, scoring countries on eight factors: limits on government power, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, and civil and criminal justice. It is not published by Amnesty International (a), the ICJ (b), or the UN human rights office (c).
Denmark and the Nordic countries top it, and India ranks around the 80s. Notice the other indices UPSC links to the wrong body: Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International), World Press Freedom Index (RSF) and Democracy Index (EIU).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. As per the Right to Education (RTE) Act, to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in a State, a person would be required to possess the minimum qualification laid down by the concerned State Council of Teacher Education.
- 2. As per the RTE Act, for teaching primary classes, a candidate is required to pass a Teacher Eligibility Test conducted in accordance with the National Council of Teacher Education guidelines.
- 3. In India, more than 90% of teacher education institutions are directly under the State Governments.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 1 is wrong because, under Section 23 of the RTE Act, 2009, minimum teacher qualifications are set by the academic authority named by the Centre. That authority is the NCTE, not a State council. Statement 2 is right because passing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), held under NCTE guidelines, is compulsory for teaching Classes 1–8. Statement 3 is wrong because over 90% of teacher-education institutions are privately run, not government ones. The Justice J. S. Verma Commission (2012) pointed this out.
The CTET is held by the CBSE. In 2025, the Supreme Court said TET is compulsory for serving teachers too. Notice the reform under NEP 2020: the four-year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
- 2. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is under the charge of Director General of Health Services in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 combined several older food laws, including the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, the Fruit Products Order and the Milk and Milk Products Order, into one law (1). Statement 2 is wrong because FSSAI, set up in 2008, is a statutory body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It is headed by a Chairperson, with a CEO, and it is not under the Director General of Health Services.
FSSAI sets food standards, licenses food businesses, and runs campaigns such as Eat Right India and the trans-fat limit of 2% (2022). Notice the State Food Safety Index and FSSAI's recent moves on front-of-pack labels.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What is “Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)”, sometimes seen in the news ?
Answer (c) & explanation
THAAD is an American anti-missile system (c). The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, made by Lockheed Martin, destroys short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their final (terminal) phase, by hitting them directly rather than exploding near them. It was deployed in South Korea in 2017 to counter North Korea, which angered China. It is not Israeli (a), it is not Indian (b), and it is not a Japan–South Korea project (d). Israel's systems are the Iron Dome and Arrow.
The US also deployed THAAD in Israel in 2024. Notice India's air defence: its own two-tier BMD programme (PAD and AAD), the Russian S-400 "Sudarshan Chakra", which was used in Operation Sindoor (May 2025), and the new Mission Sudarshan Chakra (2025).
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.