UPSC Prelims 2022 IR and Current Affairs questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2022 asked 10 current affairs questions in GS Paper I, spread over 2 topics. See the current affairs weightage for 2022 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
IR and Current Affairs 2022: questions by topic
- International organisations, groupings and India's relations7
- Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs3
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 7
With reference to the “United Nations Credentials Committee”, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is a committee set up by the UN Security Council and works under its supervision.
- 2. It traditionally meets in March, June and September every year.
- 3. It assesses the credentials of all UN members before submitting a report to the General Assembly for approval.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 3 is correct (a). Statement 3 is right: the Credentials Committee examines the credentials of the representatives of all member states and reports to the General Assembly, which approves the report. Statement 1 is wrong: it is a committee of the General Assembly, not the Security Council. Its nine members are appointed by the Assembly at the start of each regular session on the President's proposal. Statement 2 is wrong: it does not meet in March, June and September; it usually meets once a year, near the end of the session, around November–December.
Notice why it matters: it decides who speaks for a country when rival governments claim the seat. In 2021 it deferred the claims of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the military junta in Myanmar, so the old envoys stayed.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements best describes the ‘Polar Code’ ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Polar Code is a safety code for ships in polar waters (a). The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), came into force in 2017. It is binding through the SOLAS (safety) and MARPOL (pollution) conventions, and sets rules on ice-class ship design, crew training, equipment and strict limits on discharges in Arctic and Antarctic waters. Option (b) is wrong: Arctic boundaries are settled under UNCLOS and bilateral deals. Option (c) is wrong: research in Antarctica falls under the Antarctic Treaty (1959). Option (d) is wrong: the Arctic Council has no trade or security pact.
Notice why it matters now: melting ice is opening the Northern Sea Route, so traffic and the risk of spills are rising.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the United Nations General Assembly, consider the following statements :
- 1. The UN General Assembly can grant observer status to the non-member States.
- 2. Inter-governmental organisations can seek observer status in the UN General Assembly.
- 3. Permanent Observers in the UN General Assembly can maintain missions at the UN headquarters.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three statements are correct (d). Statement 1 is right: the General Assembly can give observer status to non-member states; today these are the Holy See and Palestine, which was upgraded to non-member observer state in 2012. Statement 2 is right: intergovernmental organisations such as the European Union, the African Union and the Commonwealth can seek and hold observer status. Statement 3 is right: permanent observers may keep missions at the UN headquarters in New York. So options (a), (b) and (c) each miss one true line.
Notice the limits: observers can speak and take part in debates but cannot vote. Some NGOs and bodies, like the International Committee of the Red Cross, also hold observer status.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. Armenia
- 2. Azerbaijan
- 3. Croatia
- 4. Romania
- 5. Uzbekistan
Which of the above are members of the Organization of Turkic States ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are members (c). The Organization of Turkic States, renamed from the Turkic Council in 2021, has five members: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Hungary, Turkmenistan and the self-declared Northern Cyprus are observers. Item 1 is wrong: Armenia is not Turkic and has a long conflict with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Items 3 and 4 are wrong: Croatia and Romania are European, non-Turkic states. So options (a), (b) and (d) fall.
Notice the link with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey backed Azerbaijan; Azerbaijan took the region in 2023. The group's headquarters is in Istanbul, and it pushes trade routes across the Caspian called the Middle Corridor.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, consider the following statements :
- 1. A coastal state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baseline determined in accordance with the convention.
- 2. Ships of all states, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
- 3. The Exclusive Economic Zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three statements are correct (d). Statement 1 is right: under UNCLOS (1982), a coastal state can fix its territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, where it has full sovereignty. Statement 2 is right: ships of all states, coastal or landlocked, have the right of innocent passage through it, as long as they do not threaten the coastal state. Statement 3 is right: the Exclusive Economic Zone cannot go beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline; there the coastal state owns fish, oil and minerals.
Notice the other zones: the contiguous zone goes to 24 nm, for customs and immigration control, and the continental shelf can stretch to 350 nm. Beyond lie the high seas, now covered by the BBNJ treaty.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements best reflects the issue with Senkaku Islands, sometimes mentioned in the news ?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Senkaku Islands are disputed by China and Japan (b). The small, uninhabited Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu by China, lie in the East China Sea, north-east of Taiwan. Japan controls them, while China and Taiwan claim them. Option (a) is wrong: they are natural islands; China's artificial islands are in the South China Sea. Option (c) is wrong: there is no permanent US base on them. Option (d) is wrong: the ICJ has never ruled on them, and South-East Asian countries do not claim them.
Notice that the USA says its defence treaty with Japan covers the Senkakus. Do not mix up the seas: the Spratly and Paracel disputes are in the South China Sea, involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines and others.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Country | Important reason for being in the news recently
| 1. Chad | Setting up of permanent military base by China
| 2. Guinea | Suspension of Constitution and Government by military
| 3. Lebanon | Severe and prolonged economic depression
| 4. Tunisia | Suspension of Parliament by President
How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Three pairs are correctly matched (c). Pair 2 is right: Guinea's army ousted President Condé in September 2021 and suspended the constitution. Pair 3 is right: the World Bank called Lebanon's economic collapse, from 2019, one of the worst anywhere since the mid-19th century. Pair 4 is right: Tunisia's President Kais Saied suspended parliament in July 2021. Pair 1 is wrong: Chad was in the news for President Idriss Déby's death in 2021 and military rule; China has no base there. China's only acknowledged overseas military base is in Djibouti, opened in 2017.
Notice the wave of coups in Africa's Sahel and west: Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger, many turning away from France and towards Russia.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Schemes, reports, indices and other current affairs 3
Which one of the following statements best reflects the idea behind the “Fractional Orbital Bombardment System” often talked about in media ?
Answer (c) & explanation
FOBS puts a missile in orbit and brings it down on a target (c). The Fractional Orbital Bombardment System is a Soviet idea from the 1960s. It sends a warhead into a partial low orbit and brings it down over the target from any direction, even over the South Pole. This avoids early-warning radars, which mostly look north, and leaves no fixed path. Option (a) describes planetary defence against asteroids. Option (b) describes a planetary landing. Option (d) describes a comet mission, such as Rosetta.
Notice that reports of China's 2021 hypersonic glide test via orbit brought FOBS back into the news. The Outer Space Treaty (1967) bans placing nuclear weapons in orbit. India tested an anti-satellite missile in Mission Shakti (2019).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The India Sanitation Coalition is a platform to promote sustainable sanitation and is funded by the Government of India and the World Health Organization.
- 2. The National Institute of Urban Affairs is an apex body of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in Government of India and provides innovative solutions to address the challenges of Urban India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). Statement 1 is wrong: the India Sanitation Coalition was launched in 2015 at FICCI as a platform where companies, NGOs, donors and government work together on sanitation. It is not funded by the Government of India and the WHO. Statement 2 is wrong: the National Institute of Urban Affairs (1976) is an autonomous research and training institute that supports the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; it is not the Ministry's apex body. It runs studies and projects such as the Smart Cities and climate work.
Notice the trap: UPSC slips in words like "funded by" or "apex body" to make a mostly true line wrong. The matching government mission is the Swachh Bharat Mission, launched on 2 October 2014.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following best describes the term “greenwashing” ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Greenwashing means falsely claiming to be eco-friendly (a). Greenwashing is making misleading green claims about a product, a fund or a company, so it looks more environmentally sound than it is. Examples include vague labels like "natural", hiding a small green line behind a dirty core business, or selling an "ESG" fund full of polluters. Option (b) describes the lack of green accounting in national accounts. Option (c) describes careless development, not marketing. Option (d) describes the opposite of greenwashing: building environmental costs into projects.
Notice that regulators now act against it. SEBI set rules for ESG funds, the EU adopted rules on green claims, and India's CCPA issued guidelines on greenwashing in 2024 under the Consumer Protection Act.
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.