UPSC CSE Prelims
Current Affairs Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Solved Previous Year Questions (PYQs) for Current Affairs in UPSC CSE Prelims in English & Hindi Medium.
Chapter Breakdown: Scroll →
What is/are the facility/facilities the beneficiaries can get from the services of Business Correspondent (Bank Saathi) in branchless areas?
- It enables the beneficiaries to draw their subsidies and social security benefits in their villages.
- It enables the beneficiaries in rural areas to make deposits and withdrawals.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Business Correspondents (Bank Saathi) enable beneficiaries to withdraw government subsidies and social security benefits (DBT) directly in their villages through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), eliminating the need to travel to distant bank branches.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: BCs facilitate basic banking services in branchless areas including deposits, withdrawals, remittances, and balance enquiry, promoting financial inclusion in rural and remote locations where setting up full-fledged branches is not viable.
How do District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) help in the reduction of rural poverty in India?
- DRDAs act as Panchayati Raj Institutions in certain specified backward regions of the country.
- DRDAs undertake the area-specific scientific study of the causes of poverty and malnutrition and prepare detailed remedial measures.
- DRDAs secure inter-sectoral and inter-departmental coordination and cooperation for effective implementation of anti-poverty programmes.
- DRDAs watch over and ensure effective utilization of the funds intended for anti-poverty programmes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Detailed Explanation:
❌ Statement 1 – Incorrect: DRDAs are registered societies under the Societies Registration Act, not Panchayati Raj Institutions; they function as administrative bodies coordinating with PRIs.
❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: DRDAs focus on planning, implementation, and monitoring of anti-poverty programmes; they do not conduct scientific studies on causes of poverty and malnutrition.
✅ Statement 3 – Correct: DRDAs secure inter-sectoral and inter-departmental coordination to ensure effective implementation of rural development schemes and anti-poverty programmes.
✅ Statement 4 – Correct: DRDAs monitor and ensure effective utilization of funds allocated for anti-poverty programmes with transparency and accountability.
How does the National Rural Livelihood Mission seek to improve livelihood options of rural poor?
- By setting up a large number of new manufacturing industries and agri-business centres in rural areas
- By strengthening ‘self-help groups’ and providing skill development
- By supplying seeds, fertilizers, diesel pump-sets and micro-irrigation equipment free of cost to farmers
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Detailed Explanation:
❌ Statement 1 – Incorrect: NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) does not set up manufacturing industries or agri-business centres; it focuses on social mobilization and building institutional platforms for the rural poor.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: NRLM's core strategy is strengthening Self-Help Groups (SHGs) through revolving funds, community investment funds, and providing skill development training via DDU-GKY (Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana).
❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: NRLM does not provide seeds, fertilizers, diesel pump-sets or micro-irrigation equipment free of cost; it promotes sustainable agriculture through financial inclusion and credit linkages.
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With reference to National Rural Health Mission, which of the following are the jobs of ‘ASHA’, a trained community health worker?
- Accompanying women to the health facility for antenatal care checkup
- Using pregnancy test kits for early detection of pregnancy
- Providing information on nutrition and immunization
- Conducting the delivery of the baby
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Statement 1 – Correct: ASHA workers accompany pregnant women to health facilities for antenatal care checkups, acting as a link between the community and healthcare services.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: ASHA workers are trained to use pregnancy test kits for early detection of pregnancy as part of their basic health screening responsibilities.
✅ Statement 3 – Correct: Providing information on nutrition and immunization is a core responsibility of ASHA workers under NRHM to educate families about maternal and child health.
❌ Statement 4 – Incorrect: Conducting deliveries is outside the scope of ASHA workers' duties; this is performed by skilled birth attendants, ANMs, or doctors at health facilities.
The endeavour of ‘Janani Suraksha Yojana’ Programme is
- to promote institutional deliveries
- to provide monetary assistance to the mother to meet the cost of delivery
- to provide for wage loss due to pregnancy and confinement
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a safe motherhood intervention launched in 2005 under NRHM to promote institutional deliveries and reduce maternal and neonatal mortality among poor pregnant women.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: JSY is a 100% centrally sponsored scheme that provides cash assistance to mothers to meet the cost of delivery, integrated with delivery and post-delivery care through ASHA workers.
❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Wage loss compensation due to pregnancy and confinement is provided under Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), not JSY.
Consider the following:
- Hotels and restaurants
- Motor transport undertakings
- Newspaper establishments
- Private medical institutions
The employees of which of the above can have the ‘Social Security’ coverage under “Employees’ State Insurance Scheme’?
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Statement 1 – Correct: Hotels and restaurants employing 10 or more persons are covered under the ESI Scheme through state government extensions.
✅ Statement 2 – Correct: Road motor transport undertakings are explicitly included under ESI Act coverage via government notifications.
✅ Statement 3 – Correct: Newspaper establishments (non-factory) have been brought under ESI coverage by various state governments.
✅ Statement 4 – Correct: Private medical institutions employing 10 or more persons are covered under the ESI Scheme in most states and UTs.
The ESI Act, 1948 empowers the government to extend coverage beyond factories to all four establishment types listed.
The Multi-dimensional Poverty Index developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with UNDP support covers which of the following?
- Deprivation of education, health, assets and services at the household level
- Purchasing power parity at the national level
- The extent of the budget deficit and GDP growth rate at the national level
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Detailed Explanation:
✅ Statement 1 – Correct: The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with UNDP measures deprivations across three dimensions: Health (nutrition, child mortality), Education (years of schooling, school attendance), and Standard of Living (assets and services like cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing) at the household level.
❌ Statement 2 – Incorrect: Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a macroeconomic metric used to compare economic productivity between countries, not measured by the MPI which focuses on household-level deprivations.
❌ Statement 3 – Incorrect: Budget deficit and GDP growth rate are national-level macroeconomic indicators measuring fiscal and economic performance, not covered by the MPI which measures individual/household poverty dimensions.